YOU GUYS! I have 100 follows on this story and over 170 reviews! You should know I made a happy seal noise and rolled around on the floor for about 10 minutes when I realized that. You guys are seriously the best. Okay, I'll give you a super long chapter to make it up to how great you guys are! Enjoy!
UPDATE: this was supposed to be posted WAAAAY earlier and Fanfiction decided to ruin my life and crash on me while writing this-AGAIN. So I'm really really sorry for the delay, but I had to rewrite everything. Moral of the story: ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS (can I get this permanently stamped on my forehead or something?).
The Chief says something in his foreign language and takes a step toward me. I flinch into Cassius, refusing to be taken from him once more. Cassius looks at me and gently disentangles himself from me before turning to stand and face the Chief. From my place on the ground I see that where the Chief is broad, Cassius is lean muscled, wearing dark jeans and a fitted grey long-sleeved tee. They are the same in height, which surprises me; had Cassius always been so tall? His hair is certainly not as long as the Chiefs, but still remained mussed and tangled just like the last time I'd seen him.
Cassius replied to the Chief, gesturing toward me as he did so. The Chief looked down at me and, boldly, I returned the stare. The Chief shook his head and said something, returning his attention back to Cassius.
Nothing more than a little annoyed, Cassius replied in a tone that made me want to smile; we'd been separated for so long I was beginning to worry if I'd never hear that sarcastic clip to his tongue again. But nothing about this situation warranted a smile.
They were obviously arguing over whether Cassius can take me from here or if I will have to stay. The thought makes my stomach shrink. What if the Chief refuses? Will Cassius give up, go back home to Daphne and live out the rest of his life while I waste away here? I stand and walk over to where the two are, grabbing Cassius by the arm. He stops what he is saying and turns to look at me.
"Please don't leave me here," I say to him.
He gives me a measured look before brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm trying my best, Soph."
Before either could speak again, the little girl steps forward into the conversation.
"The Chiefs daughter," Cassius informs me.
I look at the little girl who apparently told me that her dad wanted to make me his daughter's new mother. She is small in stature, but I can see now that she has a strong spirit that shines through her chocolate eyes, much like Cassius. She tugs on her father's arm and points to me, saying something in the language that apparently everyone but me can understand. She only says a few words, but it seems to have an effect on the crowd; even Cassius furrows his brow questioningly.
"What did she say?" I whisper to Cas.
Cassius merely shakes his head and replies to the little girl, kneeling down so he can better meet her height.
The little girl seems a little more than intimidated, but does not back down from her position. She speaks confidently, relaying something to Cassius that I cannot understand. As I watch the two, I can feel the Chief's stare on me, but refuse to look at him. When she is done speaking, Cassius rights himself and looks at the Chief once more.
"So there you have it," he says in English.
The Chief is silent a moment. He looks at me once more and this time I look back. There is no malice in his expression, only a simple curiosity. "For now," he replies in broken English.
"For now?" I ask Cassius. "What does he mean by that?"
Cassius takes my hand. "It means he's letting us go," he replies. He leads me past the Chief and little girl, through all of the tribesmen and women and out of the settlement.
"Just like that? He's letting us go?"
Cassius doesnt look at me, merely continues to lead me into the forest. "For now."
After trekking in complete darkness through the trees for what seems to be an eternity, Cassius builds a fire and we sit in front of it.
I stare at him, uncaring as to whether it is rude or not. He has bags under his eyes, I can see now. I'm sure I look like a complete mess, but Cassius seems to be just as torn up as me. He doesnt return my stare, simply stokes the fire in front of him.
I want to ask him why he's obviously had so many sleepless nights, if everything is okay back at the House, but I cant seem to phrase anything properly. Instead, I ask, "How did you know where I was?"
Cas looks up now and meets my stare. He holds it for a moment before returning to the fire before him. "I didn't at first. It took me a few days to figure out you'd never left here and another few to figure out where exactly you were."
You know your dad did this to me, right? I wanted to ask, but bit it back. "Gabrielle was there that day," I say, "at the Gazebo."
Cassius merely nods, his thoughts obviously somewhere else completely. "That doesn't surprise me."
"What did the Chief's daughter say to you?"
He pursed his lips, considering. "Nothing of importance."
"You're going to come all this way to take me from this place and still act like I need to be kept at arms length?" I ask.
He looks up at me wearily. "I convinced the Chief that you're my Wife," he says. "Tiger Lily helped me. Are you satisfied?"
I bite my lip. I've been gone about a week. Cassius says it took him 3 days to realize I was missing and the rest was spent looking for me. Had he slept? Eaten? Smiled? I look at him, truly look at how collected he always seems to be on the outside though he could be screaming on the inside. "Thank you," I say.
He sighs heavily. Maybe he's remembering the first time we had spoken, after he'd fought for me to even come into the House in the first place. When I'd thanked him for saving his life and though he seemed to take it all on stride on the outside, I could see in his eyes that he appreciated the gratitude.
The memory even gives me a bitter taste. We'd barely known each other then. And now...
"I made you a promise," Cassius said in reply to my thanks. "And I'm never one to break my promises."
XX
I wake to the smell of smoke. I sit up to see that the fire before me has gone out after being unattended for so long. There is morning light streaming through the trees around me, illuminating the forest. I've missed the sun.
I turn to see Cassius lying on his back with his eyes closed. In sleep he looks much less troubled than when he is awake. He breathes in and out evenly, his eyes flickering as he dreams.
I've missed you more, I think as I stare at him.
As if hearing my thoughts, he opens his eyes and meets my gaze. "You have a twig in your hair," he mutters as he sits up and stretches his arms.
"That doesn't surprise me," I say as he deftly picks it out. "I haven't seen my own reflection in a week."
Cassius studies me for a moment, long enough to where I start to blush. He stands and offers me a hand. "You dont look terrible, all things considered. Though I am starting to wonder how many woodland creatures are nesting in that hair of yours."
I scowl and stand on my own, only to be hit with a wave of nausea that makes me double over.
"What is it?" Cassius asks, coming to my side.
"Feel sick," I manage to say.
Cassius helps straighten me and nods. "That would be your detox setting in. The herbs they brewed for you to stay docile are the strongest around. You quitting them cold turkey is really going to do a number on you."
"Great," I moan.
"Come on," he says, sounding almost chipper.
A little while later we break through the line of trees only to come across a shoreline. I stare at the large boat in front of me before turning to stare at Cassius.
"We're across the Grand Lake. It's about a day or two's travel."
I shake my head mutely as we approach the boat. Of course he has a house boat.
As soon as we take off with Cassius at the wheel, I find that the back of the boat is my favorite spot. There is a seat in the back and the breeze that whips past me calms me down.
It's also an ideal place for me to throw up while I detox from the drugs that the tribe gave me.
I rest my head against the cool exterior of the boat as I stare at the waves that the propellor makes as my eyes droop with sleepiness. The waves made a constant pattern only changing once, making the shape of a-
"Cassius!" I yell. "There's a person in the water!"
But there was no response from the inside of the boat.
"Cassius!" I yell again. I look to see the person come up and down through the waves, calling out for help. Before I can rethink anything, I grab a life-saver and dive into the water.
At first I can see nothing as I plunge into the water. My dress immediately weighs me down as I struggle to the surface. Once I reach the surface I search frantically for the person in the water.
Finally I see a long pale arm a short distance away from me. "Hang on!" I yell and paddle toward the sound of the cries for help.
I see from the corner of my eye that Cassius has turned the boat around and is coming toward me, but I am more focused on the person in the water. As I get closer I can see that it is a girl with black hair and skin as pale as the moon. "Help me!" she cries.
"I'm coming!" I call back.
I reach where she was waving her arms, but I don't see her. I search the top of the water frantically but she is not there. I hear Cassius closing in with the boat and yelling something, but he is still too far away for me to hear anything.
When he is finally in range I hear him shout, "Sophia, get back on the boat!"
"There's a girl in the water!" I cry.
"I know," he replies to my surprise. "That's why you need to get back in the boat!"
Before I can process what he said, I see a head surface from beneath the water. Her eyes stay open the entire time, staring at me. There is something shiny about her skin that makes me stare in puzzlement. Something is very off about this girl that was just screaming for help a second ago and is now fluidly rising from the waves without any trouble at all.
She smiles at me with razor sharp teeth and lunges.
I barely have time to take in a breath before I am pulled under water. I try and see through the dingy water but all that forms before my eyes are bubbles.
I hear a boom and a second later the girl pulling me screams and releases me. I kick free of her and swim to the surface. Once I break through the water I suck in a breath and cough out the water that I had managed to swallow.
"Sophia, grab my hand," I hear Cassius yell, but my eyes sting from the water and I can't find him.
I feel a strong pair of hands grab my arms and pull me up and I reach out to cling to the side of the boat and pull myself inside.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Cassius asked as he wrapped a thick wool blanket around me.
"There was a girl in the water."
"Check in with me next time you decide you want to jump into a mermaid-infested lake, alright? I'm trying to keep you alive here, Soph, dont make this any harder than it already is."
I look past Cassius kneeling in front of me to see a large gun propped up against the side of the boat behind him. "You could have hit me," I say, nodding to the weapon.
"Lucky for you," Cas replies distractedly, checking me over for any major injuries, "I have excellent aim."
"How many more times do you think I'll have to thank you for saving my life?" I ask, looking up at him.
He meets my gaze briefly before dropping it and making to stand. "One too many," he says in reply. "Always one too many."
AN: okay this was supposed to be a lot longer, so I do apologize (DONT HATE ME!). You guys can probably tell when the clock hit 2 am because my writing just kind of went straight downhill. Bonus points if you guess correctly. Anyway, tell me what you guys think! I really do appreciate all of the love and support and awesomeness that just radiates from you through your reviews (btw I check out all of your profiles after you review me; dont sue me for being a creep pls). Okay, till next time!