Hey guys! So first off, I am so sorry for leaving you hanging after only one chapter but I had this huge problem called "Lack of inspiration"... And this week at school during a free period I suddenly had a rush of inspiration so I started to write and I finished the chapter in 3 days! I apologise for any mistake I made, but I hope you like it anyway. Then another thing, I made a reference to one of the Hamilton songs and I'm curious about how found it! Please read it and give me feedback! Love you all and sorry for the cliffhanger :P
The next morning Jessica woke up even more exhausted than she was the day before. She slowly sat up in bed, processing everything that had happened yesterday to make sure it really happened. When she knew it was real, she rubbed the sides of her face, sighing loudly. She rose and walked to the closet to put on her usual maid's clothes on, just like yesterday. She did her hair in a cute ponytail and then cleaned her face. She splashed some extra cold water in her face and on her wrists to fully wake up. This was one of her slower days and that meant she couldn't eat any breakfast which she hates since that would mean that her first food would be around three o'clock so she ate a quick apple and rushed to the castle.
It took her a full 10 minutes to get there. Normally she would have walked it in 5 but she was really worn out. And every so many steps one of the normal maids would stop her and ask a question since she still was their supervisor. She quickly answered the question and continued to get to Allanon, getting more and more frustrated by every person talking to her. When she arrived, she could see Allanon waiting for her, when he saw her he signalled her to come to his side. Internally Jessica was already sulking since he would probably scold her for being late, what a great start of the first day as his personal maid. But Jessica still walked over to Allanon and put on a fake smile, even though she knew he saw straight through it. "You are late and you look like you haven't slept at all. Be late once again and you can count on being excused from this job." What a prick she thought but she could stop herself just in time from saying that. "I know and I'm sorry. I indeed didn't sleep much. It won't happen again. Is there anything I can do for you now?"
Allanon thought for a second, a plan forming in his mind, to test how far she would go for him. It was ridiculous and almost impossible for her to do but he would have a good laugh and that was what he needed after everything that had happened and with the new looming threat. He nodded and motioned for Jessica to walk with him while he started to talk. "So, now you are my personal maid, you'll also run the errands I can't or don't want to do. And exactly today I've got one of those for you. I am supposed to find a certain flower but it only grows near Paranor. And since I have to help Wil today, I won't be able to grab that flower. That's why you will be the one going to get it for me." When he finished that sentence he gave Jessica a small smirk and walked away, leaving her behind, dumbstruck. He counted how long it took for her to regain her composure and run after him. When he reached the 13 seconds she was by his side again, a little slower than he expected but still good enough. He turned to her and she spoke "Are you serious?! You want me to travel for almost three-quarters of the day just to get a flower for you? What about my other responsibilities? Why can't you just get it yourself?" When she said that last sentence she knew she was too blunt and put a hand in front of her mouth "I'm sorry. I suppose you have a good reason to not be able to get it yourself." He admired how forward she could be and how she could suddenly turn and be completely quiet and shy.
He thought for a second before answering her "I would love to travel to Paranor to get the flower but Wil and I have to discuss some things about Bandon." When he said that name he saw Jessica's eyes grow big with fright. "Are you alright? You seem like you saw a ghost. Don't worry, Bandon can't get in the palace plus if he would, he would come after either Wil or me, so you are safe, really." He saw her face turn a bit sour and then back to normal, but if he had observed more closely, he would've seen the fright that was still present. He continued, "Some scouts saw him near Graymark so Wil wanted to discuss what he could be up to. Thus, you will have to get that flower for me and as my personal maid, you can't say no to this."
Jessica almost had to laugh at the naivety of Allanon, thinking Bandon wouldn't get into the palace, nor get to her. Both of these things he had already done twice and Allanon hadn't even noticed it. But she couldn't tell him without risking everyone's life so she just played along. She acted like what he said, made her feel safe and she agreed to get the flower. She knew it would take her at least a whole day, she would have to stop when the sun would set, it is too dangerous to travel in the dark. This would take her a total of almost 6 hours of doing nothing. She was worried about the other maids she left behind, thinking about all the questions she already got in those 10 minutes to the castle. But she still went to get the flower and she has been travelling to Paranor for almost 2 hours now. So far she hadn't encountered anything yet but she was still fearing to come across something she can't handle.
She was walking in a part of the forest that was more secluded, knowing the Humans wouldn't come here. As she entered a clearing she felt a shiver running down her spine, this was her signal to watch out. She swiftly turned around, automatically reaching into her pocket to grab the knife she hid there. In front of her stood two Humans, two men. They were nothing like Eretreia, she had an air of somewhat elegance around her, these two looked like they just stepped out of Forbidding. They looked at each other, grinning "Look what we got here! It's an elf, travelling through the forest all alone. What a pity if something were to be happening to her. Let's accompany her so nothing will happen." said the left one. "But Carl, what if she doesn't want us to come with her? What if she can perfectly fend for herself?" Said the right one to the left, apparently called Carl. Jessica knew this was trouble and held the knife tightly in her pocket as she took a step back. "Well, Charles, then we would have to force her to come with us. I wouldn't like it to see her all alone here so she will have to come with us anyway, willingly or not."
They walked over to her and Jessica pulled out her knife "Don't come any closer! I-I can easily navigate here alone!" The two guys started to chuckles and both came close to her so she tried to swing the knife at Carl but he easily dodged and this gave Charles the opportunity to get behind her and grab her arms. In a reflex, she tried to gut him but it failed and he hit the knife out of her hand. "What are you going to do now, hmm? Being all hostile like this, I think we should teach you a lesson, right Carl?" Carl stepped closer and stopped right in front of her "Yes, most definitely." He started to grin devilish. Jessica, on the other hand, was terrified and took her last chance, she kicked forward, right in Carl's crotch and then did the same to Charles standing behind her. He quickly released her as they both dropped to their knees and she took this opportunity to make a run for it.
After running for 10 minutes straight she reached a small river. She took this moment to catch her breath and drink something. She sat down at the side of the river and held her bottle in the water. Suddenly she heard some rustling behind her and sprung up again. In her haste of running away, she left her knife behind so she had no way of defending herself now. She slowly and silently walked over to the spot where the rustling came from, only to see a deer gracefully standing between a few trees. She sighed and turned to go back to the river once again, unfortunately for her, when she turned around she stood face to face with Carl and Charles. It was too late to run away and they grabbed her once again, throwing her roughly on the ground. She turned to crawl away but they pulled her back, towering above her. "There you are, little bird. It makes no sense to run away, we will find you again. And after what you did, this won't be pleasant for you at all…" Charles pulled out a knife, her knife, and held threateningly close to her neck, pushing her to stand up again. "Cat's got your tongue? This will be more fun for us if we could hear you though." Jessica meanwhile looked around frantically to find any way of getting out of her situation, but this time there was none.
A tear ran down her cheek and she looked straight ahead, not giving them the pleasure of looking at them. Charles' patience was running low and when he once again said something to her to which she didn't answer he was done. He raised the knife and cut her cheek. "How do you like that? Does it hurt? Good." he said when she gasped and brought her hands to her cheek. Carl stepped in between and turned to Charles, "Charles, be careful, you don't know who she is, we could get into serious problems." "Oh shut up! She is a nobody, don't you see? Why else would she be walking here all alone?" Charles pushed Carl out of the way and just when he wanted to stab Jessica, who tried to move away during their conversation, he got hit by some force and was sent back, hitting his back against a tree. "Shit that hurts... Carl help me up!" As Carl walked over to Charles, Jessica looked around, searching for the source of the power that saved her life.
When she found it, she got really surprised. "You…" Before she could finish her sentence Charles yelled "Who are you and what are you doing here?! Don't interfere with us or you won't survive this, and neither will she!" He pointed at Jessica but when she looked at him she could clearly see his arm and hand, shaking. Charles whispered something to Carl and the next thing happening was Carl who picked up the knife and threw it right at Jessica. She could see Carl was frightened and didn't want to do it but Charles had too much influence on him. Jessica stood there, frozen, watching the knife coming closer and closer. Right before it hit her another gush of power came and the knife turned around, going straight back for Carl. He, on the other hand, did react and duck just in time.
Jessica could hear Charles curse and get up. He once again grabbed the knife and pulled Carl up as well. Carl quickly ran to the source of their defeat and kept it occupied. Meanwhile, Charles came after Jessica. She ran away but tripped over a branch, Charles took this opportunity to grab her from behind and he quickly held the knife against her throat. "Hey, you! You let us go now and we won't kill this girl! So stay there!" Carl and Charles slowly backed away, still holding Jessica and the knife. Once they reached the edge of the forest again, Charles let her go and pushed her away, going back into the forest with Carl. Jessica fell on her knees and rubbed her throat. "Thank you… If you didn't come I wouldn't have survived this…" she stood up and dusted off her clothes. She walked towards where the knife was lying on the ground and picked it up, putting it back in her pocket. She walked towards the man who saved her, carefully. "Thank you", she said again and gave a small smile.
