Trigger Warning

Content includes sexual assualt and violence. Read at own will.

-Jade-

He had given her a name... Finally!

William... She thought to herself. It was a beautiful name. Jade thought it sounded like the name of a kind person. That didn't necessarily mean that he was kind... Nevertheless, it made him more human and not so terrifying and untouchable.

"What are you?" Jade asked curiously. William eyes narrowed in confusion. "I mean, what is your title? King? Prince?" She specified. 

"Why are you so eager to know what title I hold? Does it matter?" William asked her in return. Apart from sounding confused, he also sounded a bit annoyed. "It has nothing to do with us. Not yet at least." He muttered.

Jade thought she could hear a hint of bitterness in his voice. "So you're a prince..."She said, pleased that he gave it away himself.

"I did not say that." He objected sharply. It caused her to look at him. His frustration brought a faint smirk out of her. 

"Only someone who wants something - like his father's throne - can sound as bitter as you do." She chuckled. "I assume that my title will be given to me after we are married? Will my coronation take place after the wedding ceremony?"

"For a farmer's daughter, you seem very interested in how royals do things. Whom, might I add, hasn't acted like she wants to be a part of it. At all." He answered in a snide remark. "And I am not bitter." He added. "My parents are still alive, so neither you nor I, can be crowned queen or king until my father's demise."

"So... You're still going to marry me?" Jade asked and stared at him in disbelief. "You're going to be a prince, and I will be... What? Your low class wife? Your kingdom will have a prince that is married to a person of nothing?"

"You have established that you are of a lower class than me. It is not something you need to inform me of. I am well aware of it." He said and leaned back again.

Jade couldn't understand how this was going to work. How could he consider marrying a girl like her? Had he not considered that their would make a mockery out of him? A prince marring a farmer's daughter? Did he know how this would affect her? No one would ever accept her! She would be an outcast for the rest of her miserable life!

"But why?" She picked the question that filled her mind like a thick fog. It was probably the hardest one to answer. There was a hundred questions going through her mind but this one was the only one she wanted an answer to right now. "Why don't you just marry a princess or someone else... more fitting? A nobleman's or some lord's daughter is undoubtedly sitting with her needlework right now, waiting for you. How did you even find me?" The questions poured out of her and it just dawned on her that the driver could hear every word they said.

"My Lord, woman! Does your questions never end?" William exclaimed agitated. Clearly, exhausted by the amount of questions she had thrown his way. "I am not discussing the reason why I chose you. It is what it is, and I would greatly appreciate it if you just let it be."

"I wish you'd tell me... I hope you tell me one day..." She said, relieved that their conversation seemed to come to an end. She did not wish to talk to him anymore.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because it would be interesting to know why a prince wants me as his wife..." Jade answered. "A prince who chose a farmer's daughter..." She said, mocking him with a poetic tone to her voice.

"Don't flatter yourself..." He responded with a cold expression in his eyes. Jade couldn't stop herself from looking at him with sadness creeping up inside of her. Why did he have to be so cruel? 

Before anyone of them had the chance to say anything else, the carriage abruptly stopped. Jade looked at William and saw that he was just as puzzled as she was. She placed her hands against the walls to keep her balance as the carriage rocked back and forth until it finally stopped. 

"What was that?" She asked William.

He shook his head. A look of suspicion played in the dark eyes and he left the carriage without a word. She heard him ask the driver what was happening. She exhaled and relaxed when she  was alone.

Out of nowhere, the carriage started shaking violently. One of the horses neighed in terror which caused a chilling sensation to shoot down her spine. A hard blow shook the carriage again and it felt like one of the horses had kicked it to get loose. Something was scaring the horses.

Jade threw herself at the window but couldn't see anything else but trees and bushes nearby.

Then, the door opened powerfully and William stood in its frame. He pulled her down onto the floor with wild eyes. Jade whimpered at the rough treatment.

"What the hell are you-" William placed his right palm over her mouth and hushed her.

"Keep down. Do you hear me?" He ordered her in a whisper. She could hear how he tried to hide how something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Jade nodded. William untied his cloak, swept it above her and covered her with it. Jade could see a sword fastened to a belt on his hip. A terrified whimper left her. She had never seen a real sword before! The one her father owned was rusty and not even that sharp, but it was good for chasing of wild animals in the winters.

"What-"

"Don't make a sound." William growled while his eyes locked with hers. She nodded again and watched as he slammed the door shut.

Left in the dark carriage, Jade listened carefully but heard nothing. Not even William or the driver. Her heart started beating harder and she got the urge to run for her life. Not away from William, but from what lurked outside that had him so distressed. 

Then they came. The voices. Several voices of men. The sound of feet hitting the dirt road outside rumbled like distant thunder. Then dark voices boomed out war cries. Jade heard the sound of William's and the driver's grunts and how metal clashed against metal. 

She sat up terrified and crawled towards the far end of the carriage to move herself as far away as possible from the door. The top of her head grazed the window ledge and ducked immediately. She hoped that no one had noticed.

The attackers shouted and screamed while the sound of hoofs erupted. There are more of them? On horses? Jade thought struck by panic.

From nowhere she heard how arrows rained down upon the carriage. She barely managed to keep from screaming, trying to do what William had told her; to not make a sound. 

She failed when another hailstorm of arrows came down upon the carriage. An arrow penetrated the ceiling of the carriage. It landed where she had been sitting earlier. A frightened scream tore itself out of her. She looked up at her only protection, hoping that it  wouldn't give in if a third rain of arrows came down upon it.

"There is someone in the carriage!" A dark voice bellowed outside the carriage.

To Jade's despair, a third rain of arrows came down on the carriage. Now, several arrows penetrated the carriage's roof. One arrow grazed her left hand and a second arrow slit her right cheek slightly open. She could feel as the head of the arrow ripped through her skin, leaving her with an open wound.

In a shriek, she crawled up in William's seat and tried to hide beneath his cloak in the darkness. With a shaking hand she touched the wound on her cheek.

Shortly after the door was ripped open. A man dressed in torn clothes stood before her. His eyes were crazy and his face was drenched with blood and wet dirt. His hair was dark and had not seen a comb for what she assumed was his whole life. Jade froze. She had expected it to be William.

The man dove in after her and dragged her out of the carriage with ease. She hit her head on the ground and grunted. A bit dazed, she opened her eyes and looked up into the grey skies peaking through the treetops before she realized what was happening. Drops of rain ripped her back to reality. She was in danger! 

Screaming and kicking she tried to get loose from the man's grip as he dragged her farther from the carriage by her ankles. He stopped a couple of feet away from the carriage and let go of her ankles. Jade was lying on her back in the mud as rain poured down on her. The man towered over her. Taking in the view of her lying in the mud. Helpless and scared out of her mind. 

Terrified, Jade looked around for help. When she turned her face to her left she saw the driver; He was lying in the mud, dead.  Life had already left him. His eyes were empty and blood  seeped out from the corner of his mouth. His face was contorted in pain, telling Jade that he had died in agony.

Jade screamed in pure panic when she looked at the driver's body; his chest had been impaled with a wooden spear. His blood drenched hands gripped it tightly even in death. Jade had no more time to think or look around more. She needed to get out of there. 

The man over her started laughing and started to closely examined his prey. "You look as untouched as a girl can be..." He chuckled and nodded in anticipation of what was to come. A wide grin was on his lips. Jade lost her breath when she realized what was going to happen.

Untouched...? Oh no. He is going to rape me.

The dirty man went down on one knee. His eyes scorched her as they undressed her.

"William!" Jade screamed in sheer panic and turned to her stomach to crawl away. A firm and painful grip around her ankles pulled her closer to the man and he forcefully turned her onto her back again. "WILLIAM!" She cried out and felt tears rush down her face.

As soon as the man grabbed her wrists, she knew it was over. Resistance was futile. He was too strong. With violent and rough movements he forced her wrists above her head and lowered his torso closer to hers. She whimpered. The bloody hands let go of Jade's wrists when he felt her stop trying to get loose. But as his hands reached the hem of her skirt and lifted it, she screamed for William again.

"JADE!" He called out from afar. She could hear in his voice that he couldn't see her. She turned her head to each side to realize that she couldn't see him either. "JADE?!"

Oh my God, he doesn't know where I am!  She thought and stared at the man above her with pleading eyes. This is really happening!  I am going to be raped!

"He must be fond of you, judging by way he screams your name. Jade. He almost sounds like he is panicking." The man purred darkly. The dark and vile tone in his voice made her scream for help. He ignored her cries, unbothered by them, and put his hands on her. They started at her knees and wandered up towards her thighs.

"William! She screamed as loud as she could. "William, help me!"

For God's sake help me!

"There, there... The boy is not coming for you. He has his hands full..." Her attacker laughed with a raw voice. His hands worked fast and swiftly. Once again he roughly pulled her closer to him.

"No! No, please!" She whispered and tried to move his hands away over and over again. It was meaningless. She was no match for his strength. The wet mud seeped in through the fabric of her cloak and drenched her clothes. She could feel them stick against her skin in seconds.

Once more she begged for mercy. The man stopped.

The bloody hands were placed on her thighs, but she was thankful they had stopped. She lifted her gaze to look at him and saw him stare into the air above her. He hadn't stopped because he wanted to. Someone was forcing him. Against his throat a sword threatened to slit it open. 

Jade looked up and saw William standing behind the man. His eyes were wild with wrath and chaos. His face was stained with blood and dirt, just like her attacker's, just not as much. It didn't look like he had bathed in it. 

Jade felt her whole body relax in an instant, grateful and relived that he had gotten to her in time.

"Rise." William growled to the man. Jade exhaled heavily and watched as the man reluctantly got on his feet. He straightened himself to his full length. They were almost the same height but the man was a little taller.

William forced him away from Jade and then down onto his knees again. There were no words exchanged. And most importantly: no warning. William made a deep cut across his throat and took a steps aside. Dark red blood went everywhere and the man fell forward.

Jade grimaced in disgust as his body started shaking as he slowly died.

William hurried over to her. "Come. There are more of them around." He said darkly and out of breath. He reached out a hand to her. She took it but couldn't pull herself up. He gave her a tormented look and got down on one knee close to her. "Are you hurt?" He asked as he noticed her bloody hand. "Your face!" He gasped and gently grabbed her cheek.

"Yes..." She sniffled when the pain made itself known.

A very dark expression appeared in his face and she almost winced away from him because of it. But she didn't want to leave his side right now. He was the only protection she had. William placed her right arm around his neck and picked her up. She couldn't help herself when she leaned against him. It confused her immensely that she felt safe with him but in a way it wasn't strange at all, considering he had just saved her life.

William stepped into the carriage, still carrying Jade and put her down on his seat. He ripped off a piece of her skirt and bandaged her hand with it. Suddenly, a throbbing pain erupted in the wound on her hand and the cut on her cheek.

"Your face..." He mumbled concerned while grabbing her chin gently once again. He turned her face so he could see the cut better. "It needs to be tended to. Preferably as soon as possible."He mumbled. 

Jade pressed her hand against the cut, his scrutinizing gaze made her feel more vulnerable than she was.

"Lay down, in case they come back." He said quietly and covered her in his cloak again. "We must stay the night at the nearest inn..." He explained and studied the last rays of daylight behind the grey clouds. "We need to find one soon..."

"Are we not close to your castle yet?" Jade whimpered when she remembered that the driver had been talking about reaching it before sundown. If they were lucky that was, which they hadn't been. 

"No. It took us much longer than expected to get back, and now this." He answered and Jade noticed that he sounded concerned. Was he worried about something else than the fact that they had just survived an ambush? What could that be? 

He is worried over another attack. 

 "We have to spend the night somewhere safe so we won't be attacked or murdered in our sleep." He added with a dark voice. Jade flinched, thinking that he had read her mind. 

"But what about him?" Jade asked when she caught a glimpse of the driver's body from where she was sitting. William looked over his shoulder and grief appeared in his face. It disappeared just as quickly and the hard mask was back again.

"His family will receive the payment he was due, and I will send men after the body when we arrive at the castle. I cannot do anything else right now." William answered her and shut the door behind him on his way out.

Jade heard how William got up up in the driver's seat, whistled at the horses and whipped the reins.

. . .

An hour later, Jade was still shook from the ambush. Slowly, it dawned on her what had happened back there. He saved my life... She thought and remembered how William had killed her attacker. There had been no hesitation before killing him. Jade shuddered at the thought of it all. 

A cold sensation spread through her body as she recalled the dirty greedy hands on her body and the vile words the man had uttered. They way he had said her name was etched into her mind. So was the words about William not being able to save her from him. But he had. William had saved her...

When the carriage finally stopped, Jade was freezing and her wounds throbbed painfully. The door opened. William waited for her outside; soaking wet from the rain and stiff with coldness. Jade could only imagine how cold he was if she felt like she was cold. But he didn't move, he didn't even shudder.

"Come on." He said with a lowered voice. He kept a vigilant eye at something she couldn't see while he waited for her. The rain poured down his hard face but it didn't seem to bother him.

"Jade." He said her name, reminding her that he was waiting. Jade felt like she was frozen in her seat. He reached out his hand to her. It called on her, urging her to come with him. She almost felt compelled to take it. But she didn't move. She didn't have the strength to get up, or even walk for that matter. She was completely exhausted.

A concerned look appeared in his face when he understood that she wasn't going to move. Jade was curled up in the corner of the carriage as far away from the door she could possible get with her arms wrapped around her legs. Unlike William, she was shivering fiercely from the her cold wet clothes. 

He got in, slowly and careful, and lifted her from the seat.

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Updated: 3rd of September 2020

I hope you liked this chapter!

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Love Jenny