There was so much that he wanted to say, to reassure her that he would not fail that he would never fail her, but even he knew that was the far-off dream of a man who wanted to give his love the stars and yet only had rocks within his grasp. Instead, he nodded and placed a simple sweet kiss upon her lips.<br/><br/>“I promise to you, as an oath on my mother’s grave that if it came down to it, I would stop my plan and I would take our child away to safety,” the smile he gave then was gentle and meant to reassure as he placed her hand over his heart. “Now, let’s try to think of happier things, yes? Like names for our child, as every child needs a good and strong name,” tone happy and nearly carefree as he spoke. “For a girl, what about the name, Nadzia? It was my father’s mother’s name, it means hope. I mean regardless this child would be our hope, right? Our future?”<br/><br/><br/>Silently hidden behind one of the paintings on the wall a pair of eyes watched the couple snuggle and talk softly about the future. Before their presence could be discovered the eyes retreated with silent steps down the secret passage and hurried off to report to his Mistress. The door to her chambers was heavy, though the need for secrecy on many fronts meant that it was kept well-oiled so that not a sound was made as it was pushed open. There by the window she stood in all her beautiful glory, dark ebony locks left to flow down her back, slightly damp from a fresh bath. The silk gown she wore was sheer and barely covered anything at all, though she hardly seemed to notice while she gazed out over the kingdom that should have rightfully been her’s to claim.<br/><br/>“My Mistress,” he sniffling rat of a man said as he knelt before her, the raggedy cap he wore atop his head quickly snatched to be clutched between his equally disheveled hands.<br/><br/>“What news do you bring me?” she asked with a look back in his direction, in fact there was no physical indication that she had even noticed he entered save for when she spoke to him.<br/><br/>“It’s as you thought. The ranger and the princess are lovers and he claims the child is his and not that of your brother,” he spoke with a slight impediment, likely due to the overbite he suffered from the rather prominent teeth he sported. One would have easily referred to him as being bucked of tooth.<br/><br/>“You heard this? You heard them both say this?” she asked with an unknown emotion, though one could guess that this news excited her.<br/><br/>“Yes, my Mistress. The ranger even made her promise to eat more for<span style="font-style: italic">their</span>child,” the fact that she was excited by his report, which he hoped meant he had pleased her, excited him as well. “What shall we do now, Mistress?”<br/><br/>Silence again engulfed the pair as Abigale gazed out at the Kingdom, her mind filled with the various things she could do with this bit of information. But, everything had a time and a place, she would have to move carefully if she were to have the outcome that she most wanted. Which was her rightful place as the heir to the throne, all she had to do was disgrace a few and remove one ass chasing brother. Not an easy task, but she was certain she could pull it off.<br/><br/>“Nothing, yet. For now, you will return to your home until I summon you again. For now I just want to watch and see where this goes and then when I need you again you will hear from me,” now for the first time she turned to face him with her hand extended that he was quick and eager to snatch up. His grubby, dirt-smudged face nuzzled against it like a dog would the hand of its Master. “Now, go.” Her hand was snatched away from him and the rat of a man replaced his cap before he scurried off to do as she bid. To hide and wait till she summoned him again, he would be good and she would reward him.<br/><br/><br/><div><hr style="height:2px; width:100%; border:0; color: black;background:black;"/></div><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Eight Days Later...</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Shink …SHINK…SHINK…SHINK</span><br/><br/>The whet stone dragged along the edge of his hunting knife in rhythmic precision; the cold blue eyes of the ranger barely saw what he did. Years of practice and application has made this activity second nature to him, such was his confidence that he was certain he could do this in his sleep if need be. This was a bit of an exaggeration, but he felt confident in his focus to have done this over and over without issue or concern.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">SHINK …SHINK…SHINK…SHINK</span><br/><br/>Over and over, the stone honed the edge of his hunting knife, his favorite hunting knife. The weapon had saved his life more than once; more times than he could actually count and he made it a point to treat it with care. It was cleaned and tended to daily, even if he did not use it, he cleaned it and tended to its edge. It had been the one thing to survive the whole river debacle and had been useful when it came to their future survival. He had even held it with the thought to slit Maria’s throat at that time too.   A feeling he knew, she at the time could have easily reciprocated.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Shink …SHINK…SHINK…SHINK</span><br/><br/>The stone was taken away for a moment as he held the blade up to the light of the new day. It gleamed in the light like some jewel and was just as valuable in more ways than one. It was a gift, something he inherited from his father and a treasure that he could not dream of being without. At the thought of his father a smile played across his lips as he remembered the man with a strong fondness and love, which was about all that he could recall.<br/><br/>After all of these years, much of it buried in the bottom of some bottle, he found that he could not recall much else about the man or even his mother for that matter. Even now, as he sat there with the knife in hand he tried to recall the face, tried to recall even the voice of the man who had taught him so much.<br/><br/>Nothing.<br/><br/>Shadows now, nothing more than shadows faces in a time he had often wished he could just drown out completely. Finally, after so long, it would seem that he would get his wish. At least now his mother’s tormented face would no longer haunt his dreams. That had finally stopped and was a bitter sweet victory in the scheme of things. The only thing it would serve now was to ensure that unlike himself, his child would know the love of both of their parents. It might nearly kill him to do it, for various reasons, but he would refused to allow his child grow and not know about him.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Shink …SHINK…SHINK…SHINK</span><br/><br/>“Not if I could help it,” he said to himself, the blade held up once more as he tested the edge of the blade with his thumb. “Now, if I can just not…kill the little bastard on this trip and everything will be just fine…” the sigh that left his lips was a heavy one, weighted down with the burden he bore on his shoulders. The life of the woman he love was in the hands of people that truly did not care for her, the love that they shared was forbidden and now she carried a child that<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>supposed to be the Prince’s but he knew in his heart that was not the case.<br/><br/>He hoped it was not the case…<br/>Even if the child turned out to be another man’s that would not stop him from loving her or the child. It would be from her and that was all that mattered in the long run.<br/><br/>As the thoughts ran through his mind he shoved the knife roughly into the sheath at his waist and stood with such haste he nearly knocked the chair he had been sat upon back to tumble to the floor. Instead, the hardy piece of furniture rocked and clanked from side to side, teetering on the verge from but never quite falling. Quick heavy steps carried him through his home as he finished the last of the packing for this hunting trip with the Prince and a few of his royal guard. The normally calm and collected demeanor he was known for lost in a fray of hasty packing, shoving items into his pack until he just could not bear it anymore and he instead lost control.<br/><br/>Violence spilled forth, walls were punched, furniture thrown and what could be picked up and thrown was as he just let loose the bottle up frustration that he would have to keep in tight check while he played nice with a man he would sooner gut than take anywhere. When he at last he burned himself out he just stood there, calm now in the aftermath of his chaos.<br/><br/>For Maria he would do this, for their child he would do this, even if he would rather gut the bastard he would play nice….for now. It was all that they had left to do.<br/><br/><div><hr style="height:2px; width:100%; border:0; color: blue;background:blue;"/></div><br/><br/>“Alright,” he said and checked the saddle a final time. “We have everything packed so we should be good to go on that trip,” he said to those who had gathered to see them off.<br/><br/>The whole of the royal family had gathered to see their Prince off on this manly adventure, even if they doubted he could last more than a night at most. The twins were bummed as they wanted to go with Brad, not so much their brother, but the ranger had become like a hero to them and they would have loved the chance to see him in his “element”.<br/><br/>There was the promise that he would take them on their own hunting trip next time, which only seemed to cheer them up for the moment, but it was better than nothing in this instance. As the others bid the Prince goodbye, Brad chanced a look at Maria. His eyes caught her own and he smiled kindly to her, it was all he could do in front of them even if he wanted to hug her and kiss her. Whisper how he would miss her and would dream of her every night. Instead, he merely focused back on the checking the straps to the saddle, just to give himself something to do, while Ivor went over to bid her farewell.<br/><br/><br/>“My princess,” Ivor said with a bow to her, then for the sake of those about him, he hugged her close and kissed her sweetly. “I will be sure to bring back a feast for you and our child,” the smile on his lips was timed at the same time that he rested his hand on her stomach. “Wish me luck?”<br/><br/><br/>“No worries my brother,” Abby said as she stepped up to place a hand on Maria’s shoulder. “She will be in good hands while you are gone. I will see to it myself.”