𝐖𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ➵ 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓼 𝓥𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷

𝟏𝟒 | 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬?

Jace rubbed his eyes as he stirred from his slumber, sitting up and shivering, pulling the blanket up over his bare chest. The morning air was cool, and he and Jace's tent did not have a fire inside to retain warmth. Jace looked over to his sleeping brother, Luke snoring softly and laying in the small thin bed beside his causing Jace to chuckle.

The dark haired boy started to get dressed, ensuring that he did not wake his little brother by keeping his movements slow and delicate. He strapped his belt and sword around his waist and then pulled on his boots, his mind still thinking about Saera's approaching wedding day. It was a horrible thought, creeping into his mind every time he thought about her and causing his heart to drop.

He glanced in his vanity mirror, ensuring he looked acceptable and pushed his way out onto the bustling and mucky courtyard. The ground was covered in horses hooves and men's footprints, the whole encampment jostling and bustling with life. The sky was clear overhead, and stalls for hauling in kill had been set up.

Jace gazed around at the busy courtyard, his eyes bush and searching for one person and one person only. He then noticed her small figure in the distance, strapping a saddle to a horse and facing away from him. He felt a small smile tug on his face, glancing around to see if anyone was paying him attention, but they seemed to be busy in conversation or preparing further for the hunt. He approached Saera, her white hair long, trailing all the way down her back to her narrow waist, blowing in the gentle breeze. He could see her small hands in front of her, fastening the leather saddle properly.

"Are you sure you're tall enough to get up there? I can help if you'd like." He offered with a smirk, watching her shoulders tense up at the sound of his voice, glancing over her left shoulder to see him behind her. She murmured a curse beneath her breath, raising a hand to the right side of her face and starting to march away from him. Jace shot a perplexed look, jogging after her and matching her pace, walking to her left and gazing at her in confusion.

"What is going on?" He questioned, looking at her hand that was pressed to her cheek. "You aren't hiding the sudden formation of greyscale, are you?" He questioned, chuckling at her odd behaviour. Saera didn't laugh, turning away from him once again. Jace watched her once again try to walk off and avoid him entirely, smile fading as his expression became one of true confusion.

"Saera, what is it?" He questioned, grabbing her arm to stop her from walking away from him. She tried to tug it free in a subtle way, as to not alert everyone in the courtyard as to what was going on. She turned to face him, hand still shielding the right side of her face from his view. Jace knew it was improper for him to be holding her wrist in such a way, but in that moment he did not care.

"What is it?" Jace repeated himself with more urgency now, stepping closer to her. Her jaw was clenched and her brows furrowed, looking up at Jace helplessly, knowing she could not continue to conceal her face from him. He gently moved his free hand to the one guarding the right side of her face, pulling her wrist away.

Jace caught sight of the large bruise that marked her cheek, and a small cut above her cheekbone where her skin had split. The bruising stopped just before her eye which was slightly red from a burst blood vessel, blotches of deep purple and green marking her beautiful face. His blood started to burn in his veins, gaze blackening and expression tightening. His heart soared in his chest, thumping like a war drum that was fuelled by complete and utter fury.

"What happened?" He questioned, still holding her forearm tightly. "Who did this?" He asked, but he did not need her to answer. He knew who did it, and he would make Aemond pay. "Did Aemond do this to you?" Jace growling at the sight of her injury.

"Jace I-" she tried to reason with him as he let her arm go, moving past her with a venomous look on his face. Saera rushed after him, moving beside him and trying to reason with him. "Jace, he saw us. Do you know what that means? I know you are angry because he hit me, but you need to understand that if you confront him, all hell will break loose." She spoke desperately. People watched the pair now, noticing how outraged the Prince looked, Saera trying and struggling to keep up beside him. Jace knew that if he went after Aemond there would be terrible consequences, and he would endure them just to watch Aemond bleed for what he had done to her.