The Unexpected Visit

Chapter 24

"How much time should I give?" I asked as Jackson preceded with his two hundred push-ups.

"I don't know, 10 or 15 minutes, probably somewhere in between," Jackson replied in between push ups.

"Okay, why do you do this anyway?" I asked, looking over his shoulder as Jackson switched to sit ups, "And why do you do 200 of each?"

"I have to look good and be in shape. According to the escape plan, I will carry Rebecca and you will shoot, considering your aim isn't half bad. If I don't do this, how will I look like a bodyguard, especially since I might have to keep this role?" Jackson replied, finally breaking into a sweat.

"Don't forget your run at top speed with the followers this afternoon. Are you trying to make them jealous of you by running shirtless with your six pack abs?" I asked, jealous.

"No, it works well enough on you," Jackson replied, smiling broadly.

"H-Hey, that's not fair! I-I don't, no, I would never!" I stammered, my jealousy showing through.

"It's fine, once we get back to the other compound, I won't have as much time to exercise. Anyway, we should get going. We have a lot of people to interrogate," Jackson said, smoothly putting a shirt on.

The interrogations didn't take long, and they had found the culprit and the supplier by lunch. Lunch, however, was at 1:30pm, so it wasn't too much of a feat. Once approval was given, the culprit and supplier were put into a holding cell, waiting until after lunch to be brought to the queen.

"That was easier than I thought. I thought it would take all day," I said, shoving a salad into my mouth, eager to leave.

"Chill. We will hand them over, stay one more night, and then leave in the morning; easy as pie," Jackson said, finishing his salad before me, despite the slower pace at which he ate. "Come on, we will be late. I will meet you outside the throne room. Take him with you so we don't get into trouble," he said, gesturing at a guard then leaving to tell the guard. Being a bodyguard meant you had control over the guards and you could even fire them, with another bodyguard's help, of course.

Not long after that the two men were found guilty and scheduled for execution, we decided to leave. When the next day rolled around, however, let's just say we very nearly got executed ourselves trying to take you with us. If we hadn't left you in your room, they would've killed us; they were outside the door, so we escaped through a window that just happened to be open. Luckily, we got away, and got to come back to get you the next day with the support of your father's followers. Now you know what happened.

Owen had said all of this within the course of a few hours. It was a lot to process, and luckily, Jackson had appeared and finished the story. Owen didn't like being on the bed across from me, and when Jackson came and offered to take over, he immediately came over to me and somehow managed to "force" me into cuddling with him--which wasn't as hard for him to do as Jackson would've wished. Anna came down and frowned at us, but didn't make either of us move.

"I'm going to go check and see if we are getting close. You two should look for the mainland supplies Dad has on here, though I doubt you will," Jackson says but mutters at the end.

"We won't, and trust me when I say this, I don't think he would let me go anyway," I reply, pointing to Owen's iron grip around my waist.

"Well, just make sure you get it before we get there, or Anna will be very unhappy with you; even though I am pretty sure she already is," Jackson says and walks away to find Anna, leaving Owen and me alone.

"You smell good. Do you use perfume or is that natural?" Owen whispers in my ear, lightly touching his nose to my ear as he talked.

"I don't use perfume. We do need to find those supplies, unless you want Anna's wrath?" I ask quietly, turning slightly to look at him.

"Man, you really don't want Anna mad at you, do you? Or is it that you are afraid to be alone with me on a bed, with no one nearby to come save you?" He asks, teasing me, but I tense anyway.

"I'm not afraid, and yes, I don't want Anna mad at me. I would probably be lost without her; I just wish that we got a little more time to hangout, just us, with no interruptions. I'm not afraid of being alone with you; I just don't know how long the two of us will be able to exercise self control. I know my parents drilled into me to not even kiss a boy until we were engaged, but..." I start to say, but stop.

"But what...?" Owen asks, whispering in my ear again.

"I don't know, I guess my resolve just isn't as strong as I thought it was..." I reply sadly, moving slightly away from his touch.

"We can go look for those mainland supplies if you want to?" Owen asks, concerned, wary he pushed me too far.

"No, I just want to stay here awhile and remember," I whisper, and fall asleep in his arms.