Twelve Realms Ch. 07-08

"Fi! No! Wait!" Jacob cried as he ran after her.

He lost track of her in the crowd. After more than an hour of fruitlessly searching for her, he made his way back to the Kype, only to find her on a bench in the shade of the outer curtain wall. She sat with her legs drawn up in front of her, her dress and knees showing evidence of more than one fall in her flight from the entertainment, blood trailed down the pale skin of both shins. At some point, she had lost her sandals and now her feet were covered in mud. Her crossed arms rested on her knees, her forehead lay against her forearms.

He sat down next to her, facing the opposite direction so that he could see her face,

"Fiona?" he asked softly. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

She raised her head to meet his eyes and he could see that her tears had been plentiful enough to dampen the bodice of her dress. Her face was red, her eyes bloodshot and swollen.

"Why do they hate me so," she whispered.

"Oh, Fi. They don't hate you. They don't know you. They fear your mother. You are just the closest, easiest, safest target to her."

She shook her head, lay her head back down on her arms and took a trembling breath.

"They should be afraid of me, too. I could have struck them all down today. I had the lightning at my fingertips."

"You would never do that."

"You don't know that."

"I do know that. I know you.

"Can I... Fi, I want to help you inside," Jacob said, worry in his voice. "You are all cut up and dirty. You need to clean those knees before they get infected."

"I don't think the future Duke of Citadel wants to be seen helping an ugly monster like me," she said without raising her head.

"Gods dammit Fi!," Jacob responded angrily, "don't ever think that I consider you either a monster or ugly. You are beautiful. Don't insult yourself or me by saying otherwise!"

He watched as her shoulders shook with her renewed sobs.

"Please, Fi. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled." He reached out and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm sorry too, Jake," he could barely hear her response.

Without asking her permission, he stood and picked her up, throwing her over his left shoulder.

"Jake! Put me down!" Fiona yelled, trying to kick and punch him into letting her go. He just tightened his hold on her knees, carefully to hold the hem off her dress down to maintain her modesty, and let her hit his broad back ineffectually. She was still protesting when he got to the guards standing at the open portcullis.

"Gentlemen, could one of you get that pile of packages from the stone bench by the northeast wall? Have them sent up to the princess's chambers? My hands are full at the moment."

"Of course, My Lord Sparta," the guard said, smiling.

"Unhand me, you brute!" Fiona shouted.

"Do you need any help with the princess, sir?"

"No, I think I have this all under control. Thank you, though."

"Captain Kennedy will hear about this!" Fiona hissed, her anger not cooled in the slightest.

Jacob carried her into the dark and cool interior of the Kype. Her calls for help echoed against the stone walls and went unheeded. The Kype was sparsely occupied with everyone out enjoying the free day declared by the king.

"Gods dammit Jake. Put me down!"

"That's pretty rough language for a lady. And 'no, I won't put you down.'"

Eventually she tired of her struggles and lay limply seething. By the time he got her to the Princess's Tower her anger had cooled and the adrenalin fled and her eyes again dripped with tears. When they got to her chambers he pushed the door open and once inside gently laid her on her bed. She rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow in an attempt to end her tears. She heard him bustling about her room, but was still startled by his hand on her shoulder.

"Roll onto your back," he ordered. She complied without a second thought.

"Put this on your face. It'll help you feel better," he said as he handed her a cool wet washcloth.

She lay back, her face covered, and listened as he moved to her side. She recoiled when she felt warm water touch the palms of her hands and then her knees.

"Hold still," he said as she hissed in pain and tried to pull away. "I need to get the dirt out of the wounds."

She gritted her teeth and tried to remain still. After cleaning her knees he moved down her legs and cleaned the dried mud from her feet. Once he was satisfied she was clean, he put antiseptic on her wounds and covered them with clean bandages. After he cleaned up his work he sat down on the floor next to Fiona's bed and took her hand in his. She again started crying. He leaned up and kissed her softly on the lips to remind her of his care for her and settled in to wait for her to calm. While he sat his vigil next to her there came a polite knock at the door. Neither Jacob nor Fiona acknowledged it, but the door swung open and revealed the king nonetheless.

"What happened, Sparta," the king thundered.

"It wasn't Jake's fault, papa," Fiona said, barely loud enough to be heard.

"I think it was my fault, princess," Jacob disagreed, disgusted with himself. "Ed asked me to look out for you. I did a fucking poor job of that today."

"What happened, Jake?" the king repeated in a more normal tone of voice.

Jacob didn't answer right away. He noticed Fiona's breathing get ragged again as her tears came.

"Fi? Will you be okay if I leave you here to talk to your father?" Jacob asked her softly. "I'll come back later and check on you."

She nodded under the cloth that covered her face.

Jake rose and turned towards the king. William could see the pain and self-recrimination on the younger man's face as he approached. The king opened the door and motioned for Jacob to lead him from the room and into Fiona's foyer.

"What happened?" the king asked for the third time once Fiona's door was closed behind them.

"I ran into Fi down in the bazaar...

"That's not quite right. She didn't want a guard following her, so Captain Kennedy and I agreed yesterday that I would stay with her? 'Accidentally' run into her? Don't tell her that. She'd be mad."

"Jake. That's fine. But you haven't told me what happened."

"She shopped and then we had lunch and then went to the entertainment area. We watched a puppet show and a ballet. Some musicians that weren't as good as she is," Jake said, raking his hands through his hair.

"Then there was a... play," Jake said, looking into the king's eyes, misery stamped on his face. "You know the kind? The evil fairy queen... ."

"I know the kind," the king agreed gently.

"I tried to pull her away, but she wouldn't budge. I didn't want to make a scene... draw attention to her...

"She ran from me after she saw the... baby?"

"I understand, Jake."

"I looked for her for a long time. I finally gave up and came back to the Kype and found her against the fortress wall with skinned knees and covered in mud. I don't know what happened. She probably fell when she was running... .

"Why do you let them?" Jacob demanded, his eyes red with his own unshed tears, fists clenched at his sides. "Why do you let them perform such hurtful things, Your Majesty?"

"Jake... now is not really the time to get into a legal debate on the freedom of speech. Of course I step in when violence is threatened, but I am not going to prohibit entertainment, even when it's cruel to my beloved wife and daughter."

"I should have known there would be performances like that. I should have kept her away from them. I wasn't thinking. I didn't protect her."

"You can't protect her from everything, Jake. I know you don't want to see her hurting like this. But she is Princess Royale and I'm afraid some people will hate her no matter what she does or doesn't do. You can't protect her from that. All you can do is help her learn how to not let it bother her so much.

"This isn't the way I would have wanted her to learn about those plays, but it's too late to change it. All we can do now is help her realize that it isn't personal. Those people don't know her. That play is an attack on the doddering old fool who is her father."

"I understand, sir," Jake said, although he did not sound convinced. "I've told her before that people don't hate her, they just don't know her."

"Exactly.

"Why don't you go back in to her and talk about it with her, Jake," the king suggested. "Or at least just lend her a sympathetic presence. I'm sure she appreciates your friendship at times like this.

"Then you can have dinner tonight in the private dining room with the family. I'm sure Maeve won't mind. It will be a simple affair anyway, what with the kitchen staff having a free day with the rest of you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

Jake opened the door to Fiona's room and closed it softly behind him. Then he considered Fiona laying in her bed.

"Are you awake?" he whispered.

"Yes," came her soft reply.

"Is there anything I can do for you," he asked.

She shook her head and turned her face away from him. He considered what he should do for a moment then sat on a chair and removed his shoes before climbing into her bed next to her and gathering her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and he could feel her tears soaking through his shirt, her body shaking with her sobs. Eventually, after several minutes, she was finally able to regulate her breathing. She shuddered through a sigh, then another.

"Thank you, Jacob," she whispered, snuggling her body into his, pressing her lips against his chest.

They lay on their sides facing each other, their hands sliding over each other. Their lips met and Jacob moaned, overcome with desire. Fiona felt his hardness grow against her belly and slid her knee up his hip to seal herself even closer to him, her calf pressed firmly against his ass, locking their bodies together. Her fingers tugged playfully at the curls of his hair at the nape of his neck. His hand slid from her knee and up her thigh before his palm rested solidly on her hip and round buttock. His fingers slipped under the elastic of the leg of her panties. They rocked together as they kissed, Fiona softly grunting with every small thrust of his hips that brought his hardness against her soft sex. She gasped when she felt him pull her even more firmly against him, his fingers sliding into her wetness, his body tense and his breath hitch. Then his hips twitched against her for several seconds while he let out a long low moan and became very still.

They lay pressed against each other for a long time. Fiona could feel Jake's chest rising and falling while he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh my Gods! What have I done?" she heard Jake say as he quickly pulled his hand away and jumped up out of her bed.

"Jake? What's wrong?" Fiona asked

"I'm sorry, princess. Oh Gods!" he moaned.

"Jake? You're scaring me. Did I do something wrong?"

"NO! No. You didn't. But I need to go. Um. Get ready for dinner. I'll be back in a half hour. You should change too." He rushed out the door without even turning to look at her.

***

Fiona was left bereft, wondering what she'd done to cause Jacob to run from her. She was feeling sorry for herself when there came another knock at her door.

"Fiona? It's Melissa," she heard a muffled voice call through her door.

The princess went to the door and pulled it open, inviting her friend in.

"I just saw Sparta running down the stairs like his hair was on fire. What happened?" Melissa asked.

"I... I'm actually not sure.

"I'm sorry I didn't meet you at the bazaar this afternoon, Missy. I was... "

"Don't worry. When you weren't at the rendezvous I asked the gate guards if they'd seen you. They said that you were upset by something and the king had been told... .

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Uh... yes? But not right now."

"Sure."

"I need to change for dinner. Can you help me? Jake said he'd be back to escort me. Papa invited him to have dinner with the family tonight. I'd invite you, too. But..."

"Don't worry about it, Fi," Melissa responded with a smile. "I can hardly expect to be invited to dinner with the king and queen without them knowing about it."

"I am sorry, though, Missy. I feel bad for not meeting you this afternoon. I wish I could make it up to you."