Chapter 2

He said that they needed to stay at her home for the night, and then set off for safety in the morning. He didn't tell her anything more and that angered her, but not enough that she told him to leave. She didn't stop watching him all that night, even when he did the mundane things such as make the meal, she couldn't stop. There was just something in the way he moved that fascinated her; there was a glide to his walk and smoothness to his movements. The worst thing to her was his eyes. She thought they were normal, but when he looked at her there seemed to be something in them, not sadness or happiness but something she couldn't place.

"You have not told me where you are taking me, sir" Although she tried to hide it, her voice seemed to put a lot of influence on the last word. He was prodding at the fire when she spoke, and as she did he stopped and turned to her. There was some kind of glare in his face, like she should not have asked the question. She flinched as he turned and tried to walk off but he put his hand on her knee. She looked at it, and as he took it back, he seemed to hesitate.

"My name is Jaq." His smile seemed to fail, as if he meant to seem happy but then remembered something sad. He turned back to the fire and went back to silence, making her even more confused as to why he would not answer any of her questions. She sighed and walked into her home.

For some reason she had forgotten how much of a mess it was. The clothes all over the floor and on some of the furniture made the room look so much smaller. She had no perception of time but just as she was finishing packing them into her satchel, Jaq appeared at the door. He held two bowls in his hands, the steam coming off them smelt good to her as she realised that she had not eaten all day.

"Come in, I was just preparing for the journey tomorrow. I did not know what I should pack, so I put everything I could find in. Is that enough?" He nodded as he made his way to the table. She followed him over and sat opposite, gladly eating what was in front of her. She kept glancing up, only to be met by the top of his head. She was dieing to talk to him, but for a strange reason she could not bring herself to talk. Thank fully he did it for her.

"My home, we are going to my home. It is the only place protected enough for you." He didn't look up until he finished talking. When he did he looked her straight in the eye, the blue seeming endlessly deep. Until he smiled, and when he did it seemed to be a shock back to reality. The more he withheld from her the more she suspected him. There was something off about him to her, every time he smiled it seemed false to her. The idea of him lying hurt her and it sunk in deep, but the realisation of it confused her even more. Why am I thinking like this? You have known him for a day and yet you dread the thought of him going, and of him lying. The more she went over it in her head, the more she thought she felt something for him. Then he looked at her, right into her eyes. The world seemed to fall away and her breath caught.

"You seem to be staring at me Aviana" There seemed to be some sort of embarrassment in his voice as he spoke, and as he did the lilt in his voice became more pronounced when he said her name. "Which bring me to a small wonderment, why do you share the name of a poison?"

"My Mother found me in a field full of them. My parents could not bear children and when they found me as an infant they took it as a blessing. They told me on the eve of my tenth year, but I always felt different." She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to avoid his eyes as he took the bowls away.

"I bet it was your hair, such vibrancy is not natural." He smiled as he spoke, showing her without a doubt that he meant it as a compliment. The blood flushed straight to her cheeks. No one had ever said such things to her, everyone except her father before he left. Not knowing what to say, she simply sat there too shaken to utter a word.

Being sat in silence began to irritate Jaq, so much so that he eventually took a risk and asked Aviana of her past.

"For the sake of my own curiosity, why is there no man in your life? It just seems that all this space is a bit much for only one person." He sat back in front of her and watched her every move, not blinking at her and keeping his face perfectly straight.

She began to feel uncomfortable under his constant stare, but even as she walked outside to the cliff edge, followed her and once again never stopped watching her. When she came to rest at the edge and curl her arms round her knees as she drew them against her, she let her head drop onto them as she let out a sigh. She could not seem to make sense of the past day. Even more so why there was a man she had never seen before suddenly knowing everything about her. When she wondered about how much he knew about her, she was on the brink of asking about her father when she felt a blanket fall around her shoulders.

As she looked up she was greeted by a warm smile which made his eyes glow in the fading light. "Thank you." She smiled back at him as warmly as she could whilst wondering if her green eyes looked as beautiful as his did.

"Aviana, I have a confession to make. Your father wasn't a General in the Army, he was a Dragonrider." She stared at him with no sign of recognition on her face, it was then the Jaq thought it best to carry on. "He was known as The Great Shadeslayer, amongst other things of course. But he was the one who brought them back, him and Saphira his dragon. After the riders had been gone for hundreds of years, he was given an egg and it hatched. He was their saviour, and he lived an unnaturally long but amazing life with the woman of his dreams. But he died. Before his death Arya, his wife, had given birth and to a beautiful girl with hair like the sun which was not surprising considering her elf and rider lineage. It is unsure if he knew of his daughter but after his tragic end, Arya was consumed in sadness and gave the child to a trusted friend who gave the child to a family far away from anything that could cause her to re-join the battle her parents fought. They had enemies and she wished for her daughter to be away from all that and to live a happy normal life." He paused and looked at her as she shivered in the breeze of the coming winter. "The child was you."

As his tale came to an end, tears began to form in her eyes. She never thought of herself having a history as important as this, but even though she now knew everything she still wondered about one small thing.

"What does this mean for me?" She dare not look at him from fear of what he would say. "Is this why you are here?" He nodded. "So where do we go from here? I think it is time that I know. Please." Just as he was about to answer her, after giving it a long moments thought, she whispered to herself. "I just don't want to be away from you."

So taken back by what she had said he decided ignore it, even though it means so much to him that he was important to this wonderful woman. When he began to talk the voice never came. Instead he put his arms around her and brought her body next to his. He wondered if his actions were either appropriate or wanted, but his worries were soon put to rest by a small sigh and the feeling of her body relaxing against his chest.

Without realisation he bent his face into the fire that was her luscious hair. But he did not stop there, instead his lips met with her head and it was there that they froze, frozen with fear of her reaction. As if in a dream she lifted her head and their eyes locked. For endless moments they seemed transfixed in their own little world until his eyes drifted to the full pink lips of her which were almost whispering to him.

"Jaq. I don't know what it is like to be in love. I don't know what it means when I am excited by a touch, or by a voice. I don't know what it means to be kissed or even held tightly. I don't know if it means that I am in love." Her voice never changed to a subtle whisper, but she could have been silent for Jaq knew everything that she felt spoke of for he could feel it too, holding her in his arms and feeling her rise and fall with her breathing. Even her eyes staring back at him sent shivers through his body. What she spoke of seemed to be pure and very much heart felt, which made him happy as he looked closer into her eyes and saw that there was no evidence of a lie. As his mind raced with thoughts of her she leant back onto her knees and looked wistfully into the lake below, regret seemingly etched onto her features. "I should not have said anything. I don't know what I speak of. I apologies Jaq, please forgive me."

He slowly moved onto his knees and knelt in front of her. A sudden spark flew up his arms as he reached for her. When his fingers met with her porcelain skin they trembled and her eyes fluttered from the heat of his skin. His hand slid to hold her neck with his thumb on her cheek, stroking it softly barely touching the surface. She leant forward, her hands against is chest feeling the rise and fall of it as his blood rushed through his veins as if on fire and his breathing slowed. A shiver ran down her spine as his lips brushed over hers, barely touching them but even feeling his shaky breath sent shivers through her body. Trembling he pressed his lips onto hers and in the moment she froze. Yet her fear did not last long as his arms wrapped round her body pulling her into his and tangling his fingers into the silky waves of her hair. The more he held her the more she yielded to his touch and her lips followed his pull as she weakened as she felt the heat from his body. The kiss grew in passion with every second with the fire in their veins burning as she longed to be held tighter and he gladly abided to her desire for him. They became so lost in each other's embrace that they fell to the ground with him still holding her tightly with no sign of ever letting her go.