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The Gems--Jade

By: Daniellekitten



The Gems are part of a new genre of stories. This is my Nanowrimo submission and I hope to be able to submit a chapter a day. Enjoy!

Chapter One

The sound of the big cat brought a smile to the lips of the bent figure who made slow progress towards the gates of the huge black city. It was a Mecca of cosmopolitan splendor, one the figure was ill pressed to partake of. He could already smell the smoke of the massive cooking fires and hear the cries of the women out to hawk their wares.

"Halt!"

The figure stopped, keeping the cowl pulled tightly around his face He didn't even glance up when he saw the heavily booted feet of the gate guard come into his field of vision. He bowed his head even lower but kept his silence.

"What is your business in the city?"

The guard's tone was dismissive and haughty and the figure kept his head down, biting back the smile that wanted to cross his face. When he didn't answer right away, the guard got even more indignant and put his fingers on the cloaked figure's chest, giving him a small push.

"I'm speaking to you! You answer a gate guard's questions or you'll find yourself uncomfortably placed in the city's dungeon!"

"I'm sorry sir. I'm sorry. My son is mostly deaf and mute and he has a terrible habit of walking away from me in crowds like this. Please, sir." The rotund little man put his hand on the cloaked figure's arm, patting it gently and then taking it and putting it over his. "I will take better care of him. I promise." He took the staff he'd been carrying and put it into the hands of his son. With one more quick bobbing bow, he led the figure around the guard and through the gates.

"You never told him..."

The figure's voice was low and husky, a decided note of amusement causing the small man to stop and act as if he were going to turn around. "If you want me to..."

"No... Come on, Jarvis. I..."

"Was making a joke, yes, I know. I just liked my punch line better." He put his arm around the taller, slender figure inside the voluminous robes. "Come on, boy. Remember, you're a deaf mute so stay quiet."

"This job isn't going to take too much longer, so you'd do well to remember that Jarvis." He felt the paunchy older man laugh and barely restrained the curse that wanted to pass his lips. "Let's just get this done."

"You'll get no arguments from me."

They made their way through the high gates, the old man craning his neck to stare at the thick wooden supports and the guard walkway that looked over the outside of the gates. This city was protected and almost impenetrable. Or at least that's what its builders thought. He grinned knowing that Cassianna would throw one of her blackest fits when she realized that her prisoner had flown.

"Through there." He pointed through a stone arch that led to one of the more populated areas of town. There were more people walking, people that glanced at them curiously before dismissing them as not of their class or worthy of their time. They were stopped once, a guard that wore the black witch's colors proudly.

"Hold!"

The two stopped. "Oh my lord, what did you need from us, your poor servants?"

"What business do you have here?" The guard stepped closer his hand reaching out to touch the cowl that covered the slender figures head.

"My son has a disease, my lord. We are going to see Doctor Hammond. His office is close to the castle."

The guard dropped his hand though he didn't step back. "What sort of disease?"

Jarvis almost grunted when the younger man leant against him, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. The sounds coming from under the cowl was more laughter than cough. "It is of the wasting variety sir, we aren't sure which one but the doctor is leaning toward leprosy."

"Leprosy!" The guard stepped back, his face horrified. "Go quickly!"

"We will, kind sir. I thank you for your concern." Jarvis helped his companion as if the younger man was incredibly weak. They made their doddering way staying closer to the center of the cobbled street and weren't stopped again.

"I thank you for your concern..." the younger man snorted. "Oh Jarvis, you might have missed your calling. I think you should have gone on stage."

"I'd thought of it. Then I was told that I would be perfect for the female lead in the production that I tried out for and decided that it wasn't for me." He felt his companion shaking and knew it was laughter. "I'd watch yourself, I might find that this will be the last I'll work with you."

"I'm s-sorry. Jarvis, you've got to know..."

"It's through here." 

They turned with a brief glance at the occupants of the street. The alley was dirty as if all of the city decided to dump their refuse there. Jarvis' face turned white and he curled his lip in disgust.

"I might not make it past this mission..." He gagged and then glared at his hooded companion. "This isn't funny."

"No, mom, it isn't." He flinched and glanced up, giving Jarvis a glimpse of green eyes and black bangs.

"I could be sitting in my corner at Paurick's enjoying a pint of his finest and a nicely cooked joint of meat right now. Instead you had to come and drag me out of there to do this." He gestured around again and then pushed his fist against his mouth as he gagged again. "That's it, Jade. This is the last one, if we make it out of this, we're done."

Jade said nothing, only stopped and pulled something out of his boot. He slid it into an ancient looking lock and fumbled with it a few times before the lock clicked and fell open. "Never fails..." He lifted the small piece of metal and then slid it back into his boot.

"You still have that stappen slimy piece of metal?" Jarvis rubbed at his forehead and then tugged on the tight wig he was wearing. "How you ever talked me into this I will never know."

His companion reached out and pulled on the older man's robes. "Complain later. Let's just find him and then get out of here."

"And you think I complain..." He snorted and then followed his cohort through the small gate and then down a long passageway that was dirty and foul with the squeak of rats and the harsh squeal of bats. "Why can't we ever take a mission that sends us to the beaches of Isfawn? I've heard the sands are incredibly soft and the waters are an amazing shade of blue and warm from the sun. Oh, and the women..." He sighed heavily.

"I'll have you buried there if your constant grumbling gets us killed." They walked purposefully through the filth only stopping as they came to a thick, studded door. Jade slid close, bending to peer quickly through the small opening. "Charity is earning her pay."

"Then let's not give her overtime." Jarvis gestured toward the door that was unguarded due to Charity's sex appeal and voracious appetites and waited until Jade pulled out his sneak key. They went through the door and down the dark, dank corridor. "This one, Jade."

Jade glanced inside the barred window and then picked the lock and pulled back the bar that kept the cell door closed. There was a man hanging from chains across from them, his hair long and ratty, his nude body thin and covered in welts. His eyes were dull when he finally looked up. He showed little interest in them until Jarvis pulled loose the rope that had held his jerkin closed.

"You're going to need more than that skinny boy over there if you try it old man." His voice was raspy and hoarse and the man's lips split and began to bleed.

Jarvis pulled out another robe from under his jerkin. He started toward the gaunt prisoner, stopping to quickly bob a bow. "No, your highness. My friend and I are going to get you out of here. Jade, we could use a bit of your magic here."

The robed figure moved toward the chained man. "Your highness, this will only take a moment." The robe slid down and revealed slender arms and graceful hands. She pushed back her cowl, jade green eyes intent upon the metal shackles.

"You...You're a girl?"

Lush lips curved into a smile, a pert, upturned nose wrinkled just the tiniest bit. "I am?" Her heart-shaped face tipped up and green eyes surrounded by thick lashes met his. "Well tardion hell, I guess I am. Jarvis, why didn't you tell me that I'm female?"

Jarvis sighed and shook his head even as he held onto King Dax of the Da'Nesh kingdom. Cassianna, the high sorceress of the outer borders had snuck into his kingdom and struck, capturing the castle with no fight, no loss of life except that which amused Cassianna.

It amused her a great deal.

Many innocents had been strung up, tortured and raped at Cassianna's word. She'd watched, played with and killed with little provocation. Man, woman or child, none were safe from her persecution.

Her perversion was something Dax had great personal knowledge of and something he was loath to remember. He kept his head lowered, staring at his rescuers through his stringy, matted hair. The woman was beautiful, but it was an off-handed sort of beauty, as if she cared little about her looks. It was a natural beauty with tawny skin and a light rash of freckles across her nose.

As he stared at her the feeling grew stronger, he knew he'd seen her somewhere before. It just escaped him of the where and the when. He heaved a sigh of relief as his wrist slipped from the first of the heavy iron shackles, though he was too weak to stand on his own and he was grateful for the older man's arm around his waist.

However, feeling the warmth of the robe over his shoulders, even though it stung the marks left from one of the many beatings he'd received was an even greater relief. When his second wrist slipped free, he almost fell, only to feel the girl hold him up. She was strong or he had lost more weight than he'd realized.

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, highness. Do you think you'll be strong enough to walk out of here on your own?"

Dax took a deep breath and stepped away from the supporting hands. For a moment, he worried that maybe he wasn't going to be, that his rescue would be foiled by weakness. Then he clenched his teeth and forced his body to take another step away. If he had to do this on will power alone, he would. "What of my people?"

Jade let her hands drop. "We are taking you to the Ra'Fen kingdom, highness. They have offered you succor and the help you will need to retake your lands.

He nodded and then pulled the robe even snugger around his shoulders, hissing as the material pulled open a few wounds that were partially healed. "Then let's leave this cursed place. When the castle is mine once more, I will have this..." He glanced around once more "... destroyed."

Jade reached out, carefully raising the king's cowl and tugging on it to hide his face. "Jarvis will have hold of you, highness. I will be on point. If you feel weak or lose your balance, he will help you. I will keep the guards occupied so that you can leave the city safely. No matter what, sire, keep your head down and do not say a word.

"Y-yes." He took a deep breath, catching her scent. She smelled so clean, so fresh. He wanted to get closer. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. It had to be because he had been kept in this damn dungeon for so very long and away from the fairer sex. He'd been something of a ladies' man and he'd had his choice of companions to grace his bed. But as far as he could remember, this woman seemed to put the rest of them to shame. "I can do this."

"Yes, my liege, you can." Jarvis reached out and took Dax' arm. "We go out the door and to the left then we'll follow the passage and out through a gate. From there, it's just a short walk to the outside gate of the castle. In a small clearing we have horses waiting. You just have to stay on your feet until then."

He nodded and then realized that they couldn't see his nod. "Yes, I understand." His voice was weak and hoarse and Jade glanced at Jarvis before pulling off her own hooded robe and tugging free a bottle from its depths. She headed back toward the King and pulled the stopper from the bottle with her teeth. 

"Here, highness. Drink this, it will help you make it through this part of the trip." She tipped the bottle to his lips, trying to keep the amber liquid from any of the numerous sores that were there. She allowed the frail man a scarce few swallows before pulling the bottle away.

The fire from the liquid burst through his emaciated body and Dax felt for a moment as if they had a chance to make it from here alive. He knew better, of course, but at least this way, he might have the chance to at least fight this monster who'd done nothing but maim and kill his people with little concern as to who they were. Cassianna cared little for the things that mattered so much to the people she killed. She showed no sign of humanity as she watched men and women be torn apart in her chamber of horrors. She killed heartlessly which made her even more of a monster.

It was hard to fight someone who terrified his people so.

He would find a way. For now, though, he had to make it out the gates and keep up the pace set by his rescuers. When they paused at the edge of the small alley that led to the dungeon doors, he was really surprised to see Jade push back the robes and then hand them to Jarvis.

Jade was dressed in little more than a few triangles of rough leather, held together by beaded strings. Her skin was smooth and golden and he felt his palms itch to touch it. Her dark hair fell about her shoulders in satiny waves. All he could think of was how it would feel against his chest as she moved above him, fucking him with a zeal that he could see in her eyes. He glanced down at himself and grimaced. It had been ages since he'd bathed with anything more than the bucket of cold water that Cassianna threw over him when he'd lose consciousness. She hated to feel cheated when the pain got too much for him to take.

"Y-You can't mean to let...let her go like that?"

Jarvis burst out laughing. "One thing you'll learn about Jade, highness, she never is let to do anything.

"Oh come on, Jarvis, you are going to give his highness the wrong idea about me. Sire, I very much enjoy obeying orders if they are given the right way and if I agree with them." She brushed some grime off the curve of her hips before turning a slow circle in front of them. "Did I get it all?"

"Jade—that's enough."

She glanced over at Jarvis and sighed. "All right, fine. Wait until you hear the signal and then the way should be cleared." She tightened the belt at her waist, patting her knife and sword. Then she skipped away from the two men.

"Signal?"

Jarvis glanced up at the robe covered king. "You'll know it when you hear it. Have no fears, highness. Jade has more lives than a cat and she's just as slippery. She'll be waiting for us in the clearing, probably complaining about how long it took for us to get there.

"She's either brave or foolhardy." Dax managed to say.

"I know from firsthand experience, she has a lot of both qualities, highness."

"Dax."

"What?"

"I think you have earned the right to use my given name. It's Dax or Daxton."

"I am honored, highness...Dax. Thank you."

Dax nodded his head, his breathing a harsh rasp. His mouth was so dry it felt as if his tongue would crack. Each step he took was a sheer effort of the control he had on his body. The sharp sting of the cloth of the robe on his welts was a blessing. It kept him awake, focused. He could feel the first hint of dizziness pushing against the iron will he was exerting upon himself and he prayed he would at least make it to the horse before he collapsed.

They walked through the inside gates and out of the more populated area of the kingdom. There was a decided lack of men in the roadway that led to the outer gates. Even the gate guards had fled their posts, more interested in what was going on along the outer walls.

"Jade?"

Jarvis grinned. "That girl could sashay out of the kingdom with all of Cassianna's wealth and no one would stop her. She has the luck of the gods and the face and body of an angel."

"I shall keep an eye on my purse strings, at least I will when I have them." He took a step and then another, forcing himself to stay upright though it was only by Jarvis's strength that he stayed on his feet. "I will owe you and Jade everything, Jarvis."

Jarvis chuckled. "I need little. A pint and a fire on a cold night, a roof to cover me in the rain and a soft pillow for my head. Oh, yes, a fine woman to take care of my...'er...other needs. Jade hired me for this mission, Dax. You owe me nothing."

"A simple man wanting simple pleasures, I used to long for that kind of life." Dax reached up and brushed a strand of matted hair away from his face.

"But...you are king?"

"No more. Cassianna now rules my people. I am little more than another simple peasant and shall have to find a way to earn my pay and make enough to pay for the army it will take to reclaim my throne. Even with the help of King Sebastian, it will take time. That is something my people have very little. I watched as many able-bodied men were worked until they dropped and then left out on the fields either dying or dead. The women were used as prostitutes for Cassianna's men, no one was safe." Dax's voice trailed off and he was glad for the cowl that covered his face. The memories of the atrocities performed under Cassianna's insistence struck too close to home.

Jarvis was silent also, though his silence came at the sudden outcry of a man and the harsh growl of a crowd. He was tense and he waited for some sign.

There was the rough screech of a hawk and Jarvis relaxed. "Jade is leading them off the other way, Dax. She's safe. We just have to get through the gates. Hang on to this." He handed Dax the sturdy walking stick.

* * * *

Jade stalked through the busy streets of the bustling town, a determined grace in her every move. She made contact with every man she came across, singing an odd tune. It enchanted the men and they followed along behind her willingly. She found a spot in the town wall that she could see through and proceeded to hold court.

The men fell at her feet, begging for the least little favor. She was cautious, knowing that men were slaves to the passions of women and could become dangerous when imbibed with too much of her special brand of magic.

"Oh, milady, please, we beg of you. What is your name?" They began to chant until she felt the wall behind her tremble at their volume.

"I am Lady Jayda Rose. Most call me Jade or," her eyes brightened, "the Black Rose." She spun and smiled, her eyes traversing from the men who stood in a semi-circle in front of her and the two that were even now making their slow process into the woods near the road. The perfect tattoo of a black rose, it's thorned stem curving down her back to end below the tiny breech cloth she was wearing was evident beneath the silk of her hair. She fended off hands and questions with an innate grace until she saw her companions disappear from sight. The castle bell hadn't rang as of yet and it was time to lead these men far from the path they had every intention of taking.

She ran toward the nearest of the big men and pushed herself off of his barrel-like chest. He oomphed and grunted as she did an easy back flip and twisted in mid-air. Her hands found purchase upon the crumbling wall and she easily pulled herself up. "If you want me, you have to catch me." She giggled and then blew a kiss to the assembled men. Turning, she ran easily through the crumbling mortar of the ruined wall, skipping over the pointed stakes that were slowly taking its place. She turned to throw one more jeer their way. "If you catch me, you can kiss me."

"I'll have more than a kiss from you, beauty."

"She'll feel the weight of me between those sleek thighs!"

The words seemed to whip the mob into a frenzy, exactly what Jade had hoped. She hopped lithely down from the wall and raced toward the surrounding forest, leading the men further from the King and her companion. When she was sure that all the men were following her, she ran toward one of the trees and leapt for a hanging vine. It took little time for her to shimmy up it and disappear in the dense foliage of the canopy above. Within moments, she'd changed her course and quickly caught up with Jarvis and the King.


The Gems--Jade Ch. 02



Hold him, she did. She held him to her, felt the bones of his ribs as if there wasn't a heavy robe between her skin and his. She sighed quietly and shook her satiny head. "I don't understand such cruelty. My people would relish his strength and praise him for the fine warrior he is. Instead, his kind jails him and makes him live in squalor." She shook her head sadly, her chin rubbing against his back.

"Are you doing the impossible and actually growing a heart?" Jarvis burst out laughing when he saw her reaction to his barb. The gesture she gave him after that dissuaded him of the notions. "I do understand what you're saying, Jade. If they'd let someone like King Daxton roam around the castle, Cassianna would already be out on her plump white bottom.

"How do you know what her bottom looks like?"

This time Jarvis did a bit of squirming. "Hey, she's a female, I'm gonna look. Do I have to qualify my every look or word?" A small bit of anger escaped the firm control he usually had.

"So you are allowed to look at and fantasize about a woman's bottom, even a woman as horrid as Cassianna and I'm not allowed to feel a bit of sympathy for our dinner ticket?" She shook her head slowly and clicked her tongue. "It's a shame the double standards you place upon women in society, Jarvis, especially since you and I work together so often." She glanced down at what little she was wearing and then looked back at him. "You...You don't think...about me...like that?"

"Jade, did I ever tell you about what a royal bitch you can be?" His teeth ground as she burst out laughing. "That's it, I mean it. We aren't working together ever again!"

"Oh come on, Jarvis. You love me and you wouldn't stop working with me. I am the most fun you have in life." She shifted on the edge of the saddle when the King moved in his sleep and threw out his arm. 

"No...No! Stop!" He began to moan, shake and move violently. He shouted more words, disjointed sentences that left Jade swearing as she finally caught what was going on in his sleep. She stopped her horse with a subtle move of her knees and slid down, bringing Dax with her. She caught him before he hit the ground and slowly lowered him.

"Highness! Highness, wake up. You're safe." 

The cowl from his robe had fallen back, as did the mass of stringy matted hair that had protected his face from her sight. His eyes opened slowly and blinked even as he tried to pull away before he recognized her. "Wha..."

"You were dreaming, highness. You're safe now." She looked up as booted feet came to a stop on Dax's other side. "Tell him, Jarvis."

Jarvis dropped down next to the couple, his hand reached out to touch the King's shoulder. "You are away, Dax. You are out from under Cassianna's thumb. You are safe."

Dax seemed to need to hear that and he reached out, grabbed Jarvis's hand and turned his face to his. His eyes opened and then fluttered closed before opening again. He was close to the end of his strength.

Jade glanced up at Jarvis. "Can we chance camping here?"

Jarvis shook his head. "Too accessible, Jade. We can't trust it. I know a place if we can get him back on your horse. You hold him for a while longer and then I'll get us someplace where he can rest."

Jade nodded. She bent a little closer to the King and whispered in his ear. "Just a bit longer, Dax. I'll put you on Storm and you can lean against me until we get there. Just use my strength and relax."

He nodded again and she felt his weight relax into her arms. If he hadn't been so emaciated by his time as Cassianna's guest, she wouldn't have been able to do what she did next. She took a deep breath and rose with him still in her arms.

Dax's eyes opened wide and he reached out to her with arms that were weak and shaking. "No...no, you can't!"

Jade smiled even as she slid him back into her saddle. "I can't, highness? Are you sure about that? I hate to say this, sire, but I don't think you are half the man you used to be." She slid her hand over his cheek, feeling the sharp thrust of the bone beneath the skin. "You aren't all that weighty sire." She kept him in the saddle with one hand and leapt up behind him. "Lead on, Jarvis."

Jarvis got on his own horse and glanced back at Jade as Storm, her half-wild pony whinnied and then tossed his head, dancing in his ire at the extra weight on his back. She got him under control before he had the chance to buck or show his displeasure. "Let's go, Jarvis."

Dax leaned back against her, his head tipping enough to turn into her throat. She could feel the heat of his breath, the long, slow rasp of it against her jaw. Her arms moved around his waist, holding him against her. She could feel a shiver shudder through her and forced herself to pay attention to the trail Jarvis was foraging in front of them.

About thirty minutes later, Jarvis pulled his horse to a halt and turned to glance back at Jade. "We should be far enough off the regular trail for us to remain undetected for the night."

She nodded. "You want to give me a hand with him?"

"Yes, of course." He slid off his horse, tossing his reins over a low hanging branch. Storm wasn't happy when Jarvis moved in front of the high-strung beast but he calmed with a single word from Jade. Dax barely opened his eyes when he was slid from the saddle and into Jarvis's arms. Jade was down a second later and let Storm's reins dangle into the dirt. The big animal didn't move a muscle until they'd carried Dax over to a cleared place between two big trees. Jade hurried back to Storm and pulled off his saddlebags and her bedroll.

"I have some salve that might help those wounds. Can you start a fire?"

Jarvis nodded and left the small clearing to find wood for the smokeless fire he was an expert making..

Jade hurried over to Dax, stroking her hand over his brow. His eyes opened and blearily stared up at her as she spread her blankets over him. He opened his mouth to speak but Jade placed her fingers gently over his mouth. "You're safe, sire. Try not to speak. I am going to dress your wounds and then we'll get some tea into you. It will make you feel better."

Dax nodded. "Why?" His voice was a hoarse croak.

"Why?" She blinked, confused.

"Why are you..."

"Helping you?"

He nodded again.

"Well, I could say that I'm just a good Samaritan, but I don't think you'll believe me." She smiled down at him, her hand pushing his hair off his forehead. "I...well, I don't like it when someone throws her weight around and hurts innocent people. I was in a place to do something about it and I did. Oh, and it didn't hurt that I'm being paid a hefty fee to deliver you safely." 

She turned and pulled out a plethora of the things she needed to brew her teas as well as mix up the salve that would keep his wounds from becoming infected. The tea she would brew for him was made from the bark of a jahura tree that grew only in the remote area southeast of her village. Well, it was southeast of the area where her village used to be.

A handful of small packets were in her hand. They were of different colors and the flaps were held down by ties that were tied in different ways with different style knots. Jade could tell what was in each packet with just a touch. She quickly sorted out which she needed and dropped the rest back into the saddlebag.

When Jarvis returned with an armful of wood, she helped him start a small, smoke-less fire. The flames were quickly dancing among the branches and she turned and grabbed a pot from Jarvis's bags and went to the small, gurgling stream to get water.

By the time the water was bubbling, she'd mixed her herbs into a small pot of animal fat. Then she mixed different herbs and put them into a small wooden cup. She poured some of the water into the cup and stirred it well before setting it to the side. Jarvis had gotten more water and had left a cloth next to Dax.

The injured king tried to sit up, to bathe himself but he was weak and his floundering movements were pulling open his wounds. He only calmed when Jade settled next to him, her hand stroking over his cheek. 

"Allow me, highness?"

He nodded and sighed. "I shall never be able to repay you..."

"Nobody is asking you too." She dampened the cloth and stroked it slowly over his face, turning to rinse it. Little by little she cleaned him, moving the blankets just enough to reach his skin and replacing it when she was done. She only hesitated when she reached his loins and felt the hard brush of his cock against her hand. Her eyes flew to his face, but his were closed, his face grim.

"I'm sorry, highness." Her tawny cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and it ticked her off. She didn't get embarrassed, ever. So why was he having this effect on her? She jerked when she felt his hand brush against her thigh.

"I should apologize to you, lady. I haven't been around a lady of your beauty in a long while. I hope you will forgive me." He took her hand, his shaking as he tried to bring her fingers to his lips. She pulled her hand quickly away.

"No need." She picked up her cloth and wrung it out once more, cleaning the long line of his thigh and doing her best to ignore the heavy brush of his cock. It wasn't easy to do and it seemed to get bigger and thicker with every brush. She finally finished after washing his feet and swearing quietly to herself at the damage done to his soles. Her eyes flew to his face but his were closed and his face was relaxed. "How did you walk as far as you did today?" The words were whispered, meant only for him.

Jarvis was there when she finished with the cloth and water. He took it deep into the forest without a word to her. When he returned, she'd carefully plastered her salve over every exposed inch of him. She could do no more without rolling him to his stomach. But he seemed to sleep so she let him rest.

She rose without a word to Jarvis and jumped on Storm's back. Her little pony seemed to understand her mood and he quickly settled into a smooth gallop with Jade flattened out above him. She needed speed, needed it to wipe away the vision of those wounds and the knowledge that they'd been performed by a woman who was wicked and evil beyond anything she'd known before. She rode hard, zigzagging through the trees, leaping easily over small streams and fallen logs. She only reined Storm in when her breathing was a tortured hiss. She fell against Storm's neck, letting the tears fall to dampen his mane.

"Why? Why do you allow these things to happen to good people? He didn't deserve that, not any of it!" A sob shook her and she had to force her eyes open. When she closed them, she could see little but the degradation and pain she'd experienced at the hands of the man who'd betrayed his oath of friendship. He'd come into the encampment flying the white and green flag, their King's colors. Her father had opened the gates, standing before the men, his hands held out in welcome.

He'd been the first to die. She could still remember the horror of watching that blade slide into her father's body so incredibly easily. The scream was still caught in her throat when she looked behind her, her sisters gathered together, excited and giggling. She'd grabbed what little she could, a loaf of bread and the rest of the roast from dinner, as well as all the coins she could gather together quickly. Then she pressed them quickly into Garnet's hands, urging her to take their sisters and run, to run and not look back.

She'd stood there, watching until the last sight of Garnet's bright hair was out of sight. Then she lifted her sword and turned toward the front door of their little cottage. She didn't have to wait long.

He'd been tall and blonde, his beard flowing behind him as he stalked into the room. His sword was drawn and his stature wary until he saw her. He saw Jade standing in front of him, sword in hand and threw back his head and laughed.

"Little one, you should put that sword down, you could hurt yourself."

"The only person my blade will hurt will be... You!" She threw herself at him, eager to show him that she wasn't just a little girl.

He didn't even draw his sword. Instead, he grabbed her blade between his raised palms and twisted his hands, easily taking it from her. He laughed harder when she flew at him, her small hands curled into fists. "I like a woman with spunk, little one." Then he grabbed both her hands in one of his and tugged her closer, taking one of his ribbons from off his beard and tying it around her crossed wrists. "This claims you as mine, little one. Be glad I have done such, otherwise any of my men could rut between these sweet thighs. Unless you'd prefer many cocks and not just one?"

Jade screamed and struggled as he wrapped a hand around her thigh and lifted her from the ground. She screamed again when he rubbed her against the hardness in the front of his pants. "No! I could never want you. My father is high chief of this village. You will not disrespect me this way!"

He stopped moving her but didn't let her leg go. "Your father is now little more than a blood stain upon the rocks. Your virtue's blood will stain my sheets tonight, little one. Get used to the thought, it will go easier on you if you do."

But Jade hadn't been able to let anything be easier, and she wouldn't be able to start now. Not with this bounder who'd just killed her father. She knew who he was, of course. No one wouldn't recognize the blonde hair, the scar next to his intense brown eye. He was Calder and he had taken their village with ease. "I would rather be dead."

Her growled words incited more laughter and he threw her sword off to the side and then brought her out to where his men were, tugging on her bound hands to keep her moving. Half of the men in the courtyard held struggling women. "This one is mine!" He bellowed. "Finish off the wounded and then round up the women and small children. Any boy past his fifteenth season gets the blade! You know the drill!"

Jade screamed again, this time in horror. "No! You can't! Please!" She fell to her knees, her legs too weak to hold her anymore. "They are just children!"

"They are boys old enough to remember the slaughter of their fathers. I will not have one of them come after me when he is grown. Now rise, little one. Unless you'd like to..." He didn't wait for her to catch his meaning. Instead his hand wrapped around the back of her head and held her motionless while he rubbed his hard cock over her face. "It wouldn't be the first time I've taken a woman in front of my men." He held her still, not allowing her a chance to reply. When his other hand began to loosen the ties on the front of his pants, she began struggling..

"Open your mouth, slave. Show your devotion to your new master." He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her back so that his cock slapped against her face when it came loose from his pants. He rubbed the tip against her lips and then forced it beyond.

Jade struggled harder and tried to pull away. "No!" The word was muffled and cut short as he slammed his cock into her mouth.

Calder moaned, her soft wet mouth felt amazing. His adrenaline was pumping from the fight and this girl would get the brunt of it. "Bite me and I'll break your jaw and I will still fuck your mouth, understand?" His fingers went to her chin, tipping it up just enough for her to look up at him. There was something just so stimulating in seeing her eyes, red rimmed from crying, scared and humiliated and the way her lips were stretched around the girth of his cock.

He began pulling on her hair, pulling her back and then slamming back into her mouth. He could feel the back of her throat and the way she was swallowing and struggling. She was making panicked gurgling sounds until he relented and pulled her back once more, giving her scant seconds to catch her breath. "You like this don't you?"

She struggled harder and tried to push the intruder out of her mouth with her tongue. But that just increased his enjoyment and he moaned again, thrusting against her face. "Gods! Yes!" He jerked and groaned, then threw back his head and howled his release.

* * * *

Jade threw herself off of Storm's back and fell to the ground. She rolled to her back, staring up at the bright stars that lit the night sky. She hadn't thought of Calder, of the abuse that she'd suffered at his hands in quite some time. But then again, she hadn't dealt with anyone who'd been tortured and abused as she'd been.

She heaved a heavy sigh and started to sit up. She jumped up to grab her sword when she felt the vibrations of horses' hooves beneath her. She spun with her sword drawn and stood, ready to greet the unknown riders.

"You!" 




The Gems--Jade Ch. 03



Jade let her sword drop and stared at the four women who surrounded her. "Why are you here?"

Garnet pulled back the hood of her cloak. Riotous, bright red curls bounced around her beautiful face. "Do you think we could feel your fear and not come to you, sister?"

"There are times being so closely tied is a real disadvantage." Jade turned back to Storm and stowed away her sword. "I'm fine."

Onyx was the third oldest of the girls and she slid off her pony and held out her hand to her sister. Jade grasped her arm then pulled her into an embrace. Onyx pulled back and looked into Jade's eyes. "We worried."

"I am fine."

"So you say, but we know better."

Amber, the youngest and the only blonde in the family, tossed her head and easily curbed the temper of her half-wild pony. She slid down, patting Gale's neck before leaving his reins looped over his neck. "You were thinking of him again."

"No." Jade shook her head even though she knew it was in vain. They had always had an uncanny sense, always knowing when one was in trouble. They also could sense each others' feelings.

"Sister, you know you shouldn't lie to yourself or to us." Amethyst joined her sisters. The girls were beautiful, each tall and athletic with long limbs. Each closely linked to the other. It had started years ago, when Calder had taken their small village under the guise of their lord's colors. Jade had made the girls leave, giving up her own freedom and virtue to save them. Because of that sacrifice, Garnet had taken the younger three and gone to the village where a witch of strong spirituality had cast a spell over them, linking the five girls to each other. Only death would sever the bond. All five girls had moments where they wished they weren't as closely bound.

Especially Jade.

Garnet reached out and took Jade's hands in her own. "What can we do?"

"Nothing."

Garnet's smile was slow and incredibly irritating. "We know that isn't true. Show me, sister. Show me what has you so incredibly splintered that memory of that pig snuck out to torment you." Garnet kept her eyes on Jade's and exhaled sharply as the images of Dax, of the way he'd been treated, of the marks on his back were indelibly etched in her head. "Cassianna has proven to be a bitch before but this is beyond anything we thought her capable of doing." She shook her head, breaking the contact.

"So now you know. There isn't a thing that you can do." Jade tried to pull her hands out of her sister's but she wasn't letting go. "Garnet, I am fine!"

Amethyst came up and stroked Jade's arm. "I can feel your distress, sister. I know you are anything but fine." She reached out and stroked Jade's cheek, turning her face. Amethyst felt her hesitation and she concentrated on that feeling, sending a soothing calm into her sister's anxiety.

Jade felt her muscles loosen and closed her eyes, her head coming forward to rest against Amethyst's shoulder. A heavy sigh shook through her. "Thank you, sister."

"It is the least I can do. You gave up so much for us. I feel guilty that I can't do more."

Jade wrapped her arms around Amethyst and leaned into her, feeling the other girls wrap around them as well. She stood there, letting their love flood into her and feeling her strength grow until she knew that she would be all right. With one last sigh, she disentangled herself from her sisters' arms and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "You always know when I need you."

"And yet you always give us such a bad time about it." Amber reached out and flicked a lock of hair away from Jade's wet cheeks. "You'll never learn."

Jade smiled and flicked her fingers at Amber. "It's a trait that seems to run in the family." 

"And we are proud of it." Amber smiled and ducked Jade's playful slap. "Please, sister, call for us when you just wish to spend time with us. We miss you."

Jade nodded. "I miss you too." She hugged them each, pressing a warm kiss to their cheeks. "Ride back with me?"

"We can meet the king?" Garnet grinned when Jade gave her a look.

"If he is awake. Is that the only reason you want to spend more time with your sister, to meet the king?"

"I've heard that he is a handsome one, maybe he'll take interest in one of us. We aren't getting any younger." Onyx hugged Jade once more. "But of course, spending time with you is always great."

"How did you get away?"

"My sister needed me, the children will be fine one night with Katrina while I am away."

"Have you met their father yet?" Jade had worried when Onyx had told her of the job that she was taking. The children were young, their mother was dead. Onyx had gotten the job through the master's houseman. The master, she'd never met.

"No. I just don't know what kind of man would leave his houseman in charge of his home and a woman he'd never met in charge of his children. He couldn't know that you'd fall in love with them."

"No, but isn't it nice that I have."

Jade gave her a look and then threw a leg over Storm's back and slid into his saddle. "I certainly hope you aren't going to get your heart broken."

"I've not fallen for a man, sister." Onyx shook her head, her long, dark hair just touching her horse's back. She took up the reins and kicked her pony, easily curbing the animal's antics as she caught up with her sister. "I don't think the children will break my heart."

Garnet scoffed. "Little you know, Onyx. Children can chew your heart up and spit it out with barely a thought."

"Tavin and Karista aren't like that."

"Sure they aren't. Ami, how are your studies?"

Amethyst snapped her fingers and opened her hand, a flicker of flame erupting on her palm. It shone brightly for a moment and then sputtered out. "It's an ongoing process, sister."

"And Massiem? Is he still treating you like a girl and not a woman?"

"Massiem is who he is. I've learned to shrug off a lot he says and concentrate upon what I need to learn."

Garnet snorted and nudged her pony up closer to Jade. "I think she protests a bit much, don't you?"

Jade glanced at Garnet and saw the look in her eyes. "Has our baby sister fallen for a man?"

"That man is a sexist pig. Every time I see him, he asks me when I plan to marry and leave him be. I want to take the nearest chamber pot to his blasted head!" Ami stopped speaking when she heard her sisters burst out laughing. "Oh to Gaylleng with you! I don't know why I let you do this to me all the time..." Her shoulders drooped and she glared back at them. Then she kicked her pony into a faster gait and didn't look back.

"That wasn't nice." Amber was always the one that tried to keep her sisters from fighting and bickering. She was the mother hen of the girls and the peacemaker.

"Oh Amber...just get..."

"We're sorry, Amber. We'll be good." Jade elbowed Garnet and gave her a dirty look when the girl started laughing again. "Be nice."

Garnet shrugged her shoulders at Jade's hissed words. "I never said I was nice."

"Well maybe you should try it for a day, you might end up liking it." Jade tipped her head to the side, staring Garnet. "Wait, you being nice might crack that shell you have for a face."

"And you say I'm not nice."

Jade just gave her a smug grin and then kicked Storm to catch up with Amber. "I'm sorry, Amber. It wasn't nice to laugh at you."

Amber glanced over and then down at her hands before looking forward once more. "It's not that you were laughing at me, Jade. I'm just afraid that what you were saying might be the truth. I don't want it though. Any of it. The idea of falling in love with that...that..."

"Man?"

Amber looked at her once again. Then an expression of horror crossed her face. "Oh Jade...I-I didn't mean..."

"You don't have to worry, Amber. He was a long time ago."

"But...He hurt you..." Her voice trailed off.

Jade knew exactly what she was thinking. "Not every man will hurt a woman, Amber. Some of them..."

"How many have you known?"

Jade sighed. "I-I haven't... I don't..." She closed her eyes and searched her mind for a way to say what she meant. How could she tell her sister that when it came to love and men, she was petrified to even try to get to know someone?

She jerked when she felt a hand on hers. 

"I know, Jade. I know."

"Just don't be afraid because of what happened to me. Promise me that you'll keep yourself open to love."

Amber nodded and then brushed her knuckles against Jade's cheeks. It was a gesture that Jade had always used with the girls. She'd been the oldest and after their mother died had taken on the role of caregiver to her younger sisters. After Calder and the abuse she'd suffered at his hands, she was scarred on the inside where it hurt the most. Those scars were only partially healed. They opened and bled almost too easily. It was why she'd become what she had. It was why she took money from good people to save their relatives. The more dangerous the mission, the better. It was why she hadn't blinked twice when she'd been asked to save the king from Cassianna's evil grasp.

Jade's head tipped to the side and she raised one arm, her hand in a closed fist. All the girls stopped and leaned over their ponies, laying one hand on the animals' necks to keep them quiet. They were like statues, their eyes searching the area for the reason behind the noise that Jade had heard.

When an animal burst through the brush right in front of them, it startled all the girls. Each grabbed for swords. Then they started to laugh.

They were still laughing when they reached the small clearing where Jade had left Jarvis and Daxton. Jade slipped off her pony and let Storm graze. 

Jarvis' eyes grew wide as he saw the beautiful women who'd come into the camp with Jade. He jumped to his feet and self- consciously slicked his thinning hair back. "Uh...hello ladies."

"These aren't ladies, Jarvis."

"Uh...they aren't?"

"No, these are my sisters."

Jarvis had heard tales of Jade's sisters and of their rescue of Jade from Calder's evilness. Just remembering those hushed whispers as others had spoken of their daring, had his eyes widening. He took a step forward and bowed from his waist, drawing one arm behind him in the most courtly of bows. "My ladies, I am honored."

Garnet slid off her pony and walked up to Jarvis, her head tipped to the side. "You are my sister's companion?"

"When she needs one."

Garnet put her hand on Jarvis's arm and rose to her tiptoes, brushing a kiss upon his whiskery cheek. "Thank you."

Jade almost burst out laughing when she saw the red that crept up Jarvis's cheeks. He sputtered something and then quickly turned away and went to the fire to place two more logs upon the flickering flames.

"He cares for you."

Jade glanced up at Garnet. "He is a companion of merit. He knows I am capable and doesn't feel the need to try to...protect me."

"Well, we all certainly know that you are capable."

She snorted at the tone of Garnet's words. "Don't you think you should be on your way?"

"Did you hear that, sisters? After all we do for her, Jade thinks we should leave now." Garnet reached out and wrapped her arms around Jade's neck. "Remember..."

"I will." It was the same admonishment she'd heard from her sisters every time she went on mission.  "You do the same."

Amber, Amethyst and Onyx circled them and they stood for a moment, quietly absorbing the aura of the others. Then Garnet broke away. "Come, girls. It will take a while to get you all back where you need to be. I'd like to be back before the children wake."

"Ride safe, be strong. If you need me..." Jade didn't need to say anything more. The current of emotion that rode between the girls easily contained her emotions. She touched her forehead with the fingertips of one hand and then turned as the girls mounted their ponies. As they spun, Jade kept her back turned, moving to the king.

Only Jarvis noted that her sisters didn't turn either but rode from sight without once looking back. He turned back to Jade, startled to find her eyes on him.

"Her name is Garnet, Jarvis. My other sisters...well the brunettes are Amethyst and Onyx, the blonde is Amber. It is an ancient belief among my people."

"What is?"

"We believe that to watch a loved one until you can no longer see them will make it the last time you do see them."

"That's kind of a silly belief..."

Jade growled and stalked toward him. "Silly! You think I'm silly!"

"Not you Jade. You have to admit that belief is rather ridiculous. Watching someone leave will not get them killed."

"You think so? Maybe we should try. Why don't you walk away and I'll watch. Then we'll see if you will be exempt from my sword." She pulled her sword, the silver of the blade emphasized by the large egg-shaped green stone set in the hilt. The sword was one of her prized possessions and she stroked one thumb over the gem, relishing the memory of taking that sword from Calder moments before she'd used it to kill him. She'd used it since then but had only killed with a handful of times. Taking a life was against the beliefs of her people, which was probably why her people consisted of her and her sisters. 

She barely glanced at Jarvis as she returned the sharp blade back to its accustomed place at her hip. A hesitant hand touched her thigh and she glanced down at Dax.

"I have heard of such beliefs. Your village...It was decimated by Calder of the northern realms."

"Yes." Her voice was harsh and cold.

"It was thought that no one survived him."

"It was thought wrong. My sisters and I survived that bastard." She reached out and ran her hand over his forehead, feeling the heat that not even her medicines and magicks would keep from sinking into his flesh.

"This was his." His hand touched the sword belt at her waist.

"Yes, highness. You should rest. Morning will come soon and we must leave here before we are found. Can you drink more?" She held up the cup she'd fixed his tea in, glancing at what was left in the bottom. It still held half of what she'd made.

She heard him sigh and saw his nod. Then she lifted him carefully, letting his head rest against her breast as she lifted the cup to his mouth. She fed him tiny sips until his hand came up and covered hers. "No more, please."

She seemed about to argue but she could see the exhaustion in his face and she nodded. "Then you should sleep, sire." She chuckled as he turned his face and seemed to burrow against her. He groaned when she laid him back in the blankets. "Would you like for us to raise a tent for you sire?"

"No. It seems like years since I've seen the stars."

"Then sleep, sire. Jarvis and I will watch out after you. We leave at first light."

Dax nodded and closed his eyes. He slept. 



The Gems--Jade Ch. 04



Sorry it took so long for me to finish editing this.  I am trying to get these out faster but I'd rather that they make sense rather than have them out quick.  Some of the stuff I write and then read back later really makes no sense at all.  I think it has something to do with being tired.  Anyway, enjoy!

* * * *

Chapter Four

Cassianna lifted her hand, watching as her ladies-in-waiting rushed to her side, eager to do her bidding.  Of course they were eager, if they weren't they were punished.  "The water grows tepid.  Fetch more."

She never asked, she never needed to.  Now that she thought of it, the last time she'd asked for anything had been from her father.  Pompous, arrogant bastard that he was.  She'd seen him last when he'd hung from his tongue and nipples, his toes barely brushing the rocky ground.  He'd screamed over and over.  It had made her smile.  Even the memory of those screams sent a shiver of pleasure through her.  They had been worth the time that she'd had to spend with Calder, working as his second, learning every art of torture and finding she enjoyed it all.  The magic had been a second gift. That girl had ruined everything, taking Calder's sword and his life, skulking away in the night with some of Calder's slaves.  That red-haired bitch...!

She shook away those thoughts.  "You."  She picked one of the women with one red tipped finger and motioned for her to come next to her bath.  "I don't remember seeing you before."

"You ordered my father to bring me to you, lady."

"Strip."

"Excuse me, lady?"  She glanced around as she heard the gasps given by the other ladies.

"That was your once.  Question me again and I will have your father and mother taken to the commons and have the flesh stripped from their backs.  Now strip and make it quick, before I grow bored."  Cassianna's pale blue eyes sparkled as she watched the young girl begin to pull her clothing from her body.

Her breasts were large and lush, her nipples quickly growing hard.  They were light brown and sat high upon those perfect, heavy curves.  Her waist was tiny, her hips full and womanly.  Cassianna felt a spurt of lust as well a spurt of desire from between her sleek thighs.  She already had dreams of the girl riding a top the stud of your pleasing while she pleasured Cassianna with her tongue.

"Have you had a man?"

"H-had?"  The girl shifted nervously her hands coming up to cover her nipples, her legs crossed.  Her legs tried to hide the sweetness between them.

"Don't be tiresome girl.  Has a man thrust his hard cock between those sweet pussy lips and into that dripping slit?"  She let one hand trail up the girl's leg and then pushed between the girl's trembling thighs.  One finger slid over the dry flesh of her cunt and then thrust against the tiny entrance that seemed to strive to keep her out.

"N-No my lady.  My father would never permit any man to look at me, much less touch me in that way."  She flinched when Cassianna flicked her finger over the tiny bud of her clit.  "Oh, what are you doing?!"

Cassianna smiled and licked her full, red lips.  She hooked her finger in the lips of the girl's cunt and tugged upon her gently.  "I wish for company in my bath."

"But you touch me where not even my maid would dare?"

"But it is nice, is it not...I do not know your name."

"M-Malilynna de Rance, lady.  My father is Martom de Rance."

"Malilynna, such a pretty name.  Come join me in my bath, Malilynna."

The girl didn't argue, instead, she went up the one step and then slid into the bath.  Cassianna drew the girl down until she lay above her, their bodies sliding against each other in the warm water.  "Kiss me, Malilynna, give me your tongue."

"I've never..."

"Not even with your little female friends?"  She chuckled huskily when she saw the red creep into Malilynna cheeks.  "Ah ha!  I was right.  You've been naughty with your little friends.  Have you enjoyed it?"

Malilynna opened her mouth to speak only to gasp as Cassianna's mouth covered hers, her tongue sliding into the silenced girl's mouth.  "Kiss me back, let me taste your tongue."

* * * *

The girl did as she was bid, a soft moan escaping her lips.  She'd heard so many bad things about the mistress, things whispered between her friends, warnings that came from her parents.  However, this lady did not seem as evil or horrid as she'd been portrayed.  If it wasn't for the awful rumors she'd heard of the torture of King Daxton, she might enjoy the things that Lady Cassianna was doing to her.

"Girl, pay heed to what I am doing here!"

"Yes lady.  It's just..."

Cassianna sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.  "It's just what?"

"I've heard that..."

"Girl, if you do not wish to feel my anger, you'll finish your thought."

Malilynna blinked, confused by the harsh tone of her lady's voice even as her fingers stroked over the hardening buds of Malilynna's breasts.  "I've heard that you have King Daxton locked up in the dungeon.  I've been told that you have forced unspeakable things to be visited upon him and that he is close to death?"

Cassianna laughed.  "Do you believe everything that you hear?"

Malilynna glanced around when she realized that the entire room had gone silent.  Only two of the ten women were still in the room and both of those women had frozen, their mouths open in horror.  "I...I a...No, my lady."

"But you do.  Don't lie to me and compound your sins against your ruler.  Speak to me freely girl.  I wish to know your thoughts."  She gently twisted one hard nipple before stroking the heavy under curve of the girl's breast.  "I wish to know.  I need to know if you trust me enough to become mine."

"B-Become yours?  I...I'm confused, m-my lady.  Ohhh.  Mmm.  What are you doing?"

"Loving you, sweetling.  Making you mine.  You wish that, don't you?"

"I...I."  Malilynna was stuttering, confused.  The lady she'd been warned against was making her feel things she'd never felt before.  She opened her mouth to answer her lady only to hesitate when she felt something thick probing at that forbidden hole between her thighs.  "M...Milady... What...what are you doing?"  Any answer she would have been given was interrupted by a heavy fist pounding at the chamber door.

"My lady Cassianna!  The prisoner has escaped!"

Cassianna pushed the shivering girl away from her and stalked up the stairs to step over the rim of the tub.  One of her lady-in-waiting's was standing at the bottom of the stairs.  She held a thick warm robe and a towel to wrap her thick hair with.  She even held her hand out, accepting the phallus that was slapped into her palm.

Her eyes were pale blue ice as she raked her gaze over the castle guard that had drawn the unfortunate duty to report to Cassianna.  With a snap of slender fingers, the guard couldn't breathe. "You imbeciles!  How hard it is to keep one man in a dungeon.  He had to have help.  There is no way in the shadow realms that he went on his own. Tell me who was there, who dared to offer assistance in his punishments."  

Cassianna snapped her fingers and the guard fell to his knees.  He gulped in lungs full of precious, sweet air.  His hand was at his throat and he glanced around the room.  Hia confusion was compounded by the amount of people that were there, people he hadn't known.  There were all these people and so many more eager to witness Cassianna's punishment.  

His heart thudded heavily in his chest.  He'd known she would lose her temper.  It was the greatest form of punishment that Cassianna could give him.  His cock was hard and throbbing.  He didn't understand how she could cause him pain and he still enjoyed and wanted more each time.  He watched her cautiously.  If she were too angered, it could cause him his life..  She had architects in evil that would do what she had done to others, to the ones that disappointed her.  It was only when Cassianna became hands on, then he would beg her for more even as he moaned or screamed in pain and would never leave a scar.  Kennisto, the guard, jerked in surprise when he felt her trail her fingers over his cheek and then ran them over his lips.  "You are a sweet one.  However...you don't look like I'd expect you too, unless you're married.  Tell me, Kennisto, tell me what you've witnessed here".

Kennisto reached down and yanked on the strings of the cod piece that he only wore when on duty.  Then he stroked his hand over the end of his cock, showing his lady the drips of his excitement that were there.  He sighed.  This lady was too beautiful to ignore.  Her tawny skin and the sweet, satiny texture of her lips were talked about within the guards.  Every voluptuous curve, every long line was discussed and bandied about.  Even those who had captured the attention of the killer portrayed, seemed electric and alive.  She had an aura that was ringed with real fire that lapped at the skin of those that angered her. 

"Nothing, my lady.  I've not held anything back.  King Daxton had to have help, he couldn't have done this himself.  He would have to have the true magic of the Lords of Traciel. The chains that held him in check would have been more than enough to keep him locked up otherwise."

He drew himself up and rose.  In a second, he had his sword, his fingers clasped over the designed forged into an elaborate pattern of knots.  The top of the intense structure of these knots were three breaks in the pattern.  Those knots were a sign of his people, of the land that he came from. "This sword hasn't tasted human flesh since my family sent me to pay our dues to you."

Cassianna scoffed and then rolled her eyes.  With little effort, she disarmed him and ran one slim hand over the blade from the tang to the tip of the sword.  Her fingers slid down the blade and then her eyes moved to his.  "You lie."  Her eyes were black, as if all life inside of her had been given to the dark lords. 

"No Mistress, I would not...I could not..."

Cassianna trailed her hands over the tip of the sword and then dug her hand in the leather of his pants.  She smiled even wider when he groaned and stiffened.  "You've tasted blood and you enjoyed it."

Kennisto tried to hold himself stiff and still but was little able to control the true lusts of his body that had him jerking into her hand and moaning louder with each magical touch.  "N...No.  No...Mistress.  I would never kill unless it served you."

Cassianna moved easily away, evading the shaking hands the wanted to do nothing more than thrust her against the side of the castle wall and fuck her until he could get her out of his hell.  "Please, milady.  Please, I wish to bring you pleasure."  He pulled open the front of his pants and exposed his cock for everyone could see.

Cassianna smiled and waved her hand at Kennisto.  The guard turned and stared at the two ladies left stranded and with no chance to declare their wishes.  The older of the ladies unbuttoned the few buttons left upon her rough uniform. Then she stood proudly as the guard in the room circled her.

Malilynna, who still stood where the evil witch had bid her stay, felt the many eyes of the guard touch upon her naked body and a rush of panic sent her scurrying toward the door, but it was locked.  She pounded upon the solid door, begging for someone to let her out or to stop the men.   Her wishes were ignored.

"Stop, milady.  You might end up injuring yourself badly.  None of us want that."

Lynna turned her fear of what might be behind her greater even as she fumbled with the handle on the door.  "I don't want this.  I want freed and to go home."

"You don't want that, not really.  You want me to be the first inside that tiny cunt.  You are virgin."

"Y-Yes.  Do not dishonor me this way.  I wish to save my body for my husband."  She jerked when she felt a hand push between her slender thighs.  The long fingered hand was doing something to her, something that had her moaning.  His finger pushed inside of her and she lifted her leg, exposing her even more as she continued to protest.

"You have little choice in this matter, Lady Malilynna.  You can pick me to be your first."  The guard stepped back and held his arms wide, his cock pushing over the top of his pants.  "I will be gentle, lady.  I will give you your first pleasure.  You've but only to ask for me to take you and you will feel more pleasure..  Just ask."

Then she was facing a nightmare worse than the day she'd been told she was to stay here and do whatever was necessary to make her own way and pay for the food she ate and the space that was provided for her to sleep.   She hated this, hated it worse than any would believe.  She couldn't lift her hand to choose.  It was her body and they wanted to take the prize of it in the same way any of them would.  A warrior was prized for every piece he took.

However Lynna was scared.  Her emotions seemed too jumbled and her eyes switched from one of the men to the other and then back to her lady.  The men were laughing and seemed to be sharing a private joke.  Then she heard the sound of the elder of the two women, the one who was being bent over, another of the guard holding the back of the woman's head so that she was doing something that seemed extremely lewd pressed against the naked guard's loins. This was what her mother had feared for her.

 Then the second man stood behind Lynna and the heat of his breath was terrifyingly close against the skin at her nape.  "No," she whined.  She pressed her hands against those that plucked at her nipples.  One moment she pulled at them and the next she pressed them against her with even more force.

"I have to ask you to be mine, Lynna.  I can give you more than he can.  I would be kinder than Lady Cassianna.  She would kill you just for the taste of your first orgasm.  I would protect you and when we were done with each other, I would be happy to find a groom for you and deliver you to the arms of your loving family.  You would not be happy delivering babe after babe and smiling up at your husband with dog-like devotion."  His eyes were incredibly green and they ran over her body.  His hands trembled as they ran just inches above her skin.  He seemed fascinated by the heavy round curve of her breasts.  "Be mine, Malilynna.  Let me claim you..."

His breath tickled over her skin.  Lynna closed her eyes as she fought the sensations but they flew open with his first real touch.  His eyes were frosty but they crawled over her body with a heat that denied that ice.  Each new touch he gave sought the darkness that grew inside of her.  He hummed his pleasure and she looked into his face.

"You ask for too much.  I am lady born and raised.  My parents would be horrified."  Malilynna moved beneath his hands and she moaned once more. "I would be ostracized.  I would be outcast with nary a penny to ease my plight."  She was overwhelmed, little able to know what she was saying or what she should think.  His hands were hot and they pressed against her, his fingers tugging on her nipples.  He nodded once at the man behind her and she felt a terrifying bolt of fear as fingers played at the junction of her thighs, pulling her legs open and keeping them such with his own leg.

"Then is that all you need? A penny?"  The air took on a wavy clouded aura and then cleared.  There was a heavy wooden table covered by pennies and gold and silver coins.  The prize in such was the heavy square of deep green.  "Will this suffice?  Or would you like a crown and jewels to match?"  The crown sat atop one undoubtedly heavy bag of coins with more of jewels mixed within.  "Will you be mine?"

It just confused her more and she shook her head.  "H-How are you able t-to do this?"

The guard chuckled.  "Where do you think the sweet lady receives the energy she needs?  She siphons what she needs from the high lords and ladies of her realms.  They gladly give her the strength she needs and the knowledge and information of how to keep her realm safe while she is out in search for her true mate."

Malilynna shook her head.  "I am one of those ladies, sir.  I do not possess the talents that you seem to bandy about so easily."

The guard grinned and dropped his head, his forehead resting briefly against her own.  She felt the guard behind her back off and instantly missed the loss of his warmth so much she almost reached out to stop him.  Her eyes darted back to him as soon as he began to speak.  "You do not recognize me, Lady Lynna?  Our parents had thought to draw contract between us."

Lynna licked her lips and forced her eyes to open despite the desire that made them so heavy.  When he stepped back and bowed from the waist then reached out and tugged on one fiery lock of hair, she knew.  "Lord Gramsby!  Her hands rose and covered her breasts and eyes grew wide.  

He reached out and tugged her hands back down.  "I think we can use first names, Lynna.  I never realized how beautiful you are.  You were always that ginger haired girl.  How could I not see how beautiful this is."  She felt his fingers slide over the hair between her thighs.  "Especially here."

Malilynna jerked and moaned.  "You...You should not touch me like this."  But the hand that she moved to stop his, curved over his hand and moved as his did.  He stepped even closer, his lips at her ear.  "If I am going to get you out of here, don't fight me or her.  She'll kill you, Lynna.  Please, help me get you out of here."

Lynna swallowed harshly.  "She dare not.  My father is the King's cousin."

Her eyes flew opened when a slender sharply tipped nail ran over her cheek.  "I dare not what?"

Malilynna couldn't speak.  She stared up at the icy blue gaze of her lady and felt a quick spurt of terror.

Cassianna leaned closer, her lips touching Lynna's ear.  "I hear all, girl.  If it were not for my fondness of Gramsby, I might throw you to my men, the ones that are not as well paid.  If you doubt what power I have and who  I will and won't use those powers on, try my hand."

Lynna felt her lady's icy lips against her cheek and then the twitch of her fingers against one nipple.

"Teach her well, Grams.  She will share my bed soon."  Cassianna chuckled softly as Lynna gasped and began to totter on unsteady feet.  Lord Gramsby reached out and caught her as she headed toward the floor.



The Gems--Jade Ch. 05



I know it's been quite a while since I've submitted. I've just had so much other things that I've had to handle. I hope you will forgive me. I also hope you enjoy Jade's next adventure. Take care.

* * * * * * * * 

Chapter Five

Dax woke slowly. He was warm and his head rested against something sweet smelling and soft. It had been so long since he'd had just those few creature comforts, he couldn't force himself to give them up.

He opened his eyes slowly and stared down at the winsome feminine flesh. Leather triangles covered satiny full breasts. He nuzzled closer and wished that he had the strength to pull one of those triangles down and suckle on the hard nub he could see outlined by the supple leather.

"King Daxton?"

Her voice was almost as sensual as those firm curves, low pitched and silky. He moaned and snuggled closer, wrapping one shaky arm around her naked, slender waist. "Not yet."

His voice was a harsh grumble and his hands were firm, or at least as firm as he could make them. He burrowed closer.

"My liege, are you awake?"

Daxton closed his eyes tightly and a shudder shook his emaciated body. He lifted his head and stared down at the lovely Jade. "I am sorry, Lady Jade. It has been a very long time since I woke with someone as sweet smelling and soft as you. I find it hard to let go."

He felt Jade sigh and it shook him more to feel her breasts rise against his chest. He wanted her, he wanted to see her smile up at him and open her arms to wind them around his neck and draw him closer. The thought of a woman, a woman of strength and character wanting him sent heat shimmering through him. His cock was hard as stone and he thrust against her slender thigh where it was buried between his legs before he could stop himself.

"King Daxton...I must get up. Please release me!" She pushed at him and he gave way with a heavy sigh.

He wanted desperately to keep her there, to hold her in his arms. He could only blame it on his time as Cassianna's play toy, but he wanted her with a desire stronger than any he could ever remember. He hadn't been with a woman since Cassianna's foul takeover and he yearned to feel Jade's flesh surrender to his hard cock. With a rueful sigh, he released her and rolled to his back.

He fought to stop the moan that tried to escape his lips. His back was on fire. His hands were in fists and he couldn't help but wonder if that was to keep them from wandering back to her sweet flesh.

* * * *

Jade felt his sigh and how he clenched his fists. She rose quickly, adding a few pieces of wood to the fire to bring it back to life. Jarvis was gone. He had to be out scouting. Cassianna's men had come very close the night before. Jarvis was mostly worried about what would happen after they split ways. He hadn't said a word, Jade just knew him that well. He would stay with them one more day and then she would be on her own with the King..

She sighed herself as she remembered the night before. The fire hadn't helped Dax feel any safer. She'd gone to him when he began to fight against the blankets and his cloak. Words had come from his mouth, words whose connotations had caused memories she'd thought long dead to spring up. Memories of Caldor and the torture she'd sustain at his hand.

The first touch of Daxton's hands on her body had shaken her more than a little. Her skin crawled and she had to force herself to remain calm. She had to fight the urge to vomit and remind herself over and over that he wasn't Caldor; he wasn't even close to that type of loathsome vermin. She was stronger and smarter and Caldor was dead, dead at her hands.

Though she tried to convince herself that she was safe, that Daxton wasn't even close to strong enough to be a threat to her, but Caldor had conditioned her well. Pleas for mercy tripped over her tongue with just the slightest of touch of a man's hand. She hated herself for it and hated Caldor even more. She hated living with the fear, with that weakness he'd installed in her.

She was nothing like the girl she'd been that night that Caldor rampaged, raped and murdered every man, woman and child in their small village. Few had been spared and those only for the price they would fetch at the slave auctions in the south at Tel-Zara. She had survived the original attack because of that beast's lusts, while the women and girls she'd been raised among were scattered to the four corners of Mal-Tesia.

She stepped further away from Daxton and turned her back to hide the shaking of her hands. She spun on her heel, her head on a swivel. She'd heard something...

Her eyes quickly searched through the shadows. After a few minutes she turned her attention back to the king. "We should get you up highness. I need to check your wounds and we should get some food in you. It will be a long day of riding hard."

"Caldor hurt you."

It wasn't a question. Jade went to the small pile of wood. She stacked a few of the smaller pieces on her arms and then dumped it back on the pile. "Yes. He hurt many before he died." She cringed as she heard the slight quiver in her voice.

The words spoke volumes. "But you killed him, he's dead and you still live. You won."

Jade scoffed and then began to pace. Her hands rose up her arms and she suddenly realized how little she wore. She went to Storm and pulled a cloak off her saddle. "It doesn't feel that way. It would take a lot more than his death for me to feel that." She wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and tried to hide the tears that clogged her throat. After everything that beast had done to her, how could anyone think she'd won? She saw him in every dream, in even the tamest of daydreams. He was always there.

She heard Daxton struggling to sit up and hurried back. She fell to her knees and supported him until he caught his breath. "You shouldn't move unless someone can support you, sire. Your time with Cassianna has greatly drained your reserves of strength."

"Well let's hope he finds more soon. Cassianna's troops are close, Jade. I don't think she took your thievery very well."

Jade jumped, startled. "Dammit Jarvis! I'm going to find you a damn bell. You know one of these days you're going to do that and end up picking yourself up off the ground!" 

Jarvis winked at her and picked up the small bucket of water that had been left by the fire. He quickly dumped it over the fire and then scooped up enough sand to finish the job. "Come on, Jade. Move it. We've got to get King Daxton out of here."

Jade didn't bother to comment, just glanced over at Storm. The pony responded to her unspoken request and walked to her. He stood patiently as she helped Dax stand and got him up on the horse's back. Everything else would have to wait. She couldn't afford to have the king retaken, not now, not when she'd done so much to free him in the first place. She waited until Jarvis was on his pony and then tossed him Storm's reins. "Get him to Henri. He'll hide you both until I get there."

Jarvis hesitated. "What do you plan to do?"

"Lead them off."

Jarvis nodded. "Be safe."

She nodded. "Keep him safe. I'll meet you at Henri's in no more than two days." He didn't have time to say more because took a running start at the nearest tree and leaped. She glanced back at Daxton and then grabbed a branch well above her head. "Go!" She started off through the trees toward the sound of a huge party of horses breaking through the bush. 

She swung through the trees and ran over branches. She was as quick and efficient on the tree limbs as any animal born upon them. She was soon standing above a riding party big enough to bring down any king. Her eyes widened as she quickly scanned the riders and realized she was seriously outnumbered. "Oh by the gods. How are you getting your tail out of this one?" She didn't have much of a choice. If she couldn't change the course of Cassianna's search party, she would have failed in her task. Failure was not an option she was willing to consider, not when it came to the King and Jarvis. She would do everything and anything she had to do to win-this-day.

She swung down from the trees and flung her cape back from her shoulders. Men surrounded her, men that moved closer and became more unruly the more of them gathered around her.

"I know this witch!" 

Jade looked back and her eyes flitted from one man to the next until she saw the one that spoke. He was the one she'd touched, the one she'd used as a ramp up to the top of the rumbled wall. She smiled over at him and then walked up to his horse. With a careful stroke of her hand over the horse's muzzle, she spoke in a soft whisper in the horse's ear and then backed up.

She wasn't allowed to move far back, men and horses crowded her. Hands were reaching for her and a man pushed through them and forced the rest of them back. "You scum! We have a lady come among our midst and you treat her like ruffians

"Lady? This be no lady, sir. This is the witch that helped the king escape."

The lady in question turned to face the supposed leader of these men. She bowed with all the fanciness of a lady of the court. When she stood again, she smiled winsomely. "Actually, my name is Jade."

"Jade? The Jade?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me. How nice. Maybe one day we can sit and swap stories around the campfire." She backed up as much as the crowd would let her and then she twirled, her cloak spreading out and striking the men with the weighted ends of her outerwear. It worked even better since the cloak spread open and allowed the men to see what she wore underneath. When she had cleared the crowd of men out, watching as they backed away. Then she gave one courtlier bow. "If you can catch me..."

There was a low murmuring in the crowd as she took off and used a couple of the men that were just trying to pull themselves back up.

The tree she picked was a huge oak that had an abundance of branches big enough to support her weight. Jade danced around on them, throwing kisses and taunts until she had them riled up to the point of cutting down the oak. When axes were brought forth, she twirled once more and then easily skipped to the next tree. Grabbing a branch of the next tree, she waited for the men to realize she'd moved. Tree by tree, she led them away from the king.

Some of the men decided to try her way of moving through the forest and Jade laughed as they leaped to branches too slender to handle their weight. More than one heard the ominous creak of the branch before they were falling on them men under them. She taunted and teased them until they were in an uproar. Then she climbed a bit higher and disappeared.

The leader of these men growled and cursed, turning his horse in a full circle. He jerked back in shock when Jade hung from a branch above his head and patted his cheek. Before he could recover from the surprise, she was gone once more.

She couldn't help but smile as she listened to the familiar sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the sound of a man trying to get unruly soldiers back in line. He tried but he was screaming to the wind. Jade had done her job well. She reached up and took hold of another branch, sitting high in the tree above their heads and laughing silently.

After watching the mayhem below, she took a running start and grabbed another branch and then another. Taking a wide route, she quickly made a circuit through the forest. She wanted to know where Cassianna's men were. She came upon a small group of soldiers, though these men were much better organized and heavily armed. There were only six of them but she knew instinctually that they wouldn't fall for her seductive charms. She sank down on the limb close to the trunk of the tree.

Easily picking out the leader from the other five men, she watched as he took a map from a pouch tied to his waist. He stood right under Jade and spoke quietly to a man who had to be his second. They were close to each other and spoke almost silently, irking Jade. She was going to have to take chances with this crew. 

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. For an instant she was sitting on a branch, then there was a sudden pull and snap, then she was above herself. She rose and rose until she could see the forest surrounding the tree she still sat on. A tiny golden light shone not too far from where she was. She had no choice now. Those men would catch up to Jarvis and Dax. She closed her ethereal eyes and felt her way through all four directions of the forest until she found what she wanted. 

With a smile, she let herself be drawn back to her corporeal form. There was a feeling, as if she was fitting into herself from the feet up. Then, with another snap, she was back. She had to raise her hand and shade her eyes as the dizziness that always came from using that part of the witch's curse. She had to be in her body for this next step.

She took a deep breath and stood, her feet instinctively finding purchase upon the wide branch. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath than she sent out her call. 

It vibrated through the trees and circled the forest until she found him. Her message was delivered with tiny shivers of herself into the receiver. Than it jumped and flowed through and around the encampment before speeding on to the next and the next.

The sound of an angry big cat was loud and Jade smiled. There was another loud roar and another, but these came from different directions. She could see the men below glancing around and then pull their swords. They didn't look nervous. One or two of them even looked eager. 

Those two would be hers. Her grin became wider when one of those roars came from directly above and behind her. Lifting her hand, she scratched the familiar gray and black striped cat that was almost as big as she was.

The cat butted her head against Jade's hand and began purring.

"I knew I could count on you, Becks." She nodded down at the men below. Becks butted up against her once more than continued circling. The cats, different colors and sizes as well as species, would do anything she asked of them. That was just what she'd done. She'd called them. Now she had enough weapons at her disposal to finish these men off.

For an instant, she wondered if this was necessary, if King Dax was actually worth the chance of losing one of her precious cats. She closed her eyes and his face hovered there. Even dirty and skinny, his eyes burned with intelligence and courage. She had to get him out and away which meant that these men had to die.

Jade never took the act of killing lightly, but she would do whatever was necessary if it was necessary. To save the King meant doing whatever needed doing to keep him safe. With a loud whistle, she dropped down onto the shoulders of one of her two targets. This one infuriated her with the string of claws that he wore around his neck like a trophy. He grunted at her weight but didn't go down. Instead he reached back and grabbed the back of her neck when she tried to flip off his shoulders to get some distance between them. Instead, she ended up on her back on the ground with him on top of her.

She fought, dropping her sword to pluck one of her knives from her boots. But he blocked her hand and then took both of hers above her head. She struggled but he had her trapped, his body pressing intimately down on hers. Her only hope was her cats. She tried to stare around her to search for Becks but her captor kept shifting his weight so that she couldn't see anything but him.

He stank, that was the first thing that went through her mind. He had a straggly beard that was full of bits of food. His long hair had been braided in tiny plaits that he kept tied at his neck. He opened his mouth as he was panting, trying to keep hold of her and she did a double take. For a man as dirty and nasty, he had teeth that had been colored in with a paint stick. Otherwise they were beautiful, even with not a single missing tooth.

She let out a piercing whistle and then stared at the man again as he let out another whistle. It was the whistle that she used to call off her cats. How did he... How could he... She stared into his eyes, beautiful, blue eyes and she had her answering.

She brought her head up and hit him square in the forehead, biting back the groan of pain that wanted to escape her lips. "Get off of me, you pony's backside!"

The man sat up and helped her sit up. Then he began petting and talking to her cats as if they were his own. He even got a few swipes of rough tongues as the cat's showed their affection.

"Cal, where did you get that necklace?"

"That's the first thing you say to me after I saved your life?" He sounded put upon and unappreciated but Jade knew he was being himself.

"You expect me to thank you, Calin Trask! I was probably saving your damned life." She got to her feet and rubbed at the knot that was growing at the top of her forehead. She glanced around to note that her cat's had done what needed doing without her help. They were sitting by their kills, some licking their paws of the dull red blood. When they saw her, one by one, they rubbed against her. She checked them for wounds but they seemed to come through this skirmish unharmed.

She glanced at Cal, desperately trying to hide the fact that she was glad to see him. "So what are you doing with some of Cassianna's losers?"

"Seemed like a good job at the time," Calin said with a laugh. "She was looking for fighters with experience. Besides, she's something else to look at, you know?"

Cal reached out and touched the side of her mouth. She jerked her head back and wiped the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. She hissed at the dirt on her hand got into the split lip. "You son of a bitch."

"I did that?" He sounded as innocent as a newborn babe and it irritated her more.

"How in the hell did I ever put up with you."

"Uh...Wait a minute. I was the one that pulled you out of that damned ditch and bandaged your wounds. I was the one who let you ride with me. I was also the one who helped you with the magicks."

"Yeah," Jade bit back the chuckle that was trying to escape. "And I let you have the pleasure of my company."

Cal slung his arm around Jade's shoulders and walked her toward the horses the men had tied between two trees. "See one you like?"

Jade ducked under his arm and went unerringly to a black pony that had two white feet and pulled it's reins from the tether rope. "I'll take Jasmine."

She slipped up, onto her back, only to find her butt causing a small cloud of dust on the hard ground. "You should know better by now Jade. Jazz only has one rider, me. Where's Storm?"

"Hopefully almost to Henri's." Jade got to her feet and reached out to grab Cal's hair, laughing as the wig slid off, taking the ugly beard as well. "What is with this getup?" 

"Let's get moving, Jade. I wouldn't want to be found standing in the middle of Cassianna's top hunters. We can talk on our way to Henri's."

Jade went to the horses and released them all except for the one she decided to ride. She pulled the saddle off the pony's back and allowed a grimace of disgust. Then she picked up a handful of grass and used it to quickly rub down the pony. Then she easily hopped on the pony's back. "Let's go."



The Gems--Jade



"You're slower than I'd thought." It was the only warning either of the man had that she was swinging down and onto her horse, the one that was ridden by the King.

"Farden hell, Jade." Jarvis rubbed one hand over his chest. "One of these days you are going to do that and I'm going to end up dead at your feet. Than how would you feel?"

She wrapped her arms around the King, frowning at how easily they went around the man. "I would probably feel better than you since you'll be dead." She smiled as she heard the King grunt. "Sire, if you aren't comfortable with me riding behind you..."

"N...No. It...It's fine."

"We'll ride until you are too tired, Sire. Than Jarvis and I will set up a tent for you. Hopefully the trip won't be too much for you."

"I'm...I'm sure it won't be." He swallowed harshly and forced himself to sit up, refusing to add his weight to her own. He could feel her, the soft shape of her breasts pressing against his back, the silkiness of her thighs outside his own. She smelled like sweet spice and her body pressed against his with little shyness.

"Where are you from? Do your people allow you to do these things often?" He clenched his teeth as a rhythmic trill of laughter slid from between her lush lips.

"My people? I'm sorry, highness. I am not laughing at you. It's just it is not often I'm thought to have people. My parents were killed before my eyes and my people were decimated by an army from across the sea. I...was forced to...please our conqueror." 

"I am sorry, Jade. Was there no one left to save you or to care for you?"

Jade laughed again and carefully hugged her arms around him a bit closer. "I saved myself Highness. I have been saving and caring for myself since I was small. I don't think I would know how to handle having someone care for me or about me."

Jarvis chuckled as well. "I met Jade when someone wanted to care for her. Lucky for them, I was close by. She tried to take their heads off without the aid of her sword."

"Damn busybody..."

Dax felt a spurt of something strange. It flew up his throat and burst out of his mouth. It took him a moment to realize the he was laughing too. It had been so damn long since he'd had a reason to laugh. After the original shock, he threw back his head and let it roll from his body, tears of laughter and of pain streamed down his face.

When he finally calmed, he realized how completely exhausted he was. The walk to the horses and then trying to stay seated upon the gray gelding Jarvis helped him on, a thing that used to be second nature to him, had his vision blurring and his eyes closing despite his struggle. "Jade..."

"Relax, I'll hold you. I won't let you fall."

Her voice was soft, silky smooth and irresistible, her scent more than enticing. He felt as if, finally, he could hope. With that happy thought he felt himself relaxing against her as the deep blackness of sleep took him.