Ridley was pursuing her, but it was the slowest chase he\'d performed. She was likely unaware of his presence for he looked like any other noble wandering vaguely through the crowd, perusing the stalls. If she\'d noticed him, she\'d dismissed him, for there were many who were travelling the same way, doing the same thing. The difference between them and him was that he recognised the difference in her when she was off duty (but not yet out of uniform, perhaps she\'d come by the markets when on her way between leaving work and arriving home) and he was looking at her when her back was to him, instead of whatever lay before him and whatever stall he happened to be visiting.
He watched as she moved a few stalls upward after spending quite some time looking at a necklace, even taking the time to touch it and lift it to her neck while the stall owner showed her a looking glass to admire herself in. He saw how she\'d smiled but then shaken her head and set it back down, hasty in her steps to get away (or so he perceived) lest temptation for the necklace cause her to make a purchase she might not be able to afford.
He waited until she was at least five stalls beyond and then moved closer to the stall with the necklace. There were no gems on what she\'d picked up, but the stones had been cut in a clever way and arranged tastefully on a thinly crafted chain. He could see how it had drawn her eye but he didn\'t know why she hadn\'t bought it, for it was inexpensive. He\'d meant to simply whip it off the table with a quick sleight of hand but it wasn\'t necessary, for he had the coin to purchase it properly and didn\'t wish to risk being caught or accused with her so close.
He took it, paid for it and then closed the gap between himself and the captain. She was ten stalls up now and he quickened his pace. He was moving stealthily, his footsteps unheard beneath the trample of the crowd\'s footsteps around him. Approaching her back and holding out the necklace in his hand, he meant to touch her shoulder to alert her to his presence and then strike a conversation from there. What he didn\'t expect was while he was reaching forward, she spun and easily gripped his outreaching wrist, stopping him before he made contact with her, her gaze stern until she looked down at his hand and the necklace within it.
It occurred to him that she probably thought he\'d been carrying a dagger and planning an assassination on her, his movements could\'ve been interpreted that way to someone who didn\'t know what he held. It also occurred to him that she was liquid fast with her reflexes, very strong because of her grip and also a great deal more aware than he\'d given her credit for. Was she off-duty? He trusted his instincts on that one and still believed so, but it was said that a guard was never off-duty, so to speak. She certainly hadn\'t been lax.
Smiling at her after his initial surprise at being grabbed, keeping faith that his attire would mark him as a noble and not a commoner, he spoke without alarm.
"I believe you dropped this," he said to her, knowing she would deny it belonged to her, and also knowing that she\'d recognise the piece.