The Traitor's Wish
Chapter 4
The King's Rescue
Emma rushed to the library, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist. He wasn't just a guard anymore, Kade was her friend, but she still had a gut feeling there was more then he was telling her. More then just a past in the Navy.
She knew anything she wanted to know about sailors knots could be found in a book, so she dove into the knowledge, searching for a similar knot to the one on the bracelet. There had to be a reason he chose this one. It was as blue as his eyes, and as about as tough as his ego, but with all seriousness, it felt like a tiny peak at the man he was before he came here.
Finally she found it. The Carrick Bend, a knot used to tightly weave two strings together. Often found when connecting a sail to the mast. Emma grabbed as many books on knots, ships, and the navy she could find and hurried down the hall to her room, locking herself away to study.
She pulled two strings from one of her corsets and practiced the knots until her fingers bled.
Emma had found a tiny fraction of Kade's past, and she was never letting it go.
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The soldiers' day had started like any other. They were awoken before the sun was up and rushed out to relieve the other men from their posts. Kade was lucky enough to have grabbed an apple on his way out. Very few mornings was he able to have breakfast.
As general, he had to keep a sharp eye on each of his men, constantly patrolling the gardens. Many times during those wee early hours, he found himself wondering back to the princess. He'd heard recently she had been held up in her studies. Each soldier had different opinions on her. Some thought of Emma as a prize. Others respected her and kept their distance. Then there was Kade, who thought he knew his feelings, but so many things had already changed. He needed to get his mind straight before tonight.
The hot sun burned his skin all day, long through his shift and the rigorous training, and the day slowly faded to night. The Stars were hidden well behind a stormy covering of dark clouds. There was no moon in the night sky. Night of New Moon.
For so long he had looked forward to this day, for his big plan to begin. He would never admit it, but he had much worry that day and as he walked through the foggy gardens.
Kade had to hurry, or he would miss his only chance to gain the leverage he needed. The path to Swan Lake was etched into his mind. He made the turns subconsciously, knowing the trail perfectly.
It was too easy really; the King was staring out at the lake, lost in thought. Kade drew his sword quietly. He stared out into the brush and spotted the glowing eyes. His sword cut through the thick night air, flashing the symbol to his crew.
Smee drew his arrow back, ready to let it fly. Kade sprinted with all his might, launching the King out of the arrows path as it grazed his on chest. He grunted in pain, feeling his bloodied side. That was not planned.
He sighed with frustration, and jumped up. "Thieves, your Highness!" He shouted out. "Get to the palace or get a sword!"
His own sword clashed with one of his men. The night hid his identity, but Kade put on a full show, mustering up all his strength to fight off the dangerous thieves. More soldiers came to his aid as his crew jumped out of the brush.
He had no intention of harming the intruders, but if it kept his act believable he wouldn't mind it. If the crew didn't like it they could walk the bloody plank.
His sword clashed to Smee's and he twisted his wrist, flinging his opponents sword into the lake. He met the captains eyes, giving a slight nod of goodluck. He whistled as loud he could, and the crew disappeared into the night.
Kade finally noticed the growing pain in his side. Smee would surely lose a hand for this. He was supposed to aim near the King, not right at the bloody fellow. The other men cheered at their victory, but his thoughts vanished. He came crashing down to his knees with a grunt.
It was Austin Deruse who reached him first. He ripped Kades jacket off of him along with the undershirt, revealing the deep and long red wound across his chest. He called the others quickly, worried for the health of his general. They lifted him together and rushed to the palace.
David had ran in to find a sword, but as he was coming back out, he was met by the guard carrying the wounded Kade.
"Get him to Doc's room!" His order was met with confused faces. Of course, he hadn't told them of the healer yet. "Follow me!"
He raced up the stairs to the hall opposite of Emma's. Snow's trusted dwarf friends called this hall home. He knew Doc could treat him.
David pulled open the heavy door to the makeshift healing room that had been set up when Doc moved him. They set Kade on the wooden table top while the King rushed to the dwarfs room.
He pounded hardly on the door. "Doc! Get up, we need you!"
He could hear feet shuffling around, and the lighting of a lantern before all seven of the dwarfs were staring out the door at him with their nightcap a on.
"One of my men is injured badly. He's across the hall. We need you now."
Doc nodded quickly and followed him down the hall, where Kade was lain.
The cut was his only wound. However, it was deep and he had lost a lot of blood. Doc cleaned the wound with alcohol. Kade, who had just awoken to the burning pain, yelped loudly as the liquid scorched through the open wound.
The men had to hold him down as Doc pulled the grass from it. The shouts had surely woken anyone in this wing of the palace, but before Doc had finished, Kade passed out again from the immense pain. Doc had to wrap his entire torso in linen to cover the full wound.
He sighed quietly, "He'll be stuck here for a few days, but it will heal." Doc explained to the worried King.
David sighed in relief, running his hand through his hair. "He saved my live. He will be treated with the utmost respect." He ordered. "As if you were treating me, understood?" He asked all of the men in the room, receiving nothing but nods all around. Each man held a new respect for Kade, for they knew not the secrets lingering beneath tonight attack.
The King exited with each of the men following behind and closing the door to leave Kade to rest. David positioned one palace guard to stay at the door at all times, tending to anything Kade needed.
"You will tell me immediately when he wakes up."
The boy nodded. "Yes sir."
David went to find Snow. She had probably slept through the whole attack. All the work she does makes her exhausted. He hoped she was catching up on sleep. Her lack of it always worried him. She needs her rest to keep herself strong. If he lost her, his very world would stop.
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It was not until the next day when Emma finally heard the news. Regina spilled the information after dinner as they were walking back to the upstairs foyer. She worried for him, her friend. He was the only person in the palace that felt different to her, like he was more then a pretty face or a strong work force. He had been bold enough to challenge her, many times, in the days they spent together.
Emma stayed calm until her Grandmother decided to go to her room for bed. Then the Princess rushed down the hall to the healing room.
She pushed open the heavy door as quietly as she could and found him laying on his back staring at the ceiling.
"You saved his life." She said in awe, eyes wide staring at the large bandages covering what had to be a deadly wound.
"Do you doubt that?" His eyes stare at the floor, ashamed at her surprise.
"No," she says passionately, stepping forward and brushing her hand on his. "Thank you." She says genuinely.
Kade sits up, staring into her jade greens eyes. A dagger of pain shoots through his stomach, but the butterflies currently flapping in his chest hide the feeling. His face just inches away from hers.
"Perhaps gratitude is in order." It is barely a whisper, but still just as bold. The soldier sitting here, his story twisted in lies and his chest bare, knows he is on the edge of something. He expects her to push away. You're too bloody forward, he thinks to himself.
Emma can hold her own. She stares back with a green fire burning in her eyes. "That's what the thank you was for." She responds calmly, and it drives him mad.
"Is that all your father's life is worth to you?" He asks with a smile, laughing slightly to himself.
"Please," she spits out. "You couldn't handle it."
"Oh princess, perhaps you're the one who could not handle it." The grin on his face and ocean in his eyes is like a challenge for her. She twists her hand around his neck, pulling his lips
to hers in a heated kiss. It may look like lust, but both were left breathless.
She knew her feelings for him had been hiding beneath the surface. That her mind was forcing her to silence her heart and think of him as a friend, as just a soldier, but this kiss quickly undid all those walls she tried to build. If you care for him, why pull away, she thought.
He knew soon he would leave, that he would break her heart and loose himself in the process, but her eyes called to him. She was a bloody siren and he was her prey. There was nothing he could do to stop his feelings for her, the way his heart sped up at the sight of her, even though it was against everything he fought for. She did not even know his name, but here he is, kissing the bloody princess and falling for her by the second.
She pulled away, her forehead resting on his a she sucked in a heavy breath of air.
"Bloody hell." He mumbled.
Her bright green eyes fluttered open as a laugh escaped her lips. She leaned in, close enough that her lips brushed his ear when she whispered, "Tell a soul and you will be immediately dismissed from the royal guard and my father will make sure you're scooping horse dung the rest of your life."
She left with a smirk on her face. Emma knew not what had happened. She did not fully understand what she had done, who she had really kissed. She thought he was general of the guard, someone her father would approve of, but Kade knew if she had known who he really was, her walls would be built miles high, and he would be pushed far, far away.
What has he gotten himself into?
XXX
On the shorter side, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in content hopefully! First kiss, what do ya think?