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hey just checking in to see if we're still doin this? if life got in the way i completely understand and its fine if you're busy, just curious :) |
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Oh my gosh So much happened, but I'm back now! Do you wanto to pick up where we left off? I'll post a reply in a few minutes) |
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Thundering hooves brought her to the resent and Jade shot to her feet, her eyes wide. When a horse emerged, Figaro let out a whinny that halted the black equine. "Easy, easy." She cooed, gently taking his reins. "Where's your rider?" She led the horse to Figaro, untying him and mounting. She peered down at the breastcollar on the horse. "Adonis, you sweet boy. Can you find your rider?" She nudged her bay steed, following the trampled path where the runaway had pounded the earth. She came across a bloody man in armor and her heart stopped. She quickly dismounted Fig, trusting he would stand still. "Gale?" She asked, gently lifting his head. She looked left then right before hauling his limp body toward a log. She stood on it after moving Adonis closer and managing to lift Gale onto the saddle. The man was draped over the leather. She hesitated before ripping a long swath of fabric from her dress with her teeth and tying his wrists to one stirrup and tore another for his legs. She mounted the frisky Figaro and ponied Adonis back toward the trail, starting the treck back to the castle. |
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(Yayy you're back!) Gale drifted in and out of consciousness, his vision pulsing red and black before blinding white. Pain washed over his body in waves, his breathing labored and painful with each breath. His eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused as he glanced around. The man slipped them shut again, seeing stars behind his eyes. "Need. . . to get. . . back. . . to my station. . ." Gale rasped, flicking his eyes open before starting to untie his wrists with a wince. He grabbed his sword from it's sheath, feeling his legs were tied and slicing the tie before attempting to sit up. A yelp tore itself from his throat as he did so, eventually getting himself sat upright in the saddle before letting himself slump forward onto Adonis's neck, breathing ragged. He turned his head sideways to look at Jade, a thin stream of blood trickling into his eye which earned a wince out of him. "What. . . what happened?" He managed, ashamed she was seeing him like this. |
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The princess shook her head as Gale slipped into consciousness. "I am not sure, but you're beaten pretty badly. I'm bringing you and your horse back to the castel." She spoke quickly and quietly, giving a soothing pat to Figaro then Adonis. "Your horse is a champ, I will say." She commented, risking a glance at the guard as he lay drapped over the neck of his gorgeous equine. They soon neared the edge of the trees. "Easy, Fig." She said as her bay gelding tossed his head in anticipation and the clear sign that he wanted to run. She managed to hold him back while still ponying Adonis. "Fig, calm down, buddy." She cooed. The slight breeze from the clearing toyed with her copper strands, sending them waving gently. Remi, the black mare Gale had ridden this morning, was trotting toward the fence of a nearby pasture, her mane catching the breeze as she swung her head around. Figaro perked at her sudden appearance. |
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He chuckled when she said Adonis was a champ, wincing from the pain. "Yes, he's a good one." Gale murmured, starting to cough. He raised his hand to cover his mouth, eventually pulling away and seeing it stained dark crimson. His eyes widened slightly at the sight, quickly wiping it off while his mind raced. Coughing up blood meant you were bleeding somewhere internally, and the knights that went to the medic to get it taken care of? Nobody saw them ever again. The man's heart raced as panic set it, his mouth going dry but still keeping the bitter metalic taste. What would he do? If he died... if he died that meant his entire family back home was doomed, since he was their only source of income. Gale blinked the thought away as he saw the courtyard coming into view, guards awaiting at the gate. He sat up, waiting until Jade slowed the horses to a walk before dismounting shakily, taking a few steps as guards noticed what was wrong and rushed over. "I'm... ... fine..." He rasped, eyes rolling back as he collapsed, two guards rushed over to him, settling him on a stretcher before rushing off to the infirminary. |
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Jade walked Figaro to the guards. She dismounted after handing Adonis' leather to a stable hand. Please tend to this beauty as well as you would mine." She ordered, a hint of authority in her otherwise sweet voice. The groom nodded and soothed Adonis. Then she turned to where the guards were helping Gale off the black horse. She gripped Figaro's reins and studied the wounds covering Gale. Her voice rose, stopping the guards as they started to move away. "Stop." She stood to her full height though she was still rather short compared to the six foot tall men towering over her. "Take him to the royal infirmary.He is my personal guard, not a lowly door keeper as you three are." She silenced their subtle sneers with a few stubborn words. When they didn't immediately move, her emerald gaze hardened. "Now." The men scrambled to obey, taking Gale to the royal doctor. The groom led Adonis away and Figaro let out a gentle nicker in the sweating stallion's direcion. The princess took a second to breathe. She hated using rank against thers, but they hadn't immediately listened and they were in an emergency. She ducked her head, her hair framing her head in a waterfall of red strands. After her small brain break, she walked her bay gelding to his stall and released him. He happily divulged on alphalfa and water. Jade nodded, kissed his velvet muzzle, and quietly slipped out of the barn unnoticed. |
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Gale was brought to the infirminary, slipping unconscious on the way. They burst through the doors, the guards panicking. "He needs to be seen now! By order of the princess!" They commanded, the medics nodding and quickly ushering them to set him down. The head nurse started getting supplies, the rest unbuckling and pulling his armor off, the head nurse's eyes widening slightly at the reality of the wounds. Gale awoke, eyes darting around as he tried to look at his wounds. "What--what is it?" He rasped, one of the other guards pushing his head back down and holding it there. "Don't, Gale. You don't want to see.." He trailed off, sending the man into a panic. Gale started pushing them off him, eventually getting pinned down as they pried his mouth open and forced a sedative down, the man getting dragged into sleep as they started cleaning his wounds. "Get me the alcohol and bandages. Now." The head nurse snapped, all of them nodding and doing as she said. They dumped the liquid on, the wounds feeling like fire to Gale and he winced even through unconsciousness. Eventually they finally got him stitched and clean, his breath rasping slightly yet strong, his fingers twitching every so often. *~*~*~*~*~~ -Need somebody to watch him, Gale will be up before we know it and saying he's fine while bleeding.- Nora thought, sitting at her desk in her chambers, mixing more solutions for the infirminary. A sudden knocking interupted the head nurse, causing her to roll her eyes as she stood and tended to it. "Yes?"
The woman asked tiredly, more than ready to go to sleep. The guard looked twitchy and nervous, yet somewhat . . . frightened. "Ma'am he---he's awake. Gale's awake, and he keeps trying to leave." He managed, Nora cursing under her breath as she darted down to the infirminary, bursting in and half freezing at the sight. Gale was sitting up with a blank expression, eyes open yet unfocused. A younger, fresher nurse was beside him, and empty vile in his hand. Nora raised a brow at the sight, unsure what she had given him. "What did you do?" She snapped in a whisper, as to not wake the other patients. The man looked up at her, setting the vile down. "I gave him more of the sedative---only half of it though, as it was only half full." He murmured, Nora just nodding. "Good, so you didn't give him anything other than that and other than what is allowed?"
The squire shook his head. Gale looked up at Nora, managing to speak in a softer tone for once, one she'd never heard from him. Usually the only tone you got out of the knight was sharp and emotionless, the one drilled into him for years. "How long until I can return to my duties? The princess needs to be guarded. In the case an assasin for say made way to her door, one wouldn't be enough. Especially knowing assasins, they're quick and hard to predict." He said, Nora thinking for a moment before another nurse spoke. "Sir you'll have to stay for at least a few more days, you're not all the way healed." "He can go back tonight, he's stitched up and bandanged, everything is clean and well." Nora said to the nurse, turning back to Gale. "Sir Gale, you are allowed to collect your items and leave. But please do come back if any of your stitches come out or if anything looks wrong." She said to the man, dismissing the nurses to go back to tending to others, walking back to her chambers. *~*~*~*~*~* Gale nodded at her words, standing and strapping all his armor back on. He grabbed his sword, slipping it back into it's sheath before starting to make his way out. The man's head throbbed, making every beat of his heart pound inside his skull. He pressed a hand to his temple, where a blow had connected and cut into it, his skin coming back with bits of dried blood on it. Gale just sighed, taking his place at Jade's door once more. His body still hurt like wildfire, and he winced internally with every movement, yet he hid it well as not to show weakness. Currently, he could only see clearly out of one eye, as the other one blood had ran into it and blurred his vision. Gale squared his shoulders once more, standing to attention just like the guard. on the other side of the door. |
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Jade hesitated, her fist raised above her shoulder. She stared blankly at the wood that separated her from the person she trusted with her life. After a steadying breath and a squeeze of the book against her chest, she knocked on the door. ---Three hours earlier--- Jade had burst into the castle, her chest heaving as she frantically searched the halls. She felt oddly alone without Gale's hovering, but she pushed the thought away. She leaned against a wall, her body heavy, when she heard a faint creek. A hindge of some sort. She peeked over her shoulder at a tiny, nearly unnoticable ripple in the wallpaper. "What is that.." She ran her fingers along the warp until she discovered a lip. She tugged at it and a door to one of the secret rooms slipped open. She stepped inside and immediatly felt out of place. Pictures of her mother hung all around the dusty room, books stacked in the corner and a bed set neatly along the opposite wall. A load of dresses and other belongings of the late queen had been tossed onto the floor in a messy heap. A portriat of a man Jade had never seen before hung beside a picture of her mother when she was pregnant. Another showed the man holding her in a tight embrace. Jade's gaze slid over every surface until it snagged on a plain book labled Harlow's Diary: Do NOT Open. So, naturally, Jade took the book. "Mother..." the princess thought, her gaze returning to the face of the woman she never had the priveledge to meet. She turned back to the book, opening to the first page. Dear Vincent, I discovered today that I am bearing a child, and that child is yours. I know it's yours due to my lack of intimate relations with my new husband, King Quinton. I do not mean to scare you, but he/she is without a doubt your offspring. I will be forced to play it off as Quinton's and quickly court with him to hide the evidence. Love, Your First and Forever, Harlow P.S. If it's a boy, I'll name him Wilson Rae. If it's a girl, her name will be Jade Noelle. Either will bear the Moxx last name, not yours, though I greatly prefer Kollier over Moxx anyday. I love you. Jade didn't know when her eyes filled with tears, but liquid was sliding down her cheeks in rapid succession. She spent almost two hours reading the rest of the diary, the final page dated the day before she was born. The day her mother died. The day she became a walking lie. She wasn't her father's child. Her father was only related to her by marriage, not by blood. Why hadn't the king told her? Did he even know? Her mind swam with questions, and only one person knew the answer. ---Present--- "Come in." The steady, deep voice signaled for her to enter. "Father..." She whispered, the words bitter on her tongue. She was unable to finish, though, as his eyes landed on the book clutched against her chest. "Jade..." He began. Then he lowered his head. "Fetch your personal guard, then we will proceed with this conversation." His voice was uncharacteristicaly stern and she hurried to obey, exiting the room and running fo her room. "Gale! You're alright!" She cried as soon as she caught sight of the figure beside her door. "I really need you for something." She told him everything she knew, glancing toward the direction she had come in fear that the king may punish her for not being his rightful heir to the throne. |
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Gale had come back somewhat distant, and even Dorian, the other guard who stood watch at Jade's door, reckognized that. He wasn't sure if it was the pain or the drilling he got earlier by his commander, but he guessed it was a mix of both. Gale was staring off into nothing at the bland wall infront of him, getting lost in through when he picked up the sound of footsteps. His hand hovered over the pommel of his sword, the man's gaze sweeping over both sides of the hallway before seeing the princess and taking a few steps towards her. "Princess, I--we have been searching for you. Your absence lead us to believe the worst," He said in his usual tone, hoping she hadn't heard him slip up as he nodded at her words. "Yes Your Highness, I shall follow wherever need be." The man said, listening to her words which the story was old news to him. "Sounds like much to process," Gale mused, the most reaction slipping through him being a raise of his brows before returning back to his neutral expression. The guard followed close behind her, slipping into the room after her and blanking at the sight slightly before bowing down to the king as to not get his head cut off. "Your Majesty, Princess Jade has informed me I was summoned, do mind if I ask your reason?" The man asked, returning back to attention and staring off into nothing as he was supposed to. |
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Overcast and Calm
