The Jem

~43~

Ember stared at Autumn blankly, memorized by how she'd ended up like this but still looked stronger and braver than so many. After a short moment of gawking at her undeniable beauty, he realized she was naked under the bed covers. Ember looked around the large room filled with polished furniture and over priced sculptures then, found a few cozy blankets on an oak chair that had differing types of leaves engraved into it with such fine detail and precision.

He grabbed a blanket made of the finest fabric and covered her very quietly, keeping in mind that one of the strongest kings in their dimension was sleeping a meter away from him. Autumn stood from the red velvet duvets and tugged on the blanket that was now the only thing covering her. He grabbed her hand and they all ran out of the room faster than bolts of lightning.

The girl with the red eyes shut the door gently and pointed to move forward. "Ember what are you doing? And why is your scent not the only one I can detect? Who are the people with you?" She whispered knowing the consequences for disturbing the silence near the king.

"I'll explain everything when we are safe, well...they'll explain everything when we are safe." He jerked his chin towards the others who were no scurrying through the palace like assassins. Ember held her tightly because although she can use hearing and smells to help her find where she was going, he wasn't going to risk it.

                                        ~
They traced their way back to the red stairs that led them out the blood palace and found Deeja and Jermine leaning on one of the walls. Deeja was cleaning out her nails whilst Jermine was pacing back and forth like a guard protecting his queen. Crimson hid the beautiful thought as she heard Ember complain once more, "There's more of you?"

"Yes and this is Deeja." Darya gestured toward the feline and Deeja only pushed Jermine aside and crawled over to the new guy and the naked girl covered only by blankets, at his side. "Fresh meat." Deeja purred with hunger as her green eyes twinkled with delight.

"Why are you guys not dead? That was a lot easier than we expected." Jermine looked all of them up and down.

"Well sorry to disappoint you Jerry but we are frankly all alive. But I have to agree that almost seemed too easy!" Darya pondered.

"So what?! Maybe the Gods were being kind and gave us a one off, lets get out of here before they change their minds." Brice scowled.

"Ok so one, never call me Jerry ever again, and two, I agree with Brice, let's not wait to find out if the king wakes up and sees most of his guards dead."

"SOME, Jerry, I ate a majority of them." Deeja said as she assessed her sharp nails once more.

"Stop calling me Jerry!" The shifter moaned and began walking over to the forest ahead they got back on their horses and followed.

                                         ~

"Whose the element holder, the fae or the skinny boy?" Deeja snorted.

"The guy, his name is Ember and his friend over there is Autumn she's blind but Ember wanted to bring her with us." Hunter explained.

"Stop talking about us like we aren't here!" Ember shot them all glares as he gripped Autumn's hand tighter. "Who are you guys anyway?" He added.

"I'm Crimson, That is Darya, this over here is Hunter, He's Jermine, That's Brice and well...you've already met sweet Deeja over there." Crimson smiled slyly.

"Why did the king take your eye sight?" Darya asked quickly before he could say anything else.

The fae girl cleared her throat then began, "Firstly, my parents were fair rulers in the 7th realm but made it out like they were as horrible as the rest. But when king Spratan found out what they were doing and saw that our people were happy and loving, he killed them all with his bare hands and my parents too. Then, he found out I could hypnotize people so he took my eyesight and tied me to his throne with iron so I could never escape." Her faced filled with sorrow as she finished.

"Is there any way to restore it?" Brice asked.

"Oh yes, there are many easy ways: healers, mages, but...but I guess it was mercy that I did not see what the king did to me. However, I felt it, every second of it and heard it too." Her throat bobbed. Ember patted her shoulder as a sign of comfort, she turned and smiled broadly at him, her fangs now visible but did not look threatening.

"Well then when we return to Rhijaline, I'll get Cecil to fix your eyes and if we find a healer or a mage any sooner than that, we will stop and cure your eyes, you could be of many help to us." Crimson smiled sympathetically.

"I will help you either way, you have saved my life. You see I still have many, many years ahead of me and spending it with him, wasn't my plan." They all knew who she was referring too.

"Please do not pity me, I'm sure you've all had horrible pasts too but, we are all here and we survived through it." Autumn tried a smile.

Crimson looked behind her to Hunter whose face was filled with sadness. She rotated her whole body to face him and held his cheeks with both her hands. "Don't be sad, it's the past for a reason, you move on from it and I promise you one day, when all of this is over and if you want to, you and I will go searching for your parents." A little tear escaped, that was the first time she'd ever seen his soothing aqua eyes shed a tear.

Crimson wiped it softly and he finally met her gaze, "Thank you, for everything." He whispered back with such gentleness that her heart dissolved.