Chapter 2
Jared lifted the large container off the back of the cart and placed it carefully on the ground behind him. His gaze briefly rose as he wiped his face on his dark brown tunic, his eyes flitting across the busy market. Every inch was covered in bight extravagant decorations for the princess's birthday. He watched the stall owners place their wares out on display and chatter between themselves, each in their best clothes for the festivities. From coloured banners which hung from the window sills, the bright candles and fires which lit the market and kept away the autumn chill. To the games and the street performers which entertained the large crowds of underprivileged children and families, it was all so ludicrous and foolish.
He sighed and shook his head, all this time and money wasted on celebrating a hopeless princess's sixteenth birthday. She was probably sitting in the palace at this very moment preparing her hair, dancing with a handsome prince or gushing over her latest exquisite ball gown. All this wasted on the woman who was a disappointment to the kingdom. He remembered his own sixteenth birthday just one year earlier, it had been the day that his step-mother had chosen to wed his father.
"Jared!" an annoyed, yet friendly voice called out from across the square "Get back to work, we have to finish unpacking these goods before the celebrating and merriment begins!"
Jared turned around and smiled broadly at the man who was now standing behind him. He had a large belly but burly arms from labor, even though Jared did most of the physical exertion nowadays. He had thinning blonde hair accompanied with bright blue welcoming eyes which twinkled as if he was holding in a private joke. He was a good foot shorter than Jared yet his persona took made him rival to any giant.
"Cav!" Jared exclaimed with false exasperation, barley keeping the smile off his face "I can work fast, I am just taking in the scenery!" he gestured around behind him where the crowd had already doubled.
"Don't you talk back to me young man!" Cav said smiling up at his son "Just make sure that it is finished soon! Oh, and no more of this 'Cav' nonsense"
"Yes Pa!" Jarred mock saluted and watched his father turn to supervise the other timber cart which was already half empty. Ever since Cav had remarried, they had to work twice as hard to keep up with his stepmother's excessive spending and ridiculous demands. She was like a leech sucking their coffers dry, Jared wondered if she would have married his father if he were poorer. Jared had no doubt that she had no feelings for his father, her only feelings were and always will be, for his money.
Jared and the rest of the workers completed their task in a short time. The rest of the men gossiped like the many women who had packed into the streets, while Jared remained silent and irritable.
"They say the Princess's beauty blinds men!" said Neil, Jared's cousin.
"'Aye, they say she can destroy men's resolve with just one look!" said another
"They say she can dance like a swan," replied another older man who stared into the distance
Jared rolled his eyes sky ward.
"She must be so…"
"I think you all are forgetting one thing," Jared cut in, the men all looked at him expectantly "She is a Princess who wastes our resources. Everyone knows that as soon as she is sixteen, which she is today, she will be married off to a Prince in some far off country because, incase you forgot, woman can't inherit the throne and we will be stuck with…."
"Hush Jared you foolish boy!" said Cav, who had come up behind Jared while he had been talking "You almost speak treason!"
Cav grabbed Jared by his shoulder and firmly shook him. Jared looked down, his cheeks flaming. Why should he not express his opinions of the kingdom and why should his complaints fall on deaf ears?
Jared lifted his gaze, his storm blue eyes flashing with defiance, he opened his mouth but before he could continue, Cav grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the front of the cart.
Furious that he should be silenced, Jared once more opened his mouth to protest when his father put a hand rather forcefully over his mouth. Jared lifted his gaze to his fathers. Cavs normal sparkling eye were stormy and angry, a look that was usually reserved for thieves and criminals. Jared swallowed hard as he realized why their carts were never robbed, Cav maybe his father but he could not deny that he had a fearsome presence.
"Jared, I did not raise you in this world so that you could get arrested for speaking treason!" Jared tried to cut in, but his fathers hand was still firmly over his mouth "You must learn that there is a time and a place to say things, especially things about the royal family. I know that you are a well educated boy, and you are smart Jared, too smart for your own good!"
Finally freeing himself from his father hold, Jared hissed "Pa, we both know I am right. All this," he gestured to the market and the celebrations "Is a waste of valuable money! Imagine what we could do with the money wasted here! We could finally have the life we had before you married…"
Jared instantly stopped looking horrified, he had gone too far. Cavs face instantly grew dark.
"Jared," Cav said, barley containing his anger "I think I would be best if you went home"
Jared didn't hesitate for one moment, he staggered under his father's intense gaze before hurrying over to his horse which was tied up on a nearby post.
He jumped onto his horse, not wanting to risk a glace at his father, and galloped off towards his home.
Jared felt ashamed that his father still had such a powerful effect on him! When he was little, before his mother's death, Jared had been frightened of his father. No, frightened wasn't the right word. He was in awe. His father was handsome, smart, calculating and the kindest man Jared had ever known, sometimes he seemed so surreal. His father was a merchant and spent a great deal of time traveling the lands and over the vast seas of the north, selling his wares, making a living. He remembered the lonely summer days, when his father was due home and yet would not come. He remembered how he tried not to cry when his father missed his birthdays. He remembered sitting at the front gate of their house starring at the road, willing him to come home to them.
His mother was always there. She pulled him into her arm and murmured soothing words. Jared distinctly remembered her smooth hands pushing his hair from his face and wiping away his tears. He remembered he smile which lit up rooms. He remembered her ice blue eyes which he had inherited from her, they were never cold, as one would expect but were full with love and compassion.
It had all gone away so fast. Jared couldn't even remember her face, the face of his own mother.
Her funeral had been simple. She had died of a simple cough which mad it impossible to breathe. She was buried under the willow trees, he remembered standing still, not quite believing what had happened. At first he was angry, angry that his mother had been taken, no, stolen from him. Then he was numb, he tried to block out the loneliness in his heart but failed miserably.
Then a deep, deep despair set in. Gradually with time his wounds healed as his father moved back to the city to be with him. He owed his father much more than he sometimes realized, even if he made poor choices when it came to marriage.
Jared was pulled from his thoughts as his horse stumbled. Jared was so preoccupied with his thoughts he had no idea where he was.
He sighed and looked around.
He was in a small side street. The path was cobbled and the houses which lined the streets loomed over his head. The street itself was lined with people, carts, animals and stalls. The sound was almost unbearable, the small street boomed with noise as children played, woman gossiped and men argued.
He groaned inwardly as he saw how packed the street really was. He would have to dismount his horse and walk along side it, if he had anyway chance at getting to the other side.
Jared gracefully slipped off the horse and grabbed its reins.
He continued to walk slowly picking his way carefully through the crowd.
Suddenly the crowd split open as people started to scream and stare upwards.
He followed their gaze to a rope strung between the buildings which extended across the road. A man stood on one side of the rope leaning out of the window. He had a bald head with an evil smile plastered on his face. He had a white sleeveless top which reveal his arms which were covered in exotic looking tattoos. Although he was drawing people's attention it was the piercing scream which came from in his arms which caused the alarm.
Jared breathe caught in his lungs as he viewed a young woman being held in his arms. Her long black hair covered her face as she struggled uselessly against the strong man. Her small body and slender figure seemed frail next to the bulk and size of her captive. Her blue dress hitched up at the waist inappropriately exposing her small shoes and tanned legs.
The man smiled down at the growing crowd. Many men moved hurriedly towards the bottom of the building, meaning to help her escape his clutches. From out of nowhere the man pulled out a large sword and held it to the girl's throat. She instantly stilled as silence fell across the crowd.
Jared found himself at the front on the throng almost directly under the window. Craning his neck he stared upwards.
"She's just a girl" a mans voice whispered from behind him.
"We can't do anything, he has her at knife point!" another replied.
"Does anyone know him?"
"He's a trader and an acrobat," piped up a slighter voice. Jared turned too stared at the small old lady behind him. She had unsettling black eyes and her back was hunched with age "He will do anything for attention and money. It seems to me he has taken this prank too far."
Jared watched her as she turned to face him.
"It seems she's in of a savior," she said cryptically and he could was sworn she winked at him.
Jared did not have enough time to ponder these thoughts as the man above started to speak.
"She will walk the rope, for your enjoyment. If she falls, it is her own doing and I win. If she reaches the other side you win! Now who will place their bets?"
Jared stared in disgust. This whole ploy was so he could scam money off gamblers. This was no game, this was a woman life!
Silence rung through the alley, the man looked expectantly at the shocked crowd. Getting no response the man snarled and tightened his grip on the girl.
"In that case," he growled "Walk, my pretty!"
He quickly pushed the girl away from his body and onto the swaying rope. The girl never stood a chance, already in motion she tried to steady herself but only succeeded in tipping herself more off balance.
Without thinking, Jared reacted.
He let go of his horses reins and ran, positioning himself underneath the rope. Before he knew it the girl was plummeting towards the ground emitting a heart braking scream.
Jared braced himself and put out his arms.
Jared didn't know how it happened, but she landed perfectly in his arms, she fit between his arms and chest like she belonged there. Jared stumbled and tried to avoided falling backwards, but failed miserably.
Before he knew it he was on the ground, the young woman on top of him. Her head was planted firmly on his chest. He felt her taking a deep shaky breath before looking up.
The world froze as she lifted her gaze to his. Her emerald green eyes were lined with tears and her sun kissed skin shone from the light in the nearby lantern. Her red lips her were slightly parted in a silent cry and her long dark hair fell in ringlets around and down her back. She clung onto his tunic with while hands. He was suddenly acutely aware of how close they were, her slender legs her were interwined with his own and her chest was pressed firmly against his own. His whole body tingled, the smooth skin on her legs rubbed against his own as she moved.
He resisted the urge to blush as they sat there ignoring the growing crowd and the men who were chasing her bald captor. He realised that he was under the same scrutiny from her as she was from him, her green eyes leaving his face momentary to travel over his face, shoulders and torso, her eyes soon found his once more. Her warm breathe tickled his face as she breathed out. A slow smile crept across her beautiful face as a charming blush spread across her cheeks.
'Thank you." she murmured in a melodious voice her eyes never leaving his own.
He found her smile contagious, as he smiled along with her and replied.
"Anytime"
A/N:Thanks to Disney Princess3 and chrissyyissy for reviewing!
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