"Sir, if you're looking for a gift for a lady, we have a lovely collection of dresses over here," the woman at the counter approached him. Seeing his not as tattered clothes, she probably assumed he had money to spend. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. "What is your lady's size?"
"She's about this tall," Lucian used his hand to gesture her height. "Her waist is about this," he made a circle with his hands, "Her bosoms are quite ample. Like this." He used his hands to show their size.
"..." The woman was taken aback. He had described her in such detail as if he had memorized every inch of her. "Um...I see. Would you like to see some of the dresses we have?"
"Yes," he nodded, "Show me your most layered, ready to wear dresses. I would also like a set of undergarments to go with them."
She led him to the back of the shop, where Lucian picked out a pink dress that was heavy with its skirt, but flowy at its top. He opted out of buying her undergarments, finding the material to be lacking. He would just wash hers and wait for it to dry in the sun.
When Lucian walked out of the shop, his arms were full. He made his way back to his store to see the staff waiting at the stairs. They jumped when they saw him. They quickly rushed forward to take the dress from him.
"Is there a problem?" Lucian asked.
"Um…My Lord...it's just..." the staff member trailed off, unsure of how to tell him the situation, "People from the House of Varrin have come to request your presence as always, but we've informed them you were out. They seem to be agitated today and broke down the door of your office─"
Lucian dropped the clothes in his hands, rushing up the stairs to see an empty desk and a broken door to his office. "Where is she?" He gripped the frame so tightly his knuckles whitened before snapping his gaze to the nearest employee. "How could you just let her get taken away? What is the point of you being here, if not to guard my property?"
"I-I-I'm sorry, My Lord! She offered to go with them and threatened to burn down the shop if we interrupted your shopping. I didn't know what to do! She was so scary!"
Lucian felt a sharp sting in his chest. He rushed down the stairs again, "Summon everyone in the city to gather, and go to the House of Varrin. I will go ahead first."
"Yes sir!" The staff saluted him, running outside the shop to do as they were told.
'She got snatched from under your nose again.'
'Not again.'
'AGAIN!'
───────────────────────────
Lucian rushed the horse to the House of Varrin.
"HEY!" A group of City guards yelled as they watched his horse gallop past them. "You can't go this fast in the town!"
They unfurled a rope that was attached to the road, and his horse was stopped in its tracks. It whinnied, and then the guards came over to arrest him. "You're going to jail for disturbing the peace and disobeying the rules of the city!"
"House of Verrin," Lucian shouted, "They've kidnapped someone from the Rochefort house!"
"The Rochefort house?" A guard looked at Lucian, then at his clothes he wore to the church (incognito), "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to use the Rochefort house to save yourself? You think you can lie to us? Take him away!"
Lucian widened his eyes at their blatant disregard of the situation. He thought his actions would summon them, or at least get them to investigate, but they didn't seem interested in anything but throwing him into the jail cell.
"Who would dare kidnap from the Rochefort house?" Another guard laughed at him. "By a puny house of Verrin no less? That's the stupidest thing I've heard of all week. Keep an eye on this one, he's a troublemaker. His lies will get him in even bigger trouble if he continues to speak. Gag him."
"Wait!" Lucian tried to protest, but they shoved a rag into his mouth, tying a cloth behind his head. "MMMMMMPHH! MMMPPPHH!"
'ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?'
Lucian twisted in his handcuffs, but they were tight on his wrists. They took his belt and shoes, leaving him barefoot, as they threw him into a mobile prison cell attached to the back of a horse carriage.
He looked out of the bars, and a few shopkeepers who witnessed the arrest stared at him. Not all worked for his shops, but many of them worked under his name, and they looked at him, their mouth gaping open in surprise.
Lucian tried to talk, but his voice was muffled by the cloth in his mouth. He moved his eyes and head, pointing at the guards as if to tell the shopkeepers to move their asses. They looked around, trying to come up with a way to help him.
"Ah! There's a thief! Someone stop him!" One of the shopkeepers shouted, pointing in a random direction.
Everyone turned their head, including the guards, who were more concerned with the safety of the town than a random man in a jail cell.
When their heads were turned, one of the shopkeepers ran forward and slipped a small lock pick into Lucian's little prison cell. He nodded at Lucian, and then returned back to the shop to pretend he didn't know what was going on.
Lucian struggled with the cuffs, the metal digging into his skin as he moved. When the guards turned their heads to look at him, he hid his hands behind him, and when they turned their heads to the shopkeeper, he continued to work on the lock.
After several attempts, the cuffs finally clicked, falling off his wrists. He caught them before they could make a clank sound. There were a lot of ways to get out of this situation, but only a few of them would be beneficial in the long run.