Daughter of Night

Thomas

Thomas's POV

It felt good to have her in my arms. I felt like I had been waiting to hold her for so long. In actuality it hadn't been that long. Only about a month. But it felt like forever.

I woke up early. Or at least it seemed like it was early. Couldn't really tell what time it was considering there were no windows. But there were slight cracks in the door where blue light was seeping through, so I was guessing it was around seven. Mary was sprawled next to me, taking up more then half the bed.

She was so cute.

I stood up and quietly climbed down the ladder and headed towards the kitchen to make breakfast. After a few minutes I heard a soft pat on the ground behind me. Mary walked towards me and kissed my cheek, her lips soft and warm against my skin.

"Good morning." She muttered. I could still hear the sleep in her voice. I smiled and put my arms around her.

"Good morning, Mary." I kissed her on the forehead and released my grip.

"I'm going to get dressed. Be right back." She gave me one last smile before she walked behind the curtain of the washroom.

Don't think about her changing don't think about her changing don't think about her changing

A few minutes later she emerged wearing her usual outfit except now her hair was pulled back into a braid. Lovely as always.

There was a sudden sound at the door. Mary and I looked at each other, startled. We froze waiting for the sound to come again. The sound came, except this time a battering ram broke through the door, shattering it. Thirteen men stormed in, and David, my good friend and captain if the guards, ran in after them.

"There she is! Grab h..." His voice trailed off as he locked eyes with Mary. She inhaled sharply.

"Daniel?" Mary whispered. But before I could reach out for her, before I could react, three men surrounded her and dragged her outside.

"NO!" I started to run to her, but David held me back.

She barely fought them, which was unusual. But she would not take her eyes off David. And he seemed pretty stunned too. Once Mary started to become difficult, one of the guards hit her over the head with the hilt of his sword.

"MARY!" I screamed and tried to get around David, but he was too strong. Something inside me broke and I couldn't breathe. As soon as I stopped fighting, and it was definite that Mary was locked in the David took a few steps back. He turned, mouth open, and tried to protest, but nothing would come out of his mouth. He quickly glanced at me, then turned and walked out without a word.

I ran after him.

"What the hell, David?" I yelled as I caught up with him.

"What the hell were you thinking, Thomas?! Staying with her? I was worried sick. Do you know how long I've been searching? A month, Thomas. A month!" There was jealousy behind the anger in his voice but I chose to ignore it...for now.

"Forget that, what was that whole exchange back there? You know her? And why did she call you Daniel?" He cringed when I said the name "Daniel". He tightly shut his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at me again.

"It's complicated to explain. Please just trust that I'll tell you about it as soon as we get you home."

"What about Mary? What will you do to her?"

"What will I do? Nothing. However, the guards will put her in a cell and I don't know what they do to prisoners." There was a hint of guilt in his voice that he was trying to shroud. But I knew him. And something was up. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to my face.

"You are to make sure they don't lay a harmful finger on her, do you understand?" The deep growl in my voice would have made anyone run for the hills. Anyone except David. He nodded calmly and I let go of his collar. "Lets get this trip over with." I walked towards the cage Mary was in. Two guards blocked my path.

"Um your highness you're not allowed to go near-" I cut him off with a raise of my fist, threatening to knock him out. His eyes widened and he slowly stepped down. The other guard needed no warning, and he stepped down as well. I glanced at Mary inside, limp and barely breathing.

"Let me inside." I said quietly, not able to take my eyes off her.

"But your highness-"

"NOW." I demanded. Hands shaking, the guard I almost punched unlocked the door. The metal creaked as I pulled the door open and let it close behind me. I slowly approached Mary, sat down next to her, gently picked up her head and put it on my lap. I cupped my hands around either side of her face and leaned down so my nose touched hers. A single tear rolled down my nose and onto her cheek. "My love..." I whispered while stroking her cheek with the back of my index finger. "I'm so sorry.." My vision blurred as a stream of hot tears flooded my eyes. I could feel David's eyes on me as well as the sadness radiating from him. But I couldn't look at him. Not while I was like this. I only wanted to look at Mary. I heard David give the orders to start towards the castle, and the wagon jolted. I kept Mary close to me and wept into her face the whole ride there.

The wagon slowed to a stop. Mary stirred in my arms.

"Wha...?" She looked into my eyes, deeply confused. "Why are you in here with me? Your father would hate this." Her voice was barely a whisper. I looked at her and took the side of her face in my hand.

"It doesn't matter. If it meant being with you I'd endure a thousand of my fathers tongue lashings." She smiled weakly at me and I stroked her chin with the pad of my thumb. " Its all going to be alright. I'm not going to let them harm you." A tear streaked down her face and the cage door opened. A guard stood at attention and David poked his head in. His eyes flickered to me, to Mary, then back at me.

"It's time..." He said. I swallowed hard. Mary rolled off of me, landed on her stomach and pushed herself to her feet. The blood still dripped on her forehead, but she still managed to stand strong and dignified. She steadily walked to the entrance/exit of the cage and paused, holding her hand out to the guard as if waiting for him to assist her out. Even when getting arrested she still acted as if she was of royal blood. I always admired her confidence. The guard hesitantly took her hand and helped her out. I could do nothing but watch as another guard came to escort Mary to her jail cell.