Continuing on with the story…

I'm starting to be curious…why have I not gotten any reviews all of a sudden? They all just seemed to stop at chapter seven.

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My clicking needles were the only sounds in the house with the exception of the fire snapping fiercely and the logs shifting into a fiery blaze that sent renewed heat throughout the room.

If Gramma could have ever taken a long time, this was the longest.

I sat stiffly on the settee that had been shifted back into place, and tried to regain the calming effect that knitting usually had on me, but I couldn't relax. The only way that I could have relaxed was if I was in Jack's arms being held tight, but he was on a separate chair looking from the fire to the door, expecting someone to slide down the chimney or burst through the door.

The clicking settled into a rapid even pattern as my mind slowly lost its edge, and I had started to accept that Joseph wasn't going to come barging in when the door opened, again, making Jack jump up and me drop the stitch majorly.

"Ah, Genny, I've news for you…Jack? What the devil are you doing over here?" she demanded furiously, dropping her bags on the floor, crossing her arms.

I sank back into the couch; hand over my heart as though to slow its crazed pounding.

"Go on, get back home!" she said to Jack, who scooted out the door, shooting an apologetic look to me as though to say that he would have stayed but…

"And you, miss!" she swooped down on me as soon as the door shut behind Jack "What are you doing disobeying my instructions, especially with your hair so dark!"

I looked up to her and opened my mouth, but she spoke for me, imitating my voice.

"Oh, I couldn't be rude and ignore him!" and then switched to her normal voice "Well Madame, you'll be put back into line when you hear the bit of news I have!

"The Royal Army's starting out a search yet again, this time in our neck of the woods, and you'd better pray that they come after your hair's been changed red!"

I remained silent, and she stomped off to the kitchen, putting away the things she bought, and then came back, finding me sitting the same way she left me.

"Genny…what's the matter? I didn't mean to be so harsh...it's just that I'm worried about you! You're like my own girl!" she said, sitting next to me, engulfing me in a hug that wasn't nearly as satisfying as Jack's.

"You'll be ever so angry at me!" I sniffled, not wanting to have to face her wrath again.

"No, I promise I won't be angry…now tell Gramma what's wrong." She said, patting my back like a small child.

I stayed quiet for a while, and then broke the long silence, reluctantly telling her about Joseph handling me.

She said nothing, making me wonder if she was trying to think of something to say to me, but she eventually said softly "What was the reason he did this again, sweet?"

I forgot I hadn't explained him saying "I saw you with him" to me.

"Uh…last night…after you went inside…um…Jack and I sort of…kissed?" I ended it like a question, and I could tell she was shaking her head.

"Did you consent, or are there two boys that need a neck wringing?"

"No!" I cried, jerking my head off her shoulder. "I…allowed it…" I finished slowly.

"And you liked it?"

I nodded my head ashamed that I had been involved in something so shameful.

"I told you."

"Told me what?" I asked, confused as to why she was sitting back and sighing.

"That you'd love him. Not yesterday I said it, and today you're telling me that you allowed him to kiss you, and I'm betting it wasn't none too gentlemanly on the hand either."

I flushed a deep red, and she continued on "See, Genny, the Royals are suspicious of us already, and if they get new word, they're come marching over to investigate us all, and they'll find you, breaking your poor innocent heart into a thousand pieces when they take you back."

"They can't…I'll hide when they come. Run away. Anything to get away." I said, and she shook her head.

"Genny, I love you like my own, but my own you aren't, no matter how much you or I wish it were true. You're the Crown Princess, destined to rule over us all, even if they have to drag you fighting tooth and nail all the way back."

She got up and left me sitting there alone to think about what she had said.

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Another small chapter with no proofreading.

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