**DAPHNE**
I hiccup one last time as I tumble toward the ground, a plea on my lips, *"A-AA-sh-sh!"*
My eyes slam closed, my body losing the fight as I sway on my feet, falling, then crashing into solid muscle. *Ash...* He lifts me into his embrace, and I cry my tears into his chest. Just the smell of him is soothing and I am like a whimpering babe in his arms.
“What is *wrong* with her?” He questions, pulling me tighter against him as he heads for the stairs. I can feel the tremble of power in his body returning as he reigns himself in.
“She has been ill,” Petra scolds him. “And you are not making her any better with your ranting!”
“Petra,” Dionie warns. “Remember your place.”
“Shut up!” I hear her say and I wish I could smile.
Ash carries me to the bedroom I’ve been using and lays me gently on the bed. Opening my eyes as he turns to leave, I grab for his hand. His entire body tenses, but he does not pull away.
When he looks at me, I can see sadness there. And a longing so deep his actions are further confusing.
“Please don’t leave me. *Not again*,” I whisper, my eyes blurring with fresh moisture before drooping closed. The last of my tired tears escaping.
As I succumb to the darkness that ails me, I feel him slide into the bed, pulling me close so that his arms slips beneath me. My head lay against his chest, and thumping of his heartbeat is a lullaby for my ears.
*This is what I need.*
*If feels... so wonderful.*
“Daphne,” he hisses, stroking my arm and kissing my temple.
I can sense the tightening of his body as I grow weaker and my free arm folds into my chest, taking a handful of his tunic with it.
“Promise me, Ash. Promise you won’t leave me again.”
But he doesn’t answer me as I lose consciousness, and all I can think, is that I never want for him to let me go again.
**ASH**
“Where is she? What did you do to her?” Dionie crumbles in front of me, hitting his knees as if in great torment.
I glare at him, resisting the urge to kick him in his abnormally wide chin. Somewhere inside, I am pleased that he is so devoted to my little peasant, but I don’t let it show. Instead, I laugh.
“Perhaps she has given you a taste as well.” Shit. Why did I say that? I didn’t mean it. I truly didn’t.
Dionie stares at me as if he is trying to figure out where I’ve placed my mind. You’d think I’d grown two heads in the way he gawks at me from the ground. “I would never,” he snaps.
“You would never,” I repeat slowly, acting bored, yet knowing full well what I said was out of line. “That is a lie.”
*Well fuck, lets just keep going, right?*
Petra is in the kitchen preparing breakfast and making a good deal of noise doing so. She is angry with me, as is Klyesque. The difference between them being, Kly doesn’t let it show. She knows more than she says she does, usually, and is in habit of keeping things well hidden. It is part of why we get along so well. Klyesque knows me better than the others do. She knows that I am full of shit right now. And *she knows* that *I know*, she knows it.
“She doesn’t deserve your anger, Ash. If you are still thinking of sacrificing her-” He stops, stands up. “I must tell you; I will not let you. She is a sweet girl. Choose another. If you don’t want her then-”
“If I don’t *want* her?” I hiss, shoving him back with dark power.
He tumbles backward and into the solar, smashing a couple of herb plants in the process. I step toward him slowly as he hops back onto his feet.
"*Everyone* wants her! Which in turn, seems to be the problem!” I growl. I will not scream. Not while Daphne is sleeping. “The bloody entire realm will want her when I bring her home and if you think the Winter Queen won’t come after her, you’re an idiot!”
Dionie sighs, relieved. ”When? So, you are taking her back to-”
“Yes,” I hiss, covering my face in my hands and falling onto the sofa that faces the hearth. “I am taking her to Faery. Of course, I am. And soon. Hayden has already gone after her, thinking she is at his cottage. And when he finds that she isn’t there, he will surely hunt her.”
“Wait!” Petra exclaims. “How far of a ride is his cottage? I mean, how long will it take him?”
“Two days I imagine,” I say. “He has a good deal of his men with him.”
“No!” Petra says. “Dionie, what about the guards that were sent to follow us, the ones who were behind us? By now they would have arrived there and are probably already heading back!”
“What guards?” I ask.
“She’s right,” Dionie scrambles forward. “On our way here, we had a tail. When we arrived at the river’s fork, we shook them. They were following the trail to Hayden’s cottage.”
“And you *didn’t* think to kill them?” Klyesque laughs.
“I didn’t want to leave the girls alone for too long, and I still needed to secure the shadow steed from where you hid them. The pair of them were traveling so slowly, I-I didn’t think to bother with them. I was afraid if they went missing it might cause a problem for us. If Hayden left last night, he is already on his way back.” He draws his sword, “We should leave for the gate.”
Klyesque jumps up, staring upward at the second floor. “Can she travel? She doesn’t seem well enough.”
Damn it. “I will carry her upon Delago. The shadow steeds will cloak us as we ride.”
“There’s one problem with that idea,” Klyesque states mildly.
“What’s that?” I ask, already heading for the stairs.
“Trielle will not allow it.”
I freeze. “What?”
“It’s true,” Petra sighs. “Trielle has chosen Daphne.”
My breath escapes me. “She *what*?”
Shadow steed are very possessive creatures. Should they choose you, they become yours. Your familiar. Your companion. And they do not choose often.
I’ve had Delago and Trielle for as long as I can remember, and neither of them has ever chosen me. They let me ride because I am their master, their prince. But if what Petra says is true? Trielle will not be allowing me to ride her again.
The only way I will be riding with Daphne is if Daphne sends Trielle home ahead of us, and she doesn’t know how to communicate with them. She is human.
“Damn.” I say.
Dionie nods. “Trielle will not allow her ride with you or anyone else.”
I am dumbfounded. “Fine,” I say. “I shall wake her after she’s had an hour to rest. In the meantime, I’ll place wards around this clearing and beyond. We will know if they come close.”