A/N - Last Chapter! Hope everyone enjoys it! Sorry i haven't updated sooner, my internet has been down for the past couple of weeks. It's the rainy season where i live and we've had tons of tornados! Hope you liked the story, thanks for all your reviews, and look for the next story coming out soon!
Chapter 26
The four stopped midday to eat and rest. Leopold sat against the trunk of a tree and closed her eyes to sleep. For some reason the entire trip was making her tired. She was most likely bored after hearing the same stories from her cousins for the hundredth time. At least they made the time go by faster. That didn't mean they made the horses walk any quicker. Leopold swore the horses slowed down once her cousins started in on one of their infamous tales. Leopold had to agree of course. Her cousins stories were boring. They all told the same tale of a princess in distress and the brave knight that saves her. Of course her cousins loved the stories where the knight ends up fighting for his beloved or risking his own life in order to save hers. All for love of course. There's never any money involved in her cousins fantasies, although the two do end up living quite comfortably, as the princess' father is king and all. Why wouldn't they marry for love when she already has their future secured for them. Leopold knew that those tales never really came true. There was no real love anymore. People didn't marry for love but for property in order to become wealthy. That's the real reason people marry. Why most of the time it's an arranged marriage and the child is powerless to do anything about it therefore securing a miserable future.
Instead of depressing her self more over the notion of love Leopold cleared her mind and thought of the happiness that was to come with arriving at Wessex and being greeted by her younger cousins. She couldn't wait to meet the new babies that had been born while she was away. But more importantly she couldn't wait to harass the servants again. One of the things she had missed most whilst staying at the palace was greeting the butler and cook with her usual cockiness. She loved wondering how she would be able to steal a loaf of bread for later on, or what was the perfect time to get caught sliding down the main banister. That was always a fun time, for the maids would become so upset at the thought of having to once again polish the rails, because of course Leopold's breeches were always dirty. Not a spot on them was clean.
The rest of the days walk was rather boring. Nothing exciting happened and her cousins continued to try and pass the time by playing games, singing songs and telling more romantic stories. Half the time Leopold was asleep or dozing off and the other half she was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear a word her cousins were saying. They stopped in a small clearing for the night and cooked wild rabbit's Xavier and Sebastien had caught along the way. Eventually everyone but Leopold fell asleep and the only sound came from the horses who were busy eating grass.
Leopold lay on her stomach with her head resting on her chin. A slight breeze drifted over her and she pulled her blanket closer around her shoulders. She stared into the fire and started contemplating the meaning of love. Had she really been in love with Aaron or had she simply been infatuated with him? Naturally there were some parts of him that she grew to love, but did that really mean she loved every part of him. She was most likely just infatuated with the thought of finally loving somebody for the first time that she became attached to the first person she saw, who happened to be a thief, no matter his bad qualities. Then if infatuation was all she was feeling why did it hurt so much to be away from him? Why can't she get him out of her head, why does she see his face every time she closes her eyes. Why must his voice echo in her ears when she least wants it to and why does she feel as if a part of her was forgotten in Corus. A tear slid down her eye as she stared into the fire picturing his face inside of it while desperately trying not to. If infatuation is all that's there then why does it hurt so much? Her cousins were wrong a thousand times over with their stories of living happily ever after. Nobody ever loves without being hurt. That night, like the last two weeks had been, Leopold cried herself to sleep.
The next morning they packed everything away and started off at sunrise. Her cousins wanted to reach home as quickly as possible for they still had to return to the palace and start their duties again. They rode for the good part of the morning and afternoon, deciding not to stop for a rest as they were already riding at a fairly leisurely pace. A few hours past midday they heard yelling from behind and the thunder of horse hooves. The five reined their horses to a stop and stared at the trail behind them where the noise was growing closer with each minute that passed. Ace met each of his cousins eyes as his horse shifted from foot to foot.
"Let's get going." Ace said forcefully pulling his horses head towards the trail and taking off at a fast pace. The four didn't need anymore warning before following suit and taking off after him. Whether it was a raiding party, a band of thieves or simply the royal guards none of them wanted to be stopped. They already knew the punishment they would be receiving for leaving the caravan so why make it worse by possibly being killed. Their horses felt the tension between the riders as power surged through their bodies. After walking for almost two days straight they took this chance to let out the store of energy that had been building inside of them and took off faster than their riders had commanded, turning instead to racing with each other. Leopold gave an initial gasp as her horses immense amount of speed but soon settled low in the saddle to avoid being hit in the face with a low branch that happened to be in the way. Xavier however was less successful and came out numerous times with a scratched up face that only got worse. Leopold laughed and for a moment forgot about those that were supposedly behind them until she heard their voices.
"Halt!" they commanded. Leopold knew they were still far enough away that the voice was still faint but she felt as if the man commanding them was riding next to her. She stopped laughing and concentrated on following Ace who decided to leave the trail and take a slower route through the forest that would hopefully help them lose the men behind. Unfortunately one of the men must be a mage for they plunged in between the trees as well. Leopold took a glance back and saw that they were gaining on them with every step. Her horse was growing tired. She didn't know how long it could continue at it's pace. The added bonus of weaving between trees didn't help either. Leopold glanced at Ace who had looked back in order to meet her eye. He nodded once and Leopold knew they would be separating. She hoped she would be seeing him again.
On Ace's turn the five broke apart from their cluster and went in separate directions in hopes of loosing the men. Leopold forcefully turned her horse around and started in the direction she had just come from. The direction of the men. She flew towards them at a fast pace and succeeded in breaking through the center. Leopold felt a sharp pain in her left arm and looked to see her cloak and shirt torn in a neat line with a small stream of blood trickling down her arm. It was a small price to pay for what she had done.
Leopold took one glance behind her and saw that the men were arguing with each other over which to follow. Obviously they weren't very well organized. Eventually they would figure it out but whilst they did Leopold counted between ten and fifteen men. Her cousins could have taken them she's sure. There was no more than there were in the raiding party that had attacked her on her trip to Corus. As Leopold fled from her thoughts and saw a rider come barreling through the mass of men headed straight towards her. Leopold turned around and ground her teeth whilst kicking her horse harder before successfully jumping over a large tree trunk that had fallen from a storm. She continued weaving in and out of the trees with the man hot on her trail. Numerous times she fully stopped and made sharp turns in order to confuse her follower as to where she was going, but he was always one step ahead of her and found easier ways around her obstacles while somehow growing closer with each stop.
Leopold glanced over her left shoulder to see if the man was still following her and almost fell off her horse when she saw that he was no longer behind her. Looking forward again she glanced to her right and screamed when she saw the man next to her. She eventually closed her mouth and bit her lip in order to not scream again and surged forward intent on loosing her captive. She tried getting a good look at his face in order to report him to the king later on but the man was wearing a metal helmet that most men only wore during battle or joisting. Leopold wondered how poor this man had to be if he were wearing that during the day. He could of course be of the King's Guard but he wouldn't be so intent on catching her if he were. His clothing proved he had to be of high status as well, for they were neither dirty nor torn. The colors were of a fief she had seen before in her studies but could not think of it's name. She knew they were a very old fief.
The man reached over with his left arm aiming for her horses reins. There was no way Leopold was going to let him grab onto them. She aimed a kick at his horse and delivered it sharply in the leg. The man growled and moved his horse to the right in order to miss a tree but quickly regrouped with her own horse, moving in and out a few times in order to prevent his horse from slamming into the oncoming trees. He again reached over with his hand and grabbed onto her horses reins before she could stop him. She yelled in anger and punched the mans arms as hard as she could. The man growled again and yelled back and he tried to push her arm away from his own as he continued to slow the horses down. Leopold wasn't giving up that easily though. She grabbed onto the mans arm and found his flesh between his tunic and glove. She bit down hard and released as the man let her horse go to nurse his swore hand. Leopold grabbed her reins and kicked her horse hard, with the man behind her. As the man led his horse next to her again he let go of his own reins and pulled his legs out of his stirrups. Leopold watched half amazed and half scared as he continued to stand atop his horses saddle. With one leap he jumped from his own horse onto the back of hers. Leopold was in half a shock to notice as she watched his horse swerve to the right and continue running before stopping.
She felt the mans arms slip around her waist as he pulled her forcefully against him. That was when she awakened from her shock and started screaming and beating on the man. He ignored her protest and grabbed the reins from her hands, stopping the horse in a swift jerk. The horse pranced for a few minutes in protest of being slowed so quickly which gave Leopold enough time to pry herself from the man's grasp and fall off the horse. She landed underneath the horse with a thud before rolling into a ball and covering her head with her arms. The man jumped off the horse as well and grabbed onto her legs before pulling her out from underneath the horse as it's hoof landed where her arm had been. Leopold kicked the man in the groin and turned onto her stomach before crawling towards the tree where she sat watching the man kneel over in protest for a minute, before she stood and started running. She wasn't sure where she was running to or how she was going to find the others. It didn't help that in the process of falling off the horse she had sprained her ankle and could hardly walk on it. She shivered against the breeze that was Midwinter and hoped the gods didn't take this moment to let it snow. She was sore that the snow hadn't come earlier but now was not a time she wanted to enjoy it. She wet leaves crunched underneath her feet as she continued in a limp run. Leopold was amazed that she didn't hear the man coming from her left, but certainly saw him when he ran into her and pushed her into a large pile of leaves. Leopold screamed in protest as the man struggled to hold her down.
"Leopold shut up!" the man yelled in her face. Leopold stopped struggling against his hold for a moment as she processed whose voice was speaking. She turned and looked at the man whose face was an inch from hers, but it was no use with the helmet on. She man raised his upper body off of her but still sat on her legs as he reached up and pulled off the helmet. Leopold thought she was dreaming for there was no way Aaron was sitting on top of her wearing the colors of a fief that he didn't claim. In fact she was sure she was still asleep by the campfire. She'd probably overslept and her cousins didn't have the heart to wake her up so they might continue towards home. But a voice in the back of her head told her that there was no way she could be dreaming because that cut on her left arm hurt and in dreams you didn't get hurt. But even in a dream love hurts. "Mithros that's better. You're screaming was about to kill me"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Leopold hissed trying to push him off of her. Unfortunately he decided he liked where he was and pushed her back against the leaves while holding her arms pinned to her sides.
"I have to tell you something," he whispered
"Whatever you say will only make it worse." she replied trying not to cry.
"I don't believe it will"
"Than speak!"
"I love you." he said calmly. Leopold was too busy thinking of something to say that would make him let her go that she didn't hear what he said.
"Mithros Aaron I heard you the first time!" Leopold closed her eyes as she willed the tears to return.
"I don't think you did." Aaron replied cocking an eyebrow and smirking at her.
"Yes you said that you loved me and you ---" Leopold's voice caught in her throat as she opened to eyes and started at him in disbelief. She stared at his arrogant face and had to clear her throat before she could reply. "What?" she said so softly he had to lean closer to hear.
He leaned forward and rested his arms in the leaves on either side of her body as he whispered in her ear "I love you,"
"Mithros," she replied taking a deep breath as she really did start crying. Aaron hadn't moved as he continued to whisper in her ear.
"I talked to my father. I haven't seen him in years. We had a lot of catching up to do but I knew there was something I had to do first. You see two little birds visited me after our last conversation and knocked some sense into my head. I promised not to say any names but you can thank the girls later. I realized a lot of things when they were talking to me. One being the fact that I am a complete mess whenever I'm not with you or the fact that the weeks that I've known you have been the happiest I've ever known. I realized most importantly that I can't live without you and would hate if you ran off and married another selfish noble. I believe society has enough of those and not enough of you and me. Will you marry me Leopold?" he pushed up on his arms and looked her straight in the eye as he waited for an answer.
By now her face was streaming with tears and her hair was a mess. Through her tears she attempted to talk while calming down and taking short, sharp breaths. "Aaron I d-don't know if"
"If what? If you can marry a thief?" he smirked cocking another eyebrow and making Leopold want to dig a hole where they were lying and burry herself then and there. "I figured that out already. But I don't believe we've been fully introduced. My name is Aaron heir to Cliff's Creek fief and temporary resident in the Rogue of Corus."
"Mithros," Leopold whispered staring at his gorgeous eyes for a moment before circling her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep passionate kiss.
"I take that as a yes" Aaron muttered when they finally broke apart.
Terminat hora diem; terminat author opus
The hour ends the day; the author ends his work
Chapter 26
The four stopped midday to eat and rest. Leopold sat against the trunk of a tree and closed her eyes to sleep. For some reason the entire trip was making her tired. She was most likely bored after hearing the same stories from her cousins for the hundredth time. At least they made the time go by faster. That didn't mean they made the horses walk any quicker. Leopold swore the horses slowed down once her cousins started in on one of their infamous tales. Leopold had to agree of course. Her cousins stories were boring. They all told the same tale of a princess in distress and the brave knight that saves her. Of course her cousins loved the stories where the knight ends up fighting for his beloved or risking his own life in order to save hers. All for love of course. There's never any money involved in her cousins fantasies, although the two do end up living quite comfortably, as the princess' father is king and all. Why wouldn't they marry for love when she already has their future secured for them. Leopold knew that those tales never really came true. There was no real love anymore. People didn't marry for love but for property in order to become wealthy. That's the real reason people marry. Why most of the time it's an arranged marriage and the child is powerless to do anything about it therefore securing a miserable future.
Instead of depressing her self more over the notion of love Leopold cleared her mind and thought of the happiness that was to come with arriving at Wessex and being greeted by her younger cousins. She couldn't wait to meet the new babies that had been born while she was away. But more importantly she couldn't wait to harass the servants again. One of the things she had missed most whilst staying at the palace was greeting the butler and cook with her usual cockiness. She loved wondering how she would be able to steal a loaf of bread for later on, or what was the perfect time to get caught sliding down the main banister. That was always a fun time, for the maids would become so upset at the thought of having to once again polish the rails, because of course Leopold's breeches were always dirty. Not a spot on them was clean.
The rest of the days walk was rather boring. Nothing exciting happened and her cousins continued to try and pass the time by playing games, singing songs and telling more romantic stories. Half the time Leopold was asleep or dozing off and the other half she was so lost in her thoughts she didn't hear a word her cousins were saying. They stopped in a small clearing for the night and cooked wild rabbit's Xavier and Sebastien had caught along the way. Eventually everyone but Leopold fell asleep and the only sound came from the horses who were busy eating grass.
Leopold lay on her stomach with her head resting on her chin. A slight breeze drifted over her and she pulled her blanket closer around her shoulders. She stared into the fire and started contemplating the meaning of love. Had she really been in love with Aaron or had she simply been infatuated with him? Naturally there were some parts of him that she grew to love, but did that really mean she loved every part of him. She was most likely just infatuated with the thought of finally loving somebody for the first time that she became attached to the first person she saw, who happened to be a thief, no matter his bad qualities. Then if infatuation was all she was feeling why did it hurt so much to be away from him? Why can't she get him out of her head, why does she see his face every time she closes her eyes. Why must his voice echo in her ears when she least wants it to and why does she feel as if a part of her was forgotten in Corus. A tear slid down her eye as she stared into the fire picturing his face inside of it while desperately trying not to. If infatuation is all that's there then why does it hurt so much? Her cousins were wrong a thousand times over with their stories of living happily ever after. Nobody ever loves without being hurt. That night, like the last two weeks had been, Leopold cried herself to sleep.
The next morning they packed everything away and started off at sunrise. Her cousins wanted to reach home as quickly as possible for they still had to return to the palace and start their duties again. They rode for the good part of the morning and afternoon, deciding not to stop for a rest as they were already riding at a fairly leisurely pace. A few hours past midday they heard yelling from behind and the thunder of horse hooves. The five reined their horses to a stop and stared at the trail behind them where the noise was growing closer with each minute that passed. Ace met each of his cousins eyes as his horse shifted from foot to foot.
"Let's get going." Ace said forcefully pulling his horses head towards the trail and taking off at a fast pace. The four didn't need anymore warning before following suit and taking off after him. Whether it was a raiding party, a band of thieves or simply the royal guards none of them wanted to be stopped. They already knew the punishment they would be receiving for leaving the caravan so why make it worse by possibly being killed. Their horses felt the tension between the riders as power surged through their bodies. After walking for almost two days straight they took this chance to let out the store of energy that had been building inside of them and took off faster than their riders had commanded, turning instead to racing with each other. Leopold gave an initial gasp as her horses immense amount of speed but soon settled low in the saddle to avoid being hit in the face with a low branch that happened to be in the way. Xavier however was less successful and came out numerous times with a scratched up face that only got worse. Leopold laughed and for a moment forgot about those that were supposedly behind them until she heard their voices.
"Halt!" they commanded. Leopold knew they were still far enough away that the voice was still faint but she felt as if the man commanding them was riding next to her. She stopped laughing and concentrated on following Ace who decided to leave the trail and take a slower route through the forest that would hopefully help them lose the men behind. Unfortunately one of the men must be a mage for they plunged in between the trees as well. Leopold took a glance back and saw that they were gaining on them with every step. Her horse was growing tired. She didn't know how long it could continue at it's pace. The added bonus of weaving between trees didn't help either. Leopold glanced at Ace who had looked back in order to meet her eye. He nodded once and Leopold knew they would be separating. She hoped she would be seeing him again.
On Ace's turn the five broke apart from their cluster and went in separate directions in hopes of loosing the men. Leopold forcefully turned her horse around and started in the direction she had just come from. The direction of the men. She flew towards them at a fast pace and succeeded in breaking through the center. Leopold felt a sharp pain in her left arm and looked to see her cloak and shirt torn in a neat line with a small stream of blood trickling down her arm. It was a small price to pay for what she had done.
Leopold took one glance behind her and saw that the men were arguing with each other over which to follow. Obviously they weren't very well organized. Eventually they would figure it out but whilst they did Leopold counted between ten and fifteen men. Her cousins could have taken them she's sure. There was no more than there were in the raiding party that had attacked her on her trip to Corus. As Leopold fled from her thoughts and saw a rider come barreling through the mass of men headed straight towards her. Leopold turned around and ground her teeth whilst kicking her horse harder before successfully jumping over a large tree trunk that had fallen from a storm. She continued weaving in and out of the trees with the man hot on her trail. Numerous times she fully stopped and made sharp turns in order to confuse her follower as to where she was going, but he was always one step ahead of her and found easier ways around her obstacles while somehow growing closer with each stop.
Leopold glanced over her left shoulder to see if the man was still following her and almost fell off her horse when she saw that he was no longer behind her. Looking forward again she glanced to her right and screamed when she saw the man next to her. She eventually closed her mouth and bit her lip in order to not scream again and surged forward intent on loosing her captive. She tried getting a good look at his face in order to report him to the king later on but the man was wearing a metal helmet that most men only wore during battle or joisting. Leopold wondered how poor this man had to be if he were wearing that during the day. He could of course be of the King's Guard but he wouldn't be so intent on catching her if he were. His clothing proved he had to be of high status as well, for they were neither dirty nor torn. The colors were of a fief she had seen before in her studies but could not think of it's name. She knew they were a very old fief.
The man reached over with his left arm aiming for her horses reins. There was no way Leopold was going to let him grab onto them. She aimed a kick at his horse and delivered it sharply in the leg. The man growled and moved his horse to the right in order to miss a tree but quickly regrouped with her own horse, moving in and out a few times in order to prevent his horse from slamming into the oncoming trees. He again reached over with his hand and grabbed onto her horses reins before she could stop him. She yelled in anger and punched the mans arms as hard as she could. The man growled again and yelled back and he tried to push her arm away from his own as he continued to slow the horses down. Leopold wasn't giving up that easily though. She grabbed onto the mans arm and found his flesh between his tunic and glove. She bit down hard and released as the man let her horse go to nurse his swore hand. Leopold grabbed her reins and kicked her horse hard, with the man behind her. As the man led his horse next to her again he let go of his own reins and pulled his legs out of his stirrups. Leopold watched half amazed and half scared as he continued to stand atop his horses saddle. With one leap he jumped from his own horse onto the back of hers. Leopold was in half a shock to notice as she watched his horse swerve to the right and continue running before stopping.
She felt the mans arms slip around her waist as he pulled her forcefully against him. That was when she awakened from her shock and started screaming and beating on the man. He ignored her protest and grabbed the reins from her hands, stopping the horse in a swift jerk. The horse pranced for a few minutes in protest of being slowed so quickly which gave Leopold enough time to pry herself from the man's grasp and fall off the horse. She landed underneath the horse with a thud before rolling into a ball and covering her head with her arms. The man jumped off the horse as well and grabbed onto her legs before pulling her out from underneath the horse as it's hoof landed where her arm had been. Leopold kicked the man in the groin and turned onto her stomach before crawling towards the tree where she sat watching the man kneel over in protest for a minute, before she stood and started running. She wasn't sure where she was running to or how she was going to find the others. It didn't help that in the process of falling off the horse she had sprained her ankle and could hardly walk on it. She shivered against the breeze that was Midwinter and hoped the gods didn't take this moment to let it snow. She was sore that the snow hadn't come earlier but now was not a time she wanted to enjoy it. She wet leaves crunched underneath her feet as she continued in a limp run. Leopold was amazed that she didn't hear the man coming from her left, but certainly saw him when he ran into her and pushed her into a large pile of leaves. Leopold screamed in protest as the man struggled to hold her down.
"Leopold shut up!" the man yelled in her face. Leopold stopped struggling against his hold for a moment as she processed whose voice was speaking. She turned and looked at the man whose face was an inch from hers, but it was no use with the helmet on. She man raised his upper body off of her but still sat on her legs as he reached up and pulled off the helmet. Leopold thought she was dreaming for there was no way Aaron was sitting on top of her wearing the colors of a fief that he didn't claim. In fact she was sure she was still asleep by the campfire. She'd probably overslept and her cousins didn't have the heart to wake her up so they might continue towards home. But a voice in the back of her head told her that there was no way she could be dreaming because that cut on her left arm hurt and in dreams you didn't get hurt. But even in a dream love hurts. "Mithros that's better. You're screaming was about to kill me"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Leopold hissed trying to push him off of her. Unfortunately he decided he liked where he was and pushed her back against the leaves while holding her arms pinned to her sides.
"I have to tell you something," he whispered
"Whatever you say will only make it worse." she replied trying not to cry.
"I don't believe it will"
"Than speak!"
"I love you." he said calmly. Leopold was too busy thinking of something to say that would make him let her go that she didn't hear what he said.
"Mithros Aaron I heard you the first time!" Leopold closed her eyes as she willed the tears to return.
"I don't think you did." Aaron replied cocking an eyebrow and smirking at her.
"Yes you said that you loved me and you ---" Leopold's voice caught in her throat as she opened to eyes and started at him in disbelief. She stared at his arrogant face and had to clear her throat before she could reply. "What?" she said so softly he had to lean closer to hear.
He leaned forward and rested his arms in the leaves on either side of her body as he whispered in her ear "I love you,"
"Mithros," she replied taking a deep breath as she really did start crying. Aaron hadn't moved as he continued to whisper in her ear.
"I talked to my father. I haven't seen him in years. We had a lot of catching up to do but I knew there was something I had to do first. You see two little birds visited me after our last conversation and knocked some sense into my head. I promised not to say any names but you can thank the girls later. I realized a lot of things when they were talking to me. One being the fact that I am a complete mess whenever I'm not with you or the fact that the weeks that I've known you have been the happiest I've ever known. I realized most importantly that I can't live without you and would hate if you ran off and married another selfish noble. I believe society has enough of those and not enough of you and me. Will you marry me Leopold?" he pushed up on his arms and looked her straight in the eye as he waited for an answer.
By now her face was streaming with tears and her hair was a mess. Through her tears she attempted to talk while calming down and taking short, sharp breaths. "Aaron I d-don't know if"
"If what? If you can marry a thief?" he smirked cocking another eyebrow and making Leopold want to dig a hole where they were lying and burry herself then and there. "I figured that out already. But I don't believe we've been fully introduced. My name is Aaron heir to Cliff's Creek fief and temporary resident in the Rogue of Corus."
"Mithros," Leopold whispered staring at his gorgeous eyes for a moment before circling her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep passionate kiss.
"I take that as a yes" Aaron muttered when they finally broke apart.
Terminat hora diem; terminat author opus
The hour ends the day; the author ends his work