I'm gonna put a quick author's note before we start. This story takes place in the mystery universe. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is from a one-shot I did in May of 2017. You can find it in the May Prompts book. Basically, Chrom is the captain of the Royal Guard and Anna is his chief detective. I advise you to read the original Mystery one-shot in case you haven't already. Enough said. Let's get to the prompt!

*****

Chrom

I drummed my left hand on the mahogany desk, my right twirling a quill between my fingers. The words on the parchment in front of me were lost to me as my thoughts took over. Normally, I was on top of getting my work done at a fast pace, but today was just not my day.

How could I focus, though? Today was the day before my wedding! Work was the last thing on my mind. If my fiancee were here, she would scold me for being so distracted. However, my doting sister, Lissa, kept Anna away from me the entirety of the day. She said that seeing the bride before the wedding was bad luck or something.

I never believed those superstitions, but apparently, everyone in the world does. Being a member of the ruling house and captain of the Royal Guard caused everyone to be on edge. They were taking every precaution imaginable, including avoiding superstitions.

Sighing, I dropped my quill and lean back in my chair. "I'm in no state to work; too distracted. I'll just have Frederick take care of this..." My trusted lieutenant would gladly take on any work I gave him. That's why I hired him in the first place. But, "...He's my best man. He may be too distracted as well. Naga knows he's probably off making the final preparations..."

I groaned and shuffled the papers together. "Dammit all, who can I give these to?" I scanned the reports once more. "Well, with how diligent the Guard has been working in preparation of the wedding, I doubt there's much to report. Guess I'll have to do them myself."

Five minutes into my work, there was a knock on my door. "Come in," I grumbled.

Giaus, one of my best spies, waltzed into my office, lollipop hanging out of his mouth. "Yo, Blue. How's it going?"

I don't know if I like the sound of this. He never comes to my office alone unless he got in trouble or wants candy. "What is it, Gaius? I'm a bit busy."

The spy rolled his eyes. "Don't even have time to chat with one of your groomsmen! Harsh!" he jested. "But in all seriousness, we got a problem."

I made sure to internalize my groan. "What did you do this time?" I rubbed my temple as it began to throb.

"Hey, I did nothing!" He held his hands up in defense. "It's about Squirt. He's the one with the problem."

My brow furrowed at his words. "Squirt? Oh, you mean Ricken." His damn nicknames. "What could possibly be the trouble with him! He has a cleaner slate than even Emmeryn!"

Gaius shrugged. "Dunno, but he wants to talk to you. He's in the library."

I sighed as I stood. "Fine. But you're coming with. I have a feeling that you have at least something to do with this."

Instead of getting offended, the sweet-toothed ginger nodded. "Eh, that's fair. He's fun to mess with."

"Naga, help us all."

...

When we found Ricken, he was hyperventalating in a corner of the library. On the ground was a small, velvet pillow with gold trim. Wait, isn't that the pillow where the rings are supposed to be? I expected it to be with Ricken, he was our ring bearer, after all; but there was something missing.

"Ricken, what happened?" I asked the young man.

He jumped as I spoke. "L-lord Chrom! I'm so sorry!" He bowed his head in shame. "I-I lost the rings!"

"What?!" I stared at him in disbelief, mouth hanging open. No no no. This can't be happening! The wedding is tomorrow! This is just what I needed right now...

Gaius took the candy out of his mouth with a pop. "How is that even possible? You've been guarding them like an eagle with its eggs since you got them."

That did not help Ricken calm down. "I-I-I always kept them with me! I swear it!" He trembled. "I put them on the presenting pillow so I could practice how to hold it, but I thought the rings looked a bit smudged. I left them alone for only five minutes while I went to find some polish. When I came back, they were gone!"

My headache worsened with each word. "Just...gah...dammit..."

"So what are we gonna do, Blue?" Gaius asked.

I shook my head. "Replacing them is out of the question. The wedding is within less than 24 hours, that's hardly enough time for the jeweler to remake them. Not only that, but these were custom made and special to Anna. It would break her heart if we used something else."

Ricken wrung his hands together. "I'm so sorry, Captain. I only meant well..."

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you did, and I'm proud of you for owning up to your mistake," I sighed. "But owning up to it is not going to bring the rings back. We need to find them and soon."

The young man nodded. "Right! I bet with Anna's help, we can solve this-"

"Absolutely not!" I shouted. Each man gave me a curious look. I ran a hand through my hair. "Anna will kill me if she finds out about this. That is if I survive getting though Lissa to get to her."

Gaius groaned. "So we can't even use our chief detective! Great!" The sarcasm dripped off his words like blood on a sword. "What can we do?"

Ricken cleared his throat. "If we can't use Anna, then we'll have to think like her!" he exclaimed. "Let's start from the beginning. I set the pillow down in that exact spot with the rings. The next thing I did was go over the desks in search of polish. I took not even five minutes. They were gone when I got back. I already searched every nook and cranny in case they just rolled away, but they were nowhere to be found. My guess is that they were stolen."

I frowned. "Great. Just what we needed, a ring thief."

"Who would want to steal your rings?" Gaius hummed. By the look on his face, he was most likely thinking of all of the suspects he could conjure up. Or, he was thinking about what dessert to have after dinner. One of the two.

"Maybe Anna came by and saw them abandoned and took them for safe-keeping?" Ricken suggested.

I shook my head. "No, she wouldn't do that without finding the owner. Er, well, temporary owner."

"Past enemy who wants to mess up your wedding?" Gaius added.

"Possibly. Naga knows I have a lot of them."

We through around suggestions for about 15 minutes when a realization hit me. "Guys, the most we stand around, the further the thief is. We need to get moving!"

"Good plan, if only we knew where to search." Gaius glared at me.

I glared back. "Well, I'm sorry, but this isn't your wedding in peril!"

"Maybe if we just asked Anna, we could-"

"GUYS!" Ricken broke up our spat. "Dogs! Chrom, your dogs! We can use them to track the scent!"

"Ricken, that's brilliant!" I laughed. "Quick, to the kennels! Barin and Aasira are out patrolling, but Catori should still be here!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's move!" Gaius popped the candy back in his mouth and began to run out of the library.

"Right!"

...

The tiny basenji pup sniffed the velvet pillow all over. She was still young and in training, so her tracking skills were not as good as my other dogs, but she could get the job done.

"Are you sure this will work?" Gaius asked, skeptical of my puppy. "She's only been in training for what, two months? The only thing that she can smell from a mile away is food!"

If not for the fact that I was holding the pillow for Catori, I would've socked the spy for insulting my dog. "So do you, but we still keep you around."

Ricked choked on a laugh. "Is she almost done, sir?"

As if on cue, Catori lifted her nose away from the pillow and began to sniff around. Then, she yipped and ran around my legs. 

"Did you find it, girl?" I looked down at the enthusiastic puppy. She yipped once more and darted out of the room.

"After her!" Ricken shouted.

We chased Catori though the halls, moving deeper into the castle. The thief is still inside! Great! As we followed the pup, things began to feel stranger and stranger. Most of these areas are full of guards or at least open for many to see. Seems like an odd passage for a thief.

It only got weirder when we stopped at my bedroom, the door slightly ajar. "...Uh, it seems like you got company..." Gaius coughed.

My brow furrowed. "What are we doing here?" I looked down at Catori. "Are you sure this is the place, girl?"

The puppy yipped again and entered my room. The opening was just big enough for her to slip through perfectly. When we stepped inside, we saw Catori moving underneath my bed.

I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, ready for the intruder to come out. "Prepare yourself, men. This thief may put up a fight."

As my companions got into their battle stances, Catori wiggled back out, holding something shiny in her tiny mouth.

"What the..." I knelt down and held my hand out. The puppy dropped the shiny objects into my palm. The mystery was solved.

There were the rings. 

I quickly examined them for damage. The gold glimmered in the dull light, no signs of scratches. The tiny gems that decorated them were still intact. And the most important feature was still there: our names inscribed inside of each band.

"What the heck were they doing under there?" Ricked sputtered.

Curious, I lifted the decorative drape and searched under the bed. To my surprise, tiny little treasures were hidden down here all this time. 

I sat back up and looked at Catori; the pup looked like she was smiling. "Found our culprit..." I sighed, picking her up. "She must have been taking anything shiny she could find and then hide them under here."

"...All that panic...for a dog..." Gaius groaned.

I handed off the rings to Ricken. "Go and clean them up, then make sure you don't lose them."

He laughed nervously. "R-right! Of course!" He scurried away, clutching the rings like they were a lifeline.

Gaius shook his head. "I need some caffeine after this adventure. Have fun with your treasure stealing dog." He waved goodbye and left.

I chuckled, setting Catori on the bed. "I must have forgotten to close my door all the way. Still, you don't steal, you rebellious little pup!"

She cocked her head to the side. I shook my head. "Oh, well. At least I now have an excuse for why I didn't do my work."

*****

Honestly, there was no particular reason this had to be in this universe. I just wanted to do it. XD I'm currently making a pillow right now and stabbing my poor fingers. Hope the end result is good. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Next Prompt: July 22nd - Proud