Maidens & Killers

With All Do Respect

     It’s amazing how time can stop and chaos can ensue in the blink of an eye. There’s no stopping Garrick’s fist from connecting with Dain, which triggers an outburst from every member of Navarre leadership standing or dancing nearby. I hear my own father’s wails of “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS.” That is my excuse to get Garrick and I the hell out of here as fast as possible, if I ever needed one. I grab Garrick’s arm and try to pull him to the edge of the dance floor and make our way to the safety of my room but am quickly realizing that my father and General Melgren are now blocking my exit. Fuuuuuuck.

    I stop on a dime and just look at my father, he’s the Lord of an entire chunk of land and hundreds of people, that means he must be a reasonable man, right?
I don’t put a lot of stock in that so I turn and look behind us to see if there is another exit. There I find Dain bent over cradling his nose and his father and General Sorrengail looking concerned at him. Straight ahead is definitely the safest exit. I feel Garrick step his body in front of mine in his normal protective stance and stare down my father. He must note the slight resemblance because I watch the knowledge of who he is slowly creep across Garrick’s face.
“Lord Holsten.” He says with a nod.
“I will have you unhand my daughter, rider and explain yourself.” My father replies through gritted teeth.
Garrick doesn’t budge, and he doesn’t flinch. He’s an absolute stone wall between me and my father.

     “With all due respect sir, I would need her to ask me to unhand her. It is her body I'm…handing after all.” Garrick says with a mocking smirk.
I can tell my father is seeing red and he looks to General Melgren for support. General Melgren looks between myself and Garrick before speaking. “Tavis, can you explain what the hell is going on here?”
“No, but I can.” Dain says walking up behind Garrick and I.
Everyone turns to look at Dain, whose nose is leaking blood slowly, but in general seems to be recovered now.
“I played a stupid prank, you see, on the graduating members of leadership. Went a little too far in Garrick's room. That punch was well deserved, General Melgren.” Dain says, lying through his teeth.
General Melgren just grumbles, “I’ve told them about these pranks. They’re never harmless. Tavis, please escort yourself to your room, we’d like to finish our night without any more drama.”
“Of course General.” Garrick replies and takes my hand as we leave the large ballroom.

    “Maeve! I’d like a word with you.” I hear my father holler.
I think about stopping, listening to him and his demands and threats. I’m sure he will have a few things to say about the company I am keeping. But just before I turn to go to him, I look up and see Garrick standing in front of me, eyes soft and waiting for me to make a decision. Whatever the choice, whether I hear my father out or flip him the bird, I know that he will support me. I make a split second decision and reach up to grab him behind his neck and pull him into a kiss.

     I hear audible gasps from all of the leadership around me, my father’s being the loudest and easiest for me to distinguish. I don’t care. He may take my behavior out on my sisters, he may try to make my mother pay for it, but at this moment I couldn’t care less. I’m so tired of bearing the responsibility of who my father is and the example I’m expected to set that it feels like shedding a weight that has been tied to me kissing Garrick in public like this. Garrick misses zero steps in grabbing me up and putting his arms around me. When we break from the kiss, he whispers in my ear, “Let’s get out of here. They’ll be talking about both of our shows tonight for years to come.”
I think my face is going to crack from the size of the smile on it and we scurry out of the ballroom before we cause too much more bedlam.

    I expect Garrick to turn down the hall to my room, and am surprised when he instead heads for the third year hall. “We’re going to my room. I don’t trust your father not to come barreling into yours to defend your honor.”
I giggle at this,  “You defend my honor way better than anyone else ever could.”
“Damn straight.” Garrick mumbles as he whips open what I imagine is his dorm room door.

    It hits me that I have never seen Garrick’s room and am immediately shocked by its neatness. I expected a 23 year old man’s room to be a mess, but Garrick’s seems almost barely lived in.
He turns and sees my expression, and explains. “I’m all packed up. Graduation is right after War Games.”
My stomach immediately drops to the floor. “Wow, yeah I guess I just didn’t realize that it was getting to be that close.”
Garrick nods, solemn now, “I know it sucks. I understand if you want to cool this off, because I don’t know when I am going to be able to see you again.”
I look at him and shake my head, “What is this exactly? I mean we’ve never really put a label on it and I feel like that is why the whole Dain situation downstairs even happened.” I throw myself into the large arm chair in the corner of the room and watch as Garrick fusses with his bags before sitting on the bed opposite me.
“I guess I was trying to protect you, not label you as someone who would sleep with a rebel kid. I won’t be here next year to protect you and there are alot of people who would look at you differently for it.”  He explains.
I look at him and wait for him to make eye contact with me and hold it, “Is that all we’re doing here? Sleeping together?”

     Garrick huffs, “I don’t think I would have risked my career this close to graduation tonight for someone I was just sleeping with. What’s this about, killer?”
I blush now, embarrassed about what I am about to say before I even say it.  “Well, like I said, I feel like if people knew I was your girl it would stop a lot of the unwanted attention.  The Dain’s and Ridoc’s that may want to try to get with me don’t know what is going on between us until they have your fist in their face. With you leaving and all, I just don’t want to deal with it.”
I wish that Garrick’s expression would tell me something but it’s utter stone. “You do know that you’ve been my girl for a while now right? I don’t care who knows it. We can make a poster and hang it in the dining hall if you want. Or I can ask Xaden as his last act before graduation to make an official announcement at formation…” 

     I jump up from my chair and tackle Garrick onto the bed. I can see that he’s smiling mischievously at me now.  After attacking his face with kisses I just lay there in his arms for a moment. “I don’t need anything like that. Plus, after tonight I’m pretty sure every rider here knows that if you dance with Maeve Holsten her big angry boyfriend is going to come punch you in the nose.”
Garrick snorts, “Make sure you emphasize the big for the first years coming in August. I’d hate to have to go AWOL to come handle some poor delusional twenty year old kid who can’t stop drooling over what’s mine.”
I press a chaste kiss to his chest, right above his heart. “These next few years are going to be hard aren’t they?” I ask in a quiet voice.
Garrick nods, “Very. Xaden and Violet, they will get to meet up every few days because their dragons are mated and Tairn and Sgaeyl cannot be apart. We won’t have that luxury. It’s not fair but it’s the way it is. We can write to each other and mail them but we will have to be very careful and expect everything sent in the mail will be read. We can send more private messages between Xaden and Violet if they are willing but that will be it. I can’t promise you when the next time I will be able to physically see you is.” I can hear the quiver in Garrick’s voice as he finishes that last sentence.
“It’s okay, you're worth any wait.” I assure him as he presses a kiss to the top of my head.

    We lay like that for a while, just soaking each other in when I suddenly hear what sounds like an entire herd of troops stomping down the third year hallway. Garrick leaps up immediately from where we are laying on the bed and I follow him, terrified that my father has rallied his friends and they are coming to imprison Garrick or something crazy like that. Garrick whips open his bedroom door and immediately another third year stops and speaks to him, “We’re reporting to the flight field! There’s been an attack and we can’t find Xaden.”