Victoria Vega is a fairy and she is next line for her Kingdom's throne, as soon as she gets married, but before her wedding someone tries to kill her and she's sent away with a body guard, Jadelyn West, until the hit is called off. When Tori finally returns will she be able to go through with the wedding or will someone else steal her heart?
After two day's had passed and Jade could hardly stay conscious for longer than five minute intervals, she still refused to tell Tori exactly what happened. Tori couldn't take it anymore, Jade wasn't getting any better and she had no clue what to do. So she started packing up food and clothing, and at the last minute grabbed two of Jade's throwing daggers and her sword. Hiding be damned she was getting them some help.
Her eyes turned to Jade's sleeping form. If she left Jade here, would the girl come after her in her weakened state? She made her choice. She packed up more clothes and pulled her cloak around her shoulders. After she readied Midnight and she carefully carried Jade out to the horse. Of course she had no clue how far away Trace really was, but she would find it, and an Inn and she would get help.
Trace was about half a day's journey from the cabin, and as she got closer she focused her energy on her appearance. Her hair fell in golden locks around her paler face and her eyes turned green. She looked bizarre to say the least, but she didn't look like herself and that was the point. She entered the city and rode straight to the large building with the sign 'Inn' hanging in front of it beside a green and gold flag, the flag of Trace.
Jade started to wake as she slowed Midnight to a steady walk as they entered the town, "Tori?"
"Shush, just stay awake, okay?" Jade nodded, seeming completely confused. Tori helped her down and swung herself off the saddle just as a teenager with dark brown hair and dark eyes came around from the back, offering to take Midnight to the stables. Tori gave him three gold pieces and then hooked her arm around Jade's back just in time to stop her from collapsing.
There weren't too many people inside, and the Inn Keeper didn't question Jade's state of semi-consciousness, she simply helped Tori carry her up the stairs to their room, "I'd like to request nobody enters without knocking, and if there is no answer not to come in." Tori said, passing over four gold coins. The woman nodded and disappeared. Jade was once again unconscious on the bed, sweating profusely.
Tori walked over and rolled up the hem of Jade's shirt, checking the wound on her guard's stomach that hadn't started healing. She cleaned it out and carefully bandaged it up before cleaning the cuts on Jade's face and the large gash over her thigh before tucking her into the bed.
Once she was sure Jade was covered adequately she perched herself in the window of the room, much like Jade had done before, and she stared out over the Kingdom of Trace. Once upon a time Jade had been the Princess of this town, and once upon a time this had been a fine place to live. But this place looked as rough and tumble as Pythos, and in the distance the castle, though well preserved, seemed to be more terrifying than any castle should, the large fence made of black iron with terrifying spikes loomed over the town and the plethora of houses between the bustling market and the castle, scaring even Tori.
After double checking on Jade the next morning Tori wandered down to the Inn's lobby. There weren't too many people inside, but the Inn Keeper was behind the bar drying out a glass, "good morning, Miss." Tori greeted. The Inn keeper gave her a tired smile, "I was wondering where I might find a healer."
"Well you can try looking for Sikowitz, but not too many people know where the bumbling drunk is now-a-days, but he was once the healer of the Royal family of Trace. But take care when going out, Trace was once a safe place, but now you may not survive to make it back, especially not if your asking about Sikowitz." Tori nodded.
"What happened to this place?" Tori asked, whispering as her eyes flickered to the man at a table in the corner.
"The Kingdom was overthrown by the Oli-." Her eyes flicker to the man in the corner nervously, "I've said too much. Find Sikowitz, I will keep an eye out for your companion, check the tavern." Tori nodded, not needing to be told twice, she scurried outside. It was cold and she pulled her cloak around her tighter, searching for the tavern for fifteen minutes before she stumbled upon it. Sighing and happy to be out of the cold she stiffened her spine and pushed the door open. A few people turned to look at her as she moved past them to the bar.
"What can I get ya?" the man behind the bar asked.
"I'm looking for someone named Sikowitz. Used to be a healer?" Tori said. The man gave her a blank stare, she flip a coin onto the bar top. The man told her to check the tavern closer to the castle, and with a scowl Tori left, feet crunching across the ice on the ground.
Her boots suddenly didn't feel thick enough and the cloak wasn't keeping the cold out, it seemed to be getting wet. She paused and looked down at the green fabric. There was snow falling from the sky, melting against her body heat. She caught a drifting flake on her finger and it melted.
The first snow, my birthday is closer now than ever. She quickened her pace, slipping into the other tavern. This one seemed to be emptier, and the man behind the bar looked more menacing than at the other tavern. He was slim with large tired eyes and tan skin, "what can I help you with?"
"I was told I could find someone here." She glanced around, stepping closer to him, "A healer called Sikowitz." The man nodded slowly and pointed to a corner. There was a man lying on a table, his thin hair sticking up in random directions. He was snoring softly. With a frown she passed the man a coin, even though he didn't ask for it, and then walked over to the table, nudging the chair with her boot hard enough to move it back an inch. It was enough to wake him.
"What's going on? Closing time already?" he blinked and looked up at her puzzled, "well you're not the bar keep."
"No, I'm not. I need your help. Come on."
"Can't you see I'm sleeping, gotta keep up my energy for when I'm out on the streets." Tori turned to the bar keep confused.
"He lives on the streets, sleeps here during the day." The man explained. Tori pursed her lips in frustration.
"Well I need your help, I'll give you a place to stay tonight-just help me." Sikowitz lifted his head, looking at her with an annoyed expression, ready to fight her back. She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.
"Since it's obvious you're not going to give up, fine." He stood and followed her without a word through the cold to the Inn. Tori led him silently up to her room. Jade was still asleep on the bed, and it seemed she hadn't moved since Tori left, "What happened to her?" Sikowitz asked.
"We were at a tavern, and there was someone she was looking for, she made me leave and then the next morning she stumbles in a bloody mess. She doesn't stay awake for more than five minutes and it's now been three days." Tori was proud of her lie, and happy he bought it-or at least didn't question it. Sikowitz sighed and crossed over to Jade, he knelt beside her and lifted her shirt to see her stomach wound.
"I will need to get a few supplies, stay here, I will be back when I can." So Tori waited, she sat in the other bed and watched over Jade the best she could. While she was awake Tori practiced moves with the sword from the book. She learned how the metal object felt as it sliced through the air and how if she twisted her arm too far her wrist hurt and if she struck something wrong it jammed her wrist.
Jade was still out when Sikowitz returned with whatever it was he needed two days later. He knelt beside her bed and lifted her shirt again. He peeled the bandage off, cleaned the wound with water and applied a sticky paste to the wound. He held his hand over her stomach palm down with his eyes closed.
There was a soft blue glow and then nothing. Jade didn't wake up or twitch, but the healer stood and pulled her shirt back into place, "so I was promised a place to sleep?" Tori nodded and motioned to the bed beside Jade's. He crawled right into it, and was snoring in fifteen minutes. Tori sat down on the floor by the door, she watched Jade's chest rise and fall in a steady pattern as the moon rose high in sky, casting its white glow into the room.
She gently rubbed her necklace between her fingers, recalling a time when she'd sit on her bed and watch the moon with her sister softly snoring on the other bed. Her father would often come in during those times with milk and a treat, sitting and telling her stories about the Fairy Goddess of the moon.
It was said she was a marvelous warrior with brown hair and fine pale skin, she was the protector of the innocent, and would watch over them at night when they needed her protection the most. The story usually helped her drift off to sleep, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was also because of the warm milk. None the less, the thoughts eventually helped her drift to sleep, leaning against the door.
When she woke up she was lying in a bed, not in the cramped ball she remembered falling asleep in by the door. The snoring was gone and she heard someone walking around, cracking her eyes open she stared at the door. That meant she was lying in Jade's bed.
She sat up quickly, scanning the room until she found Jade by the changing screen. She jumped out of the bed and rushed at Jade, catching her off guard as she threw her arms around the shorter girl, hugging her tightly, "Jade! You're better! I was so worried about you." Jade returned the hug, holding Tori in the air against her for a few minutes before setting her down, cheeks red.
"Yeah, thanks." Jade mumbled her gaze turning to Sikowitz who was grinning at the pair from his perch in the window. Jade stuck her tongue out at him childishly and he laughed, holding his stomach as his eyes crinkled at the edges.
"Same childish behavior I remember you so fondly for, Princess." Jade smiled, this one reaching into her eyes and making the glamour flicker long enough that her green eyes sparkled with innocent joy before the cold blue returned and she turned her eyes to the ground, "you have the medicine, so I bid you goodbye, Princesses." He bowed deeply before the two, his shirt tails scraping the ground.
"Goodbye, Erwin." Jade said, seeming to fight within herself to reach out to him. He nodded slowly and straightened, leaving without another word. Tori's stomach twisted when she saw the pain on Jade's face, but the pain quickly vanished behind her mask as Jade packed up their things and dragged Tori down the stairs without a word. Tori paid for the use of their room and went to get Midnight from the stables.
When she returned with the horse Jade was standing immobile looking up at the castle, she didn't seem to notice Tori's approach, and Tori used the opportunity to study Jade. The girl's face seemed stony but her eyes were shinning with unshed tears. Tori reached forward and took Jade's hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. Jade squeezed Tori's hand back and laced her pale fingers through Tori's tan fingers, walking beside Midnight toward the gates of the Kingdom, turning for one more glance before the castle became invisible beyond the market.
She held Tori's hand until the sun started to sink beyond the horizon. They weren't close enough to town to keep moving so Jade led them off the path, she finally dropped Tori's hand when they found a small clearing. Using the blanket beneath Midnight's saddle she made a small makeshift bed, just big enough for the pair of them, at the base of the tree.
Tori sat nervously beside Jade who was writing away in a journal, she made sure to stare into the forest, fighting with all of her will power not to look at the words on the page. She was happy when Jade tucked the book away and leaned against the base of the tree, sighing.
"I'm sorry I brought you to Trace." Tori whispered, "I just thought I'd have better luck saving you there than in Pythos…"
Jade turned her head to Tori and searched her face, then she let her eyelids fall over her eyes and exhaled slowly, "You did the right thing, I might have died other wise. Thank you, Tori, for saving me." Tori searched for Jade's hand in the darkness and wrapped her fingers around Jade's hand when she finally found it, she squeezed once and Jade squeezed back, her head dropping gently on top of Tori's.
Tori's heart jumped in her chest, beating painfully against her rib cage as her heart caught in her throat. The smell of Jade's hair surrounded her; it smelled like mint and jasmine. She inhaled in what she hoped was a discrete way and leaned against Jade. It didn't take her long to fall asleep beside Jade; she found herself awake one moment and asleep the next.
The birds woke her sometime later; the sun was just peaking through the sky. Jade was stretched out beside her, one arm tucked between them the other over Tori's stomach, her body pressed close to the other girls. Tori smiled, pushing a piece of hair from Jade's forehead. She was content to just go back to sleep, but then she heard the boots. Her stomach dropped and she sat up quickly, searching for the sword, it was propped up beside the tree.
She elbowed Jade harshly in the ribs and pressed her hand over the dark haired girls mouth, she pointed to her ear, hoping Jade got the hint, and waited. The sound of boots reached her ears again and Jade snatched the sword up using it to point at the blanket and spun her finger through the air. Tori took it to mean 'pack up'. She did so quickly and quietly. She loaded the saddle bags, put the blanket back onto Midnight and fastened the saddle.
The boots got closer, and Tori soon made out more than two sets of boots. Soon three men had entered their small clearing. They were all dressed in armor with green and gold accents. The colors of Trace. "I knew we'd find them out here. Even drunks know what they're talking about sometimes." One said, the other two laughed, "Grab the Princess, I'll take care of her guard." He lunged forward, and the sound of metal clanging against metal made Tori cringe. The other two came at her.
They were big, but not as big as the guy going after Jade. Tori rationalized that she could try to take them on, but she'd get farther if she ran, because they wouldn't expect a fight from her. She glanced at Jade, fighting fiercely with the big guy and bolted deeper into the woods. She was glad she'd picked pants yesterday before they left, running in a dress would have been hard. Her heart beat in her throat and she felt like she'd swallowed an icicle sideways. The ground was iced over in some spots and soaked in others which made running very difficult.
Trees dropped snow the ground behind her her and icicles hung from their branches. Tori ran until the men were far enough away that she could stop and catch her breath, and then she climbed up into a tree, not sure she could fight after running so far and so fast. They ran past, assuming she'd continued on, and Tori exhaled softly, hoping they'd keep running. She, however, forgot one very important thing. The snow on the ground would show that she didn't actually go that way and when they figured it out they'd backtrack until they found her prints.
And they were a lot smarter than they looked.
"This is where her tracks stop." One of them said as he pointed to the snow beneath her feet. Tori cursed under her breath as she watched them, don't look up, don't look up. She chanted silently. But a bit of snow fell from the branch above her and fell right at their feet, they looked up and she was spotted.
"Well lookie what I found. A princess trapped in a tree." Her heart beat in her skull and she panicked, her hands shook. She was trapped, and there was nowhere for her to go but down, and if she went down they'd just grab her and carry her off. She stood no chance Unless…she looked down at them with fearful eyes as she played up the scared little girl act.
"Come on down now, we won't hurt you. You're worth a lot more alive." Tori slowly climbed to the ground where the bigger of the two grabbed her up and pulled her arms behind her back as his dagger pressed against her throat, "now walk."
Without so much as a whimper Tori started to walk forward, chin held high and eyes fixed on the space in front of her, she just had to wait for the perfect snow topped branch. When she spotted it she grinned and closed her eyes and focused on the energy inside of her until a vicious wind ripped through them and the snow and icicles flung from the branches. The man reacted quickly and dropped her to protect himself from the rain of icicles; Tori pitched herself forward and crawled past the tree as fast as possible on her hands and knees.
The other man had the same idea and grabbed her ankle to keep her from standing, she spun and kicked at his face, missing and instead making contact with his shoulder. It was a decent blow that made him drop his foot and she jumped up in time to stand her ground against the other guard who swung his large fists at her, one caught her cheek but she managed to block the other and catch his chin with a weak blow. He rubbed his chin and laughed, studying her before her threw a fake punch toward her face that she blocked, and then he swung up at her ribs. She stepped out of the way and brought her left hand out to push away his punch while she threw a punch with her right to his nose.
She felt the crunch beneath the numbness in her hands and blood rolled from his nose, he took a few surprised steps backward and Tori used the distraction to find the other guy, who was behind her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, so she grabbed his forearms and flipped him over her back, it hurt her neck but it worked. He landed with a gasp and she ran back toward where she thought Jade was. The bigger man caught up with her. He manipulated a tree to trip her with a root.
Her face scraped across a jagged patch of ice and burned enough to make tears roll from her eyes. She rolled onto her back as he slammed his foot into her rib cage in a painful blow, she grabbed his ankle, though, and curled around it, something that confused him. He tried to shake her off but she leaned in and bit his calf roughly until he tried to back away and fell. She let him go and got to her feet and hobbled away as quickly as she could.
She struggled to stay on her feet as she moved, she stopped often to use the trees to help her stay on her feet, or leaned against one to catch her breath. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, her face burned as the icy cold bit at her raw exposed flesh and she struggled to keep her mind focused on the only important thing, getting back to Jade.
Lucky for her, she heard the sound of metal against metal and stumbled into the clearing as Jade's sword plunged into the mans stomach. Tori grimaced and turned away, she heard the sound of a body fall against the ground. "Tori? Are you alright?" she turned her head slowly toward Jade and gave her a weak smile.
"Are they still coming?"
"I don't think so, or they might have caught me by now." Jade nodded and tucked her sword into its sheath.
"Can you walk?"
"Sure." Tori took a few nervous steps but breathing hurt more and more and she stumbled over some ice and landed on her knees, she cried out. Jade walked over silently and lifted Tori from the ground. Midnight followed Jade without instruction back to the cabin. When she got inside she had Tori sit on the edge of the bed, gathered the things from the saddle bag and left Midnight to find the way to the stables alone.
She set her bags on the floor and walked to the tub and filled it with warm water. Jade then grabbed a bucket to do the same. She kneeled in front of Tori and started to clean up the huge gash on her face from the ice. She pulled bits of dirt and rubble from the wound. Tori's fingers dug into the sheets on the bed and her eyes twisted in pain.
Jade worked slowly and was as gentle as she could be as she cleaned the cuts on Tori's throat, palms and knees. She brought in a handful of snow and forced Tori to hold it on her ribs for fifteen minutes before she carried Tori to the tub and set her in the warm water softly. Tori sighed in relief and Jade sat down with her back against the tub.
"Your face is bruised and bleeding, Jade." Tori whispered. Jade looked up at Tori and shrugged, "get me a towel so I can clean it up." Without a word Jade got the towel and handed it to Tori before she knelt beside the tub. Tori pulled her feet under her body in the water and leaned over the tub, gently wiping away dried blood until she found the wound, a small cut by her temple.
She rubbed the wet cloth over it slowly, watching the injury heel in a matter of seconds. She reached out and ran her thumb over the spot, eyes wide with wonder. Jade reached up and covered Tori's hand with her own, holding her soft palm against her cheek. Tori felt her heart beating against her rib cage and her cheeks got warm. Jade closed her eyes and rested her cheek against Tori's palm, not saying a word, and Tori just stared at the girl in front of her, completely baffled.
Jade suddenly pulled away and stood up, "I'm going to check on Midnight." She rushed out of the cabin, leaving Tori to stare after her. Five minutes later when Jade still hadn't returned Tori sunk under the water to soak her hair and slowly washed herself, grabbing a towel and stepping out of the water. She dried off and found a warmer gown, pulling it down over her head before she crawled into her bed, snuggling under the covers to keep warm.
Her mind drifted slowly from the fight to trying to get to the town and finally settled on the Inn Keepers odd behavior. "The Kingdom was overthrown by the Oli-." Who could they be? The Oleanders? Olivanders? Oliver? Oliver. She shot that idea down; surely the man she was meant to marry couldn't be part of the family that had taken down Trace. But could it be? Were they trying to take over Vallestia, too?
She shook the thought from her mind-it was ridiculous. She fell asleep before Jade returned, and didn't wake when the girl finally stomped back inside, shaking snow from her clothes. She changed without bathing into a similar dress and stood beside Tori's bed, looking down at the girl sleeping peacefully. The wound on her face was almost completely healed. Jade let her finger tips run over Tori's delicate face before she turned away and crawled into her own bed.