Exiled

Exiled- Chapter two

Zohrane felt like she had been walking forever. Her whole body ached, and she felt like collapsing. "Nexus," she panted, "I don't think I can go on any more."
"Oh, come on," Nexus said, "we haven't gone that far."
"It's a lot farther when you actually have to walk!" Zohrane snapped.
""Touché," Nexus replied, "let's find a place to rest."
They found a nice rock on the side of the road, and Zohrane collapsed. She was beginning to think that they would never reach a town. She'd seen next to no travelers on the road, and those that did pass didn't even give her a second glance. "Nexus," she said, "it's already getting late. What will we do if we don't reach a town by nightfall?"
"Don't worry," Nexus comforted her, "we'll manage somehow." A knowing smile spread across her face.
Fairies are very powerful, they just don't like people to know it. They have a deep understanding of Time, and they always know what's going on, though they will never tell.
Zohrane looked back down the road and saw that a man was riding toward them. When he reached them, he stopped.
"You look like you could use some help," he said to Zohrane with a touch of what sounded like pity in his voice.
"And what makes you think that?" Zohrane saw herself as anything but venerable, and would be damned if she'd allow anyone to pity her.
"Well," he went on, ignoring the bite in Zohrane's voice, "judging by the way you're dressed and the very lovely and certainly expensive jewelry you're wearing, coupled with that fact that your obviously delicate feet are starting to bleed…"
Zohrane looked at her feet. She hadn't even noticed them, but they were indeed starting to bleed.
"I would guess," the man continued, "that you are some sort of Atlantean nobility, and not at all used to walking any distance. Also," he got off his horse, "you will not make it to any city by nightfall. All of this information leads me to believe," he extended his hand to Zohrane, "that you could use a hand."
Zohrane remained motionless, save for cocking an eyebrow. He was right, they needed help, but he gave her a strange sort of feeling…
"My name is Vis," he said, hand still extended.
Zohrane wondered if anything that might happen to her on the road at night would be any worse than what this stranger might do to her if she went with him.
Nexus fluttered up and with her own tiny hand, shook Vis'. "My name is Nexus. And this," she gestured to Zohrane, "is Zohrane. And we are in desperate need of help."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Nexus," Vis smiled a dazzling smile, and turned back to Zohrane, "and Lady Zohrane." Once more, he extended his hand to her.
Once more, Zohrane hesitated. She looked at Nexus, who nodded at her. "Well," she thought, "if Nexus trusts him, he must be okay." She took his hand.
Vis bent down and brushed her fingers with his lips. "I am most honored to meet you," he helped Zohrane up and onto his horse. He climbed on behind her and they were off.

Vis talked while they rose, and Zohrane listened. She was exceptionally good at listening. "Speak as little as possible," her mother had always told her, "you'd be surprised what you can learn and accomplish simply by listening." Zohrane learned that Vis lived with his aunt and uncle. His parents had died when he was four years old, twenty years ago, and all his life, he'd bounced around living with this or that relative. He'd been living with his aunt and uncle for six years and although that was the longest he'd ever lived anywhere, it didn't feel like home. Currently, he did odd jobs at the store his uncle owned, which he sort of liked. He got to read all the books that came in, he liked that a lot. He told her that he'd ridden to Atlantis the night before because he'd heard that they were going to exile the princess, but he'd gotten distracted this morning and hadn't been able to see it.
Zohrane almost burst into tears. "Yes," she said quietly, "I heard about that."
Vis asked about her life and why on earth she was walking from Atlantis alone with no shoes.
Zohrane didn't know what to say. She didn't know Vis well enough to tell him the truth, even though he seemed very nice. On the other hand, he'd been far too kind to her for her to be so rude as to lie. "I really don't want to talk about it," she opted.
"Fair enough," he said, "I forget sometimes that not everyone is as open as I am." Ever so slightly, he leaned closer to her, as if he thought it would make up for her not letting him in. "Care if I take a guess?"
"Go ahead," she said.
"Okay," he smiled, "I'm going to say that your family was attacked by giant mutant chickens, and they are all holed up in the cellar while you go on a quest to find a weapon with which to defeat them. And the reason you have no shoes is because that is how that mutant chicken track you."
"Wow," Zohrane laughed, "how did you know that? Have you been spying on me?"
"What can I say? I'm just good like that." It was starting to get dark, so Vis took the horse up to a run. Zohrane was having trouble keeping her balance, so he slid one strong arm around her slender waist. He pressed her against him. He felt the delicate yet strong muscles of her back and her stomach, he looked at the curve of her neck and the way her hair blew around her round face. She smelled fantastic, too. Some mixture of jasmine and woman. He was suddenly glad that he could only really see that back of her head, he didn't know what he'd do otherwise. Goddess, she was beautiful.
Right about then, his brain, which had been temporarily paralyzed by Zohrane's beauty, clicked on. "What would she want with you?" he asked himself. "She's practically royalty and you're no better than a peasant farm worker. She wouldn't even talk to you."
As Vis wandered through his head, Zohrane was busy with her own thoughts. She'd never really been too interested in sex. She knew about it, of course, but her mother had always told her that her body was not something to be given away to just anyone. "You'll know," she'd said, "when you find the right one. His touch will send shockwaves through you. You'll find yourself making excuses to touch him, and when he's not near you, you will ache for him."
Zohrane wasn't exactly sure what it felt like to have shockwaves go through her body, but she was painfully aware of Vis' arm around her, his hand dangerously close to her breast. And she was also aware of his chest pressed into her back, his hot breath on her neck, and she thought that if he was never this close to her again, she might die.
Both were distracted from their thoughts when the lights of a city came into view.
As they rode in, Vis said, "home sweet home. Welcome, Lady Zohrane, to Kahlja."