Theif [Em+Pho]

[Shiningami]

She was asleep, but woke at the sound of the key turning in the lock. The storage room held winter linens, and no one should have been interested in it in the middle of summer, and certainly not in the middle of the night. By the time the door was open, she had slipped through a square hole in the stones of the wall and soundlessly closed the metal door that covered it. She was in the narrow tunnel that connected a stocking room to the hypocaust of a minor audience chamber down the corridor. The door she'd crawled through was intended to allow smoke into the storage room to fumigate the linens. Moving quickly, she inched down the tunnel to the open space of the hypocaust. Squat pillars held the stone floor above him. The wasn't room to sit up, so she lay on her back and listened to the thumping noises, like drumbeats, as people hurried across the floor of the audience chamber over her head. They could only be looking for her, but she wasn't particularly worried. She'd hidden before in the spaces under the floors of the palace. Her ancestors had used the tunnels of the hypocausts to hide in since the invaders had built them to heat their new buildings hundreds of years earlier.

Noises traveled down the long, narrow tunnel from the stocking room: shuffling thumps and a crackle that she strained her ears to hear. A fire was being lit in the furnace chamber. Soon the warm air and, of more concern to her, the smoke would be fanned into the hypocaust to warm the audience room above and drive the quarry out. Silently, in the pitch dark, she moved between the brick pillars to a wall and then along it to a flue in the wall with an opening slightly larger than the others. Even with the enlarged opening, it was not an esay task to fit herself into the narrow vent, and while she maneuvered, the warm, smoky air blew around her. She remembered how easily she had slipped into the flue the first time she'd tried it. Her grandfather, who'd brought her to the palace, had grown too old and too big for most of the passages and had had to stay at an inn in the town while his granddaughter explored on her own, finding everything just as she'd heard it described.

Once inside the flue, she wedged her fingers into cracks and braced herself with her feet to climb until the space turned at an angle to join the chimney above the audience room. When she reached the chimney, she cursed silenly, though what she found was no more than she should have expected. There was a fire in the hearth below. Fortunately they hadn't already had a roaring blaze going when they chased her out of the linen room. They must have just lighted the fire, but the air in the chimney was smoky and quickly was growing hot. With no other choice, the theif climbed into the chimney and moved up it as quickly as he could, relying on the sound of the fire to cover the sounds her soft boots made on the ridged bricks of the walls. The chimney was much wider than the flue, and the ridged bricks were intended to be climbed easily by sweepers.

She went on until she reached an intersection where several chimney's came together into a much larger one that rose to the roof of the palace. The chimney was warm and filled with smoke, but instead of climbing it, she turned to another opening and climbed down. She guessed that the queen had soldiers posted on the roof of the palace to watch the openings of the chimneys.

She breathed shallowly and slowly, stifling a need to cough. Any sound might betray her. As she dropped lower in the chimney she'd chosen, the smoke grew thicker, her eyes watered, and she missed a handhold and slid down with a thump to a ledge below. She sucked in a lungful of smoke and then covered her mouth with both hands while her face turned red and the blood pounded in her ears. The breath trickled out between her fingers and she breathed in again more cautiously, but her throat burned and her head spun. Her breath came and went in huffs of suppressed coughs.

She was on a ledge where the chimney divided into smaller flues that led down to several different rooms. She closed her eyes and listened for sounds, but there was no shouting, only the muted crackling of the fire somewhere below. She poked her head into one chimney after another, debating with herself before choosing one she hoped led to the stateroom of some foreign ambassador too prestigious to be disturbed in the middle of the night by soldies wanting to light an unnecessary fire in his hearth.

The chimney she chose descended from the main one in a long, shallow slope. Once she was away from the main chimney, the air was free of smoke and she stopped to draw a grateful breath until her head was clear. When she reached the turn where the chimney dropped straight into the hearth below, she paused and settled herself to wait. There was no sign of a fire laid underneath her, so there was no immediate need to get down, and she thought it best to be sure there was no one waiting for her in the room below. After a long silnce she heard the creak of a bed as if its occupent had shifted in his sleep.

Still cautious, the theif lowered herself down the shimney until she was just at the upper edge of the fireplace. Then she braced herself across the bricks and lowered her head to glance into the bedroom. It seemed to be empty of gaurdsmen, and she dropped soundlessly to the hearthstones. The figure she could see stretched out on the bed didn't move, and the room was otherwise unoccupied. She squatted there in the empty fireplace while she reviewed what she knew of the sleeping arrangments of the palace. She didn't think there were very many rooms nearby where the soldiers hadn't already lit fires. They probably hadn't disturbed the occupant of this room because they were waiting out in the hall for their quarry to open the door and walk into their arms.

She didn't intend to go through the door to the hall. The bedchamber was on an outside wall of the palace. The wall dropped straight down to a road that spearated the palace from the city around it. She stepped past the bed and went to the window and pulled aside the curtains to look down at the perimeter road. She opened the window and glanced up to be sure that no guards on the roof were looking down. She saw no one leaning over the parapet and so swung herself across the windowsill and began to descend. The gaps between the marble facing stones of the palace were narrow, but wide enough for fingers and toes. She was half way to the ground when there was a shout above her. She had been seen. The theif crabbed sideways along the wall, expecting a crossbow quarrel to bury itself in her shoulder at any moment, but none came. The queen's personal guard would have guns, she remembered, but no bullets came either. Maybe they didn't use the guns in the middle of the night, the theif thought. Maybe they didn't want to wake the queen. That didn't explain the absence of quarrels, but she had little attention to spare on the puzzle. She'd reached a window, and she swung inside.

She was in an office. Most of the floor where the queen's taxmen worked would be offices and storage rooms, many of them connected to one another. She'd eluded the guards on the floor above, and if she hurried, she could be gone before they'd reorganized the search. There was little point in trying to hide now that they'd come so close to catching her. She had to get out of the palace and safely into the town.

In the light of the lamps burning in the corridor, she got a good look at herself and winced. Though she was dressed in the household uniform of one of the queens servants, she was filthy, covered in soot and cobwebs, and much to dirty to pass as an innocent inmate of the palace awakened by all the noise. Not that there was any noise. It was a very quiet hunt moving through the corridors of the queen's palace in Atollia, with her guardsmen creeping quietly, hoping to surprise her, and him creeping even more quietly, hoping to evade them. It was an increasingly frantic game as she found soldiers at every turn. They were in every space she needed to move through until at last they were chasing her at a run, their boots crashing on the bare floors as she forced the lock on a door that led out onto a wall that enclosed one of the palace courtyards.

They were still behind her when she sprinted the length of the parapet, but they had slowed to a walk. There was a sheer drop of fatal length into the courtyard on one side and down to the perimeter road on the other. Another groupd of the queen's guardsmen was ahead of the theif, around the corner of the wall. Both groups were confident they would catch the theif between them. The theif could imagine too well what might happen to her if she were captured, and when she reached the corner, she didn't slow as the guards expected, and she didn't turn. She stepped onto the edge of the parapet and threw herself off it, into the black night air beyond.

Too late, the gaurdsmen raced to the edge of the parapet. They lay on their bellies on the wide stones to look down the sheer walls to the pavement of the road. Remembering their specific orders to capture the theif alive, they looked for the broken body in the interlocking shadows cast by the lanterns hung on the palace walls. The shadows made it difficult to see, and it took time to realize that there was no body below.

Finally one guardsmen pointed to the rooftops on the far side of the boulevard that surrounded the palace. Stumbling, the theif had gotten to her feetand was crossing a rooftop as quickly as she was able to. She dropped to a lower level and was out of sight until they caught a glimpse of her as she dropped from that roof into hte alley beyond. Someone in the group of guards swore, partly out of frustration, partly in admiration.

"Did you see where she went?" a cold voice asked behind them, and the soldiers pulled themselves to attention as their lieutenant answered, "Into an alley, Your Majesty."

"Fire your crossbows into it. The guards on the ground should hear where the quarrels fall."

The queen turned and strode down the wall to a doorway leading back inside. She'd wanted to capture the theif in the palace. Four times in the last year she knew she had moved through one of her strongholds, once leaving a room only moments before she entered and once, she suspected, passing through her own bedchamber while she slept. She'd escaped only by a narrow margin on her last visit, and she knew she wouldn't escape again. Still, it galled her that she hadn't been captured within the walls of the palace.


In the alley the theif heard the quarrels clattering down behind her and heard a corresponding shout not far away. She gave up trying to move quietly and ran as fast as she could through the twisting streets. The drop from the palace wall had been a sickening one, and though she had rolled, she'd been shaken by the force of the landing. Her hands stung, and her shoulders ached. Before the hollow feeling in her chest faded, it was replaced by a stitch in her side as she ran on, sweating in the warm night.

There were so many turns and intersections to the narrow streets that no pursuers could have kept her in sight, or heard her footsteps over the noise they themselves were making, but there seemed to be more soldiers at every corner, and no sooner had the theif dropped out of sight than she was found again. She was breathing heavily when she came to a straight street at last. She turned onto it and sprinted. She could hear dogs barking and thought they were not the city dogs that had been barking since the shouting started, but the palace dogs brought out to hunt for her.

The road she ran on came to an abrubt dead end at the town wall. Like the palace, the town's walls were new, built shortly before the end of the invaders occupation. They were sheer, rising straight to the walks above, inlike the banked walls of older cities. She had no hope of scrambling up them, but at their base, where the narrow road canted into a ditch that drained heavy winter rains, there was a sewer that ran under the city walls. Halfway through the wall there should have been an iron gate, as there was in the other drainage sewers, but the grate in this one was broken loose. It had been repaired once, several years before, and the theif had spent three long nights filing through the new bards to reopen this private entrance into the city.

The drain was not large. Coming into the city, the evening before, the theif had moved slowly on her hands and the tips of her toes, taking great care not to get her clothes dirty. She'd washed her mcuky hands at a public fountain, wiped the tops of her boots, and gone to buy her dinner.

With the palace dogs somewhere behind her, she raced at the walls without slowing and threw herself facedown at the entrance to the tunnel, sliding the first few feet into the sewer on the mud and slime inside. Behind her she could hear people running and dogs barking. When she reaching the iron grate lying in the mud halfway along the tunnel, she craled over it, then turned back to lift it upright. When she heard it scraping the walls, she yanked it harder, hoping that if the dogs pressed against it, their weight would force the grate further into place, not over into the mud again.

After crawling the rest of the way through the sewer, she dragged herself out the under the city wall at the edge of an olive orchard. Dawn was hours away, and with no moon to light the sky, she could barely make out her hand in front of her face, but she didn't need to see to know where she was. There were olive trees in front of her, planted in orderly rows. If she headed downhill between the rows, she'd reach the river at the bottom of the olive grove. Once in the river, she could pull herself out of the water into one of the trees along its bank. She'd lose the dogs and then could get farther from the city and find her companion. He was supposed to meet her across the river, oh, a few hours ago. She hoped desperatly that when he heard her plight, she wouldn't tear her into tiny shreds for almost being caught.




((Oh gosh. I'm soooo sorry! X.X I'm terrible! Another super long post you had to read x.x I guess I really am Queen of Humongeous Posts xD))

[Luna]

Jayden was pacing up and down along the river bank rowing more and more impatient, his black clothes and hooded cloak snapping n the warm summer air. His keen hearing, sharpened by his past and occupation, helped by the direction of the wind of course, carried shouts and, more worrying to the already stressed man, the barking and baying of palace dogs trained for the hunt, towards him. He frowned and paused, listening.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered to himself, continuing his pacing; he knew that Elizabeth was agile and clever enough to evade them.

So long as she wasn’t injured.

He stopped pacing, the mental image flashing through his mind of his love and partner of the night lying helpless, cryng out in agony as the dogs descended on her, ripping and tearing her.

He shook his head vigorously to rid himself of the image. That wouldn’t happen. He had taught her everything he knew when they were both teenagers, she wasn’t so clumsy.

But then why was she so late? that little voice in his mind asked.

“Trouble, that’s all, nothing she cant handle,” he answered himself. Most who heard him holding such conversations with himself thought he was insane – he probably wasn’t far from it – but he had grown used to it.

He had only taken two more steps when he heard someone approaching but recognizing Elizabeth’s soft tread he didn’t bother to conceal himself.

“What took you so long? Nevermind, I probably don’t want to know. Did you get it?” he asked as she approached, his voice deep and reverberating, much more confident and sure than it had been after their reunion, though he still hid his scars. “Hopefully this client will pay up,” he muttered in pasing. The last client who had hired the services of the Black Cat (that was a persona the two of them worked under, though most assumed the Black Cat was a single person) had fled town before paying up but Jayden didn’t intend on letting that happen again; his previous precious years in prison had hardened him.

[Shiningami]

As she dragged herself out of the water, her breath desperatly trying to catch up to her, she smiled at her companion, friend, and lover. "Nice to see you too." Reaching inside her torn jacket, she brought out what they had been hired to, er, commandeer. "Of course. Doesn't the Black Cat always catch it's prey?" In the misty starlight that surrounded them, her eyes gave off a faint sparkle as she stared into his eyes.

He had certainly come a long way from their first reunion, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Elizabeth was always thankful for that. She placed their prize back into her jacket pocket, then wrapped her arms around Jayden's neck, and slowly reached her head up to his, and gently touched his lips with her own, letting her heart skip. When she pulled back she quietly whispered, "We should get out of here, I don't know if those damned dogs will find my scent through the water."

[Luna]

Jayden gave a small, satisified smile at seeing their aquired item intact and responded to Elizabeth's embrace by slipping his own arms around her subtle waist and kissing her lightly back. He had definately at least regained confidence in their own relationship. He still didn't like others seeing him properly, especially when they didn't know him; he didn't like the stares at the scars and the questions from the more bold ones. Hence if the Black Cat needed to make a visible appearance, or at least a more pleasant one Elizabeth was the one for the job whereas if it were a darker image needed Jayden was the one on show. Of course it was rare for them to show at all since then there would actually be a face to the name of one of the most wanted people in the country.

Pulling back, he smiled slightly, his hazle eyes sparkling and bright in the starlight, so much different than they used to be. Mind, they still held a darkness at times, normally whenever he slipped into memories of some description, but for the most part they were pleasant. He wore his black hair out too and it fell to his shoulders, once more healthy and vibrant. Indeed now the only thing that remained to show of his more recent past was the scars and the limp he still carried.

"We should get out of here, I don't know if those damned dogs will find my scent through the water."

"Not in the water but they will find both our scents on the other side," Jayden said, hearing the baying of the dogs. Letting go of her waist, he let a hand slip down and into one of her hands, leading her back into the river. "If we travel along in the water for a while though and come out over some rocks we should lose them, leaving no scent and no foot-prints."

The icy water seeped through into his shoes near immediately as he struck out along the river towards their home but he ignored it; they could always light a fire once they got home to dry thier things and warm up once more.

[Shiningami]

Elizabeth groaned. "Into the water again? You better build a damn good fire tonight Jayden." She squeezed his hand playfully as she followed him into the water and over rocks, hoping to get rid of the dogs on their trail.



(Sorry, 7 page paper for english.....x.x)

[Luna]

The home they were headed to was their 'secret' home; they had another one in the city for their public lives as nobles. For now they had employed a loyal butler of sorts who took care of the house and their appearances - basically that they were there but were unavailable, wishing to have some time alone. Their other more homely home was in the forest was the home that they had always wanted to have ever since the two young teenagers had first laid eyes on each other before Jayden's capture. Thankfully according to all records Jayden was a dead man; no one had ever thought to check the death hole in the now destroyed prison he had managed to escape from and anyone who was put in those death holes were as good as dead since no one had ever escaped from them.

Coming out of the river, shivering and teeth shattering, onto a stone bank. He slipped the hand that was holding Elizabeth's and slipped it instead around her waist to try to warm her with his own rather lacking body heat.

Their house was a bit of a hike away from the river so that anyone travelling along the river wouldn't be able to know it was there.

"Nearly home," he said. Finally the ruins that they orriginally wanted their home to be in came in to sight and the wooden home they actually lived in. Jayden had been unable to bring himself to live in a stone house after he had escaped from prison but he had been willing to compromise by living in a wooden home in the picturesque area so that, if need be, he could retrete in their home away from the ghosts of his past. Now, a few years later, it didn't worry him as much.

With a smile he said, pulling his arm from around Elizabeth, "You go in, I'll bring some firewood in so we can start a fire."

Going to the side of the house he took up an armful of firewood that had been collected and dried there and brought it inside, weaving around all the oddities that the two had collected. During his time in prison Jayden for one had heard a lot of stories from dying men and women, including a lot of curiosities. Naturally, once he had escaped and healed he just couldn't wait to get his hands on them and see them for himself. Selling a few had set their noble persona's up but he had kept his favourites.

Lighting a fire in the hearth he took his boots off and put them near the fire, laying his feet and wet pants to the warmth with a sigh. "Another successful night for the cat," he said with a smile.

[Shiningami]

Elizabeth smiled as she pulled off her own soaking wet boots and clothes, slipping on a fuzzy robe, and throwing the other one to Jayden. Tying the robe tight around her tiny waist, she went and sat in his lap and leaned her head against his chest, right under his chin. "Yes, another lucky night. But now I'm sore. Crawling through that damned chimney area did wonders on my flexibility." In a very dramatic manner, she sighed and flopped herself all over Jayden, pretending she couldn't move. She opened one eye, her hand on her forehead, then started laughing.

"When should we start to head back to our Noble lives?"

[Luna]

Catching the robe taht was thrown to him Jayden stripped the rest of his wet clothes off and pulled the robe about him, tying it loosely. Would that he could somehow get rid of the multiple scars he wore and thus be able to show off his now well-built body though still lithe, but such was life; at least he had grown acustomed to Elizabeth seeing them. There was one such brand he longed to cut out but had yet to gain the oportunity; he didn't want to do it while Elizabeth was around. He knew she would make a stink about it but after it was done there was nothing she could do about it.

Jayden moved slightly so his back was leaning against something as Elizabeth leant against his chest. With his arms comfortly around her, he scoffed at her dramatics. "Alright, so it took a bit longer than normal but it's not like it was something you cuoldn't handle. And just think how good it will look for the cat to say that this item was stolen from right under the Queen's nose."

"When should we start to head back to our Noble lives?"

"Soon perhaps," he replied. "I heard an interesting rumour while you were playing the rat. Something that could bring down our oh-so-loved queen." He paused then to gauge her reaction before continuing. "I heard it from a... way-ward priest who was too fond of ale for his profession," he said with a smirk. "Turns out that there was a baby who was delivered anonymously to his abbey a number of years ago. That's not what was interesting. What was interesting was this priest's conviction that he was royalty. I pressed him about it and he said that naturally he was the only one who suspected such a thing as from time to time the queen would donate gifts to this particular abbey and everyone else scorned him such that he was driven away." He paused again. "It's possible that he was just a raving drunk, especially since he said that after the boy was sent away to a different place the gifts kept coming but I thought it worth looking into. From what I understand the nature of this lad is quite different to that of his mothers, and in a good sense. Interesting, no?"

[Shiningami]

"Quite interesting, actually. I think one of these nights the Cat should check it out." Elizabeth slipped back up into a more comfortable posistion, since she thought the robe was coming undone around her chest laying stretched out that way. "Seems odd that the Queen would have a bastard child...or even one from one of her daughters! Or maids! That would be quite a peice of knowledge to...bargain with." Mez looked up slyly at her counterpart. "What do you suppose we do with that knowledge, if it is indeed true?"

[Luna]

Jayden smiled a little and held Elizabeth close, stopping her from moving away and as if to emphasise his point slipped a probably cold hand between the folds of her robe to rest comfortingly on her stomach. "Perhaps but I thought we could return to our more public lives and we can see what Lady Elizabeth can dig up with her social manouvering. I can do a little digging with the thieves and beggars; if there's anything to be found out they would have some clue."

That would be quite a peice of knowledge to...bargain with. What do you suppose we do with that knowledge, if it is indeed true?"

"I think we can do more than bargain with it," Jayden said with a sly grin. "I think, if we play our cards right, we can have a new king." He paused and glanced down at Elizabeth then, to see her facial expression to that. "If we find him, inform him of who he truely is, he will have to rely on us to teach him the intricacies of court life no doubt which gives us a very powerful friend."

[Shiningami]

"That would be a most powerful friend indeed." Elizabeth made a mock puppy-dog face and looked up at Jayden. "Do I have to go back to those fancy dinners and standing straight?" At the last word she couldn't hold the face any longer and started to laugh. "I suppose we could dig up more, I'm betting that the theives and beggers know more than any nobleman."

She felt Jaydens cool hand on her stomach. It was just cool enough to be felt, but not too bad. She stared at the folds under which his hand lay, and remembered how long ago it seemed that he came back into her life...then though she was in love with someone else. Much more drama than any play she had done.

[Luna]

Grinning, Jayden replied, "What are you complaining about? I would welcome the chance to go back to 'fancy dinners and standing stright'. I on the other hand, need to go back to serving and scraping and bowing. And that's just in public." He was grinning broadly now. "Though I could think of worse mistresses to be serving under," he added, holding her close.

Staying thus, Jayden felt warmth seep through his cool body and felt calmer than he had in a long time. And yet at the same time, strangely fidgetty and full of energy. Now that they had a lead which could end their royal troubles he was eager to pursue it. To the point where he wished they could just up and leave now, going on their merry way.

"I guess we could have a day's rest beforehand though," is what he said aloud, though. Afterall, after such a venture he couldn't expect Elizabeth to be as ready as him to be off again. He was just antsy because it had been a while since he had been able to do anything.

[Shiningami]

Sighing, Elizabeth leaned over and kissed Jayden's cheek. "I guess we can go back tomorrow...just so long as you promise not to think I'm in love with a stupid fat nobleman!" She snuck a hand around his waist and tickled him.

She stood up tiredly and went over to a chest to drag out the many thousands of layers she was expected to wear. She pulled out a light lavender colored with disdain, shaking off the few dust bunnies on it and held it up to her. "So, whats our plan of attack for tomorrow?"

[Luna]

"I guess we can go back tomorrow...just so long as you promise not to think I'm in love with a stupid fat nobleman!"

"Just so long as you don't flirt too much with him," Jayden replied chuckling before squirming under her tickling fingers which always seemed to find the exact spot he was most ticklish.

Jayden stood also when Elizabeth did but he merely took the robe off, now completely naked as he slid into the warm sheep-skin covered bed they shared. Not so warm yet, he amended as he shivered slightly but even as he thought that his own body heat began to warm the bed. "You know," he said as he watched Elizabeth pull the dress out. "I've always liked that one. That and the dark green one."

"So, whats our plan of attack for tomorrow?"

Jayden shrugged a shoulder. "We go back to the city I guess, back to our big home. Organizing a party to hold would probably be the best way for you to ask a few discreet questions, especially once the wine is flowing. You can give the night off to 'visit my family for my son's birthday' so if I'm missed no one will care. I'll leave the rest to you," he said, holding an arm out to her, inviting her to bed. "If you're still tired from today though we don't have to start tomorrow of course," he added though, naturally, he was itching to do something.

[Shiningami]

Elizabeth smiled, "The dark green one has been my favorite too...not so much to put on..." she chuckled as she slipped out of her robe and into the hopefully warm bed. She snuggled close to Jayden to get more warmth, and asked, "How formal are we talking here? Lke a Tea-Party or a full out party?"

[Luna]

Jayden wrapped his arms around Elizabeth as she slid into the bed beside him. "As formal as you want," he replied. "It's your party. I've never moved among the social elite remember?" he said with a smile. Afterall, his life had consisted of the thieves den where he grew up as a child, that later betrayed him leading him to prison. After that he was so ashamed of himself and the way he had turned out, so afraid as well, that there was no way he would be able to hold himself with the sophisticated aclarity needed for the aristocratic society. And it would be too hard to explain the scars he was unable to hide. At least as a servant he could blame it on a previously cruel master.

"Either way while you're out doing that I think old 'Scar Face' will poke around, see what he knows," Jayden said with a grin, pulling himself with effort away from the reminiscing.

"Reguardless, I'm going to go to sleep now, so good night," he said, settling himself down to sleep. At least sleep had gotten easier over time. He was still haunted by nightmares sometimes but Elizabeth had become adept at bringing him out of them effectively. She was as much his lifeline now as she had been while he was imprissoned. He had a feeling more nightmares would end up coming tonight since he wasn't exhausted enough to drop into a dead sleep. But there was no avoiding that; he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

(('sophisticated aclarity needed for the aristocratic society'? where the hell did that come from? Try saying it fast with a mouth full of peanuts lol))

[Shiningami]

((I know! Goodness, I was laughing when I read that..It struck me as funny...since it was coming from you, through Jayden of all peoples! xD))


Elizabeth curled up next to Jayden with her arm around him. "Alright then, good night. I'll see you in the morning." She figured that he would have nightmares tonight, so she prepared herself. As much as she didn't like to admit it, she was frightened with his nightmares. In order to bring him out of that terrifying state, she had to witness the rest of the dream, and she kept wishing that he would never figure that out...otherwise he would do something to make sure that she didn't know about his dreams.

In all honesty, she was finding out much more than she had ever wanted to know about his time in prison. The thing that had always pissed her off the most was the women who tortured him with 'love'. It had made him question love, which meant he questioned her love for him, and that pushed her off the edge into rage land. He didn't know it, but she had a secret side mission going: to find those women and do to them what they had done to her Jayden. So, as she fell asleep with a smile on her face, she dreamt of killing them slowly...

[Luna]

The dreams came again.

Once more, an almost familiar scene, emerged around Jayden. He was in one of the many torture chambers of the prison he had spent three years of his life in. There was a woman before him. A beautiful woman. The Jayden of then and now couldn't help but notice she looked a little like Elizabeth. In fact, as he thought that, the woman turned into Elizabeth, his love of the now. She was her exact image. Except for the eyes. They were the same, yet different, harder, crueler, a steeliness in them that Jayden hoped never to see for himself. She was naked too and Jayden felt himself responding to her. She strode towards him, slowly, seductively, finally reaching him, placing a soft, gentle hand on his chest, a hand that didn't go with the hardness of her eyes. Her hands roved around his own naked body, feeling it with lustful abandon while Jayden was held, unable to do anything. The chains that secured him sitting in a chair were hot, hot enough to hurt but not hot enough to blister. She started kissing, roving all over his body, up and down, from his mouth to his nether regions and back again, arousing him with practiced efficiancy. Almost making him forget where he was or why he was there. There was a short sharp pain, a little sting as a tiny cut was made in his body. And then another. But each of these cuts were kissed delicately, the Elizabeth look alike licking the blood away. By this time he was so enamoured with her that he didn't even notice one of her hands reaching behind her to a specially designed iron shoe. He didn't even notice as she moved to put it on his bare foot. Didn't even notice until the red-hot iron of the shoe touched the tender flesh of his foot.

He screamed.

[Shiningami]

Elizabeth awoke with a start when Jayden screamed. "Oh my gosh, Jayden! I was too asleep to notice your dream! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Jayden!" Elizabeth's worried eyes zoomed over Jayden's face, trying to make sure that it wasn't one of her nightmares.

When he didn't respond, she stopped touching him and just stared into his tired eyes. "What did you see?"

[Luna]

Jayden woke himself up with the scream and lay trembling where he was, covered in cold sweat, staring up at the roof. The roof was wooden and thatched and that alone was a comfort to him. It wasn't the cold stone of the dungeon and he was in a warm bed with a comforting fire crackling near by, though burning down. All of this served to remind him that it was just a dream, just a memory. So much for dreams never hurting anyone though.

He didn't hear Elizabeth's appologies, still lost in the dream world as he was. It normally took him a while to come out of it entirely and, to help with that, he got out of bed and made his way to the fire, squatting down infront of it and poking it. He shuddered. The heat of it washed over his naked body in such a familiar feeling that it almost scared him. But in a sense every sensation was a familiar feeling. Whether it was heat or cold, or harshness or gentlenss, his head was so messed up that everything reminded him of those years, that eternity.

"What did you see?"

"The usual," he replied at length. "Same matter, different scene." That was all he said; he didn't feel like going into detail. He wanted to forget all about it.

Silent for a while longer he sighed slightly and looked to Elizabeth, a small smile on his face that didn't cover the fear in his eyes. "It's alright. I didn't expect you to be able to wake me. You're tired. Go back to sleep, I'll join you shortly," he said.

The fire at a comfortable level now he stood and slipped into the robe he was wearing earlier though he left it undone. Getting a candle he lit it by the hearth fire and carried it as he searched along the wall that was a bookshelf, pulling out various titles and setting them all on the nearby table. Deciding he had enough, he set the candle down on the table and opened the nearest book, reading it and making notes on spare pieces of parchment, researching what they might need to know to rescue this true king.