**OLD DRAFT**Sworn: Book 2 of Protectors**OLD DRAFT**

Chapter 8

***** Hey all you lovely readers! I normally don't do this, but don't forget to vote if you enjoy this story. =) This one is a little shorter than the last one. But you guys will live.*****

Reiner danced with Jade twice more before the King stood at the front of the room and demanded the attention of the crowd. Reiner stood by his father and Jade stood off to the side with Louisa and Charles. The king made a small speech, he thanked the guests that had come, he talked about the tournament, and then he turned his attention toward Reiner. "This celebration comes at my son's birthday. Prince Reiner has grown to a man and in his honor and with my trust I am giving him status of Ambassador of Felkor. With his vision I believe he will bring us great honor and change!" His father held up a ring for the crowd to see and then slipped it onto his son's hand.

                Cheers erupted throughout the ball room and Jade smiled and clapped her hands with the rest of the crowd. Jade watched as Reiner was kissed and hugged by his family members and people came to shake his hand and congratulate him. Jade stood off to the side and watched. The queen came and stood next to Jade while the crowd thickened around Reiner, "You will do your best to protect him won't you?" she asked quietly.

                Jade glanced at the queen from the corner of her vision. "I will your majesty, even if it means giving up my own life."

                The queen looked at Jade and then bowed her head slightly, "Then as a mother I am indebted to you." Jade was shocked as the queen slipped away. She had thought the queen might have disliked Jade but she had shown her great respect and honor by bowing and speaking in such a way. It warmed Jade's chest to see a mothers love and affection run so deep. It pained Jade, knowing that she didn't have her own mother to love and cherish.

                Jade followed Reiner around the ball room as crowd congratulated him. Everyone wanted their chance go see and talk to the young prince that had been given such a responsibility. Jade stood off to the side as people flourished and moved around them. Jade kept a smile on her face as a few highborn spoke to her, trying to guess at her identity and her role in Reiner's life. Jade played dumb and kept them at bay until they became bored or frustrated and left her alone.

                Jade was standing back from Reiner when Jade's blood stirred. A cold shiver ran up her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck lifted and pricked. The ball room blurred as Jade's eyes glanced around the room. Sound muted and the room swam as if in a fog. Jade could hear nothing but the sound of her rising heartbeat in her own ears. What is this? Jade felt as though she had been standing in snow, her skin was ice.

                Jade's legs were as stiff as steal, a cold terror erupted from her stomach and she felt as if she couldn't breathe, the corset wasn't helping. Jade looked around, panicked, searching for source of her distress. In the far distance of Jades mind she felt Phantom howling, but she couldn't focus, couldn't solidify the connection between them, everything around her felt like fraying tendrils of thread. She felt that her very soul was being tugged out of her body. Then, as if by magic, her eyes locked on a figure across the room.

                He stood against a wall between the shadows of two pillars. He was a shadow, clothed in black the darkness seemed to cling to him, it seemed emanate from him. His eyes locked with Jade and she stopped breathing all together. Air trapped in her chest, her head spun and Jade couldn't bring herself to break away from his gaze. The memory flashed in her mind as if she was standing in her father's library all over again. It was him, the man from the night her parents were murdered. His face was covered with a mask, only his dark eyes were visible, but she sensed it down to her very core that it was him. Their murderer, he's here in this room, it's him. An eternity passed as their eyes remained locked.