I don't own any of the Tamora Pierce characters
Alanna found Ivy in the stables with her face buried in Thunders mane. She instantly prised her nieces arms away from the horses neck and led her to her own tent. Ivy didn't resist, she allowed herself to be steered. Sat on the small blanket beside the bedroll, Ivy buried her face in her hands and cried. Alanna watched for a while, waiting for the tears to subside. It took a while, but when they finallly did, Alanna spoke.
"Matthew's been looking for you." she stated calmly. "What's going on?" Ivy shook her head and looked down. Alanna sighed. "Ivy, I hardly think you'd be crying if nothing was wrong..." she paused for a moment, then said, "I don't suppose this has anything to do with the little shouting match that you and Matthew had after he stopped punching Gavin does it?"
Ivy looked up at her aunt. "You heard that?"
Alanna smiled slightly. "Ivy, I think the whole camp heard you. You hardly tried to keep your voices low..."
Ivy looked down. "He was yelling at me, and shaking me... I just wasn't used to it... he's never been like that before..."
Alanna didn't say anything. It was almost as if she was waiting for Ivy to go on...
"I just didn't want him getting in trouble... it wasn't like I was doing anything wrong! And it's not my fault Gavin threatened him! I just didn't..." she stopped, realizing what she had said. Alanna looked at her carefully.
"He threatened Matthew?" she asked quietly.
"I..." Ivy started. "He... it..."
Alanna interrupted, "Ivy, did Gavin threaten Matthew? Did he threaten you?"
Ivy stayed quiet.
"Ivy!" Alanna said firmly. "If he threatened you then you should tell me."
"Its not right to tell tales..." Ivy whispered looking down.
"Ivy! There's a difference between telling tales and protecting yourself and others!"
Ivy remained silent, looking anywhere but at her Aunt's purple eyes. Her Aunt sighed, then stood up, walking over to the tent flap.
"Matthew's by the river if you're interested..." then she walked out.
Ivy sat for a while on her own, wondering whether she should go and talk to Matthew. Part of her wanted to, while another part told her that he was the one that should be apologising, he'd shaken her and yelled at her, hadn't he? She sighed. She was acting childish. It was stupid to let this get to her really... wasn't it? For a moment she remembered the terrifying tone in Matthews voice, and hurriedly pushed it away. She didn't want to think about it... it wasn't the Matthew she knew... her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the flap open and Matthew walked in, hands in the pockets of his breeches and looking at the floor.
"Ivy..." he started quietly, then trailed off. Ivy stayed silent, looking in the opposite direction. Finally, Matthew picked up where he had left off. "I'm sorry..." he said quietly. "I over reacted ok? Its just... he was hurting you Ivy! I can't stand the thought of anyone hurting you!"
"I can look after myself Matthew! I'm not some noble lady that sits at home knitting! I thought you of all people knew that!"
"I do! It doesn't stop me wanting to protect you though! I'm a guy, you're a girl and..."
"Oh I'm so glad you noticed Matthew! Well done, I'm a girl! I'm so glad almost a year of my life hasn't been wasted, after all, you've finally realized, I'm a girl!" She stormed out of the tent and went to the stables, saddling Thunder before leaving the camp at a gallop. She stopped at a river about a mile south of the camp, and sat on the bank with her feet in the water, thinking. After an hour, there was a sound of shouting from the camp, then war cries. Ivy jumped to her feet and looked round for her sword. Realizing that it wasn't there, she cursed. Why had she not thought to get her sword? The sounds of battle were getting louder, in the distance Ivy could hear the clashing of swords, the shouts of pain and the orders being barked by men. She kicked a nearby tree trunk, then began to resaddle Thunder. One foot was just in the stirrup when she heard the snap of twigs behind her. She spun round, holding Thunders reins losely in her hand. Another twig snapped and Thunder pulled out of her grip. Whats wrong with him? Ivy thought, beginning to run after him. He's never ran off at the sound of twigs snapping before... Ivy ran into something and was thrown backwards. Looking up, she tried to see what it was, but couldn't.
"I knew you wouldn't be at the camp when battle started." A voice said from behind her. Ivy felt a sick feeling in her stomach and looked over to the nearby trees. Gavin was stood there, sword drawn and dripping with blood, his right leg was bleeding from a deep gash. He smiled as she looked at him. "Your 'boyfriend' did that." he said quietly. "But nevermind, my men are getting him back." He crossed the distance between them. Ivy scrabbled to get to her feet, but Gavin shoved her back down. "This can be hard or easy, but whatever you make it, it'll be just as good for me!" he gripped her chin and looked at her with cold grey eyes. "I don't usually hurt girls, Goldenlake, but I think I can make an exception in your case!" he grinned coldly. "After all, you're not really much of a girl are you, unless you count..." his free hand moved down her chest and squeezed one of her breasts. Ivy struggled, but Gavin had pinned her down so that she could not move. "These aren't two bad..." his hand slid further down and into her breeches, and two fingers entered her. Ivy tried to cry out in pain, but couldn't, something was stopping her, it was stuck in her throat. Gavin took his fingers away and smiled. "And now, I get my revenge." And he raped her.
A while later, Ivy lay sobbing under a tree. Gavin had dragged her there before running off, saying only that he'd loved it, and that she wouldn't see him again. Ivy couldn't help but spit at him as he had said it. By the look on his face, Ivy guessed that Gavin had seriously been thinking about repeating his torture on her, only the sounds of the battle were dying, and he needed to get away. He had taken time to explain to Ivy what he had done, and she had forced herself to concentrate on what he was saying, it was easier than concentrating on the pain shooting through her body at any rate. He had been working for Rageo for years, Gavin's explanation was that Rageo paid better than the Crown did, and that he was given the respect he deserved. "Your family didn't treat me with respect, and neither did you, so here's your punishment..." at that moment he had been extra vicious with her, "... and there's is death." He had grinned then. "I'll enjoy hearing about your reaction to six of your families deaths... well... five. And that of your lover... I'll enjoy hearing that one most of all." As Ivy lay there sobbing, she wondered where Matthew and her family were, if they were still alive... there was the sound of twigs snapping and Ivy froze, remembering the last time she had heard them, and what had happened afterwards. There was the sound of hooves thudding fast on the grass, then a horses muzzle butted her face. Ivy sighed with relief as Thunder butted her gently. She tried to lift her hands to stroke him, but couldn't. Her whole body was frozen. The sound of fast footfalls on the grass told Ivy that someone else was there other than Thunder.
"Ivy?" It was Matthew's voice, suddenly Thunder was pulled away, with nothing but a "good boy" said to him, and Ivy was lifted gently into Matthews lap as he knelt down beside her. "Ivy..." she could hear that he was on the verge of tears. "What did he do to you?" Matthew whispered, pulling her to him and sobbing into her shoulder. "I'm sorry..." he said through his tears. "It's all my fault..." He held her tight, "I'm so sorry..."
"RAOUL! Over here!" There was the sound of more feet, then Raoul's voice split the air.
"That bastard! What has he done to my daughter?" Hushed voices seemed to calm Raoul down, and two sets of feet seemed to walk away. A hand rested on Ivy's shoulder.
"Matthew, come on, let me clean her up..." a calm voice said. Matthew held her tighter.
"No... I'll do it..."
"Matthew, come on... she needs a bath and some clean clothes..."
"I'll do it!" Matthew repeated, his grip not slackening.
"Matthew, let Alanna sort her out. You need to calm down and get yourself clean..." Numair's voice was slightly higher than usual, anger seemed to cut through the air as he spoke, and if Ivy had physically been able to do anything, she would have looked round to see what expression he wore. As it was, she felt Matthew's arms being prised away from her body. A wave of tiredness swept over her, and she felt sure that Alanna had just put a sleeping spell on her...
Ivy woke up in a small tent, covered in a thick, warm blanket. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she could make out the four figures at the bottom of her bed. For several seconds, she couldn't think why she was lying in bed surrounded by her family, then suddenly, the memory of what had happened returned, and she retched over the side of the bed. Instantly the four people rushed forward, one of them took a hand and stroked away her hair, the others stayed behind them with concerned looks on their faces. Gradually, Ivy's vision righted itself, and Ivy could see Matthew sat on the side of the bed. A cut on his cheek was bleeding, as was the top of his arm, but he seemed not to notice. He was looking at Ivy through tearful eyes, he appeared to have been crying.
"Ivy..." he whispered. "How... how are you feeling?" he looked at their interlinked hands, and Ivy could see a tear run down his cheek. "I'm sorry..." he muttered. "That was a stupid question..." His jaw clenched and he looked up at her. "Ivy, he's going to pay for this. I swear, I won't let him get away with it! And I promise, he won't touch you again, I'll..."
"The bastard got away!" The tent flap flew open and Raoul and Numair burst through. To Ivy's surprise, it was Numair that had yelled. Raoul stood and clenched his fists but said nothing. His eyes wandered to Ivy and he instantly walked over and kissed her forehead, before looking at Matthew.
"Let Alanna sort out your cuts now."
Matthew shook his head. "I'll sort them out later."
"They'll get infected, Matthew." Alanna said.
"I don't care alright?" Matthew snapped. "I'm sorry." he said immediately. "I'll do it later."
"No. Now!" Raoul clamped a hand down on Matthews shoulder, then steered him to the chair in the corner of the tent where Alanna began to heal him. Raoul looked at Numair. "You can let the King know, can't you?"
Numair nodded. "I'll go and do it now..."
"He raped her?"
"Yes Jon, he raped her! He was working for Rageo. They attacked and he went after Ivy and raped her."
"But Gavin... he was my Squire... I thought I could trust him!"
"Jon, stop being so naive, you need to elect a new General before the whole camp falls apart!"
"Alright..." there was a pause in the conversation over the speech spell as Jonathan thought. "Matthew... put Matthew in charge..."
"Matthew?" Numair asked in shock. "But... he's a first year knight!"
"Numair, put Matthew in charge, he's good at strategy, he can keep men in order, and he's young. As soon as Ivy's feeling up to it, send her home." The flame in Numairs hand disappeared. Jonathan had ended the spell. Sighing, Numair went into the tent.
Matthew was sat once more beside Ivy, who was definitely looking more comfortable at his touch than Numair would expect after being raped. Raoul walked over and began to speak to Numair quietly.
"What did Jon say?" he asked.
Numair sighed. "Matthew's to be General..." he replied in a whisper.
"What!" Raoul gasped. "He's not even twenty! None of the men will listen to him."
Alanna, who appeared to have been listening, spoke up. "Not true. They've all got a heck of a lot more respect for Matthew than they had for Gavin. If you ask me, Matthew's a good choice. And it's not like he's not experienced. You've seen him fight Raoul, he can handle it, and he's handled the defence easily. He'll be fine." All three looked over at Matthew who was stroking Ivy's hair and talking to her quietly.
"He blames himself." George said from behind them. He walked over and placed a hand on Alanna's shoulder. "It's all he's said since she woke up. He thinks it's his fault."
Gary joined them. "Come on, we should leave them alone for a while."
Raoul started to protest, but didn't at the look on Alanna's face. Reluctantly, thinking that the last thing Ivy needed was to be left alone with someone, Raoul left the tent.
So you people want steaminess? Not for a little while after that! Sorry its short, its just I don't want to drag this chapter on loads, please review, I'll try make the next chapter longer/more interesting/whatever, just give me your opinions on this! love ya'll
Mage of the Heart
