19

We mound on our horses and set for the journey ahead of us. In silence we ride, until the castles of Gardenia come into view.

At the front my Father waits, and is suddenly in shock when he sees me as well. Father's servants take our horses away into the extra stables, and we all exchange our greetings. Jace walks off with one of Fathers subordinates, and I stay behind to walk with Father.

"Luna," he starts, and I smile innocently. "May I ask what brings you home? Have you come to get your things?"

"Oh my dear Father!" I exclaim. "I am with Jace of course, for the council meeting."

"No."

"I understand the looming threats that have reached the borders, so we will do our best to work with you" I say, ignoring the still expression on his face.

"This has nothing to do with you Luna."

"Father, I am not a child!"

"You have the King as a husband for a reason." He hisses back.

"It takes two to rule as most kingdoms go" I reply, walking faster to the room where all of Fathers members were seated. Ignoring his tense expression, I sit besides Jace and greet everyone else. All of them were surprised indeed, but no one dared to dismiss me.

Jace's hand slyly rubs my thigh under my dress and I push it away quickly. I catch him wink just before he puts his attention back to the members. Heat rushes between my legs and I can't help how horny it made me, just a small touch from him.

The meeting commences. All the subordinates had very old tactics as usual. However, Jace got straight to the point on all the methods that should take place, the arrangement of troops and so on. I initiated some tactics with the arrangement of when the attacks should take place, and throughout the meeting every time I spoke, Father eyefully watched me.

When everything was done, Jace arranged for the horses.

"But you must stay!" my Father bellows at us. "It is almost nightfall, you should set in the morning."

"Night is perfect for a ride." Jace replies quickly grinning.

"It may not be safe for Luna here." Father says now, eyeing at me. I sigh and roll my eyes. Here we go again. It annoys me, the way he so passive aggressively talks to me, why has it gotten much worse? I know he means well, but he never leaves a way to belittle me in daily conversation.

"Father-"

"My Lord," Jace begins. "In due respect, my wife is capable of taking care of herself. It will be her choice to stay or not to stay the night. What would you like to do Luna?"

I stood there astonished by his words. My heart now throbs so wildly against my chest and I am melting inside. How respectable he has come to be, my little monster.

"Well," I say, looking right into Fathers eyes. "I would like to return to Nightshades. But I will be sure to return on my own soon."

"Alright, so be it then. Be safe on your journey back. Well of course you will be, since J-" he clears his throat. "Be safe, my daughter."

I plop a quick kiss onto my fathers cheek and follow the guards back to the horses. We mound on top and set to leave.

We wave back at everyone that had hosted us and move forward into the darkness of the night.

-

Just then, we hear running just near the boundaries of Gardenia. Jace hears them too, because he halts and motions me near the trees.

"What was that?" I whisper, confused by how tense Jace looks.

"This smell," he says, a puzzled expression planted on his face. "It is familiar."

"What?"

"The smell-"

More running between the trees, this time much louder and stompier.

Jace gets off his horse and I do the same, following him to the array of trees close by the border. It is immensely dark, not even the stars in the sky light the way. So I clutch onto Jace's hand, and he squeezes it in return.

"Luna, stay by the horses."

"No, I want to be with you, please."

He nods and we walk closer to the noise. In seconds, my feet give away and I fall, a tight metal wire digging into my skin, dragging me across the field.

"Jace!" I cry, the soil covering my screams.

He turns around and sees me and he scrambles to me, pulling the wire off with this strength.

"What the fuck" he mutters, walking into the darkness where the wire came from.

Three men with crossbows run in the clear and Jace stays still. They go to aim, but immediately lower their weapons when they see Jace. In fact, they drop their weapons and run. Jace speeds after them in the distance, and all I hear is screams, and then silence.

"What the fuck."

I haul myself up and limp to where they went, and as I do, the rotten stench of blood clouds the air.

"Luna, don't come closer."

I ignore Jace's command and walk to him and suddenly wish I had listened. The bodies of the three men were all piled up with an arrow right through their hearts, like a kebab on a skewer. Yikes.

"Jace," I say, reaching out to rub his back. "What happened here?"

Jace touches the sleeves of one of the men and sighs. "These are my men, Luna. My fucking men."

He is right. The crescent on their sleeves are all of Nightshades.

"Why would they be here? Attacking us? Me?"

"I don't know," He grunts, stepping away from the bodies. "As traitors, I had to dispose of them. They might be part of the border threats, I will have to discuss this with my men. Let's go."

Jace grabs my waist and pulls me into him, softly kissing my lips and carrying me into his arms. I let him, since I crave to be coddled even in times of distress such as this. He reaches the horses and stops.

"Luna, ride with me. I'll send a note and stick it onto the other horse, it will surely ride back to Gardenia since we are not far off. Your Father should know about this."

I nod and he carries me on top of the horse, my head on his chest as he rides the horse with me facing him.