Sorry for the wait m'dears!
February 21st.
It was a simple strategy in the end.
Jasper took a group of twelve newborns, plus Maria, Peter and Bella, out to the border of the Martin territory. He insisted Anton stay and guard the camp, mostly because his stupid face was a distraction from the war target. He had been watching training carefully and decided on two newborns they could afford to lose, they would be the sacrificial pawns. They would come at the camp from the other side as a distraction so the real fighting force could get the upper hand. Sure, they'd definitely lose the two pawns - but who cares about some lousy pawns?
It was an old plan, tried and true. It wouldn't even work against a general who knew what he was doing but that was a rare thing amongst warlords. From what little information he had he could see the Martin Coven hadn't won its territory through skill in military tactics. A basic plan should work, and it was the only thing he could come up with without the time to do practice runs.
Peter and Bella clumped together at the back of the pack, heads stuck together and nattering too quiet for anyone to hear. It made Jasper nervous; he had no idea what poison she could be whispering in his brother's ear, what favours she might be asking of him. In the past when he had been a little less nervous he would have been able to sense Peter's emotions through all the clamour of the newborns without looking, but he hadn't let them be that close for a while.
He regretted that, as he tried to catch subtle glimpses of them out of the corner of his eye. Peter looked confident as he always did coming into a fight, but under that there was worry, concern, a little sadness too.
That was new, and different. Jasper didn't like it. He wanted to turn around and pull the two apart so Bella would stop whatever plot she had on Peter. He had the authority, but if Bella was the enemy he couldn't show his hand.
He slammed his mouth shut, clenched his fists and tried to focus on the upcoming battle.
They did lose the pawns, but other than that the campaign was a total success. There wasn't a single soldier left from the Martin Coven, and Jasper's side had gotten away with only a few injuries. There were additional tents they could steal for the main camp, pens, paper and clothes. Practically a goldmine and they had won it all.
But Jasper couldn't celebrate, he couldn't be pleased - because Peter was one of the injured, and it was Bella's fault.
At first Jasper hadn't been too worried. When she pulled her shield over him it was like a warm blanket, reminded him of his bed back in his human days. He walked into battle comforted, it was a nice feeling. But as he kept an eye on Peter during the fight he realised that the thing they had been discussing together was a deal. Peter was splitting his attention between attacking the target and protecting the girl.
Jasper could only watch in horror when he looked across the battlefield and saw Peter throw himself between Bella and a newborn going for her throat. It wasn't a technical manoeuvre, it wasn't even a smart move. It was reckless and he took a bite in the arm for it, a bad one. Even worse, Jasper's stupid brother shook it off and pretended his whole left arm wasn't hanging on by a thread. Probably trying not to make the girl feel bad. Ridiculous.
Jasper had to drop his position and move closer to Peter to pick up the slack. They still got through and they still won, but he hadn't felt so terrible in years. He almost lost his brother through sheer stupidity.
Jasper racked his mind trying to figure out this behaviour, before it clicked. Jasper would throw himself into danger without thinking for only one person, Maria.
Perhaps Bella had used her feminine charms, perhaps her gift could influence Peter's feelings. However she did it, she had seduced him and made him fall in love with her. That was the only reason that could make sense and it explained everything. They had become so close so quickly, almost as soon as they were allowed to be alone together, Peter had been lying and deceitful when it came to her. Hell, it even explained some of her strange emotions, the strange bursts of hope she got at strange times. Even her fighting style, he had thought it was strange that she fought in exactly the way he would have taught her to. Perhaps she'd been spying on his training the newborns, in which case she must have been spying for months.
She had a secret plan he didn't understand.
Whatever it was, it was going to get Peter killed.
He stewed over this as they looted as much as they could and destroyed the rest of the abandoned camp. Maria ordered some of the newborns to scout and scent the new territory and Peter was sent along with them. Jasper was glad of that, he wanted as much distance as possible between Peter and Bella until he knew what was going on.
He wasn't paying enough attention to his duty, he knew that. New territory meant a larger force, they needed to turn more soldiers and that took planning. They couldn't turn too many from one area or it would raise suspicion, they couldn't turn too many at once or they'd be difficult to control, and they couldn't turn more than one from one family or factions could form. Maria was already itching to get started and it was his job to provide guidance.
He was too focused on the girl walking a few paces in front of him, her colours clouded in thought. Bella didn't seem threatening, didn't seem capable of causing anyone harm; but sometimes the smallest snakes are the most venomous.
His opportunity came when Anton met them halfway to the camp. Maria began to discuss their plans with him and was too distracted to notice anything Jasper might do. He waited until they were far enough away and crept up behind Bella, who was walking slower and slower as she thought. In one sharp movement, he grabbed her by the upper arms, jumped into the air and threw her miles in the direction they'd just come from. He caught her by surprise, the only noise she made was a quick gasp that was immediately swallowed by the rushing air around her. He ran straight after her, careful not to make a sound.
He heard the clattering and snapping of branches as she tried to slow her fall and followed the sound until he heard the thud of her hitting the ground. He zipped towards her and found her sitting on the ground, hair a mess and her nose in that precious bag of hers. She glanced up at him, eyebrows drawn together.
"Hey, did you see who threw me?"
He growled instead of answering and charged straight towards her. Her eyes panicked and she threw the bag into the trees. He considered changing course and charging after the bag instead but resisted. It could be a trick so she could get away.
He expected her to get to her feet and face him but she moved into a crouch and jumped away. He grabbed the bottom of her skirt, only coming away with a small patch of fabric.
"The hell?" she gasped a short distance away. "Why are you attacking me?"
He growled and took a swipe at her head, which she ducked to avoid. While she was still close to the ground he followed it with a harsh kick that sent her flying back into the trees. He sprinted there as her back hit bark, grabbed her by the throat and slammed her to the floor.
She rolled away the second his hand left her neck and jumped. She grabbed his shoulders and sailed over his head, then threw him down as he had done her. He jumped back up and snarled, enjoying the way her colours went blank with fright.
They traded blows, aiming for head and chests. Trying to swipe each other's legs out from under them and jumping to avoid. They ducked and weaved in an intimate and dangerous dance, until finally he got the upper hand. He grabbed one of her shoulders and spun her around, then tackled her from behind.
He pinned her to the ground, his legs tucked in and clamped her's down. He twisted one arm behind her back and pinned the other to the ground beside her face. His whole body pressed against her, leaving her completely incapable of movement even if she tried. Even newborns in the strength of their first days wouldn't be able to break the hold without injuring themselves.
She laughed, though her face was pressed into the dirt.
"Are you going to kill me, Jaz?"
There it was, the biggest mystery of all. How did she know his name? Even Jasper's own mother had never called him by such a nickname to his memory, Maria certainly not.
He spoke directly into her ear, her hair tickled at his nose.
"I don't know where you learned my first name, or why you feel so able to freely use it."
She froze and struggled ever so slightly. He felt her panic shiver up her spine.
"I must have heard it around somewhere. Probably from Maria."
He didn't need to see her colours to know she was lying. Maria had called Jasper Major from the second she heard his rank, he hadn't uttered his own name since the day of his turning. Even Peter didn't know it. Her knowledge of his name was impossible, but he knew he would never get a straight answer from her. He took that question and logged it away, and moved on to the next thing that had been bothering him.
"Who taught you how to fight?"
"What?"
He couldn't help himself and grabbed her hair, using it to pull her head to the side. He leaned down and spoke directly into her ear, close enough his top lip brushed it.
"Who taught you how to fight?"
She stiffened. He was on to something.
"A friend…" she whispered.
"Well he's awfully good," he pressed.
"The best."
She was shut off. Her shoulders were like rocks around her neck, walls around her emotions high up. He wasn't going to get any more out of her like this.
He cut to the chase. "How long were you spying on us?"
She jerked, intense surprise brought her walls tumbling down. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I've taught enough people to fight to know what one of my students looks like." He growled. "The last time I trained one with the same style as you was months ago. You watched, didn't you?"
"No," she replied. "I was taught by a member of my coven. You didn't invent jumping, y'know."
Jasper faltered. This strange girl's strange emotions were incredible. He could see full well that he'd veered off track, that he'd been on to something for a moment there but her spying clearly wasn't it. She had a secret, that much was clear - but what suddenly became clear was that the only thing she feared when it came to him was him figuring it out.
He was still on top of her, pressing her into the dirt, teeth close enough to her neck to kill her instantly. She wasn't afraid. She didn't think he would hurt her. She trusted him.
How strange, he had the upper hand and yet he was the one scared of her.
His grip loosened without thinking about it, she still didn't move.
"Why are you here?" he whispered.
"I want revenge on Johan."
Deceit. A lie. But then, he'd always known that that was a lie.
"No you don't. I can feel what you feel. You have no anger about Johan, you don't give a shit about him."
She stayed silent.
"Why are you really here?" he asked.
"Like I told Peter, I'm looking for someone."
"I don't see how you're finding anyone by joining this army."
"I don't have to tell you my methods."
Frustration welled up in him, her walls were back up and her face told him nothing when it was half shoved in the dirt. He unthinkingly flipped her over, a stupid move - he pinned both her arms above her head and kept his legs clamped over hers but she could easily break the hold should she choose to.
She didn't move.
Her hovered over her, stared directly into her eyes in an attempt to see some kind of change, something he could understand.
"You need to stay away from Peter," he whispered, ignoring the pungent vulnerability of telling her exactly what he was worried about.
She frowned. "Why?"
He could still see nothing. Her confusion was so genuine he could tell nothing from it. He growled, too frustrated to hold his feelings in any longer.
"I don't understand you! You're deceptive constantly, I don't think you've ever told me the truth! I've warned Peter and yet he still insists on developing this… attachment to you. I don't think it's romantic on his part, but if you plan to seduce him let me make it very clear. Relationships are not permitted here. Maria does not allow it. I won't let you put Peter in danger for whatever your goddamn plan is!"
There was a beat of silence, just long enough for him to start beating himself up for giving everything he was thinking away, but then she did the unthinkable.
She started to laugh.
"You think I'm trying to seduce Peter?" she giggled.
He blinked. He hadn't been laughed at like this since… he couldn't remember the last time he'd been laughed at like this.
"Is that so insane?" he asked, numb.
"Yes!" she grinned. "I'm married! Peter is just a friend! A brotherly type friend!"
"I…" he frowned, horrified. "You're married? What the fuck are you doing down here on your own?"
She shrugged as best she could with her arms held above her head, still smiling. "He doesn't have to come with me for everything I do."
Jasper had had enough. He got to his feet, immediately missing the feeling of her being so close and trying to shut that instinct down. She was married, Bella was married. He watched her get up, much slower than he did. Everything she did was slower than him, slower and more gentle. She was from a different world than he was. He stared at the cracks circling her wrists from where he'd held her too tight. He'd broken her.
Another man was duty bound to protect this girl, and had let her come to this place and be broken.
He hadn't thought about the duty of marriage in a very long time.
He held back the rage bubbling in his throat. "You mean to tell me…" he growled, "that your husband doesn't care at all that you're down here risking your life?"
"He cares," she shrugged again, nonchalant. "He trusts me."
He trusts her? Jasper couldn't imagine ever loving someone like that and just letting them go. There was no amount of trust in the world that could ever compel him to let a girl he loved come here alone.
Girls like Bella didn't belong in places like this. Her husband was a coward, a bastard, an idiot who clearly didn't deserve her.
He was getting too emotional, he needed to back off.
"Just… be careful with Peter. He's better than both of us and doesn't deserve what Maria would do to him."
Gold, she turned gold. He couldn't take his eyes off hers as her smile turned serious and she said the first truly honest thing he'd ever heard leave her lips.
"Finally. Something we agree on."
He fled. That was the only way he could describe it, he turned and ran away from her. He ran at top speed until he felt the familiar pull of the camp dragging him in. He went straight to Maria and fell into her arms, letting her soothe away his righteous anger. How could he have feelings like that for Bella when he had Maria? He was being ridiculous.
"Major," Maria whispered into his ear. "Where were you? You missed feeding, I was worried."
"I'm sorry," he replied. "There was something I had to sort out along the territory line."
It wasn't necessarily a lie. For some godforsaken reason he didn't want Maria to know his suspicions about Bella.
It didn't matter what he said, of course. Maria had her own suspicions.
"Was it something Belle helped you with?" she asked. "She disappeared too, and isn't back yet."
"No," he said. "Belle didn't help. Maybe she went hunting?"
"Hmmm," she stroked her fingers through his hair. "Maybe…"
Maria summoned Anton and told him to go wait for Bella outside the camp. He was to tell her that she needed to ask permission before hunting from now on. Jasper knew he would usually have feelings about this, but he was too distracted by the feeling of her nails on his scalp to care.
A few days later, Bella sullenly made her way to Maria's tent and asked for permission to go hunting. Jasper listened from a few feet outside the tent. Maria denied her request and gave her a job supervising the newborns training instead.
"That's fine," Bella said. "Do you mind if I go afterwards?"
"Oh silly Belle," Maria laughed. "We're bringing humans in tomorrow, just wait until then!"
"But… if you don't mind I'd really prefer to stick to animals right now."
Maria sighed. "But Belle my love, it's just not safe for you! I can't put you at risk! Surely you can put aside your preferences and just drink a human for my sake?"
Bella awkwardly laughed and left the tent without committing one way or the other. She didn't drink a human when he brought some in the next day, she didn't drink one the next week either. Maria still denied her requests to go hunting.
"Why?" he asked Maria when Bella's eyes had turned black and sunken. "Why not let her hunt? If it's that dangerous someone could just go with her, don't you want her at full power?"
Maria smiled. "I want to see her drink a human, Major. She can go back to her precious animal diet once I've seen it."
It was a loyalty test, Jasper realised. He'd known that Maria had suspicions about Bella, but he'd assumed they were the same as his. No, her suspicion was that Bella was morally against killing humans, as opposed to the story she'd told about abstaining for pleasure.
Jasper wasn't sure how he felt about morals entering the camp. This was a place far away from human judgement and godly laws. There was no murder or assault here, only their existence and what happened within it. It was kill or be killed, if he started thinking about the ethics of it he wasn't sure what he would do.
Maria hated morality and moralising, she hated judgement. If Bella was abstaining from humans because she felt it was immoral to kill one, Maria would consider it a capitol offence.
Jasper thought back to Bella's face when he set George on fire. That girl couldn't kill.
Another week passed, and then another. Maria got more and more suspicious with every passing day. All Jasper could do was watch Bella suffer; as her skin grew dull, her eyes sank back in their sockets and her movements slowed even more. She sat in her tree for hours, unmoving and unblinking. Everyone stopped giving her tasks because it was clear she couldn't do them.
Jasper couldn't imagine just how much her throat must burn.
He couldn't stand it anymore and asked Peter how she was. His brother raised an eyebrow at his concern but replied that she was terrible and no matter what he said to her she just snapped back at him. There was nothing he could do.
Jasper waited until Maria was busy one day and went to Bella in her tree. Maybe, just maybe, the strange feelings she had for him, that odd connection between them would make her listen.
He brushed a hand over her arm to get her attention, her head moved painfully slowly to look at him.
"Just drink a human," he said. "You'll have to eventually. Why torture yourself now?"
He expected her to snap at him, but she smiled. She was so weak he saw every feeling that passed over her, he had watched as it was all drowned out by black bloodlust and red rage for weeks. Without the walls she always built up around herself, the gold was strong and glowed from deep within her.
"I can't," she whispered.
