Hey there!

I am very sorry but this chapter is also a long one. I just can't keep it to 3000 words... It must be a weakness of mine or something. Believe me I tried! But! I think (and hope) you will like this one!

Like. A Lot.

Love Jenny!

-Cara-

Orla and Flynn had brought her to a place that looked like it had been taken straight out of every medieval movie she had ever seen.

The building appeared to be almost solely built out of sturdy wood. The roof looked like it was covered in hay and the windows were small and the glass wasn't very easy to see through.

"Mi'lady." Flynn said charmingly, opening the door for her and bowed theatrically before Cara. She laughed. It felt nice.

They entered and Cara studied the interior as Orla and Flynn led her inside. She felt like she had stepped into a cosy pub somewhere in England or Scotland. A murmur of people's cheerful voices and laughter filled the room, making her feel a bit more comfortable than she usually was nowadays.

All of the furniture were made out of wood as well. Lit candles stood here and there, giving the place a very relaxed and sort of soothing atmosphere. Although, some of the guests were not so relaxed as they downed large jugs filled with what Cara could only guess was some sort of alcoholic content. The smell that hung in the air reminded her of spilled beer and warm stew. There was an open fire in the far left side of the room which spread the pleasant sound of crackling burning pieces of wood.

Flynn pulled out a stool for Cara and gently ushered her to sit. Afterwards, he and Orla sat down on each side of her. Shortly after, a large man appeared in front of them and she guessed that he was going to take order. The siblings muttered something to the man and he disappeared again.

She couldn't help but to wonder what they served here. As far as she could see there was no menu in sight, not even a small kitchen, or something else that she thought a pub would have. Well, that wasn't true. Behind the man, large barrels were stacked on top of each other. They had been laid down in a row of four and then three were stacked on top of those and so on.

"Do you think she wants anything?" Flynn mumbled to Orla.

"I don't know..." She answered. "Ask Keegan, he's sitting behind us with Jared." Orla nodded to the right and backwards.

Cara was just about to turn and watch what Orla had been nodding at when two large cups, filled to the brim with some sort of liquid, were put in front of them. It spilled from both of the cups and onto the counter. The beverage pooled a little around the cups but no one seemed to mind it.

Isn't it a little rude to not order something for me? Cara thought and frowned a little. She wasn't even sure she wanted one, it just felt like good manners to at least offer. However, she had no money, so she couldn't exactly buy whatever they were drinking for herself.

"Firstly; why would I ask him if she wants anything?" Flynn muttered. He grabbed the cup in front of him, rolled his eyes and then drank a mouthful before he continued. "Secondly; I'd rather not ask him anything. He's been so God damned moody lately."

Orla gave her brother a very amused but look that indicated that she knew exactly what he was talking about. Cara, on the other hand, was left in the dark as usual.

"I know... He fought with Jared recently."

"What?" Flynn gasped. "They haven't been in a fight for ages... When did this happen?" He sounded pensive.

"The same day she disappeared." Orla mumbled her reply with her eyes on the counter.

"What did they fight about?" Flynn asked, Orla shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Did you see the fight?"

"I saw Jared's broken nose... and our hot headed brother had gotten punched, or kicked, in the sack because he walked funny."

The twins laughed in unison and Cara smiled at the sound of their almost identical laughter. Then it hit her; they were teenagers. Drinking teenagers.

They are not old enough to be drinking. She confirmed when she discretely studied Orla. She still had some youthful traits in her face and her body wasn't that of a fully grown woman. She looks quite young to be honest... how old can she be? Fifteen? Sixteen tops. And they let them drink? I have to figure out what the hell this place is. She thought and threw a quick glance at Flynn as well. He definitely looked like a fifteen year old boy.

She wondered what type of establishment served under aged.

On the other hand... Is it weirder than the fact that there is no electricity or freaking running water? Cara disappeared into her mind for a moment but was dragged back to whatever chaotic reality she was currently living in. A very loud laughter had ripped her away from her thoughts, which was probably for the best. They only caused her severe anxiety and she had had enough of that feeling for at least a year. To avoid ending up in the same thoughts again she continued studying her surroundings.

The bar was shaped into a square, its counters met in each corner but there were enough space between them so the staff could easily move in and out. The mountain of barrels were placed exactly in the center of the square and acted like a dividing wall between the other side of the bar.

A large chandelier hung above the bar with burning candles. It provided just enough light for the staff and drunken guests beneath it to see what they were doing. However, it wasn't a very effective source of light, but no one seemed to care. The rest of the room was even more poorly lit and she wondered if it didn't bother anyone or if the management just couldn't afford more candles.

What's a place like this called? An inn? No... A tavern! They brought me to a freaking tavern... Where's Gandalf when you need him? Cara snorted in a quiet laughter. Surprised that she actually remembered something from her past made her smile, at the same time she crashed into a storm of anxiety and concern about her feelings. A storm she had tried to avoid...

Flynn turned to look at her when he had heard her laugh. A kind smile shone at her and it was so warm that she couldn't help but to reciprocate.

"What's so funny?" He asked her something and she grimaced, embarrassed the he had heard the awful noise that had just escaped her.

She smiled insecure, shrugged her shoulders, and then looked at the strange cup in his hand. Not a second went by until he noticed and pushed it in front of her. She looked down. The content looked strangely like beer, but not quite.

"Try it. It's ale." Flynn chucked and pointed at the drink.

Cara gave the cup a swirl and then looked at him again. He nodded at her, indicating that it was alright.

"Ale?" She repeated his word and the adorable teenage boy lit up and nodded eagerly.

"Yes! Very good!" He laughed and clapped his hands twice at her. "Ale." He confirmed.

"Do not treat her like a child. She's not stupid." Orla hissed at her twin.

"I am not treating her... Stay out of it, Orla." Flynn sighed and looked beaten down.

Cara felt bad for him. It seemed like the family mostly picked at Flynn, and even it most of the jabs and comments seemed to be for laughs, it was noticeable that he didn't always find it funny.

Maybe if I let him teach me some words he might feel a little better... She thought and admitted to herself that she wanted to see him smile again. They exclude or ridicule him quite a lot...

"Flynn?" She asked quietly. Both Orla and Flynn looked at her with curiosity written all over their faces. "What is this?" She asked in English, but pointed at the cup he had handed her.

He understood her immediately and a bright smile spread across his lips.

"Tankard." He answered slowly so she would be able to mimic his voice and how he pronounced the word.

"Tank... Tankar..." Cara tried the word but it was hard. She shyly averted her gaze momentarily and then look at Flynn again. He just looked at her, patiently, while she prepared to try again.

"Orla!"

The sound of Keegan's friend erupted behind her and she flinched in surprise. The tankard in her hands almost tipped over but she managed to keep it upright. Flynn threw their new company a toxic stare when he saw how frightened his sudden shout had made Cara.

"Its just Jared." Flynn told her something and rolled his eyes. "He's an idiot."

Cara laughed quietly when Flynn deliberately uttered the last word slowly so she could repeat it. From the tone of his voice it was a noun to describe this Jared.

Two empty tankards were violently set down in front of Cara by Keegan's friend. The rest of their content splashed a little and some drops landed on her hands. She grimaced. He was already hammered even though they hadn't been here for more than an hour longer than her and the twins. She forced herself not to turn around and see if Keegan was just as drunk. All it would result in was him dodging her gaze as usual.

The tankards were swept away by the man behind the counter and he went to refill them.

"Go away, Jared." Orla groaned without even turning to look at him when he repeated her name, slurring it out at that.

She must be used to him and his... approaches. Cara reflected as Orla didn't even pay him the slightest of attention more than what she had just told him. Instead she drank a mouthful of her ale and pretended that he hadn't just forced himself in between her and Cara.

"You almost made your brother spit his drink out when you entered earlier." Jared said and pointed at the three of them with a very unsteady and swaying finger.

Jeez, he is truly out of it. What is in this stuff? She wondered and threw a quick glance at the content in Flynn's cup which she was still holding.

"And you almost made him lose his mind in those woods, Cara." He continued and moved a strand of her hair away from the right side of his face so he could get a better look at her in profile. "You are quite the little thing, aren't you..." He purred, it made her wince towards Flynn. He took liberties she wasn't a fan of, but his breath was even worse. It almost caused her to gag as it hit her face.

"Leave her alone, Jared." The sound of Flynn's voice indicated that he was warning Jared to stop touching her, but there was no way of knowing.

Jared's right hand went to touch her face. There was nowhere to go. She was already leaning towards Flynn and he wasn't budging.

"I will break that hand, Jared. Leave her alone." Orla growled and aggressively slapped his hand away from Cara. "Or I can just watch while my brother does it for me, but my guess is that he will do more than just break it."

"What do you mean? Flynn?" Jared laughed shortly. Orla shook her head."Keegan?" He scoffed. "He's never won a single fight against me."

"That's because you fight dirty." Flynn remarked.

"Ha ha ha." Jared forced out an ironic laughter. "Seriously though... What about Keegan? And what's with him these days?"

Orla shook her head in a sigh and continued drinking. As she out her cup down she gave Cara a kind glance before her face turned annoyed again.

She really doesn't like him...

"Keegan gets very uncomfortable and moody as soon as Cara is anywhere near him..."Orla finally said. "And just to give you a fair warning, the last one who touched her almost got their arse kicked."

Cara twitched at the sound of Keegan's and her own name in the same sentence. What was she saying?

"And that person was an elder." Flynn added to whatever his sister was saying.

"Oh? Is Keegan getting violent? Do tell." Jared sounded intrigued and pushed himself even more in between Cara and Orla. He rested his arms against the counter and nodded in the direction Keegan was. "I have noticed that he is... well, let us call it 'a little obsessed' with her."

"Go over there and ask him yourself." Orla snapped.

"Why would I when you know your brother better than he knows himself." Jared replied. Orla nodded. "Then tell me! Does he care for the little foreigner? I wouldn't blame him, she is divine. That might actually explain some things. He has been acting-"

"Jared!" Keegan all of a sudden shouted from where he sat. "How hard is it to buy another round?"

Cara instantly looked in his direction and got the same treatment as before; he instantly looked another way as soon as her eyes landed on him. Her heart sunk a bit and she decided not to bother him anymore.

He really must hate me...

-Keegan-

Cara looked so uncomfortable. There was something about Jared that made her very uneasy... and Keegan really didn't like the way he had just touched her, or how close he was standing to her. When Orla had slapped him to prevent him from touching her again he wanted to shout in relief.

Move away from her. A dark voice in him growled and he noticed how his knuckles turned white while he clenched his fist. Why did they bring her? Every other man and boy in here is eating her up with their eyes... He thought as his eyes swept across the other tables.

Young boys, barely men, and older ones studied her. Like a shining gem she captured their full attention and they stared at her... All of her. It made Keegan boil internally and he wanted to take her away from here. He wanted to shield her from their hungry looks.

The new tankards Jared had ordered finally arrived and Keegan felt like he could relax. At least Cara wouldn't have to put up with him now.

Jared reached for their drinks but slipped somehow. Maybe because he had had his fill by now and didn't need an additional tankard of ale. He was already drunk as it was.

Jared tried to save it but it only made things worse. It almost cost him the grip on the other tankard. The one closest to Cara flipped and its content went all over her. It felt like time stopped as Keegan watched her being drenched in the golden liquid. It was everywhere; her chest, arms and in her lap. Not to mention that it some of it splashed up in her face and hair.

Before he knew what was happening he had gotten up and was marching over to them. With quick, but slightly intoxicated steps, he made it over to them. He pulled Jared out from between Cara and Orla. He let go of Jared and placed himself in front of Cara, covering the sight of her drenched blouse. Preventing the rest of the tavern from seeing her in this state. Without thinking twice he draped his coat around her.

The blue eyes looked up at him and he could easily see that she felt ashamed. The arms went to cover her chest as his eyes discovered that the fabric of the ale-drenched blouse had become almost entirely sheer. He politely averted his gaze but had noticed why she was ashamed; he could see her nipples through the blouse.

"I'm sorry!" Jared laughed out loud and chuckled as he put the still full tankard to his lips. "That could have gone a lot worse!"

"You fucking moron." Keegan growled. "You spilled an entire tankard over her!" He said and pushed Jared away from them.

"It was an accident, Keegan. My God you need to relax!" He exclaimed, offended by the rough handling. "Orla was right. You are incredibly moody as soon as that girl is near you. It is almost as if you are obsessed." He said and a finger from the hand holding the tankard pointed at him.

"What did you just say?" Keegan growled.

"You. Are. Obsessed. With. Her." Jared enunciated the words best he could without slurring too much. "You have been obsessed with her ever since you found her in the woods."

"I'd shut that mouth now if I were you..." Orla warned Jared. Keegan felt her concerned eyes on him and it was like she knew that he was about to explode.

"Hey everyone!" Jared suddenly shouted. Orla grabbed after his arm but he swayed loose. Keegan felt the blood in his body turn ice cold. "There is someone you should meet!"

He wouldn't. He gasped in his mind. He won't put Cara in the center of everyone's attention like this. He can't!

"The Ember family has grown!" He shouted and took a sip from his ale.

Keegan and his siblings studied the people around them. The murmur of voices lowered in volume but Jared hadn't managed to gain everyone's attention, yet. To them Jared was just his usual drunken self. Some even rolled their eyes at him.

"Get him to shut up." Orla hissed at Keegan. "There will be trouble if he shouts out that we found her in the woods..."

Shit, she is right. If the whole tavern hears that they might suspect the same thing the old teacher does. Keegan thought. He went to grab Jared by the shoulder but he dodged him as well as he had Orla. He started waving his arms in the air so everyone would look at them.

"Our dear Keegan, was out in the woods some time ago and found himself a little treat!"

Keegan's mind went blank. He couldn't let Jared expose Cara like this. What if someone drove her out of Tranmere, or worse; persecuted her for being a witch? It hadn't happened in their village but there were rumors from other cities and villages that if there was even the slightest sign of a witch living among the people, she was quickly taken care of. With or without proof.

"He found her!" Jared announced and pointed towards Cara who were hiding between Orla and Flynn, and behind Keegan.

Stop him. The dark voice in Keegan's mind growled.

In the next second Jared was on the floor and Cara let out a short scream. Keegan's knuckles throbbed. He watched his best friend being helped off the floor by two men. His nose bled and he coughed from the blood he had swallowed.

"Keegan... What did you do?" Orla whispered. He turned to look at his little sister; she was a little pale and her eyes widened. "I think you and Cara should leave now. Before Smith throws you out."

What happened? Keegan thought. It took him two seconds to realize that his throbbing knuckles and Jared's bloody face had something to do with each other. How dumb are you, Keegan...?

"You fucking... Arh, my nose!" Jared roared and held his hands against his face. "Stop hitting me in the face you fucking arsehole!" He screamed. "It hasn't even healed properly yet from the last time you punched me!"

Keegan inhaled deeply and saw no other way out of this than to leave.

"Cara." Keegan growled and turned to her. "We're leaving." He said loud enough for Smith, standing behind the counter with a very angry look in his face, to hear. Keegan escorted her away from the counter.

He felt every pair of eyes on them as they walked towards the door.

. . .

"You've done it now, Keegan." He whispered to himself when he walked out into the night with Cara. As the chill night air surrounded them Cara shuddered.

She must be freezing in those wet clothes. He thought, overwhelmed with guilt and anger from what Jared had done.

"I would offer you something of mine to wear if I hadn't already given you my coat." He sighed darkly. She kept their eye contact short and then looked in another direction. Just like he forced himself to do whenever she looked at him. He still wondered if Orla was right. Did she look at him like he looked at her?

Cara stood in front of him with her arms crossed, her fingers pinched at his coat so it would cover her soaked blouse. Even now, drenched in ale, she was so beautiful.

"Let's go home." He sighed.

. . .

When they arrived at the house Cara didn't follow him to the door. She walked around the corner of the house. Keegan followed her anxiously, scared that his mother would think he was stalking her.

As he caught up with her she was on her way down to the stream close to the house. He stopped for a moment and watched as she got down on her knees and washed the ale of her face, arms and hands. His heart couldn't take the guilt he was experiencing. He shouldn't have sent Jared up to buy the next round just because he didn't want to be close to Cara. Especially when it was the sole thing he truly wanted.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" She suddenly asked and pulled him out of his mind.

"I still don't understand a word of what you are saying." He answered her and joined her by the stream. She rose to her feet again and they just stood there. In absolute silence. The only thing audible around them was singing crickets and the sound of the stream.

Keegan felt so drawn to her that he didn't know what to do with himself. Maybe it was the ale? He had only had two tankards... or was it just her? Did she do this to him all on her own? He pressed his lips together and exhaled slowly.

"I am sorry about this." He sighed and waved at her blouse. She smiled shyly. It felt like she understood what he was saying for once.

"It's okay, Keegan." She said in her own language, but when she said his name he completely lost it.

He gave in to what he had wanted ever since he had carried her home that rainy day; he demolished the space between them and gently grabbed her face with his hands. The small hands dropped to his waist and stayed there as he breathed her in. She smelled so good despite the ale. Everything did; her hair, her skin, even her breath. He wanted all of her.

To Keegan's surprise she leaned towards him. Her hands climbed up his chest and stayed there. He angled her face upwards so he could see it better in the moonlight.

"What are you doing to me?" He whispered and lowered his face closer to hers. She swallowed nervously and watched his every move. He heard her inhale and how she trembled as she did.

Is she scared? He wondered and brushed her cheek with his right thumb.

"You don't have to be scared, Cara." He promised and looked deeply into her eyes. "I would never hurt you."

Cara was quiet. Her eyes just searched his, trying so hard to understand what he was saying. Keegan found himself wondering how it would be to actually have a conversation with her. What hid behind those blue eyes and the shy, insecure, smile that almost always rested on her lips.

He lowered his lips closer to hers but stopped when they brushed against each other. Cara held her breath.

Slowly, he inhaled in hope that it would clear his mind. That it would give him time to realize what a bad idea this truly was. He tried to remind himself how much his mother would slap him if she ever found out about this. Sadly, it did not. Cara was still the only thing he could think of. How she was standing here in his arms, barely decent and so beautiful it was mouthwatering.

Keegan couldn't control himself any longer. He crushed his lips against hers, so eager to taste her for the first time. A sensation, even more intoxicating than the ale he had had earlier, rushed through his veins as their lips collided. She instantly met him in the kiss and her small hands traveled up to his clavicles.

Fuck... She feels so good. She tastes even better. He thought and groaned when he felt her soft ample lips press against his own. A feeling of great relief surged through him when she welcomed him like this. The feeling of her lips against his made him lightheaded. But he craved more. So much more.

The relief was quickly replaced by an infernal hunger to taste more of her. Blood rushed to his crotch, he couldn't stop it. He wasn't even sure he wanted to. This very thing, Cara so close and kissing him, was the thing he had wanted so intensely but denied himself, and now he knew that he had sealed his fate.

Now he knew that what he had tried so hard to forget, and ignore, had been hard for a reason. He needed her.

The kiss ended slowly and their lips stayed in reach of each other.

"Keegan..." She whispered airily and he lost his breath.

No... Don't say my name like that... He whimpered mentally.

"Yes...?" He asked, out of breath and lowered his hands to her waist. Their foreheads were gently pressed together as he waited for her to speak. Cara licked her lips in hesitation. It looked like she was thinking of something to say. But she never did.

Instead she kissed him deeply and quietly moaned against his lips. His hands dug into her skin and pulled her close. All the while her lips drove him insane in an euphoric way.

If this was what it felt like to go mad, he would gladly abandon all reason just to taste her over and over again.

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I hope you liked this chapter!

Much love

Jenny