A/N - Hey everybody! Here's the next chapter. The stories almost finished, just a couple more chapters! Thanks for all the reviews!
Chapter 24
One Week Later…
"Leopold." his deep voice echoed throughout the room. She was awake in an instant. Pain swept through her body as she sat up with a bolt, surveying the room around her. She was in her room in the palace. Her body was sunk deep into the feather mattress that had been provided to ease the pain of her injuries. Her head started swarming with pain as if her brain itself was trying to escape it's chamber by beating constantly against the side of her head. She moaned and felt warm hands grab onto her shoulders and gently lay her down again. She knew those hands. Had constantly touched them against her will and felt comfortable with them around her. She knew that voice that was speaking to her, easing the pain away. She had talked to that voice many times and loved hearing the sound of it. That voice made her weak in the knees at times and made her filled with hatred at the harsh words that came from that voice. That voice had hurt her. Had made her feel horrible a hundred times over. Had taken the one thing she desired and crushed it into a million pieces. That voice had ruined whatever there would have been between the two. There was no way she could live with that voice without the memory. The hands belonged to the speaker. The hands that were presently clutching her own while praying to Mithros. She hated those hands…
Becoming fully conscious a few hours later she opened her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Eliza paced in front of the bed she lay in and Ace lay asleep on the large window seat. Aaron sat on a stool by the side of her bed clutching her hand while using his right arm as a pillow as he slept next to her. Leopold slowly sat up in bed and pulled her hand out of his grasp shuddering. He woke up immediately and smiled at her. She didn't show any emotion but just stared at him. Eliza was distracted by the movement out of the corner of her eye and stopped pacing. She smiled with joy at seeing her friend awake and ran to the other side of the bed before pulling her friend into a hug.
"Mithros I was so worried Leopold!" she said as tears started sliding down her face. Leopold wrapped her arms around her friend in acknowledgement but continued to stare at Aaron. Not with hatred or disgust but trying to understand why he was there. Hadn't they decided to go their separate ways or something along those lines. Hadn't he basically said she wasn't worth nobility. She wasn't worth going back. Eliza continued to cry and ramble on as Leopold finally looked away from Aaron and leaned her head on her friends comforting shoulder. At least there was someone she could depend on in the room. Leopold hoped her friend hadn't beaten herself up over what happened. Nothing that occurred the past week had been Eliza's fault in any way. Yet Eliza had felt a small part of it was her fault. If she hadn't taken Leopold to the Rogue that night and introduced her to Aaron none of this would have happened. Yet if she hadn't Leopold would have found a way to meet him. She had been planning on venturing into the city that day or the next to see in someone knew of the mysterious band of thieves that had attacked their caravan in the forest. It was just fate that she met Eliza who already knew the thief.
Ace was startled by Eliza's hysterias and awoke with a start. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room in a frantic panic. He breathed heavily when he saw Leopold sitting up in bed and watching him with a confused/humored look on her face. He smiled and stood while dusting off his clothes and clearing his throat. He winked and started walking towards Eliza's side of the bed attempting to rescue Leopold from her friends explanation of how distraught she had been. Ace pulled Eliza away but she continued to ramble on and the tears continued to fall as she was dragged from the room. "Let's go announce the good news to everyone else." Ace spoke soothingly to the girl, calming her down. He opened the door and led Eliza out with a wink towards Leopold, before closing the door behind them. You could hear Eliza's voice as they continued to walk farther and father away from the two left in the room.
Leopold suddenly became very interested in her comforter and started to arrange it around herself while clearly trying to ignore Aaron beside her. It was hard as his steady breaths continued beside her, never missing a beat and obviously stating the point that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. Leopold soon had to end her arrangement of her blankets as there was nothing else to do to them. She glanced at Aaron out of the corner of her eye. He was still sitting on the stool and leaning towards the bed with his hands folded around him chin, which rested gently on the edge of the bed. He looked like a child begging for candy or wanting a story told. He barely moved except for his steady breathing and continued to stare towards Leopold, almost entranced with her.
"What are you doing here?" Leopold whispered finally finding her voice to speak to him. He slowly raised his head and sat up straight while continuing to stare at her.
"Does this mean you're talking to me?" he replied with a smirk on his face.
"Of course not. I just want an answer." she replied meeting his smirk with a blank expression.
Aaron smirked at her taking his time in replying before finally opening his mouth and slowly responding. "I was worried about you."
"Of course you were." she replied still staring at him with a slight glare. "But why would a thief care about a spoiled noble?" Aaron's face slowly dissolved of his smirk. He cleared his throat and glanced towards his hands almost ashamed of what he had said.
"I don't regret what I said." he retorted staring her straight in the eye.
"Why would you? You obviously meant them and I expected no different."
"What is that suppose to mean? You somehow expected me to change!"
"I wouldn't expect any such thing. Not from a thief."
"That's exactly what a noble would say. Your all alike and oh so predictable."
"Am I suppose to care about anything that comes from your mouth?"
"Of course not milady. It would be beneath you to care about anyone but yourself."
"Beneath me! Then how low did you have to stoop to think that upon yourself milord?"
"How dare you call me that!" he said standing with such force that his stool was knocked over behind him.
"Does it bother you to be called by your rightful title?" Leopold responded touching his soft spot and pressing with all she could. "Does it bother you to be categorized with those of your own status? As if you were doing those without titles a favor by becoming one of them and ridding the world of another annoying, spoiled, selfish, weak noble. Or weren't those your exact words!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't I? Have you even talked to your brother since we returned to the palace? Have you even acknowledged your families presence?"
"My life is none of your concern."
"We've been over this--"
"And you're obviously not getting it!" Aaron practically yelled "Why can't you understand that I don't want that life anymore. I don't want to live in a grand hosue with responsibilities and people expecting something of me every second. I don't want to live my life like that! I don't see how you can't understand. You should for heaven sake. Aren't you tired of living day after day in the same place, living by the same rules, doing the same thing, seeing the same people. Being expected to fulfill the same duties and one day take over the same boring fief you live in. Doesn't that get tiring?"
"You just can't run away from your responsibilities Aaron. People depend on you."
"Those people have been getting along splendid without me. The fief has been doing better than it ever has since I left. They don't need me."
"Aaron please. We can never mar--" Leopold suddenly stopped talking. She realized in a half state of horror the thing that had been bothering her ever since she met Aaron. The thing she had not dared speak aloud. The thing that had been her fate ever since she came to Corus. The purpose for coming there in the first place. She had been sent to find a husband. She was suppose to be finding a husband and in the mean time she found Aaron. Marriage to him had never crossed her mind. She hadn't even planned on becoming close to him for the fact she hadn't known he was noble and was just a commoner. But if he re-claimed his title as the future Duke then she could marry him without worry of disgracing her families name. Something she just now realized would never happen. Aaron was stubborn through and through.
Aaron paused in his anger and started breathing deeply. He turned and stared in horror and amazement at her as she stared back, her expression slowly becoming blank. "What were you going to say?" his voice came out in a whisper as he seemed to hyperventilate.
"N-nothing." she stammered starting to arrange her blankets again and refusing to meet his eye.
"You said marriage." Aaron responded pointing a finger at her. Leopold licked her bottom lip before biting it as tears started forming in her eyes and her vision became all blurry. She knew that had been the wrong thing to say. Marriage was just another responsibility Aaron had been escaping from. She heard his footsteps as he walked towards the door but was too afraid to look up. Moments later she heard the door squeak open and close with a slam as he left. That was when the tears came. Leopold's mouth opened and she took a deep breath crying out with anger and hurt as she leaned back against the pillows. She clutched the first one she grabbed and pulled the blanket over her shoulder as she sunk into the soft mattress and cried herself to sleep.
Two Weeks Later…
Luke slowly opened the door a crack. It squeaked on its hinges startling her. She sat on the window seat, her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms draped across them. Her head rested on her knees as she stared out the window. She raised her head at the sound; her face blotched with red spots from crying. Her cheeks were pale and dark rings hung under her eyes. He peeked his head into the room and gazed towards her as she stared back, her expression blank. He cocked a smile and opened the door wider entering the room with the intention on cheering her up.
"C'mon Leopold." he laughed swinging on the door handle with his left arm holding onto the doorframe. "You've been cooped up in here for weeks." His smiled faltered for a second or two as she stared at him blinking without a word. A single tear ran down her face and she turned back to the window where she continued to stare out of it. There was commotion in the courtyard down below. Eliza and her mother were quarreling over wedding plans with her future mother-in-law. She had asked Leopold to attend the meeting and be there to agree with her on what she wanted but Leopold declines the invitation. Wedding plans were not something she wanted to think about. Yes she had been in her room for more than two weeks but she was leaving for Wessex tomorrow and she wasn't in the mood to converse with people. Not after he had left.
"Will you at least come to eat then?" Luke asked trying to urge some words out of her mouth. She only sighed deeply and refused to reply, preferring to watch the women fight below. She was almost mad at herself for letting Eliza put up with the two woman alone, but it was her wedding after all and if she was that desperate for help she could of asked Parker or Xavier to go with her. Leopold then remembered that Xavier was hunting with some of the lesser nobles and Parker had gone to see Tanner. The mere thought of the Rogue made Leopold start crying again. Her eyes filled with water as her breathing became short, sharp, and very whiny. She wiped her nose numerous times with her handkerchief as hot tears started to roll down her face. Luke rolled his eyes and made a half annoyed half disgusted noise at his cousins behavior. After hearing and watching her act like this for a few weeks he was tired of her childish behavior. He sighed once more before turning and stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him with a click succumbing to her wish of being left alone.
Chapter 24
One Week Later…
"Leopold." his deep voice echoed throughout the room. She was awake in an instant. Pain swept through her body as she sat up with a bolt, surveying the room around her. She was in her room in the palace. Her body was sunk deep into the feather mattress that had been provided to ease the pain of her injuries. Her head started swarming with pain as if her brain itself was trying to escape it's chamber by beating constantly against the side of her head. She moaned and felt warm hands grab onto her shoulders and gently lay her down again. She knew those hands. Had constantly touched them against her will and felt comfortable with them around her. She knew that voice that was speaking to her, easing the pain away. She had talked to that voice many times and loved hearing the sound of it. That voice made her weak in the knees at times and made her filled with hatred at the harsh words that came from that voice. That voice had hurt her. Had made her feel horrible a hundred times over. Had taken the one thing she desired and crushed it into a million pieces. That voice had ruined whatever there would have been between the two. There was no way she could live with that voice without the memory. The hands belonged to the speaker. The hands that were presently clutching her own while praying to Mithros. She hated those hands…
Becoming fully conscious a few hours later she opened her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Eliza paced in front of the bed she lay in and Ace lay asleep on the large window seat. Aaron sat on a stool by the side of her bed clutching her hand while using his right arm as a pillow as he slept next to her. Leopold slowly sat up in bed and pulled her hand out of his grasp shuddering. He woke up immediately and smiled at her. She didn't show any emotion but just stared at him. Eliza was distracted by the movement out of the corner of her eye and stopped pacing. She smiled with joy at seeing her friend awake and ran to the other side of the bed before pulling her friend into a hug.
"Mithros I was so worried Leopold!" she said as tears started sliding down her face. Leopold wrapped her arms around her friend in acknowledgement but continued to stare at Aaron. Not with hatred or disgust but trying to understand why he was there. Hadn't they decided to go their separate ways or something along those lines. Hadn't he basically said she wasn't worth nobility. She wasn't worth going back. Eliza continued to cry and ramble on as Leopold finally looked away from Aaron and leaned her head on her friends comforting shoulder. At least there was someone she could depend on in the room. Leopold hoped her friend hadn't beaten herself up over what happened. Nothing that occurred the past week had been Eliza's fault in any way. Yet Eliza had felt a small part of it was her fault. If she hadn't taken Leopold to the Rogue that night and introduced her to Aaron none of this would have happened. Yet if she hadn't Leopold would have found a way to meet him. She had been planning on venturing into the city that day or the next to see in someone knew of the mysterious band of thieves that had attacked their caravan in the forest. It was just fate that she met Eliza who already knew the thief.
Ace was startled by Eliza's hysterias and awoke with a start. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room in a frantic panic. He breathed heavily when he saw Leopold sitting up in bed and watching him with a confused/humored look on her face. He smiled and stood while dusting off his clothes and clearing his throat. He winked and started walking towards Eliza's side of the bed attempting to rescue Leopold from her friends explanation of how distraught she had been. Ace pulled Eliza away but she continued to ramble on and the tears continued to fall as she was dragged from the room. "Let's go announce the good news to everyone else." Ace spoke soothingly to the girl, calming her down. He opened the door and led Eliza out with a wink towards Leopold, before closing the door behind them. You could hear Eliza's voice as they continued to walk farther and father away from the two left in the room.
Leopold suddenly became very interested in her comforter and started to arrange it around herself while clearly trying to ignore Aaron beside her. It was hard as his steady breaths continued beside her, never missing a beat and obviously stating the point that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. Leopold soon had to end her arrangement of her blankets as there was nothing else to do to them. She glanced at Aaron out of the corner of her eye. He was still sitting on the stool and leaning towards the bed with his hands folded around him chin, which rested gently on the edge of the bed. He looked like a child begging for candy or wanting a story told. He barely moved except for his steady breathing and continued to stare towards Leopold, almost entranced with her.
"What are you doing here?" Leopold whispered finally finding her voice to speak to him. He slowly raised his head and sat up straight while continuing to stare at her.
"Does this mean you're talking to me?" he replied with a smirk on his face.
"Of course not. I just want an answer." she replied meeting his smirk with a blank expression.
Aaron smirked at her taking his time in replying before finally opening his mouth and slowly responding. "I was worried about you."
"Of course you were." she replied still staring at him with a slight glare. "But why would a thief care about a spoiled noble?" Aaron's face slowly dissolved of his smirk. He cleared his throat and glanced towards his hands almost ashamed of what he had said.
"I don't regret what I said." he retorted staring her straight in the eye.
"Why would you? You obviously meant them and I expected no different."
"What is that suppose to mean? You somehow expected me to change!"
"I wouldn't expect any such thing. Not from a thief."
"That's exactly what a noble would say. Your all alike and oh so predictable."
"Am I suppose to care about anything that comes from your mouth?"
"Of course not milady. It would be beneath you to care about anyone but yourself."
"Beneath me! Then how low did you have to stoop to think that upon yourself milord?"
"How dare you call me that!" he said standing with such force that his stool was knocked over behind him.
"Does it bother you to be called by your rightful title?" Leopold responded touching his soft spot and pressing with all she could. "Does it bother you to be categorized with those of your own status? As if you were doing those without titles a favor by becoming one of them and ridding the world of another annoying, spoiled, selfish, weak noble. Or weren't those your exact words!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't I? Have you even talked to your brother since we returned to the palace? Have you even acknowledged your families presence?"
"My life is none of your concern."
"We've been over this--"
"And you're obviously not getting it!" Aaron practically yelled "Why can't you understand that I don't want that life anymore. I don't want to live in a grand hosue with responsibilities and people expecting something of me every second. I don't want to live my life like that! I don't see how you can't understand. You should for heaven sake. Aren't you tired of living day after day in the same place, living by the same rules, doing the same thing, seeing the same people. Being expected to fulfill the same duties and one day take over the same boring fief you live in. Doesn't that get tiring?"
"You just can't run away from your responsibilities Aaron. People depend on you."
"Those people have been getting along splendid without me. The fief has been doing better than it ever has since I left. They don't need me."
"Aaron please. We can never mar--" Leopold suddenly stopped talking. She realized in a half state of horror the thing that had been bothering her ever since she met Aaron. The thing she had not dared speak aloud. The thing that had been her fate ever since she came to Corus. The purpose for coming there in the first place. She had been sent to find a husband. She was suppose to be finding a husband and in the mean time she found Aaron. Marriage to him had never crossed her mind. She hadn't even planned on becoming close to him for the fact she hadn't known he was noble and was just a commoner. But if he re-claimed his title as the future Duke then she could marry him without worry of disgracing her families name. Something she just now realized would never happen. Aaron was stubborn through and through.
Aaron paused in his anger and started breathing deeply. He turned and stared in horror and amazement at her as she stared back, her expression slowly becoming blank. "What were you going to say?" his voice came out in a whisper as he seemed to hyperventilate.
"N-nothing." she stammered starting to arrange her blankets again and refusing to meet his eye.
"You said marriage." Aaron responded pointing a finger at her. Leopold licked her bottom lip before biting it as tears started forming in her eyes and her vision became all blurry. She knew that had been the wrong thing to say. Marriage was just another responsibility Aaron had been escaping from. She heard his footsteps as he walked towards the door but was too afraid to look up. Moments later she heard the door squeak open and close with a slam as he left. That was when the tears came. Leopold's mouth opened and she took a deep breath crying out with anger and hurt as she leaned back against the pillows. She clutched the first one she grabbed and pulled the blanket over her shoulder as she sunk into the soft mattress and cried herself to sleep.
Two Weeks Later…
Luke slowly opened the door a crack. It squeaked on its hinges startling her. She sat on the window seat, her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms draped across them. Her head rested on her knees as she stared out the window. She raised her head at the sound; her face blotched with red spots from crying. Her cheeks were pale and dark rings hung under her eyes. He peeked his head into the room and gazed towards her as she stared back, her expression blank. He cocked a smile and opened the door wider entering the room with the intention on cheering her up.
"C'mon Leopold." he laughed swinging on the door handle with his left arm holding onto the doorframe. "You've been cooped up in here for weeks." His smiled faltered for a second or two as she stared at him blinking without a word. A single tear ran down her face and she turned back to the window where she continued to stare out of it. There was commotion in the courtyard down below. Eliza and her mother were quarreling over wedding plans with her future mother-in-law. She had asked Leopold to attend the meeting and be there to agree with her on what she wanted but Leopold declines the invitation. Wedding plans were not something she wanted to think about. Yes she had been in her room for more than two weeks but she was leaving for Wessex tomorrow and she wasn't in the mood to converse with people. Not after he had left.
"Will you at least come to eat then?" Luke asked trying to urge some words out of her mouth. She only sighed deeply and refused to reply, preferring to watch the women fight below. She was almost mad at herself for letting Eliza put up with the two woman alone, but it was her wedding after all and if she was that desperate for help she could of asked Parker or Xavier to go with her. Leopold then remembered that Xavier was hunting with some of the lesser nobles and Parker had gone to see Tanner. The mere thought of the Rogue made Leopold start crying again. Her eyes filled with water as her breathing became short, sharp, and very whiny. She wiped her nose numerous times with her handkerchief as hot tears started to roll down her face. Luke rolled his eyes and made a half annoyed half disgusted noise at his cousins behavior. After hearing and watching her act like this for a few weeks he was tired of her childish behavior. He sighed once more before turning and stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him with a click succumbing to her wish of being left alone.