Chain Mail and Butterfly Wings

“Hello, Guardswoman,” Aiden’s voice was smooth as silk and completely and utterly emotionless. It made my heart surge with an emotion I couldn’t place. Guilt maybe, for having to look at him after saying what I had thought would be my final goodbye. Perhaps it was pain or sadness, for looking at a man that was out of my league.

General Darren touched my shoulder lightly, and bent to whisper in my ear, “Are you all right Angeline?”

My mouth felt dry, and I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I simply nodded, even though I was mostly certainly not all right. I felt that I was capable of collapsing at any given moment. I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat and continued to walk forward until I was standing in front of Aiden’s cell. I was more than certain that this was why General Darren had brought me here.

“Not very polite, ignoring someone’s greeting,” Aiden commented sarcastically, his lips tugging upward in a half-smile. It was a cute expression, one that I had become accustomed to, but I ignored it.

“Hi,” I offered shakily, trying to pull myself together still. I couldn’t believe he was there. The man I had thought I was so desperate to see, to talk to. And yet, now that he was standing before me, with such a reserved look on his face, with none of the qualities I had grown to love being apparent, I wasn’t so sure I had wanted to see him at all.

I had lied to him and I had left. I had promised to be there for him at his wedding, and yet I left before I had even met his bride. I wasn’t any sort of best friend, even if he had deemed me as such. I was just the selfish girl that fell in love with him, and was too obsessed with my own self-being to simply be happy because he was happy.

The tortured look must have taken over my expression without my notice, because for a brief moment, Aiden’s gaze softened, and he looked concerned. However, he didn’t move away from the wall he was leaning against, and the expression was gone in an instant. Perhaps I had imagined it.

“Here she is, so, talk,” General Darren ordered from somewhere on my right. I was vaguely aware of his presence, but he was of little importance at that moment.

Aiden turned his attention slowly to Darren, clearly showing his disdain on his facial features. “I’d prefer to talk to her alone,” Aiden said simply.

“Not a chance,” Darren replied instantly, bristling at the mere mention of the suggestion. “Last time you were alone together, I recall you holding a dagger to her throat,” he reminded Aiden acidly.

That warranted a few cat calls and jeers from the neighboring prisoners, of which were silenced quite abruptly with a glare from both General Darren and Aiden. Standing between Aiden and Darren was incredibly uncomfortable. Not only because they were sending bad vibes at each other, but they were fighting over me. Darren because he thought Aiden would hurt me somehow, and Aiden because he had a blatant dislike of Darren.

“That was a different time,” Aiden answered in a quiet tone, his gaze never leaving Darren. “We’ve all made mistakes,” he muttered, his eyes darting to me for a millisecond. “I assure you, no harm will come to your precious guardswoman,” he spat the sentence in a sickly sweet tone.

General Darren opened his mouth to say something, but I turned toward him and he faltered, looking at me for a response. “I’ll talk to him,” I whispered, not entirely sure if I was doing the right thing. But whether or not I would like what Aiden had to say, I had to listen. He willingly brought himself to Castle Burdock and was captured knowing that he would be shown no mercy, just so that he could request to talk to me. I couldn’t ignore that.

Darren lowered his voice and asked, “Are you sure? You don’t have to talk to him alone…I won’t leave if you ask me to stay.”

As tempting as the offer was, I shook my head. “No, I’ll talk to him alone. But thank you,” I replied with a weak smile. I felt like I was going to pass out.

With a growl of annoyance General Darren gave a curt nod in my direction and said, “If you’re sure. I trust you Angeline, but don’t do anything stupid.”

I smiled at him and stated, “I won’t.”

To Aiden, Darren said, “You have five minutes, and that’s it.” Then he turned quickly and left the room.

Aiden didn’t move until Darren was completely gone and the door had shut behind him. Even then, he waited a long moment before pushing himself away from the wall and approaching the door to his cell. He took in a deep breath, and watched me carefully as I turned to face him completely, although I stood several feet away.

“Angel…” he muttered, looking at me with his lips pressed into a hard line, an uncertain look on his face.

“Why are you here?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

Aiden looked taken aback by my reaction and shook his head slightly. “Why am I here?” he laughed mockingly. “I’m here because you are here,” he informed me, a small smile on his lips.

My heart jumped in my chest at the expression, but I ignored it. “What do you want?” I inquired, a sense of annoyance in my tone. He was an idiot to sign his own death warrant by showing up here. If he died, I wasn’t sure I would be able to take it in stride.

Aiden looked hurt at my blunt responses, but his jaw tightened and he strained against the bars, reaching one arm out toward me, his palm facing upward. “Come here, Angel,” he requested quietly.

I hesitated. I didn’t want to be drawn in by him, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking at least one step closer to him. Then I halted and shook my head. “I can’t.”

He frowned, looking thoroughly irritated at how uncooperative I was being. “I’m not going to hurt you, Angel, I don’t even know why you think I would,” he snapped, dropping his hand at his side again.

“It’s not that,” I told him, and hesitated, not entirely sure what was stopping me.

Aiden looked at me and stole a glance at the door that Darren had left through. “Angel, please, we don’t have much time, and I just want to talk to you.”

“We are talking,” I said logically, but I knew that I was being cold.

“No, what I’m doing is talking, what you’re doing is standing there, pretending to listen. What is wrong with you?” Aiden asked with genuine concern in his voice.

What was wrong with me? I was trying to stay away from him so I didn’t fall into the same trap twice. I was trying to listen to him without wanting to burst into tears and fall into his arms. I was trying to be the guard that I knew I was, and be strong and poised.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I replied carefully.

“Bullshit,” Aiden snapped, his gaze boring into mine. I noted the fact that he had swore in front of me, but he hadn’t even corrected himself. He was working himself into a frenzy. Perhaps realizing this, more softly, he asked, “What happened to you?”

What happened to me? I was one of those girls that didn’t deal with heartbreak easily. I threw myself into a whirlpool of sadness and self-pity. But I wouldn’t let him see me like that.

“I moved on,” I answered, my heart giving a painful lurch in my chest that told me the sentence was a lie.

Aiden’s jaw clenched and he looked like I had slapped him across the face. “Moved…on?” he repeated slowly.

“Yes,” my tone felt harsh, but I continued anyway, taking a few unconscious steps toward him as I continued, “I accept that you’re nothing but a low life assassin, one that plays the people around them for some sort of sick form of entertainment.” Not a single word of that was true. But maybe, if I upset him enough, he would leave, and I wouldn’t have to deal with his execution. “We were never friends, and you never cared about me,” I spat poisonously. Although I felt like I could burst into tears if that last part was true, I thought maybe if he felt even a fraction of the pain that I did…That maybe he might somehow understand what it was that I felt for him.

Aiden looked into my eyes as each word left my lips, his own gaze remaining unreadable. I only realized my mistake when Aiden’s arm leapt out from behind the bars and wrapped around my waist, pulling me toward him. I had moved too close. I attempted to right myself and wrench myself away from his grasp, but he held me tight against the bars in front of him, keeping me still with ease. I had always assumed he was strong, but he proved my theory at that moment.

“Let me go,” I ordered in a deadly tone.

“No,” Aiden replied instantly, trying to look into my eyes, but I looked away, down toward the floor. “I already did that once, and it was the worst decision of my life, so I’ll be damned if I do it again.”

That got my attention. I looked up from the ground and examined his expression. He caught my eyes with his own and I couldn’t look away. Using his free hand, he reached up and touched my cheek lightly, looking lost for a moment. I could feel my reserve breaking, crumbling away from me.

Aiden’s forehead was resting against the bars, and I knew that he was as close as he could physically get to me at that moment. He must have known it too, because he looked completely and utterly frustrated. Our faces were still a good few inches apart, and I had considered closing that distance a few times already. Instead, I closed my eyes and turn my head to the side, trying to compose myself again. Aiden’s hand fell away from my face absently, and I found that I wished it hadn’t.

The door that General Darren had left through before, opened again and I pulled myself away from Aiden. I was surprised to find that he let me go, his arm falling to his side as I continued to back away from him.

“Time’s up,” Darren informed Aiden as he approached me.

Aiden was still standing near his cell door and he wore a half-smile on his lips. An ironic, dangerous look, nothing like the usual smirk I had become accustomed to. “I realize that,” Aiden replied in a slow, mocking tone.

“Dismissed,” General Darren said to me without looking in my direction.

I hesitated and looked at Aiden, who was watching me intently. His eyes practically pleaded for me to stay. But I couldn’t, not with a direct order to leave. I closed my eyes and turned away, walking slowly toward the exit. I would go and get myself cleaned up, change clothes and figure out what I was going to do once my head was clearer, and not cluttered with images of Aiden distracting me. Because at that moment, all I wanted to do was fall into his arms and pretend like everything would be all right.

___________________________________

Aiden’s Point Of View

It had only been a matter of weeks since I had last seen her. And yet Angel had pulled up every single wall she had to keep me out, maybe even more than before. It was infuriating. She goes through all of the trouble to make sure she leaves me behind, because she says she loves me, and then I go against everything she asked me to do just to see her again, and she’s a completely different person.

I had no idea what had made her that way in the past few weeks, but she couldn’t stay that way. I wouldn’t let her stay like that.

I watched her walk away from me, feeling like I was suffocating when I couldn’t stop her. But I ignored that feeling and turned my attention to the insufferable General before me. He was a tyrant, and he was trying to keep Angel from me. As if I would cause her any sort of harm. Grimacing to myself, I recalled that I had caused her plenty of harm twisting her emotions around until she became something that allowed me to have her. I tried not to think about that too much.

“I held up my end of the bargain,” the General informed me when I continued to stare at the door that Angel had left through.

“You did,” I agreed between clenched teeth. Not that it entirely mattered, since I would be walking out of that prison in a short while and then I would find Angel and talk to her as long as I wanted.

“You’re a fool,” he informed me and I turned my attention to him begrudgingly. “To think that you had won over Angeline,” he scoffed. “Pathetic.”

A cruel smile twisted onto my lips. “Ah, but I have won her over,” I told him carefully and elaborated, “you just can’t see it as long as you continue to look at her as the person you knew before she met me.”

Darren frowned at that, clearly not believing my words. “Angeline is a sweet girl, full of passion and virtue, spending a few off days in the hands of scum like you wouldn’t change that,” he told me fiercely and didn’t allow me to respond before moving onto another topic. “Now, for your end of the bargain.”

I rolled my eyes at how eager to please he was, and then reached into my shirt and produced a sheaf of paper. “Everything you need to know is on this paper,” I said lazily, offering it to him. General Darren took the paper carefully and examined it. As he did so I added, “You’ll find that by the time you reach the bottom of that page that I’m locked up in here for no reason.” I gestured around my cell and distantly thought of how I would find Angel again.

A few minutes passed in which the General scanned over the document and then finally he looked up from the paper to regard me carefully. “Where did you find this?” he asked suspiciously.

“I have my sources,” I deadpanned. I had provided the information for him, he didn’t need to know where it came from.

“How can I be sure that you didn’t create this contract yourself?” he inquired accusingly.

I frowned. Typical, just because he was given exactly what he needed, he had to assume that there was a catch, or that something was amiss. Too good to be true. “I’m guilty of many things in my life, but faulty contracts aren’t in my line of work,” I assured him with a snort.

“And this…contract, is between some hired hand--”

“Lee Buric,” I corrected with a nod of affirmation.

“Lee Buric,” he repeated with a grimace. “And King Ferrard of castle Reloir?” he finished his previous sentence.

“That’s exactly who the contract is between. If your reading skills are up to par, you’ll find that the King’s precious heir is perfectly safe, and not in any way tied to me,” I concluded simply. I was going out on a limb to hope that General Darren would believe me, but I had to hope he had enough honor to know when to let an innocent man go. Even if he didn’t care for that particular man’s lifestyle.

“Then where is King Salemon’s son now?” Darren asked me seriously.

I sighed. “Must I do everything for you?” I asked in a growl, although I had anticipated that response, so I had already taken the liberty of finding out exactly where the toddler had disappeared to. “It was obvious enough that Ferrard wouldn’t have the child killed. Although he’s a despicable man in many ways, he’s hardly a man worthy of killing a child. So, he had him kidnapped, and had him brought to his own castle. Then, had the rumor that I was responsible for the toddlers untimely demise spread around.”

“Why would he blame you?” he asked, looking ever-so-slightly like he was believing me.

I smiled sarcastically. “He doesn’t like me very much. Turns out he doesn’t think I would make a suitable husband for his daughter,” I replied nonchalantly. I had accepted that I would have some problems marrying Nailah, but I didn’t think the biggest problem would be that I would fall in love with someone else before the wedding day.

The General snorted at my reply. Maybe that was why Angel did that so much, living around a snorting fool like Darren for far too long. Of course when she did it, there was some shred of adorableness to it. When this six foot slab of meat did it, there was nothing to the act. I drew my thoughts away from that as Darren said, “Can’t say I’d blame him.” He frowned suddenly and narrowed his eyes in my direction. “A suitable husband? So you’re betrothed?” he wondered a little accusingly.

I scowled at what he was inferring. Although, if he had made the inference several weeks ago he would have been correct, and I suppose I was guilty of some form of cheating on my bride-to-be. “I was,” I answered after a long moment of thought, “but the engagement was called off suddenly.”

“Because you’re in love with another woman,” it was a statement, not a question.

The sarcastic bite in his voice made me shake my head. “Precisely. However, the woman I fell in love with seems to have become a shadow of her former self. Which makes me wonder what happened these past few weeks that she’s been back here.”

Darren’s eyes darkened at the mention of Angel’s current state. “We found her outside the castle borders surrounded by bandits and ready to let them have her life,” he replied stiffly. “However, we stopped them and brought her back to Castle Burdock with us, but she wasn’t as she had been before she was taken several months ago, by you.” The General took a calming breath and then added, “She’s never been in such a state of reserved depression before, not even when her father was killed, and she wasn’t as such while she worked behind the safety of these walls. So whenever it was that she became this way, it was not because of anything that happened here.”

I pondered that bit of information. “I’d like to talk to her again,” I said quietly, although I knew it was a request that would likely be denied.

General Darren eyed the contract in his hand for a long moment. “Although this may prove your innocence, I’m afraid you won’t be leaving this room until the King’s son is safely returned.”

I clenched my teeth in frustration, but remained externally calm. “Fine, if you feel the need to do so. But as long as I’m here, I still want to talk to…Angeline,” I stated, hesitating over her full name.

“I don’t like you, Aiden Stone,” Darren informed me with a sigh.

“Nor do I care for you, but I think we both already knew that.”

“However, If I were to have a daughter, I imagine she would be somewhat like Angeline. And as such, I wouldn’t let my daughter associate with you if it were in my power to prevent it,” the General spoke calmly, but firmly.

“Listen to me, General,” I said in a low tone, feeling the anger rise in my throat. “There is only one thing that brought me here, and there is only one thing that is keeping me here and I can assure you that it isn’t these petty iron bars. If I’m not allowed to speak to her, then I can assure you that I will escape despite any attempt you might make to stop me.”

“Only guilty men run,” he spat, clearly finding my threat to be something to be upset about.

“And only fools rush in, considering I rushed into your clutches perhaps that makes me a fool. But a guilty man I am not, not of these crimes at least,” I answered, attempting to calm myself. I would talk to Angel one way or another, this man wouldn’t keep me from her.

General Darren looked at me for a long moment, then said, “I’ll see how much truth there is to your words about King Ferrard, and if you’re telling the truth, I’ll make sure that you’re set free. However, when it comes to Angeline, I promise you nothing. If she doesn’t wish to see you or talk to you, I won’t ask her to do so again.”

I paused for a long moment, mulling over that information. Then I replied, “Fine.” I could only hope that Angel wanted to see me again, hopefully as much as I wanted to see her. Preferably, with a smile adorning her lips, with that spark of life back inside her. If she didn’t want to see me, or talk to me, that was a damn shame. Because if I had learned nothing else from my mother, I knew that sometimes you had to fight for what you loved. And from my experience with Angel, she could be a damn good liar when she needed to be. I would need to talk with her when there wasn’t an audience, and that overbearing General wouldn’t be looming around.

Without saying anything else, General Darren turned and left the room, leaving me alone in my cell. So I sat down against the back wall and sighed while I began to devise a plan.