Knight 14
She sat there waiting wondering how she had let herself get mixed up in this nonsense yet again. Silently cursing the now dead king for simply not letting her be. What had she or her people ever done to be treated this way? Part of her wanted to run but she knew that damn bracelet would force her to remain. Even when she had been in the king's custody it had made it's intention clear, she was not meant to be away from the prince. She silently cursed him as well because it was obvious that he was as crazy as the rest of his kin.
She rubbed her wrist and righted one of the sole remaining chairs in their room. Part of her was grateful that he had kept his word and come after her but another part had wished he would have just walked away. As loathe as she was to admit it she had been worried about him,not that she would ever say it to his face.
The old king's trap had been blatantly obvious and it stung her pride that the old bastard had used her as bait. She stooped to pick a bit of pottery off the floor. Despite the pain she could not just sit there and do nothing her mind would not let her.
Nuala was a sweet woman and ironically so was her mother from what she had heard, that she had been wed to that creature was just cruel. For once she was thankful her people didn't do arranged marriages.
She just hoped the small princess was able to out run her brother or was it Wink he had sent. Wincing she righted another piece of furniture and it collapsed in her hand, so she dropped the leg she was holding. She was avoiding the room because quite frankly it would trigger her as humans referred to it.
Nuada was striding through the market with a single purpose, to find Wink and his sister. He hoped that the troll had caught her and that was the reason for the delay. Instead he heard the tail end of a very nonchalant "I told you so" from a voice he did not recognize. It was quickly followed by his friend's screams as well as begging for help. Nuada rushed forward shoving slow moving beings aside as he rushed towards that sound, which was coming from the meat market.
It was an area that screams and begging were commonplace. Several creatures in the court routinely dined on human flesh, some even preferred it live, but at the moment he didn't care, all he heard was the tortured cries of his friend. He rounded the corner too late to save Wink from his fate, as he stared in shock at the huge grinding wheels that had jammed on what was left of Wink's arm. That appendage was still sticking out from between the wheels.
He vaguely recalled snarling a challenge to the huge demon standing there smoking while his friend had been dying. His sister stood behind the demon with what must have been it's allies. Nuala looked shocked as well as remorseful at least but it was also obvious she had not done anything to help Wink.
The demon responded to the challenge and they started fighting. The creature was huge and it's hits felt like being struck by a building. Still he held his own for a few minutes until his sister screamed and the creature blindsided him with it's stone fist. He dropped his vision was swimming and he was fighting to stay conscious as the demon said some smart quip and walked away, ushering Nuala away with him.
Jinn couldn't stand the suspense so she gathered her courage and stepped into the bedroom. She grabbed the first set of clothes out of her bag that she could find and dressed as quickly as she could. Yeah she was numb and slightly traumatized by her recent run in with the king but there was no way she was going to just sit here wrapped in nothing, but the chamberlain's robe.
Nuada may not be the old king but he was related to him and she still didn't trust him. She was just sliding her feet into some sandals when the bracelet flared as though someone had put it in a furnace. She gasped as the pain nearly drove her to her knees. She had the distinct feeling that it was trying to get her to do something, most likely to go to Nuada's aid. She laughed hollowly as if she could be of any use in her current condition.
Her hand closed over the hilt of her sword and she briefly thought about heeding it's wishes until the pain receded. Gasping she clung to the weapon and considered chopping her own hand off and simply fleeing. The pain flared again."okay fine!" she snarled and the pain stopped. She headed for the door and was halfway through it when she spotted him.
Swear words fell from her lips as she cursed profusely. Whatever had done this amount of damage to the prince had to be why the geas had been trying to force her to aid him. He pitched forward on unsteady legs and she caught hand was being covered with gold liquid and she let out yet another curse word when she realized it was his blood.
Did his sister led him in front of a mac truck because he looked like something had run him over. He chuckled briefly at her swearing and tried to shove her away, the movement ended in a gasp followed by what sounded like a sob.
Was he crying? And where the hell was Wink? She steered him towards the bed and damn near fell onto it with him when he collapsed."what happened?"said Jinn
He looked up at her and to be honest his face was so swollen she didn't recognize him. Only his eyes gave away who he was and the look of despair in them made her shudder. "Wink?" said Jinn
Did the troll turn on him and take his sister's side?
He shook his head no, either indicating that Wink had not done this or that he was no longer in this the prince's current condition was any indication then she would be willing to bet it was the latter. She let out another string of curse words this time aimed at herself. If she hadn't been captured earlier she could have been there to at least back up Wink.
It took him awhile to come to and it was obvious the occupants of the market had just left him there to lay. He snorted and tasted blood as he climbed to his market was mostly shut down for the night, most likely due to the amount of damage both the demon and Wink had done to the stalls.
A lone goblin was swearing by the meat grinder obviously trying to get the contraption unstuck. A basket by it's side contained twisted bits of metal that had once been wink's hand. Nuada closed his eyes against the wave of despair and loss that image conjured.
The demon would pay for his friends death. He was wavering as he walked numbly towards their dwelling his thoughts frozen on his sister's resigned look. He cursed, fell into a wall and pulled himself upright. Now what was he going to do? His staunchest ally was gone and the girl he had left wanted nothing to do with him.
He wasn't sure what ached more, the constant betrayal or the loss. He stumbled again missed the wall and face planted hard enough that he felt another tooth dislodge. A small vindictive part of him hoped his sister had felt that.
His vision was failing as he neared the door and he was pretty certain he was going to need a healer. He stumbled again and felt arms catch him. He blinked in shock because he didn't recognize them at first. She made contact with his ribs, which he was fairly certain were broken, and he gasped. Her gentleness and soft words reduced the rest of his resolve to sobs.
He didn't even care how pathetic he looked. He was alone,had just lost his only real friend and once again his family had turned their back on just wanted to curl up and sob. She gently steered him to the bed and asked him about Wink. He couldn't really answer her with his face as swollen as it was but he was grateful that he didn't see pity in her eyes. That really would have undone him instead she rested her hand on his arm as he drifted into fitful sleep.
She didn't know why she had offered him comfort, maybe it was because he had rescued her earlier. Still she silently cursed her soft heart, because she couldn't just walk away from him now, her conscious wouldn't let her leave him like this. She didn't want to feel bad for him, or to sympathize with him in any way, but damn it she didn't know the troll very well but he had treated her with respect and even friendship.
She had no idea idea what his relationship with the prince had been but it was obvious the prince was grieving his loss as if they were kin. She looked down at the sleeping to Nuada the troll had been more than a servant.
He would be so simple to end right now and his death would release her from this damn geas. She couldn't do it however,maybe she really was a coward or he had simply wormed his way past her defenses. Perhaps she had gone mad the same as he had, she didn't know and it scared her. Usually she knew her own heart but this damn elf was making her question everything. He tightened his grip somewhat,so she just relaxed and let him draw comfort from her presence. One thing was for certain neither of them were up to picking a fight tonight.