True to Weiss' word, Sir Klein had ensured two horses had been prepared at the stable. One was Ruby's own horse, prepared by the stable hands under her watchful eye whilst Jaune had gotten dressed, forsaking his plain and itchy hospital robe for a simple grass green tunic and brown hose. Once he had pulled one his boots and shrugged on a hooded dark green cloak, Sir Klein had escorted Jaune to his guest room, where he had been allowed several minutes to pack some of his belongings into a bag. He'd been told not to bring any of his clothing, since most of it was fine and resplendent noble wear, which would stand out on the road.
He was still struggling to come to terms with the fact he was being hunted by an Inquisitor. Jaune didn't worship the Mistrali's Goddess, but surely that wasn't grounds for execution?
Regardless of what he thought about the fact, Jaune was now a fugitive, even if there wouldn't be wanted posters of him scattered across the Kingdom. Having packed some belongings, mostly jewellery and other fine things Jaune thought would sell well in a market, Sir Klein had led Jaune to the stables, despite Jaune knowing where they were.
"I know you lived here for years lad, I was the one to train you how to fight after all." The knight replied with a humoured look on his face, his white-silver armour glinting in the sunlight as they crossed the courtyard. "I'm not that old lad."
"I-I didn't mean to suggest…!" Jaune stammered, a horrified look on his face.
"Calm lad it was only a jest." Klein replied with a chuckle. "I was tasked to escort you to ensure nothing untoward was to happen to you. It would be foolish of Nikos to move against you now, but the lords he has convinced of your guilt may not be as wise. Most worrying will be those who seek to earn his favour by either arresting or killing you."
Ice cold dread washed over him. It felt like he was standing before the terrifying monster that had attacked Nördliche Burg not too long ago.
"But the nobles. They're all sworn to Weiss, why would they side with Nikos?" Jaune asked, his hands clammy with sweat.
"Because greed is a powerful motivator and many cling to their biases. Weiss may be their ruler but she is a woman. Many hold doubts about how well a woman may rule two Kingdoms and whether Weiss should've ascended to the throne at all. It sets a precedent that makes many uncomfortable." Klein replied, anger in his tone. Jaune could see why. It didn't make sense for Weiss to be seen as less able a ruler as him just for being a woman. She'd been soaring ahead in her lessons as a child, leaving him in the dust yet never cruel about it.
"But they still swore fealty to her!" Jaunce cried, his dread fading in the wake of his anger. It didn't seem right.
"That's why I stay away from politics, lad." Klein replied with a sad, almost bitter smile. "It's nothing more than a pit of lies and deception."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, Jaune distracted from his previous fear by his anger. They passed by a pair of guards, who nodded at Klein as they walked past. The knight returned the nod and held a gauntleted hand on Jaune's shoulder before he turned around the corner of the Keep leading to the stables.
Jaune turned to ask Klein why he'd stopped him, but the knight merely pressed a finger to his own lips in the universal gesture of silence. Jaune waited and watched the knight watch the guards, who turned right into the Keep.
"We need to move." Klein muttered urgently, tugging Jaune along with a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Why? What's wrong?" Jaune asked, confused by the knight's sudden change in behaviour.
"Those two are supposed to be on the southern parapet." Klein replied, muttering a curse as he caught sight of Ruby arguing with two guards at the stables. "Stay behind me."
Jaune followed after a moment of confused hesitation, quickening his pace to match the knight's hurried stride.
"What is the meaning of this?" Klein boomed as he neared the arguing trio. "That's the lass who saved us from the dragon, and yet you two are harassing her? There better be a good reason for this or I'll tan you hides myself."
"Nördliche Burg has been put into lockdown by Royal decree." One of the guards replied, shifting nervously with a glance to his partner. "No-one is to enter or leave until the suspected heretic Jaune Arc is apprehended."
When Jaune was younger and had been a ward of Weiss' father, he'd been trained intensively by Sir Klein in the way of the sword. It had been hard due to Jaune's clumsiness and seemingly natural ineptness and especially by the knight's immense size and strength. Now though, Jaune was glad the knight was so big, as it allowed him to inconspicuously hide behind his armoured form.
"Our Queen." Klein stated icily, emphasizing Weiss' title, hand falling to the hilt of his blade. "Does not believe in the falsehood and rumour being spread of Lord Arc's alleged heresy. Who issued the decree?"
The guards glanced between one another. The one on the right shifted his hand, which had been resting on his belt, ever so slightly towards the hilt of his sword.
"King Nikos did."
"He is to be King Consort."
"Consort Nikos did then."
"And where does your loyalty lie then? To the Queen or the Consort?"
The guards glanced at one another once more.
Klein moved like lightning as he drew his blade, slicing through the air horizontally and forcing the guards to lunge back. One fell.
"Oops." Ruby said innocently, grabbing a shovel resting on the side of the stables.
The other guard attempted to draw his blade, unsheathing the sword halfway through before Klein cut his throat, causing blood to spurt out from the wound. The man gurgled, clutching at his throat as he fell to his knees.
The one who had been tripped by Ruby tried to stand again but she moved quickly, yelling a battle cry as she swung the shovel downwards onto his head and knocking him back to the floor again. The man was dazed but conscious and Klein ended the skirmish with a blade through the man's chest.
Jaune stared, horrified as more blood spilled from the cut throat of the right guardsman. His eyes bulged in his socket, wide and bleeding, as soft gurgles spilled from his throat, either pleading for help or cursing him.
"Jaune."
The man sank face first onto the ground. The blood began to pool around his head.
"Jaune!"
He rolled onto his side, hands weakly scraping and scratching at the ground as he gurgled with agony.
"Jaune damnit! Get the lad on his horse girl! Now!"
The man stilled. The hands stopped scraping. The eyes became dull and lifeless.
"Jaune! Snap out of it Jaune!"
It was the warmth that broke his trance of the dead man and he stared down into a familiar pair of silver eyes.
Ruby.
She was shaking him. Why? He wasn't dying, clutching at his throat as he drowned in his own blood. He wasn't staring blankly into the sky. He hadn't left his family behind after dying an ignominious death just outside some stables that stank of horseshit.
He was alive. The guards weren't.
Jaune had never seen death so close before. Yes, he felt he was facing his own death when he'd charged the dragon that attacked Nördliche Burg and yes, he'd seen the watchtower fall and heard the screams when the dragon attacked but he'd never seen death so close before.
He stared back at the lifeless guard.
"We have to go Jaune! Klein can't hold them much longer!"
Them? Who were them?
Jaune turned and watched in horror as a spear bounced off of Klein's white-silver armour. The knight was faced by a dozen guardsmen, who were trying to slowly flank the knight. Klein refused to allow them to encircle him however, lunging right then left with furious swings that sent the guardsmen back, lest they lose a limb or a split belly. The knight was strong and quick but he was outnumbered and whilst his armour protected him from blows, it also tired him.
"Klein!" Jaune cried, moving to help the knight, only to be stopped by a harsh "No!" as the knight cut open the belly of one of his attackers.
"Run Jaune! Flee!" The knight commanded, taking a single step backwards. His attackers had paused the probing attacks and advances, watching the knight with caution. They would win eventually but at what cost? Who would be the next to fall the knight's blade? None of them seemed eager to find out.
"But you…!"
"No buts lad! Flee!" Klein commanded with a harsh bark, swatting away a probing sword strike. "This isn't the time to disobey orders! Run!"
A hand clasped onto Jaune's shoulder, and he was tugged back by Ruby. Towards the stables, where two horses waited for them.
"We can't leave him!" Jaune begged, pulling back and out of Ruby's grip. "He'll die!"
"And if we don't leave then his sacrifice will be in vain!" Ruby replied sadly. "Do you want him to die for nothing?"
"He doesn't have to die at all! We can help him!"
"We can't. I'm not good at fighting people and you're unarmed. We'd only get in his way. Besides they're only here for you Jaune, if we run they'll follow us and they might spare him."
Jaune swallowed nervously, glancing back to Klein when he had a cry. Another guard had fallen, but Klein was panting heavily and his face covered in a light sheen of sweat.
"I don't want to run either Jaune. It doesn't feel like something a hero would do but we'd only get in his way."
He turned back to Ruby, who was looking at him with a guilty but determined look in her eye. Despite him wishing otherwise, he knew she was right. He couldn't help. All he could do was abandon the man who trained him. Feeling sick to the very core, Jaune nodded once and Ruby nodded at him with a sad look. They mounted their horses, and Jaune glanced up at where Klein battled the guardsmen.
He was nearly surrounded, the guards having forgotten about them in the heat of combat and being led away to the left of stables by Klein, who'd cleared their path for an escape towards the open gates.
Jaune turned to Ruby, who turned back to him, both of them thinking of the same idea.
Their mounts were unarmoured to make their travel quicker and allowed them to carry more supplies, But a horse was big and strong. Even unarmoured it could hurt a human with frightening ease.
They galloped out of the stables, thundering to the right and left of Klein with the practiced ease of experienced riders. Four of the ten remaining guardsmen were knocked down and trampled, and the duo quickly veered to the left, towards the gates. It wasn't much but it was all they could do if they wanted to respect the knight's wishes.
The sounds of combat followed them as they thundered out of Nördliche Burg's inner gate and out of Snowflake Keep. Curious faces stared at them as they thundered through the streets. Curiosity turned to shock and then fear as a nearby bell tower was rung and the outer gate of Nördliche Burg began to be pushed shut by guards. However their horses were swift and the hardwood gates were heavy. They galloped past the yelling guards and down the main road leading up the hill Nördliche Burg stood upon.
A few arrows thunked into the ground behind them, but they ignored them and pressed their steeds harder, galloping out the valley in which Nördliche Burg rested and down the road of dug out snow and made of gravel. Grit was flung up behind them, leaving clear tracks of where they had gone. However, soon they were upon the Solitas Road, the paved and frequently salted road which connected all the settlements in Atlas to one another. More importantly, the lack of overnight snow meant they left no tracks for their soon to be pursuers.
After another five minutes, they slowed to a steady trot, both him and Ruby unwilling to push their horses too harshly. They would need their stamina if they were to outrun their pursuers.
Something heavy settled in Jaune's chest and on his shoulders. He was no longer Jaune Arc, heir of Ansel, previous ward of Jacque Schnee and brother of seven. He was now Jaune Arc, A man who had somehow made an enemy of the future king and had now been nearly arrested by the men who had protected him so long ago as a boy. He was the coward who'd abandoned the man who'd trained him how to fight and fled like he had something to hide. Something to be ashamed of.
He was nothing more than Jaune Arc. A criminal.