Released

“Who’s Jerkin?” the nearest man asked.

“You keep an eye on her,” Lucian said to Ongar who nodded.

Persephone moaned in her sleep and Lucian made to leave. An angry hand grabbed him, though.

“Who’s Jerkin?” the man demanded again.

“Let me go,” he said. “I need to get back to the palace.”

At least five men blocked the way and he swelled in anger.

“Get out of the way!” he shouted and pointed to Persephone. “I need to get the guards looking for the man who did this to her!”

“With all due respect, your highness,” Ongar said quietly, “I think you better answer their question.”

“Why?” he snapped. “If they put a hand on me-.”

“I think you’ll find that these men will get to this man quicker than your guards,” Ongar interrupted.

“What are you talking about?”

“We ain’t gonna let anyone hurt our Perce like this,” a man in the back said. “Are we ‘gents!?” Shouts filled the room and Lucian looked at them all. “Anyone who picks a fight with her has us to answer to!”

Lucian was dumbfounded. He recognized a few of these men: they were outlaws and owed taxes. How in the world did Persephone know men like this?

“How do you all know her?” he asked.

“She never told you?” Ongar asked. Lucian just stared. “Percy is a fighter. Starting about two years after she came her, she started to learn how to fight and use daggers. She would get into fights for money. I kept telling her it would land her in trouble but she never listened to me. Let me guess: this Jerkin’s someone who had a grudge against her from a previous match.”

“No,” Lucian spat. “He is my ex-guard. He killed her mother then threatened her.” He sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Don’t you worry, your highness,” the man that had grabbed him said. All the men were rolling up their sleeves. “If he’s in this village, you bet your crown we’re gonna find him.”

Lucian watched in surprise as they all ran out, fanning out in all directions.

“They don’t even know what he looks like,” he said but Ongar shook his head.

“The men in this area have a way of finding people and taking care of business. Come on, let’s get Percy upstairs.”

Ongar lifted her carefully and Lucian followed him up the stairs. He asked Milly to deliver a message to Uther that he was going to wait until he heard about Jerkin. She rushed to do as he asked and Lucian sighed.

He felt helpless and it only got worse when they took her outer dress off. There were so many cuts on her body that he lost count. Some of them looked deep. He watched as Ongar carefully took a sleeve off her arm. When he took her boots off, a dagger clattered onto the floor and Lucian’s jaw dropped.

“She’s armed at all times,” Ongar said quietly, pushing hair out of her face and grabbing a towel from her wardrobe. “She keeps a dagger in each boot and one in that sleeve.”

“But why?” he asked and helped put pressure on some of the worse cuts.

“Even though Milly and I took care of her the best we could, she had it rough,” he said sadly. “She had to fend off some drunk men. She’s a beautiful young woman and she was an even more beautiful girl. After a man nearly kidnapped and raped her, I taught her some self-defense moves. She took quicker to those than a newborn babe to the breast. One day, she saw some men playing with knives; tossing them at the wall and whatnot. Before I could stop them, she asked about them and the fools taught her how to throw a knife.

“I’m not her father. I couldn’t stop her. And this can be a rough area of the village, your highness. So, I didn’t get in her way. She learned how to use daggers until they became part of her. Folks around here know her as Percy or Slice. Every fight she got into, she won. No one has beaten her before. That’s what appeals to people most about her. You know, I always thought those men had bad intentions. I guess it just shows you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

Lucian sat down at the small table now that she stopped bleeding. The wardrobe was still open a little and he saw something that looked familiar. Intrigued, he stood again and reached in. He laughed a little.

“What is it?” Ongar asked and he showed him.

“She kept it,” he said, running the fabric of his old cloak through his fingers. “After all these years, she kept it.” He looked back at her. “Jerkin is the best swordsman in the kingdom. Why didn’t he just run her through?”

“Normally, I’d say because he wanted to leave a message,” Ongar said. “However, with this bein’ Percy, she didn’t give him the chance to kill her.”

“You think she beat him?” he asked and Ongar glared.

“You call this beatin’ him?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lucian said quickly. “You see, in the palace, we have tournaments in the summer. One of them is with swords. They let the two get bloodied up but they don’t let them kill. If what you are saying is true, she probably would have won had this been a fair fight.”

He sighed and sat back down. One look at Persephone told him this hadn’t been a fair fight.

“What happened?” Ongar asked. “She came back in tears. She looked like her world had died.”

Lucian sighed again. “None of this would have happened if we hadn’t fallen in love,” he began and Ongar listened carefully.

=

The first thing Persephone felt was pain. She couldn’t remember where she was but she felt like she had just been in a harsh fight. Did she fight Marius again? But then the stinging settled in. Marius didn’t use knives…. Whoever she had fought did. Wait. Did that mean she had lost? She never lost!

She blinked her eyes open, hoping seeing where she was would give her some answers. She was in her bedroom at the inn and two people were talking in low tones. That’s when she remembered who attacked her. She cried out as she sat up but Ongar ran to his side, pushing her back down.

“Don’t you even think about it,” he said. “You’re stayin’ here until you’re all healed up.”

“I have to get to Lucian,” she gasped. Her voice was hoarse and her lips bleeding from where the chapped skin tore. “He has to know. Jerkin-.”

“Shh,” Ongar said. “You don’t need to go to the king.”

“Yes I do! He’s in danger!”

“I’m right here, Persephone,” a soft voice said and Ongar moved so that Lucian could kneel down on the floor beside her bed.

She cried in relief. He hadn’t gotten to him yet! She thanked God as he kissed her hand.

“Persephone, tell me what happened,” he whispered.

“He broke into my room,” she said and Ongar came back with some cold water. Lucian helped her lift her head so that she could drink. “He made me write that note but- I couldn’t let you think I’d leave! Not after- So, I tried to think of a way to leave a message of some kind. I pretended to think I spelled words wrong, you know?” She sniffled. “When the letter was done, he knocked me out.

“I woke up in the middle of the street and found my way back to the inn. I knew what happened. He had managed to get me out because I know he killed your father and wants to kill you. Then, on my way back here today, he attacked me. He found out I hadn’t left the village…. I fought back but I could tell I had no chance. So, I gave him a good kick and stabbed his side then ran for it. I barely made it back.”

Lucian kissed her hand again.

“He killed my father?”

“Yes. He wants to be king.”

“I got your message. Well, it was Uther who figured it out.”

“Where’s Jerkin?” she asked and Ongar chuckled darkly.

“If the ‘gents are in a good mood, he’s still alive but bloodied up somewhere. If they’re in a bad mood….”

He spread his arms as if to say anything could’ve happened.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Persephone whispered and Lucian wiped away a tear from her face.

“Don’t be sorry,” he whispered back.

“Why did you come?”

He smiled. “Come now, Persephone. We both know the answer to that question.” She didn’t budge, though, and he chuckled. He kissed her. “Because I love you.”

She smiled and beckoned for him to kiss her again. He accepted a kerchief from Ongar to press to Persephone’s lips.

“I love you, too,” she said in between his dabs.

He was going to speak but the door slammed open downstairs and jeering laughter echoed through the inn.

“Oi! Ongar!” she heard Garth shout. “Bring ol’ Perce down here! It’s about time she gets to see how much I love her!”

“Don’t take all the credit!” Marius shouted back as Ongar and Lucian helped her up. Lucian ended up carrying her. “We helped!”

“Helped with what?” Persephone asked but got her answer as she descended the stairs.

“Good God,” Lucian said.