Chapter 1
Rainfall drowned the city-state, causing traders and townspeople to scatter about. Carts clattered along mudded roads as feet scurried towards waterfront homes.
"Jade, come on! Now!"
"Wait."
A cloaked figure held its position behind a cobblestoned archway, peeking at the crazed scene not too far away. Hooded eyes squinted to peer through the thick rain.
"Jade… Jade, we must leave, or the Duke will have my head!" Jade looked over her shoulder at the ebony boy who cowered behind her. She smirked.
"Then let him have it."
"Wow, that was really– wait, Jade? Jade!"
The boy's cry was now distant as the finest leather a trader could scavenge adorned rushing feet. Jade joined the hurried scene, weaving past baskets of fruit, carts of dead livestock, and children and their mothers. Her long eyelashes fluttered when she caught sight of who she was looking for. She slowed her pace, joining behind a group of middle-aged men struggling to carry a large crate towards a building at the backside of her target.
Jade sharply turned at the building's edge, scaling its side to find stacked crates of wheat that usually adorned its side. Effortlessly, Jade pulled herself atop one, then another, and once more before finding herself outside of a shuttered window. A gloved hand tapped the outside of the glass repeatedly until an annoyed "okay, alright! I'm coming!" sounded from inside.
"Who are… J-Jade?" Delicate, pink lips curled into a lopsided grin.
"Yeah, it's she." Jade watched the girl's facial expression change from true surprise into feigned annoyance. "Well, can I come in or do you get a kick from me crouching on your window ledge?"
The girl backed away wordlessly, her slight nod giving Jade the approval she wanted. Jade leaped from the ledge, droplets of water scattering across the floor as she landed and proceeded to stretch her limbs. She had been running around all morning in the harsh rain.
"Jade," the embittered tone forced the dark haired girl stop mid-stretch and look upon the red head still dressed in her silk night gown. She frowned as she asked "Jade, why are you here?"
"What, you aren't happy to see me?" The pale girl's light tone only caused the red head more grief.
"Really, Jade? It's been, what, five years? And the first thing you do when you see me is bullshit around–"
"Jesus, Cat" the cloaked girl rushed towards the shorter girl to cover her mouth with her palm. Cat's eyes grew wide as she yanked away Jade's moist hand and distanced herself from the older girl. "Please, don't yell–"
"To hell with you!" Cat shrieked, flabbergasted. "How dare you tell me not to yell in my own room, you, you – you left just before things got bad, and I… I needed you, but where were you? What kind of best friend are you?" Jade slouched lazily against the table beside the girl's cot, staring blankly at a floorboard. She deserved this, she knew that. "Jade, just, please – get out." Cat's voice was reduced to a strained whisper. "Go back wherever you've been hiding, please, I-I can't –"
"Wait," Jade lifted a single gloved hand, her gaze still on the floor. "Before you get anything else off your chest, I just wanted to stop by and… let you know I'm still here for you." At this, Cat mockingly laughed.
"You, here for me? How, Jade? Please inform me." Cat crossed her arms skeptically, though she was mildly intrigued with Jade's new appearance – from what she could see behind the girl's hood, Jane had matured into beautiful young woman with a slender face and bold features. Her dark hair contrasted mystically with her rosy cheeks and white face. Her taller stature gave her an almost domineering presence. Cat kept her eyes on Jane as she rose from the table and strutted to the center of the room. Despite her ragged exterior, which also allured Cat's interest, Jade seemed… deceptively elegant.
"Well, first off, where do you keep your drawers?" Jade's sudden question forcefully ceased Cat's roaming thoughts.
"E-Excuse me?"
"Your drawers? Your pantalets?"
"Jade!" Cat was frozen still while watching Jade take it upon herself to ravish her shelves. "W-Wait, you're going to get everything wet!" Cat approached the girl from behind. "At least tell me why you need my–"
Before Cat could finish, Jade held above her head a small, folded piece of paper. "Did you put this here?" Cat took the slip of paper from Jade's fingertips nervously yet eagerly, in disbelief.
"No, no, but I don't recall anyone but my parents or my brother ever coming in–"
"But I do. I recall exactly what happened, a few times actually, though I didn't care until I realized recently who was living here."
"You 'recall a few times'? What do you mean?" Cat unfolded the slip of paper, though it was blank save for a crest engraved at the top right of the paper. It looked familiar. "Jade", Cat caught the icy gaze of her company, "Jade, what is this?"
Jade smirked again before walking directly towards Cat, who wasn't expecting the girl to grab her forearm and drag her to the window opposite from where Jade entered her room. Her squirming was to no avail – she didn't remember the pale girl ever being this strong. Jade shoved the girl towards the window, Cat's lower back making contact with the window's ledge. Jade didn't hesitate to press into Cat's front enough to see behind the girl, though she was completely unaware of the flustered redhead's creeping blush.
"J-Jade," the girl uttered breathlessly, "I swear, if you don't let me go I-I'll–"
"Look," Jade whispered. Cat stared into Jade's eyes which were only a few inches away from her own, though they were still glaring at something behind her. Brown orbs traced a water droplet that trailed down a slender nose to the corner of full, pink lips.
"Cat."
"S-Sorry," Cat muttered, unsure if she was apologizing to Jade for not looking at whatever it was she was trying to show her or simply for getting caught staring. The redhead turned her head slightly over her right shoulder, and Jade moved back a little so the girl could further turn her body. "What am I looking for?" Cat questioned after staring at a flurry of people rushing away from the docks. "It's just a bunch of people running."
"Look closer. And remember the crest."
Cat squinted her eyes as if the gesture would help her see. She unfolded the paper in her palm, gazing over the crest that donned a black phoenix perched atop a crowned helmet, enclosed by vivid red drapery. Beneath the helmet was a golden plate with five red orbs that curved upward to meet at another, though blue, orb. Cat could feel a tugging in her conscience that told her she knew where this crest was from, though she couldn't quite translate the stored knowledge.
Cat looked up from her hand and peered out the window. Her eyes skipped over wagons and brick archways, crowds of people and armored guards. And then she saw it. Cat leaned closer to the glass, just to make sure her eyes or the rain wasn't deceiving her. Towards the back of the quads the back of her home faced, she spotted a parked carriage. Just below the carriage's wooden door was the very same crest upon wool fabric.
"There, near the poultry market – I see the crest hanging from that carriage."
"The Medici family crest."
Cat turned and, though initially startled by Jade's proximity once again, lifted an arched eyebrow. Jade understood the gesture and further explained, "The Medici family, hailing from Florence. As a traveler's daughter, I thought you would know." Cat's mind flickered at the mention of Florence, and her dulled memory of the crest came to light. She did know of the crest, and it was partly because of her parents' traveling background, but it was also due to a gentleman that courted her years ago, though she broke off the relationship.
"Medici…" Cat tried the word upon her tongue. "But what would they be doing in this part of Venice? There are no government buildings here."
Jade smirked, "That's the question of the day, I suppose. I was hoping you would know."
Cat bit her bottom lip, unsure if she should bring up her brief 'romance' with the boy who's name she could barely remember. "Well, I was, um, I was courted two years after you practically abandoned me," Jade winced at her choice of words, "but I suppose that's not of any use in explaining why that carriage is here, or why you're here." That brought Cat back to the question Jade avoided answering earlier. "Jade, why are you here–"
"Hold that thought."
Within a blink, Jade was there and then she was not. Cat whipped around and leaned out of her now opened window, not caring that she was getting drenched.
"Jade, Jade!" She yelled. Her eyes searched the pavement frantically, unable to spot the girl amidst all of the commotion. It was then that she saw a black figure weaved through the crowd, though someone was following closely behind her. Or so she thought.
Cat followed Jade's movements until the girl went under the bridge beneath Cat's home. Cat closed the window, and rushed to the other side of her room where Jade entered initially. She went to unlatch the brass locks that kept the glass sealed, though quickly realized the locks weren't even done. She pushed the window's halves wide open. When she leaned out, she saw Jade, as she expected, though didn't realize that the person following her was actually being dragged by his collar.
"Cat?" Jade looked up, her eyes struggling against the rain. Cat didn't say anything. Her mouth was ajar as she stared in disbelief at the boy at Jade's feet. She could see a few bruises and scrapes on his face which she related to his slouched state. "Cat," Jade raised her voice, "do you know this chap?"
Cat opened and closed her mouth several times before feeling her voice come back to her. "I-I, I – yes, y-yes, I do – I mean, I did!"
Jade looked from Cat back to the unmoving frame still hunched over. Jade huffed at him, uncertain how he could call himself a knight-in-training when he couldn't even stomach one blow to the gut.
"Yeah? Where from?"
"That… that wench dumped me." The boy uttered to Jade, a wicked grin tearing at his bruised face.
"I can see why," Jade's said lowly before adding another swift kick to the boy's groin, reducing him to a crumpled position on the ground. "But I wasn't asking you, was I?" Jade placed her foot on top of his back, adjusting her weight so that he was fully pressed into the mud. "Cat, did this bum court you?"
"Y-yes, but that was so long ago, I don't understand why he's even–" If Cat wasn't stunned before, she definitely was at the sight of a familiar undergarment in Jade's raised hand. "Oh my god…"
"See Cat, this is why you need to lock your windows. Not everyone is like me and has the decency to knock before entering." Cat blushed, due to both the embarrassment from realizing the truth behind Jade's advice and the fact that her ex-fiancé had broken into her room and stole her pantalets. She was going to have a word with him. Actually, no – her father was going to have a word with him and his parents. Maybe words wouldn't even suffice as punishment for his crude actions. Though Cat had to admit she was satisfied with Jade's own work as she witnessed the boy practically choking in mud. "Well, now that I think about it, no one should be entering through your windows, so don't open them at all for anyone, not even me."
"Of course I'd open it for you," Cat smiled, unable to deny the warmth surging through her body at the rekindling of her friendship with Jade. Or perhaps not even rekindling, but, rather, understanding that nothing changed between them at all. She was still confused, yes, hurt – definitely, though she couldn't stay mad at the girl for long. "Jade, that's enough," the redhead called out as Jade picked up the boy's head and muttered something Cat couldn't make out from her room.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just finishing up here. Excuse me, sir," Jade said as she cut in front of a man pulling along a horse. Jade dragged the boy to a nearby barrel. She thought about dumping him in it, though didn't want to chance his Florence friends not being able to find him and discard Venice of such scum. So she settled with throwing him into the barrel – some act of violence was necessary, Jade concluded.
As Jade made her way back to the side of Cat's home, the people still roaming outside split onto either side of the cobblestone street, making way for a carriage that Jade easily recognized.
"Shit."
Still leaning outside of the window, completely soaked now, Cat had her eyes glued to the approaching carriage that stopped just below her window. She had never seen one of such luxury before, she and the onlookers alike marveling at its golden trim and wooden designs probably crafted by the best artisan in Venice. The crest of the royal family proudly waved upon four flags attached to the carriage. A door opened, revealing a dark-skinned man clad in royal wear.
"Make them flee, hurry," the man whispered to guards that came out of the carriage after him. Cat watched in a daze as people were forcefully removed from the scene or voluntarily fled away.
"Close your windows and go on!" A guard yelled from below at everyone peering from their homes. Cat quickly shut her windows, not willing to risk any confrontation with the royal guards or Venice's reigning family. Her parents were mere travelers – though they did have a strong position within the markets, their value couldn't shake a stick against the higher-ups. After all, that was the purpose of her engagement to a son from the Duke of Florence's lineage – to gain influence. Cat was just lucky that her parents valued her own sanity over their ranks within the aristocracy.
"Jade," the name graced Cat's lips slowly, her mind slowly overcoming the shock from the guards below. Below. Where Jade was. "Jade!" Cat pressed her forehead against the window. To her surprise, Jade remained where she was just below Cat's window. Cat would've thought that Jade was miles away by now after her display of speed earlier.
The man that initially exited the carriage approached Jade. Cat's gut twisted as she waited for the guards to grab and restrain her. Jade must've gotten in trouble. That was the only plausible explanation for why they surrounded her. Jade must've gotten mixed up with someone wealthy who wished to seek her out. It wasn't until the guards kneeled in front of Jade that Cat's thoughts ceased. Vanished. The ebony man bowed briefly before placing his hand on Jade's upper back, ushering her to the carriage.
Cat couldn't help herself. So many questions tore at her conscious. Cat's window flew open, the girl leaning over the wooden ledge recklessly.
"Jade!" Cat yelled anxiously after the girl. She wanted answers – needed them.
Jade didn't want to face the girl. She wanted to tell her exactly why she seemingly disappeared, but not like this. Definitely not this way. Jade stood in front of the carriage's open door as guards moved about. Two of them came from the back of the carriage, allowing Jade to remove her own hooded cloak despite the guards typically doing it for her, only for them to replace the garment with another that instead embellished a large crest that matched the one on the carriage. She was once again motioned to enter the carriage, though before she ducked her head under, Jade looked over her shoulder once more, the sight almost crushing her. She held Cat's gaze just before the guards pushed her head down for her and forced her inside.
Cat didn't know whether she was still sleeping as she was before Jade had arrived to disrupt her entire morning. She must've been. Because, for some reason, Jade was a royal now.
A/N: Tori will be in the next chapter. And don't worry, it's a Jori endgame. Hope you enjoyed. R&R
P.S: history buffs, you will have to bear with me - things must be changed for the sake of fanfiction.