Chapter 2: Nathaniel

Here is Chapter 2! Something I would like to say in this little Author's note is that during this story I will be including sexually related scenes, hence why I've given this story a M rating. Personally I feel that the characters are at an age where if relationships advanced enough these acts would eventually occur. For those of you that dislike this, I can understand where your coming from and will provide a warning at the beginning of any chapter that contains sexual references and acts. Also for those of you that dislike this but decide to read anyway I would like to promise you that I will give these characters the full respect they deserve. These characters and their stories were part of my childhood and I definitely don't want to see them depicted in pornographic scenarios. But anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy Chapter 2!

The man thought to be Dain stared at Jasmine's dagger in fright. After some time of him just staring, Jasmine started to get annoyed.

"I asked you a question Dain, or did Lief only kill your hearing?" She sniped. Finally the man began to show some signs of acknowledgment. He turned to face Jasmine and took a step towards her.

Jasmine made her dagger more prominent, freezing the man in his tracks. Again. "Don't take another step Dain." She warned.

"But... my name isn't Dain." The man replied, finally. Jasmine scoffed, insulted by this Ol's attempt to fool her.

"Listen here, 'not Dain', I may be wild but I'm not stupid." Jasmine told the man. "Now I won't ask again, how did you survive Lief's attack?"

"And I won't tell you again, my name isn't Dain." The man responded, confidently. Jasmine considered what the man had said before continuing her interrogation.

"Well you certainly look and sound like Dain, meaning you must be some form of Ol."

When the man heard what Jasmine had said he let out a long laugh. Jasmine's temper returned, worst than ever. "What so funny!?" She demanded.

The man finished laughing and, seeing Jasmine in such a furious state took pity on her.

"I can't be an Ol because they were banished from Deltora once King Lief was crowned as King. Any Ol who dares step foot into Deltora now will turn into a pile of ash in a blink of an eye." The man explained.

Jasmine thought about what the man had said. It was true that even after Lief had put on the belt, the Ols present in Deltora didn't vanish until Lief was properly crowned.

"If you still don't believe me, let me take you to the small hut I've been living in for the last year. It's just on the outskirts of Del."

Jasmine considered this before placing her dagger back into it's hilt and nodded at the man. The man smiled in return and began to lead the way. While the man wasn't looking, Jasmine placed her lips close to Kree's ear.

"Kree, I want you to fly ahead, just in case this guy still ends up being trouble." She whispered. Kree squawked in acknowledgement and took off to the sky. Jasmine then began to follow the man, at a safe distance, towards his so called hut.

By the time Jasmine and the man reached his hut, there was almost no light left in the sky. The man stopped outside his door and turned around to look at Jasmine.

"Home, sweet, home." He chimed. Jasmine stubbornly ignored him and continued on inside.

The hut wasn't very much, it only had a kitchen, dining area and two doors which appeared to lead into a bathroom and bedroom. "Do you believe I'm not an Ol now?" The man asked. Jasmine reluctantly nodded her head.

"It still doesn't explain why you look like the one I know." She added, sharply.

"I'm not sure either, but maybe I can tell you a bit about myself." The man suggested. Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Go ahead." She said, exasperatedly. The man walked over to his dining table and took a seat. He offered another one to Jasmine who decided to take it.

"My name isn't Dain but Nathaniel." He began. "I am from Toran decent, as you can probably tell from the blue hair, but very early in my life my parents decided to leave the boundaries of Tora and experience the rest of Deltora."

Yes, that does explain his looks, but not how he ended up here. Jasmine continued to stare at Nathaniel, expecting him to continue.

"Once the Shadow Lord took over Deltora, my parents chose to never return to Tora, due to the broken oath the Toran's had committed." Nathaniel paused. He lifted his gaze from Jasmine and bowed his head to the floor. Jasmine's temper began to ease and she surprisingly started to feel sorry for him.

"However, the broken oath managed to get my parents in another way. One night, the village we were staying in was raided by pirates. I was very young and couldn't do much. My father told me to hide from them so I did." Nathaniel's voice softened as he recounted his awful memory. "My parents were killed that night. Ever since I've been looking out for myself more or less."

Wow... his parents were taken from him when he was young also... he too had to grow up by himself... just like me. Nathaniel continued his life's story.

"Six months before the end of the Shadow Lord's tyranny I decided to move to Del because I thought it'd be a safer place to live, but how wrong I was." Nathaniel finished.

He moved his gaze back to Jasmine, the anger she had felt before had completely drained from her system. Now she only felt sympathy for Nathaniel.

"I'm so sorry Nathaniel. It's just you looked exactly like the Ol that betrayed us, I should of never assumed you were him or another Ol." Jasmine apologised. Nathaniel shrugged and a small smile returned to his face.

"It's ok. Maybe this Dain Ol or whatever he was, saw me as a perfect person to copy. I did live in Ol territory for almost all my life." Nathaniel reasoned.

"Yeah. Maybe." Jasmine agreed.

Silence between the two of them was broken by Kree's squawking. "Yes Kree I understand." Jasmine acknowledged.

"You can speak to birds?" Nathaniel asked, bewildered.

"Not just birds, other animals too. And trees." Jasmine explained.

"That's pretty cool you know." Nathaniel told her.

Jasmine felt a rush of heat flow to her face and turned away just in time to hide her blush. Why are you blushing? It was only a compliment.

"So what did, Kree, have to say?" Nathaniel asked. Jasmine looked back at him and quickly answered.

"Oh he was just letting me know that I should be going, seeing as it's already quite late." A mixture of sadness and disappointment fell across Nathaniel's face.

"Oh. Ok." He said.

"Yeah." Jasmine replied. For some strange reason, Jasmine didn't fell like leaving. But she had to, Lady Sharn and the palace guards would be starting to get worried. "Well, it was really nice meeting you Nathaniel." Jasmine said, getting up and motioning towards the door. Just as she was about to leave Nathaniel called out to her.

"Wait Jasmine!" He called. Jasmine stopped in her tracks and turned back to him. "Would you like to meet up tomorrow?" He asked. Jasmine's mouth fell open, shocked.

"You want to meet?" She asked back. A blush ran across Nathaniel's face and he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go down to the Del beach with me. You see since moving here I haven't really made any friends. Your the first person I've talked too in a long time." Nathaniel explained.

Jasmine took in this information and thought about her response. Go down to the beach with him? I guess it wouldn't be that bad of a thing, after all it's the least I can do after accusing him of being an Ol.

Jasmine began to answer but Nathaniel, trying to cover his tracks, told her she didn't have to if she didn't want to.

"No no Nathaniel. I'd be happy to go to the beach with you tomorrow." She reassured him, smiling. A large smile appeared on Nathaniel's face.

"Great. How about midday?" He asked.

"Sounds good to me." Jasmine agreed. Nathaniel nodded.

"I'll see you there then." He said. "Good bye, Jasmine." He added.

"Good bye, Nathaniel." Jasmine replied before Nathaniel's happy face disappeared behind his closed door.

Jasmine didn't know how or why but she felt so much happier than she had at the start of the day, but she just did.

"C'mon Kree. Let's get back to the palace." She said before beginning her walk.

Lady Sharn was pacing inside the great hall of the palace. She was worried about Jasmine, who hadn't returned from her journey during the day. She didn't like the fact that Jinks was the last person who had seen her, as he wasn't being very forthcoming with details.

You should've been back hours ago Jasmine. Oh please be okay. As if her thoughts were a silent wish, Jasmine entered the great hall.

"Jasmine you're alright." Sharn exclaimed, running up to Jasmine and giving her a hug.

"Yes Lady Sharn, I'm fine. I just lost track of time that's all." Jasmine explained.

"As long as your safe darling." Sharn told her. Jasmine nodded in agreement. Before Jasmine could walk off to her room, Sharn began to tell her of some news. "I have received a note from Lief, asking me to tell you he'd like to meet tomorrow."

What? Lief wants to meet me tomorrow? Maybe he hasn't forgotten about me after all! Jasmine squealed with joy, on the inside.

"What time does he want to meet?" Jasmine asked.

"Midday." Sharn replied. Once again, Jasmine's mood dropped from high to low. Midday? Of all times he wants to meet at midday!?

Jasmine sighed. She'd said she was going to see Nathaniel at midday, and she wasn't going to break that plan.

"I'm sorry Lady Sharn but you'll have to inform Lief that I'm unavailable at that time." Jasmine stated sternly. Sharn looked a little shocked at what Jasmine had told her.

"May I ask what is it you're doing at midday tomorrow?" Sharn asked.

"I'm going down to the Del beaches with someone I met in the city today." Jasmine replied and to avoid further questions, turned around and hastily exited the great hall to find her room.

Sharn remained in the great hall, rooted to the spot. She couldn't believe what Jasmine had said. Afterwards however she let out a warm smile to no one in particular. Jasmine has made a new friend in the city. That's so good to hear, although I'm not sure how Lief will react to this.

No longer requiring to wait for Jasmine to return, Sharn exited the great hall in search of her own room for rest.

Jasmine lay awake, on her bed, in her room. She couldn't stop running the events of the day through her head. First finding out about Lief's search for a bride, then all the awful crying, meeting Nathaniel and assuming he was Dain and then learning that Lief finally wanted to meet with her.

The one thing she really couldn't stop thinking about though was the feelings she had when she was with Nathaniel. She couldn't explain it but it was almost as if she was attracted to him. But that was impossible as she'd only just met the guy.

"Maybe it's because of the preexisting feelings I had for Dain." She said out loud to no one in particular. "Yeah that must be the reason." She concluded.

But what about the way he thought about her. She'd noticed his nervous behaviour, red hot blush and the fact his big, purple eyes wouldn't leave hers alone.

Does Nathaniel maybe feel something for me...? Nah I'm just overlooking things, I'm a wild girl remember. Satisfied and having done enough thinking for the night, Jasmine rolled over, said her goodnights to Kree and Filli and fell into a peaceful sleep.

That's the end of Chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review if you wish, like I said I don't mind whether you do or don't. Thank you for reading and I'll see you all for Chapter 3!