Jasper nodded, "I will be sure too." he said and smiled at her and her dog. Though when the Tikura started to growl at him when he started to dig into his pocket, he stopped. Sighing, he pulled his hand out with nothing in it and guessed that the dog would probably never like him. "well I was taught to never trust anyone at all since everyone wants something." he said as he watched her go. Sighing a little bit to himself, he guessed he was on his own for exploring right now. But before she left he looked over at her, "but thanks for this chance, no one had done anything like this for me."

Mariki looked back at Jasper and stopped before smiled. "Hey. Are you coming with us?" She asked before looking to Tikura. He nodded and walked over to Jasper and nudged him towards his master. The princess smiled at Jasper and waited for him and Tikura to return to her side. "I just want your company for now. Is that alright?"

Jasper smiled when he heard her and when the dog nudged him he started to follow, "that is fine with me." he said as he soon joined her at her side and part of him still couldnt' believe any of this. He was in training to be a guard for the castle he ahd been trying to steal from and had hated for a long time. He was even standing next to the princess. "so what is your favorite place in the palace?" he asked

Tikura walked alongside Jasper and looked at his master. Mariki walked out of the garden and kept her hands clasped in front of her. "Well, the garden and the library is where I am found most of the time." She said while walking alongside him. The princess walked with him towards the main hall and looked at him. "This is the main hall. This is where guests are greeted by the guards on special occasions."

Jasper smiled as he walked with her and listened. "I have been to garden's before but never a library." he said softly as he thought about that. Infact she could barely read or write. It was kind of sad, he knew but that was the prince he payed for living on the streets for his whole life. Looking into the main hall, he smiled, "I have been in rooms like this before, but usually to steal something." he said as he looked over at Mariki.

She looked at Jasper and smiled a bit. "The gardens are beautiful. And the library is helpful when you want to learn about something. Especially when you can't speak to the source." Mariki said as she looked around the main hall. "Many castles have rooms like these." Her eyes went to him as he spoke of stealing. "Is that all you know, Jasper?" The princess asked as she walked towards a door.

Jasper smiled as he listened to her and wondered if he could visit the library one day. He would like to see all the books, maybe he could find one that had a few pictures and wasn't exactly too hard to read. Nodding, he smiled, "I have been only in a few." he said though when he heard her he nodded, "yes, that is everything that I know. I didn't exactly have the pleasure of having parents, being loved, learning to read and write or anything that you have had. In fact I owe my life to thieves, they saved me from dying of starvation and taught me what I know." he said as he followed her and looked around. "they use to be the closest thing to family for me."

Mariki looked back at him as she bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Jasper. I apologize." She said after hearing him speak of the thieves and opened the door in front of her. "Maybe this will make up for it." The princess said softly and opened the door to the two story library. Her blue eyes went to Jasper as Tikura nudged him into the room.

Jasper was surprised when she bowed her head and apologized. But he smiled smiled at her, "it is okay, nothing to be sorry about. We are all raised differently, some better then others." he said and then watched as she opened the doors. When he saw the library he could only stare in aww for a few minutes. He then felt Tikura nudge him and he slowly headed inside. Walking around, he let his hands reach out and grab a book. Opening it, he smiled and then looked at Mariki, "could you teach me how to read? I always wanted to learn now too." he said before looking back at the book and flipped through pages. He could make no sense out of any of the words but he wanted to be able too.

Her eyes went to Jasper as she listened to him and nodded. "True." Mariki smiled as he walked into the library in awe. Tikura walked over to his dog bed and laid down as he watched the two. The princess smiled and giggled a little bit as she looked at him. "This one might be a bit complicated for you. Let me pick out the book for you." She said softly before walking over to the shelf and pulling out a child's fairy tale book. "Here. Let's try this one." Mariki walked over to the couch and looked up at Jasper.

Jasper smiled when he heard her and gently put back the book that he had held. He then started to follow her as she started to look for a book for him to read. When she finally pulled out a book, he found he couldn't wait to learn to read it and quickly took up the spot that was next to her. "okay, I am ready for my first lesson." he said as he waited for her to teach him.

She held onto the book and looked at him. "First, you need to learn what letters make up the words." Mariki said as she opened the book and smiled at him. "Here. See, this word is made up of letters. Both vowels and consonants. This letter is a T. A "T" is a consonant." Her eyes went to Jasper to make sure that he understood.

Jasper watched her as she opened the book and looked at it. Nodding, he smiled, "so this T thing is a consonant." he said as he pointed to it in the book. "but what is the next letter after it?" he asked and for once you could see the real guy under all the rough and tough exterior. He was just a boy simply curious about everything he was never able to learn.

Mariki looked at him and nodded as she smiled at him. "Yes. The letter next to it is an H. It can be silent in some words but we'll cover that later." She said and watched the childish delight on his face. "The next next letter is an E. E is a vowel. There are only five vowels so those are easy." Her eyes went to the book as she blushed a little. "Um...Jasper....if I am not teaching you to your liking I could get a tutor for you."

Jasper nodded when he heard her and just listened to her, fascinated to know what the letters were. "so their are only five vowels, that is easy to remember." he said as he looked at the E. "what are the other vowels?" he asked and then noticed her face looked a little red. THough when he heard her, he shook his head, "I would rather have you as my teacher, your nice and I like listened to you." he said as he smiled happily.

Her eyes went to Jasper as she blushed some more and looked down at the book. "The vowels are A, E, I, O, U. Sometimes Y is also a vowel." She said as she pointed out the vowels in the book. Mariki tried to get rid of the blush on her cheeks as she hid her face with her hair. The princess tried to steady her heart and tried to keep herself calm. Why was she feeling so nervous sitting next to him?

Jasper saw her face turn even more red then before and smiled at little bit. Turning his eyes back to the book, his eyes danced over the letters she showed him and nodded. "so those are really really important." he said as he looked at the letters. Turning back to her, he saw that she was hiding behind her hair and frowned a little bit. Reaching out, he gently brushed her hair away and tucked it behind her hair, "if you want we could stop. I dont want to take up all of your time." he said as he looked at her in the eyes.

She closed her eyes to calm herself but they opened as he brushed her hair back. Mariki looked at him and blushed even more as she listened to his words. "T-that's not it." Her voice trembled a little bit. Tikura raised his head and looked at his master. The princess never fell in love before so she questioned what she was feeling. For some reason, leaving his side was not something she wanted to do.

Jasper smiled when he saw her face grow even more red then before, she looked really cute like that. Though when he heard her voice, he guessed he should back up a little bit, not really wanting to scare her or anything. "how about if you finish showing me around the castle." he said since right now he felt antsy. He needed to move but he didn't want to leave her side.

Mariki looked at him as he spoke but looked back at the book and handed it to him. "Here. Ask Dominic if you need help. It would be best if you go back to the barracks." Her eyes went to the floor as she stood up. Tikura stood up with her and looked at her. "I have to go." She said before running out of the room. The dog looked at Jasper before running off after his master.

Jasper watched as she handed the bok to him and then ran out of there. Frowning, he wondered if he had done something wrong and guessed he had. Standing up, he slowly started to make his way towards the barracks but as he did he started to get a feeling. It was the kind of feeling he got when something was going to go wrong which wasn't good. Looking around as he headed back to the barracks, he watched out for everything. As a thief he had learned to trust his feelings and this feeling felt wrong.

Her eyes closed as she continued to run all the way back to her room. Mariki gripped her chest as she tried to catch her breath and not cry. She laid on her bed as Tikura whined a little and nudged her. "I'm okay, buddy." The princess said as she touched his head with her hand. Dominic and most of the guards were in the mess hall eating their dinner. He looked around for his new recruit.

Jasper entered the mess hall and slowly made his way towards Dominic. Sitting down, he looked at him, "something isn't right." he said softly as he tried to figure out this feeling. Absently he reached out and grabbed some food and ate as he tried to figure out what didn't feel right.

Jasper had a right to worry, the man who had hired him to get the jewels had hired a backup. THis guy had different orders and those orders were to either kidnap or kill the princess and the royal family. Already the guy was in the castle, he was just waiting for the right moment to strike and so far no one was even suspicious of him.

Dominic looked at Jasper as he sat down and spoke. His eyes solely on Jasper as he wondered what the former thief meant by what he said. He started to feel uneasy as well but he was not sure at what the source was. The guard closed his eyes and nodded his head. "You're right." Dominic took a bite of food as he looked towards the castle. This feeling seemed focused towards the castle. "Did something happen with the princess?" He asked as his eyes went to the book Jasper had with him.

Jasper looked down at the book and frowned, "she was teaching me how to read and then she ran." he said and you could tell it confused him. Taking another bite of his food, the feeling that he had only got worse and when he looked down at the book he knew it was something with the princess. Looking up at Dominic, he said, "put everyone on guard, something really isn't right." and with that he got up and then ran out of there.

The guy smiled as he got to the princess's door and could hear her in there. Tucking a knife into his sleeve, he headed inside. "is everything alright princess? someone said that you looked upset coming back to your room." he said as he went about and started to straighten up her room, slowly making his way towards her so that he could try to kidnapping her.