Whispers Unsaid

I looked to Jonathan with panic on my face. I latched onto his hand. "What should we do now?" My mind was spinning. For months I had purposely been denying Jonathan's claims of King Zachary's true nature - I was sure there was no way the king was as villainous as Jonathan said - but now the truth of it all was staring me in the face.

"We must go," Jonathan replied.

"Go where?"

"You will see," he said. With my hand still in his, he began pulling me in the direction of the king's horse stables. Suddenly I remembered something quite important and halted in my tracks. Jonathan turned to me, looking quite confused. "Why did you stop? We do not have time to waste, we must go now!"

"I cannot leave Nicolas," I said. "He is practically my own babe Jonathan, I must take him."

I could see Jonathan fighting with himself. Stealing one of the king's horse was a serious matter on its own, but kidnapping a prince? It was surely a crime punishable by death. But in the end Jonathan nodded. "Hurry along and fetch him," he conceded. "I will ready a horse. Be sure not to take too long, Trinity."

I gave a curt nod and hurried back towards the castle. Each one of my muscles was begging me to run, goaded on by fear, but I knew doing so would only draw suspicion. So I walked, albeit at a pace that was nearly jogging. Prince Nicolas was still sleeping when I arrived and he mewled with displeasure when I lifted him from his crib. "I am so sorry to wake you Nicolas, but we must leave," I cooed to him. I tucked him close to my chest, wrapping a special cloth around him so that I would have free use of my hands, and rushed out of the room.

I was nearly outside when I encountered an obstacle. In my haste, I had not noticed another person approaching from around the corner and so I crashed into them; I would have fallen to the ground had they not caught me by the wrist. "Trinity, where on Earth are you off to in such a hurry?" The voice, although it held an air of laughter, brought ice to my veins. King Zachary smiled strangely when he noticed Nicolas nestled against my bosom. "And with my prince?"

"I-I am just taking the young prince outside to the garden, your highness," I stuttered. "Since it is so nice outside."

"You seem to be spending quite a bit of time in the garden lately," King Zachary commented. "Surely you tire of it."

I shook my head. "No, I quite like it."

A smirk graced the king's face. His emerald-colored eyes lit up in a devilish way. "Are you sure you are not trying to sneak away to see Jonathan again?" he asked. I felt my face turn red and I shook my head back and forth. "Do not lie, Trinity. I have been watching you and that pest Jonathan. I see the way he looks at you. There is something sinful happening between the two of you."

"Jonathan is just my friend," I insisted. But even as I said this, I doubted my own words. The more I thought about it, the more his attitude towards me as of late seemed to be more than platonic.

As I watched, King Zachary's face darkened. He tightened his grip on my wrist, causing me to cry out in discomfort. "Do not lie to your king, Trinity," he hissed.

"I am not--" I began.

"Get your hands off of her." Jonathan's voice rang out through the hall and I could not help but breath a sigh of relief.

King Zachary rolled his eyes. "Of course the brave gardener comes to his maiden's rescue," he scoffed. He turned a cold stare on Jonathan. "Be gone with you. This does not concern you."

"I am not leaving until you release Trinity," Jonathan replied firmly.

"This does not concern you," King Zachary repeated, his voice low and ominous. "I am the king and this wench is my property. I will do with her whatever I please."

Rage washed over Jonathan's face. "Do not speak of her that way," he said. "And you are not a king. A king treats his people with fairness. You are nothing but a murderer, a heinous being unfit even for the depths of hell."

I had never seen King Zachary more angry than at that very moment. He released me, forcefully enough that I nearly fell to the ground. The jarring movement woke Nicolas fully and he began shrieking, filling the hall with the shrill sound of his cry. In an instant King Zachary had Jonathan against the wall, and from the depths of his robes the king pulled out a dagger. He pressed the sharp blade against Jonathan's neck and panic flared in Jonathan's brown eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are?" King Zachary roared. He gave the dagger a slight jerk; Jonathan grunted in pain and a trickle of blood slid down his neck. "I should cut your throat, you insufferable bastard. It would serve you right."

Jonathan struggled against King Zachary's grip, but could not break free. I saw the king's arm tense, ready to pull the dagger across Jonathan's throat in a deadly swipe, and I lunged. "No!" I shouted. I shoved into the king, knocking him off balance, and Jonathan was able to free himself from the king's grip. In retaliation King Zachary arced his arm backwards, and the blade of his dagger caught me across the cheek. The force of his swing forced me to the ground and I shielded Nicolas as best as I could as I fell. Jonathan was quick to my side, and he pulled me to my feet, his arm wrapping protectively around my shoulder.

"You will pay for this!" King Zachary shouted as we hurried down the hall. "I will have you both killed, mark my word!"

Jonathan led Nicolas and I to the horse stable, where had one of the king's palfreys prepared to ride. Once we were hidden inside, he pulled me close and studied my face. "The cut is not deep," he whispered, touching his fingertips to the jagged flesh. I winced. "But it will need to be cleaned."

I reached up and grabbed Jonathan's hand. I gave it a slight squeeze, and a smile broke through the serious exterior of his features. "Thank you," I whispered to him. "I cannot imagine what the king might have done to me, but I do not think that it would have been pleasant."

"There is nothing to thank me for," Jonathan replied. His smile grew. "I could not let that bastard harm you. You are too priceless for such a thing." Jonathan slipped his hand from my grasp and moved it up to touch my cheek once again. His movements were slow, but it seemed that before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine. The kiss was both shocking and familiar, and it sent my heartbeat on a race.

Jonathan and I broke apart when sounds of shouting drifted down from the direction of the castle. With only a small smile, Jonathan helped to mount the horse before climbing on himself. Careful not to crush the prince, I wrapped my arms around Jonathan's waist and we rode off into the night.

We traveled for what seemed like hours before Jonathan finally guided the horse to a trot. It was still night and so I could not see very well where we were, but I could see enough to know that it was somewhere I had never been before. "Where are we?" I asked Jonathan.

"You shall see momentarily," he answered. He gesturing ahead and through the hazy light of the moon I could see that we were approaching a castle. My confusion grew. Where on Earth was Jonathan taking me?

Minutes later, we arrived at the gate of the castle. "Halt!" a voice shouted from the shadows. Out of the darkness emerged a man, quite obviously a castle guard. In one hand he held a large shield and in the other a lantern. Attached to his hip was a long sword. I cowered close to Jonathan, using my body to shield prince Nicolas from the guard's view. "Who goes there?" The guard took a step closer, holding out his lantern, and when the light washed over Jonathan and I, the man's mouth fell open. He dropped to his knees, dropping his shield and lantern. "Your highness," he rasped. "You are alive."