Her Protectors, Their Love

Her body ached. Not like the ache after love making. That was a great hurt, one that she enjoyed. This was completely different. Her eyes opened slowly, finding her room dark and warm. Beside her Patrick sitting up. She could hear pages of a book being turned, she was sure he was reading. From the balcony she could hear voices, John and Cameron, carrying on the soft breeze. Her eyes kept searching until she found him, sitting in front of the fire, using a poker and watching small sparks form. He looked worn to Yvette, his face stained with tears. She'd never seen him cry before but there he was, silently allowing tears to run down his cheeks. She couldn't take it anymore and slowly said "Mal" as she tried to sit up.

Their reactions were instant. Patrick sat up, dropping the book to the floor and turning around to face her. Mal dropped the poker in the holder, cleaning off his face and walking quickly to her side. John and Patrick heard the shuffle and walked back in. As the approached her bedside, she could see how pale they all were and how the color was slowly inching it's way back into their faces. "Don't move," was Patrick's first words, pushing her back down gently. She felt Mal's hand grab hers as he sat down next to her. Even with the warmth in the room, his hand was freezing cold. John had walked to the other side of the bed and as Patrick moved aside, he pulled the sheet down and her eyes found her bare body, bandaged up tightly and red.

"How's our princess," Cameron said with a smile, trying to catch her attention as John worked to gently undo the bandages to make sure the bleeding had stopped. She was thankful for the chance to stop feeling self-conscious. They had all seen her naked before but not all at once and not like that.

"What happened?"

~~~~

Mal could see him, following the other men through the gardens. He was holding his side, trying his best to keep up but the loss of blood was making it harder with each passing moment. Yvette, bleeding from her side was fresh in his mind. His Yvette. That's when he caught up with him, grabbing him from the back and slamming him down. With momentum he was now standing over the man, kicking him straight between the legs. The man let out a yell, going to protect himself but it was too late as Mal did it again. Patrick was picking him up, Cameron going to punch him in the face, breaking his nose. The man screamed again, although it was muffled from the blood that began to pour down his face. Patrick pushed him away, kicking his back, almost breaking the man in two. His screams were making Mal angrier.

"Is that supposed to make us stop? Your yells of pain?," Mal laughed as he punched the man in the mouth, feeling teeth give way.

The man feel to his knees, holding up his hands over his head, "Please," he begged, shaking his head slowly, "Please have mercy."

"Who sent you?," Cameron asked, over the noise.

"We were hired. Hired to bring pain to the king. To kill as many as possible."

"Bastard," Patrick said, kicking the man's leg causing him to collapse. He picked him up again, bringing him back to his knees.

"Please!"

"We didn't ask WHY you are here. We see the damage. WHO sent you?," Cameron asked again.

"King Jaspar."

King Jaspar, Mal thought to himself in order to remember and slowly pulled out his sword. "I won't give you the pleasure of a fast death sir. You will feel the pain my princess feels ten-fold."

The man whimpered but Mal laughed again, "Oh don't worry. She gave you one cut already and you'll be dead after I give you nine more."

~~~~

"The man died. He gave us all the knowledge we needed. Don't worry your little head," Mal said, rubbing her fingers gently.

"I'm not worried. You killed him didn't you?"

"You bet."

"Good," she said with a small sigh, turning her attention back to John who was cleaning the wound. "You, my John, are amazing."

John turned red, looking up at her with a smile, "Same to you princess. You were a trooper."

Suddenly a knock was heard throughout the room. John quickly tucked her back in up to her chin, everyone moving away from her bed. Mal looked back at her with hot eyes. "Pretend to sleep. Now," he whispered. She closed her eyes, but she was sure that they were prepared to kill if it was someone not of their kingdom.

Again a small knock and the door opened revealing King Argon. Argon looked as bad as they had until Yvette had opened her eyes. Yvette was trying her best to appear asleep but wanted very much to see what was going on. John noticed and he grabbed the candle at the head of her bed, blowing out the flame so that the King couldn't see her face completely.

"King," they all said at once, bowing.

"No formalities. How is she?"

She could sense all of them ease up and she was sure they were now all looking at her and she closed her eyes lightly enough to appear to be sleeping.

"I got the bleeding to stop. She's been sleeping."

There was a long moment of silence, she could hear their breathing the room was so still. I was hard to pretend to be so peaceful but finally she heard them all move away again and she opened her eyes a little.

Her father looked around her bedroom, "When she first got her own bedroom, I made sure the best men did the work. The best. I am thankful you are her guards. She is my sweetest child."

"King... who else was hurt? How many lost?"

"Many. Most my daughters. Please... tell my daughter Princess Kaitlyn died."

She felt her body want to scream, but she stopped herself. The pain from the wound was nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. Kaitlyn was her sidekick, her partner. Her heart ached as she heard her father continue, "It was a good thing you didn't take Yvette to the throne room. The doctors couldn't keep up with so many at once. I know how close the two were.... Please tell me."

"We will," she heard Patrick say quietly.

Her father took one last look towards her bed and she could see the sadness in his eyes. When he had left she gave out a loud cry, one she'd held in since the second she knew her sister was gone.

Outside her door, King Argon wept in silence.

~~~~

She felt Mal's arm wrapped around her as they lay in her bed. The others had retired for the evening, but as Mal went to leave she grabbed his hand, not letting go until the others had left, never noticing that Mal had stayed behind until they had left the room. To make her feel more comfortable he'd taken off his shirt and she could feel his skin pressed against hers as she was still bare. She could feel him deeply breathing into her neck, sure he wasn't sleeping. Slowly, Yvette rolled over to face him, watching his eyes open.

"Be careful, you'll open the cut."

"Shush. Don't look so sad, I'm here."

He was pushing her onto her back again, lying on her good side over her. Mal pushed the hair away from her face. Her brown eyes were bright, as if her cut was nothing more than a scratch. He kissed her lips softly, feeling her let out a slow breath and wrapping her arms around his neck. "My love," she cooed.

His heart beat rapidly. There were the words. The words his heart had been dying to hear. He pressed his lips to hers again, harder than the last one. "No," he said slowly, pulling away, "You are my love." He kissed her still bare chest, "My heart."

Yvette let out a groan and he laughed a little, kissing the tip of her nose, "We can't you little brat, last thing I want is you busting a seam."

"Oh but we'd have so much fun doing it," she protested, crossing her arms.

Mal smiled, pulling her arms apart, "Don't cover those now, those are my favorite two pillows." With those words he leaned down, taking a nipple into his mouth and teasing it with his tongue. She grunted, running her fingers through his hair.

"If you won't finish the job, don't start."

"Well... I can't do much...." Soon his head was heading down, past her navel to the wetness between her legs. She smelt clean and sweet and the second his mouth touched her body Yvette moaned happily. His tongue was rubbing her core, tasting her juice. The thought that he'd never get to taste her again had been killing him. She was in ecstasy, the pain in her body nothing compared to the pleasure she was feeling. Mal was helping the pain in her body, in her heart, melt away atleast for a little while. He took small little bites at the tip of her clit, watching her swell with each one. He mixed the licks, long ones and then short ones, causing her body to shake.

"Mal, right there my love. Right...."

She couldn't hold it in anymore, letting a small orgasm escape her. He licked at her, watching her orgasm moisten her body. "That's my girl," he said, kissing her clit one last time.

~~~~

The next day, she was sitting beside Endora as they faced the graves of some of their sisters and brothers and one of the King's wives. The bliss of the night before was now replaced with sadness. Their guards were with them, although at that same moment some guards were being buried in the military cemetery. Yvette looked around, spotting her mother standing with the remaining wives and her father, who was speaking now with a solid, solemn tone, her brother Edward beside them.

Under her dress she was uncomfortable, the tight dress made tighter by her bandages. She felt the black veil scratching her nose, causing her to fidget. She'd never been this uncomfortable or in pain. All of the guys had insisted she didn't need to go, that Kaitlyn would understand why she wasn't at her funeral. As sure as she was that they were right, she felt deep inside that she needed to be there. So with a pale complexion and heavy heart she sat, holding a handful of daisies.

Endora had been one of the few princesses unaffected, Jacob was quick to act in grabbing Endora and exiting the room. Aiden was hurt in the shuffle, but recovering quickly in the hospital wing of the castle.

Yvette began to feel the tears rushing out as the dirt was put back into the hole in the ground Kaitlyn's elaborate coffin rested in. Without warning, fingers were slipping into her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She gave Endora a confused look. Endora was also silently weeping, her look understanding. Yvette turned her attention back to the grave but they continued to hold on in what they knew was a brief truce in their sisterly war. Their guards wanted to smile at the scene before them, all knowing that the two had always loved each other, but the sibling rivalry was a fun alternative to getting along. They didn't however, remembering their place and that on the other side of the palace property, friends were being laid to rest.

"Today," the King began, taking a handful of dirt at the first grave, "I will remind you all what is at stake." He threw in the dirt and moved on to the next grave, repeating the process. "Our lives, the lives of the ones we hold dear." He continued to move down the line, then onto the next row. "We must stand together or we will fall. Our enemies did this in an attempt to divide us, to break us down into parts so that we are easy to destroy. We can not allow this. We will not allow this."

Yvette sniffed, trying her best not to weep at the thought of losing her guards, her mother, more of her sisters or brothers. Even her father.

Her father continued, "Do not let what the rebels did break you. Do not forget what you see before you. They will not win this war."

~~~~

"Does that mean you will leave me? If there is a war? All of you?"

"None of us," John said looking up from her bandages. They were alone in her bedroom, the others off to military cemetery while John stayed behind to tend to Yvette, sitting up on her bed in her nightgown. "You really should have been in here resting you stubborn mule. Even in the loosest dress you own, it was too tight for the bandages."

"Loosest BLACK dress," she reminded him.

He sighed and smiled a little, doing his best to wrap the bandages properly. It was hard with her studying him the way she did when they were alone. She tended to do it alot. She didn't mean to really, it was just nice to watch him move and talk different when it was just the two of them.

"You saved me," she said finally, rubbing the top of his head lightly.

John couldn't help but smile, this time wider and brighter than before, "You're too strong to die from a little scratch."

"Scratch? Did you look at that thing? It was weird John, I could feel it go in. It was so...." She shook a little as she remembered, making him get up, resting beside her. His arms wrapped around her and she found her way into his arms, sitting between his legs and resting on his chest. "I never want to feel that again."

"You won't. I promise," he said into her ear, kissing her shoulder lightly. She shook again, this time a good shake and went to turn around but she stopped herself in pain. John held her as she panted the pain out of her body. "You should be resting. I'll let you."

She shook her head, reaching behind her and massaging the warmth between his legs a little, "No thank you."

He groaned, leaning his head back starring at the ceiling, "Yvette...."

"Say it again darling."

He smiled, bringing his head back to kiss her shoulders as she continued. "I'm not going to be as rough as I usually am so no asking me to go harder."

"But it's the best part," she pouted.

John laughed, letting her rest back on the pillows. She pulled off her night dress slowly, although her body wouldn't let her do it any faster than that. He was busy unbuttoning his shirt and his pants. "Hurry would you? Getting a tad cold."

"I can fix that," he said slowly, inching his way to her body and resting softly over her. His lips drove her insane. She loved feeling John completely naked next to her body. She felt tiny next to him, his body covering hers in his muscles and sweat. He'd worked his way into her wetness, feeling the soft surroundings slide against him. It was smooth and warm, taking him in deep with each thrust. She grunted and grabbed onto his lower back helping him push deeper into her body. The pressure was intoxicating and made her feel a little like she was drowning. He was trying his best not to hurt her, hovering over her body, but she was getting frustrated from the lack of contact and was doing her best to use her legs in an attempt to get his chest against hers.

Eventually he felt her legs give up, a small shake forming deep inside her. He pushed himself into the growing patch of wetness between her legs, grunting as he worked at the spot deep within her. "How about you cum for me? Hmm?"

"I... won't," she laughed between thrusts.

He grunted, humping her harder now with no concern for her wound, "You will. Do it before I do it alone baby."

"No," Yvette responded stubbornly but her body decided otherwise. She came, letting a low deep noise escape her lips. She heard him respond with a similar grunt. He was cumming, pushing against her body as he released himself against her walls. He could feel her lips kissing his neck, breathing in his scent with deep breaths.

"Hurt?"

"Far from it my dearest. Far from it."

He rested back down next to her, pulling her small body into his arms. She was dozing off, rubbing her fingers over his dimples. "You saved me."

"And I would do it again."