As the sun's morning light began to peak into her room from the windows, Keira continued to keep her face buried in her hands as she cried while sitting in her bed, holding its gold colored sheets up in order to conceal her bare body. Ever since Edwin had left her alone in the middle of the night all she could do was replay the terrible scene that had taken place earlier in her head.

Flashback

Keira could only start to cry as he tightened his grip on both her face and arm.

"I'll just put it like this…" He began. "You hurt me… so now… it's your turn to be hurt…"

Keira furiously shook her head causing him to lose his grip on her face. "E-Edwin… Stop…!"

He only grinned as he used his now free hand to grab down on the mid-portion of her dress.

Her eyes wandered down to his hand but as he tightened his grip on her clothing they quickly returned back to his face, frozen with fear.

"N-No…" She tried to tell him with her stare.

Ignoring her look, he began to slowly pull on her dress causing a faint ripping sound.

Keira continued to give him her begging look. "E-Edwin pleas…"

But that was all she was able to get out before he began to forcibly pull on her dress with all his strength causing it to tear off of her revealing the white chemise she wore underneath it.

"Edwin stop!" She shouted."I'll scre…"

Just as Keira's voice neared its height Edwin grabbed onto her neck cutting her off. As she placed her hands onto his arm to try and remove it he let go of her chemise and brought his finger up to his mouth.

"Shhh… We don't want to make things worse do we?" He asked rhetorically.

Slowly she shook her head.

He grinned once more. "Good…"

The rest of the evening, though still fresh in her mind, was just too hard for her to remember. The thought that Edwin would do such a thing simply because he had found out about Jack created a strong sense of disbelief in her. He had always been so kind to her and everyone else that it didn't seem like his nature to exact revenge so quickly. Worst of all she knew that he would use his reputation to defend himself if necessary; after all, he had told her so. Once he was "finished" with her as he put it he dressed himself and prepared to leave the room only to turn back at her while she stared at him with tear filled eyes.

"You can say whatever you want about this…" He began. "But if you attempt to blame me for this I'll be sure that the blame will shift towards that peasant of yours… we'll see who your father believes…" And with that he left.

She knew that her father was more likely to believe that it was Jack who raped her and not Edwin or rather that he wouldn't care so long as Jack got to be dealt with harshly. What troubled her more was that she knew that not only would her father believe that, but likely everyone in the town and castle would. At least everyone except Jack.

"I… I knew it Jack… I knew it…" She said quietly as she continued to cry. "I knew I should've stayed with you…"

Once more she felt that resolve form inside her. She had to return out to the forest, she had to go to a place where she could be safe, even if it didn't seem so.

Quickly, she raised her head up and looked down at the floor by her bedside to spot her chemise still lying where Edwin had tossed it and she just as quickly got out of bed and placed it on. Ignoring the torn maid's uniform nearby she ran over to her dresser and pulled out one of her golden dresses and began to put it on as she headed towards the door.

"I-I'm coming J-Jack…" She whispered as tears still fell from her eyes.

Rushing down the halls, Keira quickly ran past a multitude of maids and servants, all of which were concerned with her messed up hair, puffy eyes, and the trail of tears she was leaving behind, none of which was more concerned than Celia, who she quickly passed before she could even speak a word. Despite the orders her father had placed, Keira paid no heed to the guards stationed in front of the main gate and attempted to run past them but they were quick to block her way.

"Princess Keira! Stop!" They ordered as they stood in front of the gateway in order to block her.

"Get out of the way!" She shouted as she ran for the open space between them only for them to block it as well.

"We have… direct orders to keep you here…" One of them told her as she attempted to push them out of the way.

"I… said… move!" She shouted as she forcibly shoved him down to the ground.

With the guard knocked down, Keira was quick to continue her run towards the forest causing the second guard to fall down as he tried to grab her.

Just like she had multiple times before, Keira quickly weaved her way through the trees down the familiar route leading to Jack's house. Knowing there was a chance that the guards would be out looking for her she had to be fast in order to reach Jack's before they could find her. This coupled with the memories of the previous night still in her head kept the tears in her eyes flowing which she found unable to stop even we she stepped onto Jack's property and saw him just exiting his house.

"Jack!" She shouted as loud as she could in order to attract his attention before running over to him.

"Keira?" Jack asked as he watched her approach him, only to shout it once more after he watched her tripping over a stray root from a nearby tree stump. "Are you okay?" He asked as he knelt beside her only for her to throw her arms around him.

"J-Jack!" She shouted again crying a mixture of both tears of sadness and happiness now.

"W-What is it Keira? What's wrong?" He asked as she tightened her grip on him.

"I-It's E-Edwin!" She told him. "H-He… h-he…"

Jack's body shook from fear.

"H-he raped me Jack!" She shouted before burying her face in his chest.

Jack's body shook again as he pushed her off of him a little. "W-What?"

She only buried her face again. "He raped me Jack…" She repeated quietly. "He saw me with you so he raped me…"

Jack remained quiet as Keira continued to cry on his chest. Just as he had feared Edwin had held true to his word and hurt her simply for being with him. But how was he able to find her out on his farm? But more importantly, was he lurking in the shadows there at that moment? He looked down at Keira. Was attempting to free her worth it? He had to make a choice.

Shutting his eyes Jack pushed Keira off of him and onto the ground.

"J-Jack…?" She asked.

"Leave…" He told her calmly as he looked down.

A confused and heartbroken expression formed on her face. "W-What…?"

"Leave…" He repeated in the same tone.

"W-what's this about Jack…?" She asked in an upset tone. "What's…"

"I said leave!" He shouted as he opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Leave!"

Not understand what was going on his mind, but just as unwilling to find out, Keira quickly climbed to her feet and began to run off into the distance leaving yet another trail of tears behind her.

"T-That's right… leave…" Jack said to himself, lowering his voice with each word.

He fell to his knees and looked down at the ground.

"I-I'm not worth your safety…" He said shamefully.

He continued to stare at the ground for a moment but when he noticed what appeared to be teardrops falling in the soil he looked back up in the direction Keira had just ran.

"C-come back… please…" He whispered.

In the shadows of the trees nearby a familiar figured grinned and backed into the forest.

A/N: I know it was a tad brief but I'm a little stressed right now. I might add some more to this later along with chapter 22.