Here's the next chapter. Hopefully it'll be longer than the first. I don't own it.

I can't believe I swooned in front of him. Did he notice? I certainly hope not. What would Father think if... No. I shook my head. I couldn't complete that thought. I was already engaged to be married.

I walked into Father's office. "I have tended to him, Father."

"Good, good. Have you found out his name?"

"Well, yes. He was being quite rude, though-"

"Of course! Wouldn't you be a little rude to your captor?"

"Well, I... All he told me was that his name is Jeremie."

"Jeremie, eh?" Father was thinking now. "Be subtle, dearest. But I want you to find out all the information you can from him."

I nodded. I was now one of his spies. I was at an all-time low now. I hated what my father was doing. Barbaric as it sounds, I just wished he would have killed all the prisoners. Anything was better than this. But I hated myself even more for going along with everything he did.

"Now you go off and freshen up. William will be her shortly."

I sighed. William Dunbar was an all right guy, he's just not right for me. But I understood at a very early age that part of my duty as a part of this family was that I must marry whomever my father chose. He chose the descendent of the Duke Of York. Who currently controlled New York City.

All the girls saw the outer surface of him. Sure he was handsome and rich, but he was also such an egotistical jerk. He's always act as if I was the luckiest girl alive to be engaged to him. And all he ever talked about was all the money he had, and his accomplishments. Never once had he asked me what my ambitions were, my aspirations, my accomplishments, and so on. He just assumed I'd be fascinated with his life, and just kept going on and on. This was going to be fascinating marriage. Ha!

"Yes, Father." I left the room, going to my room. I ignored the catcalls and whistles from the men in the cells before me, I just slumped lower and proceeded. When I entered, I found the table full of foods that William always requested before meeting with someone. He expected me to make these by the time he got home from work. But then I'd have to pull out of my work early! Surely he remembered the conversation in which I said that I wished to be a caretaker to the wounded soldiers.

I came in front of the mirror, and took a brush. I began to brush out my hair, then pulled it into a bun. I decided that the dress was fine, and just sat and waited for him to come.

And I knew right away whenever he came. He'd make such a fuss over everything.

"Did you put my- Oh yes, you did. All right then, what's the- Ah, you've done that. All right then, what about the-"

"William?" I asked, stifling a large sigh.

"Ah, darling. I hadn't even noticed you!" he came over to me and kissed my hand. I forced a smile. I loved not to be noticed!

He came behind me and collapsed onto the chair I was about to sit on.

"I was about to sit there..." I said softly.

"I know, but this one is SO much more comfortable..."

I sighed and sat on the other one. I didn't really mind that much, but it was the small things that mattered, the sweet little here-you-can-take-the-more-comfortable-one-and-I'll-take-the-less-comfortable-one kind of thing.

"How is it going with you, my dear?" asked William.

My eyes widened. He was asking me how I was? That was a first. "Well, I-"

"Wonderful dear, just wonderful." said William, examining his fingernails. So much for him wanting to know how I was.

A servant came over and offered a tray. William took one long at it and put his nose higher up in the air. "That is not what I want. Take it away and bring me a fresher batch."

The servant hung her head and walked out. William was being awful! Couldn't he just accept the batch and get on with his life? I'd love to see him go bankrupt, all his money disappear. Then what? Would father make me marry him, still? Of course he wouldn't. He'd want his daughter to marry a man of stature.

"I caught a band of Negroes trying to do a hit-and-run. Pathetic, really. Washington has to lower himself to the Negroes to fight!" He chuckled.

I didn't find this funny. What was wrong with the Negroes? If I recall, we also employed Negroes to fight alongside us.

The servant came back in, and she brought the tray to William. He examined the foods carefully, then upturned the tray. Glass shattered upon impact, the platter clattered to the floor. He whacked the servant. "It's not good enough! Just forget it and bring me some tea! And don't tell me you'll screw that up, too!"

The servant crawled off, ashamed.

"And pick that up!" yelled William.

The servant ran off, and I glared at William. "That food was perfectly good, and you know it! Why can't you just stop fussing and eat it!" I was getting up in his face now. "It's things like this that make me despise you."

"Do not speak, wench!" yelled William, slapping my cheek.

I fell back with a grunt.

"Here are some new rules, I do anything I want, and you bear me children!"

"What if I don't want any children?"

"That is not your choice!" screamed William, whacking me again, I flew further, my hand seared across a piece of glass that had been not yet picked up. I watched for a moment, mesmerized by the trail of blood falling to the floor.

He stood over me, laughing. "You act like such a commoner. The servants do not want your sympathy. They actually think they have some pride!" William scoffed at his own remark. "I do not want another outbreak like this, or you will find yourself truly sorry."

He strode out of the room. Tears forming in my eyes, I left too, going the opposite as him. Fumbling with the supplies, I came to Jeremie's room. I walked in, and Jeremie looked up.

"Hello," was all he said.

I came over to the table(I had just had that put in here), and put the supplies down. I sat on the chair, and beckoned for him to come sit at the one next to me.

"Miss Stones, you've already- What happened to your hand?" He took it in his own. I had forgotten all about it.

"Nothing," I said, pulling away. He did not let go, though. He picked up some ointment, and began dressing the wound. First, he rubbed off the blood with the kerchief, turned the other side and applied rubbing alcohol to it, then brought it to my hand. The sting was minimum. He did this with extreme care, almost with an air of expertise.

I looked at him, incredulous. He just smiled. "I may not have shot at anyone, but I have stopped to tend a few wounds along my trip, Miss-"

"Aelita, please, please call me Aelita."

"Then please, please call me Jeremie." I smiled in spite of myself.

"Now, what happened?"

I looked down. "Ah, Miss Mysterious, eh? All right, you don't have to tell me."

He saw the ring on my hand and nearly dropped in mid-bandaging it. "You- You're engaged?"

I nodded. He finished bandaging my hand a little more vigorously. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"A man named William Dunbar. He's th-"

"Duke of York's son. Yeah, I know of him. He's the mayor of New York City, right?"

I nodded my head. "Well aren't you a lucky girl. I guess money will never be a problem for you." He looked at my apparel. "Not that it ever has been."

I blushed. He could make me fell so insecure about myself, finding the things I don't like about my life and making them absolutely horrid. He dropped my hand.

"I don't know why you came here," said Jeremie, not even daring to look at me. "But you obviously have a problem, and came to me, first." Jeremie finally looked at me, and I could feel myself blush. "And I'm flattered." He was about to say something else, but closed his mouth. He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. "I'll understand if you do not want to tell me. But you'll find that I'm a very good problem-solver."

Weighing my options, I realized: How much harm could it do? He was a jailer in my father's prison. But then again, if I told him, what would he think? I was a vulnerable little girl? I shook my head. I can't believe I actually cared about what he thought about me... No wait, I don't care what he thinks about me. I don't, not at all.

"I don't have a problem, thank you," I said, standing up to leave. I had a momentary lapse of memory and thought I hadn't dressed your wounds. But I have, and you are fine, so I will leave now."

I walked up to the door.

"Aelita..." I turned around. Never had a man said my name like that. In a voice so small, but full of emotion.

"Yes, Jeremie?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, forget I called you back."

I took a few steps toward him. He was still shaking his head.

He looked up at me, eyes full of desperation. "Please, Aelita. Please forget I said it."

"What's wrong?"

"Aelita, please, please go. There's nothing wrong. Please, please leave."

I turned and left. Was I that revolting? That he couldn't stand the sight of me and that he never wanted to see more?

The guard smiled my way as I walked out of the room. "Odd," I said.

"Aelita?" he said, smiling.

"Am I ugly? Do I have a pimple on my nose? Is my hair falling out? Am I revolting to look at?"

He knew exactly what I was talking about. I knew he was eavesdropping. He had such a dreadfully boring job, I don't blame him. "Aelita, you're exactly the opposite, and you know that." He paused for a moment. "Have you ever considered that he's attracted to you?"

"He's got a funny way of showing it, then."

Odd laughed. "That's because you're on the other side. He's fighting for America's freedom. You- you-"

"I want America to be free, too. I completely object to Father's opinions."

"He doesn't know that. He's attracted to you, Aelita. And in doing so, he's ashamed. He feels he's betraying his own country. His philosophy is, if he is mean to you, you'll be mean back, and he'll have a reason to hate you, and he'll fall out of love with you." He looked atmy ring. "Plus, I could hear from his voice that he's super jealous of your fiancé.

Ilaughed. "Just for that, you can have the rest of the day off. I'll post another guard."

Odd bowed to her, and took off.

.:Next Morning:.

Aelita awoke, with the servants making a fuss over her fire, and how she didn't have the proper warmth she needed. Aelita was sick of this. "I'm fine, really, I am!" she said, getting out of bed and dressing, refusing to let the servants help her("I'm quite capable of dressing my own self," was her response to that).

She arrived for breakfast, and her father, sallow and moody greeted her. "I received word from William that you were not being proper." Aelita knew it was worthless to object to him. He'd just wave it off and take William's side. "I hope I never hear that again, Aelita, or there'll be trouble."

Aelita took a bite of her muffin. She chose not to speak, so she nodded. If she had spoken, the truth would come out, and her father would look down at her with such contempt that she would make up such a lie. She found herself thinking that her father loved William more than her... it was quite possible.

She cleared her throat, and her father looked at her. Very rarely did she ever initiate conversation, and her father was a bit shocked.

"Father, I've been thinking about the situation with that boy Jeremie, and I have decided that it would be best if we moved him to more comfortable quarters.:

He looked incredulous. Moving a prisoner into a more comfortable setting? They had done it already done it to one other prisoner, but that under different circumstances... he was hardly a prisoner anyway! But he knew his daughter well enough that she always thought things out before acting on them, and listened, rather than protested.

"You see, I believe he will break, but not from torture. We need him to trust us, to convince him that our side is clearly the best. Only then will we tell. And he's so stubborn, he wouldn't say a word, not even under the threat of death." Aelita looked at her father, and she saw that he was contemplating this idea. She smiled in spite of herself. She always brought up such a convincible argument that no debate would see fit against it.

"All right then." said her father. "I shall have the servants prepare a room."

Aelita smiled, and kissed her father on the cheek. "This is for the best, Father. You know I wouldn't have mentioned it to you if I thought it wouldn't help."

Except, the truth was, Aelita knew it wouldn't help at all. And she only mentioned this on impulse, making it up as she went along, and her father had believed her that it was a good idea.

Now, the question was: Why had she done it?

Wow, did that take a long time to get up, or what? This story is hard to make long because I only have two main characters, and there's not a lot of dialogue, that slows me down... a lot. Well, here it is, and now you have to wait for the next chapter. And I know where this is going now, so maybe it won't take as long!

Neo Aguni: I'm glad you agree.

Pinky.Luvs.HP: heheh, you did NOT spell Melacai right, but you did get the 'E' in there:)

mH: Yes, it is weird. And that would be cool if one could jump around in time. Alas, that does not happen and I have a little philosophy about that, anyways...

Wolfie: Glad you think it's interesting!

Amy621: I like being added to the favorites! hinthint people!

LadyKyra13: I'm glad you don't know where it's going, because I do! And that makes it a good story if you don't know what happens next! Well... to me, anyways.

Okay, review then.

Lady Epur is outta here!