The Princesses Keeper (Silverknight & Sophie Jones)

[Sophie Jones]

Thunder and lighting clashed ferociously outside the castles walls. Wind threw itself against the strong stone structure, making the glass of Persephone's bedroom window vibrate and shake with resistance. Mother nature was is great turmoil that night and so was Persephone's emotions, though she had nothing to do with the weather occurrences. So many thoughts were rushing through her mind as she sat at her wooden vanity, decorated with an abundance of assorted jewels she was supposed to be picking out to take with her on her journey. Her bedroom maids were packing trunks of her fine dresses and shoes. Every now and then one would ask if she would prefer this gown or that corset or those sets of shoes but Persephone would just give a sigh and shrug, leaving it up to their judgement. It was clear she was not in the best of moods by the wait her head hung low and never cast itself up from the jewels before her.

She was being sent off by her family and kingdom. To marry the prince of Griten Samael; the heir to the throne of their rival kingdom. They've only had one official encounter at court and Persephone could already tell this marriage was doomed from the beginning. He was crude, ignorant and treated her as if she was only a mere object. And that was only from one day of being in his presence. There were many rumors circling about him through the loose mouths of the servants but one was quite apparent and routinely spoken of. He didn't treat his women well. His sickening smiles and they way her leered at her. It made Persephone's stomach lurch. She did not want to marry this man. Not at all. Even if it were for the sake of peace between their kingdoms.

"Edna?" Sophie called out as her blue eyes starred down at the wear and tear on the vanity's surface. She tried to hide the shakiness in her voice as hurried footsteps approached and a heavy set servant was before her. "Yes... your... highness?" The servant asked slightly out of breath and more or less wet from the rain, possibly from having to run back and forth from the carriage awaiting outside and to her room to ready her luggage. "I need you to retrieve my knight. He's bound not to be too far. Tell him to hurry." Persephone said running a hand through her midnight dark hair. "Yes your highness." Edna replied. Hearing the rustling of the fabric the woman gave a bow and scurried out of the large room, leaving Persephone and two other maids in the room.

 

[Silverknight]

The short curly red hair of a man with a somewhat aged face looked out a large window onto the village below the great castle. The man's eyes scanned each inch of the castle as he stood with his arms crossed in front of himself, his jade green eyes watching the town like a hawk looking for a small mouse. The man standing still was a strong man, who had head taller than the average for men in the kingdom and was while lean as strong as any man in the whole of the kingdom as well. The man stood thinking, his mind going over the moment that was at hand but also the future thinking about the problems to be and the challenge of his job at hand.


Adan was once a man without a home, a traveler and mercenary who worked for who would pay him the most. The redhead having started to battle for others when he was around sixteen years old, having killed his first man at that age. Adan gained reowned as a warrior over the next four years, before he had no choice, but to accept his new job as the guardian of the princess of the kingdom of Shador. He now had that job for what was a decade, and the princess was a woman to be married off to a rival kingdom's prince. A fact that annoyed him as he felt, no knew that the prince was not worthy of her and not worthy of ruling anything ever.


He heard the sound of the man come before himself and then nodded his head as he followed the man down the hall back to where the princess would be. The knight dressed and prepared for battle as he ever was. He knew that if she didn't do this, that there would be serious problems as it would cause perhaps war. He walked back and stood before the princess. He soon found himself in front of the raven-haired princess as the man who came to get him took his leave as he gave her a sad little smile.


"Now, my lady, this seems to be our last day together, after this day, you will not need me anymore and I will be without a job," he said with a smile as he looked right at her. "I have to tell you, that this has been the greatest job I have ever had, to see you turn from brat to true princess. I am sure you will be a great queen and will give your new home a great sense of strength," he said as he smiled. "Now, I think it is time that I take you to the carriage so that I can transport you to your future husband," he said as he gave her a warm smile. "I know it will be a challenge, but I know you can do anything you put your mind to, your special and capable like that, dear princess," he said to her softly.

 

[Sophie Jones]

Persephone's light fingers fiddled with the blue stone hanging between her collarbones anxiously. She found that even this old habit could not relax her thoughts. She was scared. Terrified even. She knew this marriage would potentially stop the fighting between the two kingdoms but she didn't understand why this was the only way. They could have easily written up some kind of treaty on a piece of paper or held some kind of conference with one another. Why did her parents have to sell her off instead? Persephone had thought about this many nights since the announcement of her engagement and she came to the conclusion that it was because the did not want her. Since she could remember Persephone has always had this strange ability. It started off small and unnoticeable, just a few things falling around her here and there. But as she grew older the power became stronger. Windows shattered at her tantrums and flowers grew at her joy. It was out of control, especially when she was at an age where her emotions were out of hand. Instead of trying to help their daughter understand these strange happenings linked to her they had her locked away in her room until they could find someone to help contain it in secret. All the servants were told that she came down with a fever cor that month. After some secret searching they had hired a witch who had made a charm for Persephone. It would contain most of her powers for a time but she warned that the charm had to be returned every few years for the magic surrounding it to be renewed. It was solving a curse with another curse. Despite the stone controlling most of her power her parents still took extra precautions and hired a personal knight for her. Adan. She found herself very fond of the man, as she grew up with him for her entire childhood, and could always tell him how she was feeling. This was one of the reasons she requested his presence. Also by the fact that she knew he world be transporting her to her new home. Well, prison.

When Adan had finally made his entrance Persephone dismissed everyone in the room quickly. It wasn't until the hefty door shut did she turn around and face him. His smile saddened her as she found his words unpleasant. She didn't want to leave him. His was the closest thing she could call family. She rarely saw her parents in the day unless it was for breakfast and dinner and their relationship, if one could call it that, was very estranged. As he spoke of her becoming a great Queen she couldn't hold her emotions back any longer. "But I do not want to be a Queen!" She sobbed, tears streaming from her eyes before disappearing behind her hands. "I can not marry him Adan. I can not! He is sickening to be around." She cried. "Please do not take me there. I can barely bear the thought of it!" She quickly stood and grabbed a hold of both of his arms as not only for support but also endearment. "Please take me anywhere but there." She begged desperately, her watery blue eyes pleading.

 

[Silverknight]

Adan knew that there was no love between Persephone or her betrothal. He knew too her situation and he knew that others might want to turn her into some type of weapon, this marriage was questionable in his own view of things. It created a peace, but no peace was forever, and they were looking at getting a woman to shire heirs who would have natural magical skills that could be used against her own people. It was a short sighted nature of the king that annoyed him at times. He was a man no better or worse than any other man, but he thought only of the present and the near future. The long term marriage plan that he had for his daughter had serious issues to it that he didn't see.

Yet, he was a knight, not even an adviser, whose great fame was as a mercenary who was skilled in killing people, not leading a nation or fighting for a future. He looked at her and his heart almost broke as he looked at the beautiful woman, he knew that she was special, and he knew she was a woman not, not the kid he had watched when he was really a kid himself. He felt her hands on his arms as he heard her, and then saw her crying. It was utterly heartbreaking to see, this woman was special and this woman was important to him in ways he really had no words for in the least. He didn't like to see this as he heard her words and her request for him.

"What you request is a dangerous thing, Persephone, it would make you a traitor to a kingdom, it would make you a enemy of another and all would be after you," he said to her softly as he looked at her closely and made sure to tell her the truth. She needed to hear the truth, and the situation, "your home would not be your home as you would hardly have one for the time being," he said softly as he wanted to make sure she knew what she was asking, "at best you would be seen as a hostage and myself as the greatest villain of history, hunted by two groups."

He paused after he finished as he looked at her, "yet, if that is what you wish, I will find a way to keep you from your would be husband and spirit you away to some other place," he informed her as he looked at her. "I will find a way to protect you as I have always done and promise you will not have to marry this man who you are suppose to marry."

 

[Sophie Jones]

As he spoke she could feel her heart sinking deeper and deeper, until it was probably beating in the pit of her stomach, bathing in the digestive enzymes and eating away at it. All of his words were true and each one of his instances were a stab in the guy. She would be a traitor to her people, she'd have no home, people would search for them, and everyone would think Adan took her. Painting a very large target on his back. Along with a secured death sentence if they were to be caught. The thought of seeing Adan killed was enough to send another wave of tears down her face. "I-I.." She did not know what words to say. She continued to hold his arms, stabling herself as she tried to take deep breaths. She needed to think, and the sobs weren't going to help.

She was a princess. She had a duty to her kingdom. But admittedly, she's never seen much of her kingdom and it of her. She would take tours of near towns, when times were bad and people were starving. Supposedly it gave people a sense of hope, but she thought otherwise. She felt it was more of rubbing their wealth in than anything. Riding around in a grand carriage and waving through a window while people dug through mud for something edible. Of course it was her parents idea. As for her home. She softly scoffed. Did she ever really have one? She did not consider this a home. She considered this place a prison. There was no loving warmth as there would be in a home. The only slight warmth she felt was when she was with Adan. As for being hunted, she didn't care. Let them hunt! She trusted in Adans skills. He was a skilled warrior before he was appointed as her knight. Plus she could help defend them. She could work on her abilities. Help protect Adan as he's done so many times for her.

Persephone wiped the tears dripping from her chin and looked back up at Adan. "It's what I want.." She said softly. Despite all the possible dangers they could face, the thought of marrying the man was what she feared the most. Her delicate hands slid from his arms and into his own hands. "I am sure." She gave his hands a squeeze. "What should we do?"

 

[Silverknight]

He looked at her and he knew that she was not going to back down, that she was not going to want to get married. That she didn't want to remain, he knew how happy that she was or rather unhappy she had been for a good while now. He knew that the lock on her magic, the things that were done to her were rather cruel and not ideal. but he was not anyone. He was just a simple mercenary who took a job with the king for a steady job where he wouldn't have to watch his back as much from people who would want revenge or want to make a name for themselves. He had the ability to keep away from that as a worker for the king protected by that fact.

He knew that was over when she looked at him and then nodded his head, "Now, I have a plan, and I am going to have to move carefully when it comes to this plan, first head to the carriage, and act if everything is okay, I don't want to give anything away, and I want them to think that you are on your way out, I know the more normal things look the less likely they will be to look for you any time soon. We will go over the plan on the way, I will drive the carriage and I will handle things from that point on. Just relax, I will tell you when you need to get out, and when that we need to make our move, it is important for this to go right."

He went and explained that they needed to go alone, that he had seen a threat and a message, so that he would personally take it to himself, but he wanted them to follow a day behind at minimum as he wanted to make sure the princess was protected. He knew the moment and time to make his move as he knew the route perfectly. He knew they would follow a few hours behind as they need to organize, just in time to see the carriage on fire and signs of an attack. There would be no bodies as they would of burned up just bones he found would be found and two sets that would be him and the princess, that would throw them off and give them a good bit of time to find a new place to go and hide basically.