The Spoils of War (COMPLETED)

A Fated Meeting

Jasmine quickly packed her meager belongings and she stole glances at the wooden door to her room. They called it a room but it was barely a closet. From her pallet on the floor she could reach out and touch all four walls if she tried and when laying down she had to scrunch herself up. Half the time she worked from sun up to past sundown and never knew when they would remember to feed her.

During the war she lost her family, friends, and her home. With no money and nowhere to lay her head she searched for a job. That is how she came to meet the Wrights. At first they spun such a marvelous story of how life would be working for them. They had a daughter only a little younger than Jasmine and they would become the best of friends they were just sure of it. They would put her in a nice room where she would wait on the young miss of the family.

What they said and what they did were two totally different things though. The moment she stepped into their homes and gave them her identification papers they owned her. They locked her up for a couple of weeks until she was announced dead, not that she would have anyone left to look for her. Then they started putting her to work. At first they put another servant with her as a "guide" but really they were a spy to make sure she wasn't trying to escape. They hardly fed her to keep her from having much strength but would give the arduous tasks that had to be completed in a timely manner or she would be punished.

The lashings were nothing in comparison to the mental abuse she suffered through. When she did something even slightly wrong the owners of the home would bring up her family telling her that it was a good thing they were dead so they did not see her in her state.

She hardly had a chance to wash her hair, let alone bathe but one day the young master of the house left a servant with a notice that she was to be scrubbed clean. That was the first red flag as the young master had been one of the cruelest out of the whole family. She did not know what he wanted but she had no intention of finding out so that only left her one choice, run away. Truth be told she had been planning it for a while so this only moved the schedule up slightly.

She wanted to get her papers back but for all, she knew they had burnt them the moment she handed them over. Trying to find them would risk the only chance she had of getting away from this place she had to call home. She was supposed to be a servant but she was lower than a slave and she knew the only way to change her fate was with her own two hands.

...

Alaric felt restless as he did every day. It felt like time was slowly ticking by and the only thing that gave him even the slightest enjoyment was drinking. Putting on a dark cloak he stole through the castle walls until he reached a passage that would lead him outside. He paid no attention to the shadow guards that followed him, they wouldn't leave even if he told them to. Not that it mattered, having them there meant he could drink until he couldn't walk and would still make it home.

His advisors wanted him to marry, to produce an heir, and to step up and become king. His father was still alive yet they tried to push it onto him, probably thinking they could control him. A smirk graced his lips as he saw the tavern up ahead, they would be waiting a while because the only date he had was with some liquor.

...

Jasmine cursed, less than two hours on her own and she already found herself in an unsavory position. Three men had grabbed her from behind on her way out of the town knocking her unconscious. When she came to she was in a room with not a soul in sight. She knew she had to get out of there before they returned. A quick survey of the room came up with no weapons which she had already guessed. The door was locked but there was a window which opened to a two-story drop. She tried to use her magic but could feel nothing, a block formed in her throat as a slight panic started to set in. She didn't have much magic to begin with but it still would have been nice to have that assurance.

She was about to start knotting the sheets together to climb out the window when the three men that grabbed her walked in. One look at her and a salacious look crossed their faces. Her whole body trembled.

"Where ya going girlie? We were just about to come show you how good we will treat ya if ya stay with us. We promise to be real nice and such." The distance wasn't much and in just a few quick strides she knew they would be on her. A quick glance behind her showed the window that she had left open. Gritting her teeth she turned quickly and jumped. She would rather take her chances of breaking her neck in the fall than staying with those men so they could do goddess knows what to her.

A scream tore from her throat unbidden but instead of finding a hard cobblestoned ground she found herself cradled in muscular arms. Looking up she locked eyes with a pair of slightly unfocused orbs. He was wearing a hood which seemed to have fallen in his movement to catch her. His silver hair was shaggy but looked soft and made her want to run her fingers through it.

She coughed and tried to get out of his grasp. "C-could you release me now?"

Her words must have reached him, at least partially as he sat her on the ground but did not take his hand off of her. Now that she could get a better look at him her face lost all color. It would be hard not to recognize the prince of this kingdom. He was way above her station and she had just fallen on him. "Name." His voice was husky and had a hint of liquor on his breath.

Thoughts of what would happen if she gave her real name blasted through her mind at the speed of light. With a forced smile she answered too sweetly. "Elizabeth."

Alaric could tell she was lying but did not know why. Before he could ask her to please tell the truth three men came running around the corner out of breath. He could see the anger in their eyes as they looked at "Elizabeth".

" You wench! Do you think you can run away from us? We were going to be nice but no more." Alaric was not even a spec in their eyes as they all focused on her. He could feel her trembling through the hand he still had on her wrist. These men had done something to her and he would not stand for that.

Stepping forward he released her wrist. "Do you have some business with this woman?" The liquor had already almost run its course through his system and he was sobering up. He could tell at a glance they would be nothing to him in a fight. After all he was only scared of fighting one person and she was no longer around... He winced at the thought of Morgianna and focused back on the here and now. "If not I suggest you leave." He showed them a smile that looked like the feral grin of a cat that got the canary.

The men exchanged a look as one whispered to the other two. "Is that the prince?"

"Can't be, he should be in the castle."

"But it looks like him..." They argue back and forth a few minutes before putting their hands in the air. "We have no business she just looked like someone we knew..  If you would excuse us." They turned and ran like dogs with their tails between their legs.

Alaric felt good about himself and turned to look at the girl only to find her gone. She had used the distraction to run. The scared look in her blue eyes pulled at his heart. He hadn't even had a chance to find out what her real name was. With quick feet he spent the next hour looking for her but came up with nothing. Then with a heavy heart he trudged back to the castle.

Jasmine had run as hard and fast as her legs would go. Only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the gate that would get her out of town. She looked over her shoulder searching the crowd for silver locks but saw none. It seemed she had successfully avoided her pursuers as well.

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Word count before note:1537

This will be slightly different from THE DEATH OF A TIME VIEWER as there will be a clear female and male lead. I also do not think it will be nearly as long.

Alaric and Jasmines story has just begun but I hope you all enjoy. :)

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