Reluctant Hearts (accepting different titles)

A/N: I know, I know. About time right? :) Sorry it took so long. My muse was not cooperatiing and I am working on several other fics. I\'m happy with how this one is going now though. It\'s shaping up to be a long one. I\'ll start on chapter 7 soon too. Haven\'t quite decided what will happen. Some people like to plan their stories out and make outlines. I just make it up as I go. If their are ever weird things that pop up as a result, let me know. I don\'t want to confuse anyone. :) Thanks for reading!


Chapter Six - Alliances

Damon wiped his sweaty face on his sleeve, as Samuel helped him out of his bulky armor. “What a battle. Couldn’t have lasted more than fifteen minutes,” he mused. “I don’t understand this development one bit.”

Samuel dropped the gleaming breastplate on the floor of Damon’s bedchamber and nodded. “Shortest battle I’ve ever been in. Though from the sounds of it, we have your princess to thank for that,” Samuel said with a small smile. “She and her servants killed their leaders right off. Can’t say Hillmen are much when it comes to sieging a castle though. It was clumsy at best.”

“Speaking of whom, where is my bride? I’ve been all over the castle, talking to soldiers and servants, but I have yet to see her,” he murmured. He pulled off the rest of his clothing and stepped into the hip tub to rinse away the blood and sweat on his skin. He was a little disappointed that she hadn’t sought him out, especially after what had happen the night before in the gardens. Maybe she was embarrassed still. Some women were, he supposed.

“Maybe she is bathing and changing as well?” Samual asked, handing Damon a small pot of soap.

As Damon washed, he began to worry. That didn’t seem right. She would have wanted to know what happened, despite any embarrassment she felt about their interlude. He really should have found her; it wasn’t something he was used to thinking about. “It’s dark now. Perhaps she is in her room for the night. She probably got about as much sleep as we did,” he murmured. He stood, after rinsing, and took the towel Samuel offered him. “Maybe I should go check on her.”

Samuel grinned and began to pull off his own armor, so he could bath as well. “Take up where you left off, when I so rudely interrupted?”

Damon laughed a little at that. “No Sam. We have to wait. Can’t have my heir born three months early.”

Samuel winced and shook his head, in mock horror. “It’s going to be a long six weeks.”

Damon yanked up a pair of clean breaches. “Gods, don’t I know it,” he muttered. Pulling a shirt over his head, he waved and left his room. She was probably just down the hall waiting for him to come and report everything to her.

***

“What in the hell do you mean ‘she’s supposed to be with me’?” Damon yelled, hands firmly on his hips and face set in a scowl. Where in the hell was she? Indra and Aria blinked in confusion, standing just inside Oriana’s doorway.

Aria spoke up nervously, “A soldier said you called her out to the battle grounds to help with the search for wounded and that she walked out to meet you.”

“Why in the hell would I do that? I had hundreds of men to do that job. I didn’t need her out there,” he growled. An uneasy feeling started in his gut. Maybe she wouldn’t worry about that and she’d come out anyway. She had the healing knowledge that any other woman possessed, right? She’d want to help and wouldn’t question his summons. “Damn it!” he cursed loudly. “Sam!” he bellowed down the hallway.

Samuel hurried into the hallway, dressed only in a pair of breeches. You’re your Highness?” he called. Damon looked furious.

“Get dressed and go send out the guard to search the castle and its grounds. Oriana is officially missing. Have thirty fresh men start over the surrounding countryside. Also make sure you have the captains look over their men. We have a traitor in our midst,” Damon growled.

He turned to the two concerned women and frowned, “Change and get Isaac. Once Sam is ready, we’re starting our own search.”

He left the two young women, when they nodded and stalked back to his room. It had all been a diversion, he was sure of it. The battle had been laughingly easy to win, but that’s because they had just needed to occupy the attention of the Treston soldiers and their leaders for a short time. Damon curse again and hurled a water pitcher at the wall. The shattering crockery and splashing water did nothing to make him feel better.

Oriana was missing. He knew deep down they wouldn’t find her in the castle. Somehow he felt responsible. He should have seen it; he’d been fighting these men for half of his life. The Hillmen were notorious for setting traps and sneaking about. Their numbers were so few; it was the best way for them to do battle. How could he have been so very stupid?

***

Oriana blinked, wincing as the bright morning sunlight seared into her eyes. Had she left her curtain open last night? She was surprised that she’d slept so late. Normally the sun was just peeping over the edge of the horizon when she walked out on to the training grounds. She preferred the early, calm hours of the day, for practice; before all of the soldiers filled the training grounds and the duties of her daily life crept up on her.

Finally getting her eyes open a crack she sat up and yawned. She felt tired and sore; her mouth tasted awful. Gods, it was like being hung over. Oriana frowned. She hadn’t drunk the night before, she was sure of it.

Looking around, unease started to settle into her foggy brain. She wasn’t in her own room, nor in the Treston castle room she’d been assigned. It was a simple, small chamber with only a table, a single chair and the narrow bed she was sitting on. It looked rather like a cell. Her eyes flew wide as she suddenly recalled the attack the night before. She’d been surround by what she had thought were three of Damon’s men. Leaping to her feet and running to tug on the locked cell door confirmed that they had definitely not been Treston soldiers.

The men hadn’t looked like Hillmen, they had been a little too fair. But then, there were a lot of small villages along their border that could swing either way as far as loyalty went. Growling in frustration she walked back to the cot and plopped down.

It wasn’t hard to determine why she’d been kidnapped. She was very likely a bargaining piece for the Hillmen. Alberia would do anything to get its future queen back and Damon’s family would likely do the same. The princess in her hoped he’d consider the good of his people first, but a small part of her desperately wanted to see him barreling through the cell door, coming gallantly to her rescue.

***

Damon’s expression was thunderous as the small group rode through the soft haze of dawn. Against his better judgment he’d brought his younger brother. He knew it was risky, since Benjamin would be next in line, should Damon die, but Damon needed his brother’s natural skills. Ever since he was very young, Benjamin had shown a remarkable skill for tracking; his sharp eyes missed nothing. Damon’s best hunters and trackers had trained him, informally, of course. Damon trusted him implicitly.

Everyone had been eager to be off, so he had no resistance from the small hunting party. Aria, Indra and Isaac were especially impatient, chomping at the bit when Damon told them they couldn’t leave until the sun came up. Nothing would be found in the darkness that had started to fall. The search parties had already returned, admitting defeat. Instead the small group packed what they might need on their search and had headed out as soon as enough light showed on the horizon.

Benjamin immediately picked up the prints of horses. It was not unusual in Treston to find horse prints, of course; they used horses daily. The size of the prints was what tipped Benjamin off. Damon couldn’t see a difference, but Benjamin was adamant that they were a very different kind of horse than you’d normally see near the castle. He’d also pointed to the odd way they circled around a scuffed place in the grass and dirt.

After riding for a moment longer, Benjamin had flung himself out of his saddle and raced into a small bunch of trees. Damon frowned and watched the young man run across the small clearing between the moat and the tiny forest, wondering what in the hell the boy was up to. It took him a moment to see what Benjamin was headed for, a glint of gold amongst the grass and bushes. He watched in horror as Benjamin picked up a lovely sword with a golden hilt. He clutched his stomach, willing away the wave of nausea. Please don’t let her body be next to it.

He rode slowly towards the clump of tree, pulling Benjamin’s horse with him. $“Benjamin,” he called hoarsely.

“Hmm?” Benjamin murmured in the distance, idly wandering along the line of trees. He looked up and saw the horror in his older brother’s eyes. He wondered briefly what the look was about, before noting the sword in his hand. It was Oriana’s, he remembered from seeing it several times with the princess.

His eyes widened and he pushed into the bushes, looking around frantically. He spotted a piece of cloth and picked it up. The faint aroma of a common sleeping drug wafting up from it. He recognized it because Mother had used it to calm his grieving sister after the death of her husband. It would knock her out for hours at a time. Benjamin hurried back out to his brother, who was looking decidedly pale and sitting on the ground. “She’s not there Damon.

Damon looked up, the relief on his face instantaneous. Benjamin felt a tug at his heart. Damon looked like he wanted to weep. He pushed the cloth into Damon’s hands, hoping to distract the bigger man. Curiously, he wondered if Damon was falling in love with the funny princess…his reaction to her imagined death certainly indicated the possibility. “Looks like she was drugged and then pulled here. She must have dropped the sword as she lost consciousness. There are a few broken branches in there, indicating they traveled through here, probably to get out of view of the castle and the returning soldiers.”

Sam and Oriana’s three servants approached the group, slightly concerned that Damon was on the ground. Indra saw the sword and cried out in horror, clutching at Aria’ s arm. Sam saw it too and whispered, “Is she here?”

Damon shook his head and got slowly to his feet, taking the sword from his brother and strapping it to the saddle of their pack animal. He tossed the cloth to Sam, who sniffed lightly at it and then jerked back. Damon sighed, “Looks like she was grabbed and then taken this way. Let’s follow Benjamin. He said that he saw some signs of their passage.” The group nodded and, after Damon remounted, headed through the small forest.

Damon frowned as they road, his mood darkening by the minute. It wasn’t the fact that they had decided that Oriana had been kidnapped that put Damon in a foul mood really; it was the fact that the Hillmen lived in the opposite direction from which they traveled.

***

Samuel watched Damon silently poke at the fire, wishing he could say something, anything that would cheer his friend even the tiniest bit. Never had he seen Damon so melancholy and moody. Of course he’d never seen Damon in love either, and he was positive that Damon was falling for the wild little princess that had upended his world in the last month.

Before Oriana, women had simply been the occasional diversion from Damon’s responsibilities, lush bodies to warm his bed and body. But Samuel had watched Damon’s increasing interest in Oriana over the past few weeks. He, for one, was a bit envious of what he knew Oriana and Damon would have together, once they rescued her that was.

Samuel was the first to admit that he enjoyed women thoroughly, any kind of woman. He liked them in all shapes and sizes and degrees of beauty. He enjoyed their chatter and giggles, their teasing glances, even the occasional slap or two. It kept things interesting. But more and more he wondered what it would be like to have a true partner in life, not just a bedmate.

His gaze wandered idly to where Aria and Indra were sleeping, Isaac and Benjamin not far away. He knew that Indra was Isaac’s and wouldn’t dare work his charms there. Aria, however, was an intriguing challenge. She wanted him, or was at least interested; he could see it in the looks she shot him. The problem with Aria was that she’d been burned once, very badly. Samuel knew the dark haired beauty had been in love and engaged. She’d given herself to the selfish oaf and then had to pick up the pieces of her heart when he broke off the engagement and took her virtue with him.

Samuel admitted that he’d probably left a few broken hearts on his path of self-gratification, but even he was angered by the callousness with which the man had treated the woman he was to marry. Perhaps, he thought cruelly, that she was better off. Surely a man that would be so dishonorable with her virtue wouldn’t hesitate to stray from their marriage. No with Aria, he would need to tread lightly. He wanted her, he wouldn’t deny that in the least, but idly he wondered what it would be like to make Aria his own.

Damon had apparently noted his gaze on the sleeping young woman. “Don’t even think about a casual relationship with that one Sam. She wouldn’t be able to handle a man like you,” he rasped softly, his voice raw with his own turbulent emotions.

Samuel looked over at his friend and gave him a small smile. “I know. Just hoping for a little more in my life. I turn thirty in a month you know,” he murmured looking up at the stars. They’d stopped to camp in a small clump of trees, hoping that the trees would shield them from the eyes of wandering bandits and Hillmen.

“You sound tired,” Damon murmured softly laying back against his saddlebag and sighing. “Lonely?”

“Perhaps,” Samuel admitted after a long, silent moment. “ I see you with Oriana and even young Isaac with his little Indra, and wonder if maybe I’m missing out on something.” He sighed, “Besides I got a letter from Mother a couple of days ago. My siblings all have children now, you know, and she wants to know when I plan on having my own. She even said she had a couple of merchant’s daughters asking after me, hoping I’ll come home and marry one of them. I was, for a moment, tempted.”

“And give up all of the pretty castle women? They’d die of heartbreak,” Damon said with a soft laugh.

Samuel grunted and sighed. “Do you think I have a chance?”

“To find a wife?” Damon asked softly. “Sure. Any woman who knows you would marry you. Even my sisters have a bit of a crush on you, though Katherine is still deeply in love with Brach, so no meddling there.”

“I assure you I adore your sisters, but more as I do my own. No, I’m asking if I have a chance to be a husband. You think I could do it…commit to one woman forever?” Samuel asked hesitantly.

Damon glanced over at him and smiled lightly. Oriana had mentioned that Samuel looked lonely and needed someone to come home to each night, a special someone. “If you’re asking me that question, then I think you’re ready to be a husband. Three weeks ago the mention of marriage made you cringe and now you’re considering it. It’s a step in the right direction at least.” Damon was quiet for a moment and then sighed. “Don’t pull her into bed right away Sam. It’ll ruin all of your good intentions I assure you.”

Samuel decided not to mention catching Damon and Oriana tangled together in the garden a few days ago and nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He sighed and settled on his seat on a log. “I’ll take first watch. I’ll wake Isaac in a few hours to take over. Sleep a little Damon…and thanks.”

Damon regarded his friend in the fire light for a moment before nodding and rolling over to sleep. He slowly drifted off wondering where Oriana was and looking forward to watching Samuel try to win Aria’s heart. He knew the young woman’s body would be easy to conquer, but her broken heart was likely locked up tight behind a high protective wall.

***

While her friends were miles away, Oriana gazed out the tiny window of her cell, wondering where she was being kept. From the terrain, it looked like Treston or Alberia, but she couldn’t be sure from the small slice of land that was visible. Would she even be found? She sincerely doubted it, not without the ransom going out first. She looked up at the sky where clouds were gathering. Not only did her captors have a full night’s lead, the signs on their escape would very likely be washed away with the coming rain.

Oriana swore and moved back to her cot, falling back on it. Her stomach rumbled angrily and she sighed. The last thing she’d eaten was a hunk of cheese and some bread while she’d stood on the wall the day before. Now it would seem her absent captors intended to starve her. She idly wondered if they really would.

As if in response to her thoughts the heavy cell door clicked and was pushed open. She jerked upright, dropping into a ready fighting stance. Thinking one of the men who’d kidnapped her would come in, the appearance of a tiny young woman threw her off entirely. The young woman, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen, blinked and then grinned.

Oriana stood slowly, warily and watched at the young woman closed the door and walked over to the small table, depositing a tray of food and a pitcher of what Oriana hoped was fresh water. “Come,” the young woman murmured, leaning against the wall and waving to the tray. “Eat.”

Oriana approached her slowly, the smell of chicken and steamed vegetables, enticing her empty belly. “Who are you and why am I being kept here?” she asked sitting down in the one chair and staring warily at the steaming dish.

“Zada,” the dark haired young woman replied in a relaxed tone. “My brother and father brought you here.”

Oriana grunted at the vague information and reached for a hunk of chicken, hissing as it burned her fingers. She popped it in her mouth anyway, humming softly at the glorious favor and texture. Gods she was hungry.

As she ate she studied the young woman, who, in turn, studied her just as openly. She wasn’t very tall, maybe five feet tall. Her black hair hung in a long braid, past her waist, suggesting it would be gloriously long if left unbound. Her eyes were a soft brown, almond shaped and intelligent. A small, fine boned face and full pink lips promised the potential for great beauty in the girl’s future. She’d be a prize for any lord in the area if her breeding were good. Oriana wasn’t typically a vain woman, but she felt a twinge of jealousy over the tiny female, especially when she pushed from the wall and moved around the room with unconscious, natural grace. She moved like a young cat. Oriana idly wondered if the girl could hold a sword; she’d be a natural, Oriana was sure of it.

“You didn’t answer the whole question,” Oriana finally said, sipping some water from a wooden goblet.

“You don’t need to know now,” the girl said mildly, plucking at the covers on Oriana’s cot. “You’re not staying here anyway.”

Oriana choked on the water and only after drawing a few gasping breaths did she respond. “Pardon?”

“I’m taking you out of here while my brother and father sleep tonight,” Zada said softly. “At least if you promise to take me home with you. I won’t stay with men that are so dishonorable; taking another man’s woman…” she murmured with a scowl that marred her perfect features.

“Another man’s woman?” Oriana murmured curiously.

“We all know you are Prince Damon’s woman,” Zada said sitting down and frowning at the hardness of the cot. “My people may not recognize him as our prince, but I cannot condone the stealing of a man’s woman, even if she is meant for my brother.”

Oriana dropped her goblet and nearly screeched, “What?”

Zada winced and glanced at the door, the gesture immediately quieting any further screaming Oriana would have done. “Brother needs to marry soon and take over for my father. Father is ill, you see. Father believes that Brother should marry you to have strong ties with Alberia.”

“So why are you helping me if it’s for the good of your country?” Oriana asked softly.

“I already told you. You are not Brother’s,” Zada said impatiently. Oriana had to wonder at the use of ‘Brother’ instead the man’s name, but passed it off to local customs. “Besides Father wishes to give me to a man,” Zada said with undisguised disgust. “He is nearly fifty and is cruel. Three wives have gone to his home and all died when they didn’t give him sons.” She hesitated and then said softly, “I have heard men of your country are much kinder to their women.”

“You’re a Hillman…woman?” Oriana gasped, finally realizing that Zada couldn’t be one of her own countrymen, not with the way she spoke and acted.

Zada frowned and then laughed. “Is that what we’re called then?” She smiled and shook her head. “We are that, I suppose, but we call ourselves the Amari.” She stood and sighed. “I will return at midnight to fetch you. Be prepared please.” With that she swept out and locked the cell door.

Oriana watched her go, curious as to what had just occurred. Was the girl really prepared to leave her family and home for a stranger? It seemed impossible, but hours later, when night was fully upon them, the door swung open again and Zada beckoned her to follow.

***

Damon’s mood grew darker by the second as he surveyed the scene before them. “Benjamin, are you positive they came this way?”

“Yes,” Benjamin said firmly. He was completely confident in his own skills. He’d easily followed the trail. They’d even lucked out when the impending rain had passed over. The group had made good time, probably falling only a few hours behind the kidnappers.

“Damnit!” Damon growled, hurling a rock into the swollen river before him. If the group had a boat prepared for them here, they could have traveled a day’s ride in only a few hours. “We’re now at least a full day behind them, possibly more depending on how hard they traveled.”

Samuel came up next to him and looked around. “This is pretty close to my home Damon.” He pointed upstream, “We know they didn’t go that way, the river is too rough, and there’s nothing out there. Pointing downstream he said, “There are several old forts and buildings scattered that way. A settlement used to be there. We’ve flushed bandits and Hillmen out of the area for years. If they took her anywhere close, the settlement would be my guess.”

Damon nodded and mounted his horse. “Let’s get moving then. Benjamin, keep your eyes open for boat landings and horse prints. They may have simply crossed.” The rest of the group remounted silently and followed Damon along the riverbank. Spirits were sinking, as Oriana seemed to get further out of their reach with every hour. Without a trail to follow now, the hope of finding the young princess was fading. Her three servants exchanged glances and sighed, following the determined prince forward.

***

Oriana squinted, trying to see in the deep gloom of the night. It was still a few hours to dawn, but they were moving as fast as they could on foot, hoping to avoid the men Zada’s father would invariably send. “Where are we going?” she whispered.

Zada glanced back over her shoulder and smiled at her in the dim light. “To your home of course. We’re just taking a rather long way around to it. Hopefully my father will just head strait for your home without bothering to track us.”

“If he doesn’t?” Oriana asked softly.

“Then we’d better hope your man is looking for us too,” Zada said softly. “My father will not be please with me, not at all. Two of my cousins were killed in that battle a few days ago. They’d hoped to get your soldiers away and then sneak in and out with you, without engaging in any serious fighting.”

Oriana snorted, “Well a portion of the plan worked at least. Your father should tell his commanders to keep their mouths shut and to stay out of range of my arrows.” She sighed and murmured, “They spies were very good though. I couldn’t even tell they were Hillmen…Amari.”

“They weren’t,” Zada said softly, stopping and turning to face Oriana. “Father took their families. They were your own men Princess, afraid for their wives and children. Father is becoming most dishonorable. This is why I’m helping you.”

Oriana smiled and patted the girl’s shoulder. “You are an honorable woman Zada.”

Zada shook her head. “I am leaving my family and helping their enemy. My people won’t see me as honorable.”

“Mine will,” Oriana murmured softly. “You are welcome to make your home with me in Treston or Alberia.” Zada smiled gratefully and they started to move again.

Oriana laughed softly after awhile. “The men will adore you at the castle.” Zada laughed and shook her head. “You know,” Oriana murmured, “Damon has a brother and sister your age.”

“Truly?” Zada asked smiling. She thought a moment and then nodded. “Yes I think I remember that. Your prince has two sisters and a brother. Is he very handsome?”

“Damon or Benjamin?” Oriana asked, picking her way up a small hill with the girl.

“Benjamin is his name?” Zada asked. “That is a nice name,” she said softly. “Is this Benjamin handsome?”

“I suppose he is. If you’ve ever seen Damon, they look very much a like, though Benjamin his only fifteen, nearly sixteen. He’s not as muscular as his bother, but looks like he will be when he’s older.” She smiled, remembering the way the cheerful young man had sprinted towards his brother, the first day she’d met him. He was a funny, good-natured young man. He’d joined her occasionally in the mornings and she’d thoroughly enjoyed his company. “He has lovely short, dark hair, the color of yours actually, and wonderful blue eyes. The younger maids all adore him. He’s getting tall too, nearly his brother’s height.”

Zada smiled to herself. “I will look forward to meeting the younger prince then.” They started down the hill on the other side and Zada asked, “And his sister, the younger princess? What is she like?”

“Georgiana?” Oriana asked laughing. “She is a little minx, though a very nice young woman too. She has her older brother wrapped so tightly around her finger, he’d do anything for her. Of course he’d do anything for his whole family.”

“Including you?” Zada asked pushing branches out of her way was they entered a small cluster of trees.

“I suppose so, yes. I will be his wife in five or six weeks,” Oriana said softly.

“Are you nervous about becoming a wife?” Zada asked after a moment of walking silently.

“Sometimes,” Oriana admitted. “I am used to quite a lot of independence and to give some of that to another person is difficult for me. I will also be giving up much of the control I have over my kingdom, as will he with his. We’ll need to share the decisions for both I suppose.”

“Yes, I forgot you are the sole heir to Alberia’s thrown. A woman on the thrown,” Zada smiled wistfully. “Women of the Amari are not permitted such freedoms. We are caretakers of the home and bears of children; that is all.”

“Usually that’s all to women of my country are too, but I am trying to change that,” Oriana said softly.

“Will you still bear children?” Zada asked shyly. “Surely you won’t deny your husband his rights?”

Oriana blushed lightly, recalling, quite vividly, the night in the garden. “No I won’t deny his rights…or mine,” she finished with a small smile.

Zada tossed a glance over her shoulder and laughed lightly. “You sound as though you look forward to relations with your husband. Most women complain about it amongst my people.”

Oriana’s blushed deepened. “Then your men must be selfish lovers. Damon is…considerate. I am looking forward to being with him, if only for curiosity’s sake. Not that I should say such a thing to a woman as young as you.”

Zada snorted, “I am not so young. I should have married two years ago, but I fought it.” She was silent a moment and then spoke up. “A young man, from a neighboring village, approached my father, for my hand, two years ago. He was sweet, handsome and only twenty, so I shouldn’t have protested, but I did. My pride could not handle the thought of being sold to a man I didn’t choose or love. I refused the match stubbornly until my father gave up and told the young man to withdraw his offer. He left and very likely took any hopes I had of a pleasant marriage with him.”

She sniffed lightly and wiped away the beginnings of tears. “Now my father has decided I will marry no matter how much I protest, and he is giving me to a friend, hoping it will bind our villages. He is a disgusting old man and doesn’t hesitate to dispose of a wife that cannot bear a son for him. I will not go to him, I’d rather die by my own hand.”

Oriana shook her head sadly. “This is the life of women born into ruling families. I was furious when I found out Father was traveling to meet with Damon’s father. I knew it wasn’t just a peaceful gesture. Damon and I were both single, after all. In a sense I was also given to Damon, but I don’t really mind anymore. He is a good and honorable man; one I think I will grow to love very much in time. I think he will make me happy.” She smiled at the younger woman and then sighed, “Now if he’d just find me and take me home.”

***