After the Escape

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Jasille smiled gently at Thea as she said that the kiss had been nice. However, before anything more could pass between them, Dimaethor, who was still mumbling to himself in his sleep and tossing and turning on his bedroll, let out a soul-wrenching scream. Immediately, Jasille was at his side, waking him up with a couple shakes. "Mama!" the king cried, his skin sweaty and his cheeks wet with tears.

Then, he was awake, blinking his eyes opened as he cried. Seeing Jasille, he threw his arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. "Jasille...I...I was dreaming about when my parents died...I miss them so much, Jasille..." he said around sobs. Meanwhile, the knight tried to be as soothing as possible, running his hand up and down Dimaethor's back and whispering soft words of comfort into his ears.

"It's alright, my king," he whispered, using a more familiar honor for his king. "Why don't you lie back down and try to go back to sleep? In the morning, you can have the last bit of chocolate I have, alright?"

Dimaethor nodded, his tears soaking into Jasille's shirt. Eventually, he pulled away, still sniffling a bit. "Can I sleep on your bedroll?" he asked, looking more like a child than a king in the dark of the tent.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Jasille answered, helping him lie down before he put the thin blankets on top of him. "It will be better in the morning."
 
Thea stayed quiet through the exchange. She did not want to upset the king with her presence, nor did she want to intrude upon their moment. Instead, she waited and held her body still as Jasille tucked in the knight into his bed. Could they really only be a couple of years apart? She and the king seemed worlds away from each other. She knew at his age she was not any different than she was now. Thinking back, there was no time she had a childhood at all, it was all work and responsibility, especially after she went to the inn. It made her sad, to think she could be traded so easily by her father, cast aside as if she was coin in his pocket.

She stole a glance at Jasille and smiled, maybe she finally meant something to someone. She moved to the front of the tent, by the flap. Peeking out, no one was around, thankfully all of them had gone to sleep. She felt better knowing that the threat had likely passed for now. She did not leave the flap, drawing her knees up and hugging her arms around them and then resting her head on top of it all. There was so much to think about, but now, she wanted to keep an eye out in case any of their unwelcome guests rose in the night.

"Goodnight, Jasille." She said without looking at him.
 
"Good night, Thea," he answered softly, moving closer to her. There, he gently embraced her before he moved beside his king. Not for the first time since he and his king had escaped, Jasille longed to hold his king again, to kiss all of his worries and pain away. Still, he couldn't, especially not with Thea there.

Letting out a sigh, he lied down, not bothering to try and share the blanket or bedroll with Dimaethor. His king was notorious for stealing the sheets, and Jasille didn't want to deal with that. Turning his back to Dimaethor, he closed his eyes, letting out a gentle sigh.

Hopefully, the night would not be disturbed again.
 
After the embrace, she swore she could still feel his arms around her for that moment. The kiss and then the physical closeness of a small hug was more than she ever thought she could hope for. But for now, she wanted to watch out for their camp. She did not trust the soldiers and she was sure if she watched out for them all, it would be for the best.

It was a couple of hours before the darkness turned into the blue of twilight. Nothing had happened and Thea felt tired all of a sudden. With dawn not far away, she stayed awake and continued to watch. The light started to turn pink and she heard Henley coming out of his tent. She was sure at this point, there was no more reason to hide away and she exited the tent. Henley looked at her and nodded.

"Get some breakfast if you can." He said nodding toward her bow and she grabbed it and left to find them all something to eat. She hoped they could feed the men and they would move along without incident.
 
Jasille was awake early, but pretended to still be asleep when he heard the sounds of Thea awake. He needed to talk to Henley about what he did. Once Thea had left, Jasille groaned angrily, furious with himself. He had taken advantage of Thea and her attraction to him. But...it was to keep her safe, right? Who knew what those men would have done to her had she left?

Eventually, Jasille walked out of the tent, stretching. When he saw Henley, he said, "We need to talk. Quickly, before Thea returns." He led him towards the small creek that was nearby, hoping that Thea wouldn't come tromping through the forest and catch them. "I kissed Thea," he said, raking his fingers through his hair. "It was...a mistake. I know that now. But she was going to leave, and with those men out there, I didn't want to let her go out alone...I'm sorry...and I don't know how to make this all better."
 
"oh no, Jasille. Why didn't you just tell her no? She would have listened to you. Don't you understand? If she likes you and you kissed her...Likely the first real kiss she's had that wasn't forced on her...it's going to hurt her. Unless...you wanted to kiss her." Henley felt embarrassed, was he jealous the handsome knight kissed Thea?

Thea sent the arrow into the pheasant and as it hit its mark, she smiled. Four pheasants and two rabbits, thatbshpuld do well for all. "Pretty good shot for a pretty girl." A man's voice said behind her, she jumped and she looked at him.
"it's Thea isn't it? I'm Tor, I don't think I ever introduced myself. I think Ser Cal wanted you all to himself."
" It is Thea, and no one needs to worry with having me all to themselves. I have to get back to camp."
He grabbed her hand gently, "oh come on...I'm harmless!"
 
"I...I didn't want to kiss her...I haven't ever wanted to kiss a woman...but I wasn't thinking. I panicked." He held his head in his hands, ashamed of himself. Then, he heard the call of his king.

"Jasille? Where'd you go?" The knight straightened and forced his features to remain neutral as he went to Dimaethor.

"What is it, Your Majesty?" he asked, giving him a gentle smile.

"Will...will we have to ride like we did yesterday?" he asked.

"I am afraid so, Your Majesty. But hopefully we will find another town and stay at the inn, alright?"
 
Henley did not mean to be harsh to Jasille and he hoped his relief in hearing that Jasille did not want to kiss Thea was not plainly on his face. He allowed himself the moment to think of him running his hands through his hair, his most humble and sweet habit Henley thought attractive. He then sighed, he needed to stop thinking of him like that or they'd be two broken hearts to deal with.

Back at camp he built up the fire, Thea's return would likely signal the need for it. Ser Cal emerged from his tent and one of his soldiers. Quiet greetings and a request for some tea and an offer of something stronger were exchanged. Henley fetched his tea, but not what he brought for Jasille, and declined an offer for something else. "And your other soldier?" He asked anticipating the need to serve one more.

"He's out in the woods hunting. We had hoped to contribute to our meal this morning." Cal answered.

Henley froze. All the could then think of was Thea out there on her own with some vile, battle worn soldier.
 
Jasille was about to go out to help Henley with the fire when he heard the voices of the soldiers. Pausing, he said to Dimaethor, "Wait here," and let his hair hang low over his ears. It would be easier had his hair been longer. Deciding that he wouldn't cut it anymore, he walked out of the tent.

"Hello, Uncle," he said softly as he approached Henley, remembering the lie he had told last night, that he was Henley's nephew. It wouldn't work for long; Jasille looked too close to Henley's age and they looked nothing alike.

Still, he decided to play it off, and was soon standing beside Henley. He arrived just in time to hear one the human knight say that one of his men was in the forest hunting.

Cursing under his breath, he said to Henley, "Do you want me to go help Thea? She might need me to carry some of her kills..."
 
"Yes, yes...I hope she does not need any help, but if she's in need, you would be a better help to her than I." Henley was worried, but he did not wish to offend the knight.

Thea pulled her arm from Tor, he had not held it tightly. "Miss, you wound me. Let me hunt with you, I've never seen a woman hunt," he reached out, touching one of the rabbits close to her hip, " you obviously have some skill. I'd like to see it."

She had to be careful, but he seemed very sincere in his request and he had every opportunity to have been forceful when he held her hand. Maybe she was only overreacting because of the way the knight had seemed to look at her. She felt a twinge of guilt, " we could try for another rabbit... Or pheasant if there are anymore."
"Any prey will do, my lady." He said with a small bow.
 
Jasille nodded and went to his tent. Seeing Dimaethor waking up, he said, "Stay here...your hair is too short, the knight and his men will tell immediately you're an elf...I will bring you breakfast when I return." Dimaethor nodded before lying down again, his eyes bleary.

Dimaethor grabbed his sword and looped it onto his belt before he left, disappearing into the forest. He soon heard the sound of voices, a man and a woman's. Thea and one of the humans. Following the sound of them, he soon found Thea.

"Hello," he said, smiling gently. "Your...uh, father, he sent me to help if you need it."
 
The soldier bristled upon seeing him, " She has me, so you can rest assured, I'll help her with whatever she needs."

Thea had beamed when Jasille walked up. Her heart raced and she looked at him with a hopeful glance. "Tor wanted to watch me hunt. I'm okay." She said not understanding the intent he may have and not wanting to disturb Jasille or take him from his duties. She was so naive and honestly believed in the soldier's request of her because he said so.
 
Jasille gave a wane smile, tossing a mistrustful glance at the human. Licking his lips, he stepped closer to Thea and placed a quick kiss on her lips. Pulling away, he looked pointedly at the human, telling him to back off with his eyes. "I don't have a bow," he told Thea, "but I will hold anything you want me to, my lady." He smiled at her, lightly touching her shoulder.

Then, his mind did the math. The lie Henley had told was that Thea was his daughter and he was his nephew. That made him...her cousin? Pulling away from her, he brushed his hair behind his ear, exposing its shape and destroying Henley's lie.

"Shall we?" he asked Thea, smiling gently at her and feeling that gut-wrenching guilt building up again.
 
"Shit, you're an elf!" Tor grabbed Thea's arm wrenching her from jasille's side. This time, when she tried to get away from him, he would not let her go. "Stay away from that! Thea, he's got you under some spell. Damn!" He pulled her close to him and started to walk to the camp.

Henley tried to remain calm, but Thea being out in the woods and him trapped here with cal, it wasn't easy. Then Dimaethor began calling from the tent, "Jasille, where are you, I'm scared...Jasille?"

Henley entered the tent and saw the unhappy look on the young elf's face. "Majesty, Ser Jasille has gone hunting... please, if you can manage to remain as quiet as you can, he will be along very soon."

The boy did not look too sure of Henley, but he nodded and Henley left. Cal was watching him suspiciously. "young one?" Henley nodded and then realized, this knight now knew there was an old man, a girl and a boy...Jasille was seemingly the only one to defend them if something happened.
 
Jasille's expression darkened as the human pulled Thea from him and commented that he likely had put a spell on her. As if elves could preform magic anymore. While it was true that some elven healers could preform some minor healing magic, it was nothing compared to the magic that elves used to be able to preform.

Narrowing his eyes, he strode to the human and yanked him back by his collar. A second later, he had his sword drawn and the human pressed against a tree. "Thea, you go on back to the camp. I'll be along shortly."
 
Her first inclination was to tell him no, but something in his tone told her to listen. It wasn't the time to stand up for the fact she wasn't useless. She hurried back to camp.

Henley knew cal wasn't buying any of this and when he pushed past him toward the tent, Henley couldn't stop it. Cal pulled the flap back, seeing the boy inside and immediately saw him for what he was, an elf. He closed it and went toward Henley as he called for the other soldier to get up. "your nephew one too?"

Henley nodded, the soldier now drawing his sword to Henley. "one what?" He asked. Cal looked disgusted, "elves." He walked around Henley.

"You know what's worse than elves? Humans that interact with elves. I say we kill the boy and this old man, take the girl and kill the other elf-" cal was stopped mid sentence as an arrow whizzed by him and struck the soldier's neck. He dropped and cal went down too to avoid being hit by the next one.

Thea felt sick, she had just killed a man. She slowly walked into camp, arrow at the ready.
 
Once he was left alone with the human, Jasille growled, "If I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to kill you. Do you understand? Thea is too good for you and I won't let you hurt her." He threw the human down to the ground. Before he could do or say anything more, he heard a shout.

Turning, he soon was running back to the camp, When he burst through the bushes into the clearing, he saw one of the humans on the forest floor, dead or dying, and the knight ducking. Thea was there, one of her arrows protruding from the dead human's neck.

"What happened?" he asked Henley, his sword shining in the sunlight.
 
Cal drew his sword and exclaimed, "in the name of the king, you will drop your sword and surrender! The girl murdered a soldier in his army in cold blood!" Cal said from his protected hiding place.

"No! He threatened to kill Dimaethor, myself and you, Jasille. He had his soldier ready to run me through!" Henley explained as quickly as possible. Watching cal, knowing that he was waiting for an opportunity to attack Jasille, but keep away from any flying arrows.

Thea's body was tense, she kept the arrow trained on where she anticipated cal to come out of hiding. Only her eyes would dart quickly at the man laying motionless on the ground. She had killed a person. She felt like she could be sick or faint, but for now she had to hold steady.

Suddenly, steel was against her, arms wrapped around her and she shrieked as Tor grabbed her from behind. His sword threatening to kill her, only she immediately began to struggle, taking him unaware. He had the upper hand, but she wasn't going to let him use her as a bargaining chip.

Cal took the chance to jump toward Jasille to engage him in battle.
 
Jasille let out a shout as he saw the other soldier come behind Thea, and nearly ran to her, but he saw the human knight approaching through his peripheral vision. Spinning, he barely brought his sword up to block a swipe from the other knight's sword.

Dimaethor, hearing the shouts and sounds of battle, appeared at the entrance to the tent, and let out a scream. "Jasille!" he shouted, covering his mouth with his hands. "Look out behind you!" Jasille glanced at Dimaethor, giving the human knight an opening. Letting out a shout as he received a cut to his left shoulder, he jumped back and shouted, "Your Majesty, get back in the tent, now!"

He brought up a hand to the cut on his shoulder, the fingers coming away bloody. Cursing, he forced himself to focus, and advanced upon the human, trying to ignore Dimmaethor, as he dodged another attack.
 
Henley ran to the tent and pulled a glass orb from his pocket, looking to Dimaethor he calmly spoke, "if one of the soldiers come in, we will throw this on them, it is acid...it will burn them terribly. We will escape out the back, get on a horse and go. Thea will know where, do not worry." He knew the king would not want to leave without Jasille.

Thea struggled hard against Tor and the moment he saw the elf cut by Cal, he thought they had likely won. His treatment of her changed. Slapping her hard in the face, he grabbed her by the back of her head leading her by the hair. "Stop fighting, this will go easier on you." So she relaxed and started crying hysterically. He relaxed, having wanted her to break so she would be easier to deal with. He looked back at the knights, convinced if his knight's victory, he started to use his dagger to open her top. As she seemingly allowed it amongst tears, she had pulled an arrow from her quiver and plunged it into his chest.

Cal was overconfident in his attack, already having injured the elf. His next blow came to hack at Jasilleh in the neck.
 
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