An Unlikely Pair [Private]

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna blushed at the compliment. "Thank you. I really enjoyed it as well. Dancing is the one thing that society dictates that I actually truly enjoy. Normally, I like to stick with my horses, and don't have much interaction with people outside of the business. To be honest, I'm quite uncomfortable in these settings." She ran a hand through her hair. She was really enjoying his company and hoped her father didn't over react too much when he found out who her fiancee was or the fact that in the end, she was happy about it. "I hope I didn't tire you out too much. I kind of forgot your back was injured." She gave him a sheepish smile. "Forgive me?" she asked, with a smile on her face. She didn't expect him to be mad at her, realizing if he hadn't been mad at some of the other things she pulled, this wouldn't bother him too much.

They reached her door and she looked at it for a moment. In a few days, they would be married, starting a new life. The thought made her happy, but she wondered if their parents would be a part of this new life. She hoped so, her dad wasn't normally an unreasonable man. But she knew that his hatred for the Avalons ran deep, and she didn't even know the reason why. But it didn't matter to her now. She may not love Kais, but he was definately becoming her best ... if not only friend. And she did not want to lose that. She had never truly had a friend due to her unusual upbringing and for her, this was a chance that couldn't be passed up.

"I guess I will see you in the morning." she said and looked at him for a moment. She debated for a few seconds before standing on her tip toes and kissing his lips lightly. He was so much taller than her, but somehow it worked, and with that she smiled at him and entered her room, saying, "Good night, have pleasant dreams," in a teasing manner before shutting the door, leaving him no time to react.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais smiled to her. "I have no reason for be angry at you. Can you forgive me for forcing you to stop dancing early?" He asked with a smile as the two of them stood outside her door. He smiled to her and kissed her back when she leaned up to him. She was adorable, and he was slowly but undoubtedly falling for this innocent, loving young woman.

He wanted to follow her in, not for anything scandalous, but just to spend more time with her. Kais found he was calmer in her presence, and without her he slowly sunk into sadness or anger. Heading back to the his room he was not looking forward to sleeping again, or lack there of in that department.

He then went back, took a quick bath and went to bed, counting down the hours till he would have to fear for his life when his family came.


((time skip))

It was a very good week, and Kais found himself falling for Arianna fast. She may not have been trying but she was such a darling that she was staling his heart away. He lost his temper on a couple occasions with her, mostly just when he was in pain from his back, and a few times he was angry at the King. But through every moment she stood by him and calmed him down. Kais was completely by the part of her being a Lovette, and was willing to make things work easier.

He was worried today though, his family was coming, and this is where things would get interesting. They were to be married in the morrow, and Kais found himself slight excited, yet fearful for the occasion.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna had enjoyed the last few days and wished she could have taken Kais horseback riding, though the King had yet to return their horses. Must have been punishment for the problems they had given him initially. But that was okay, she had enjoyed her time with Kais, and realized that she might just be falling in love with him. She hadn't meant to, and had meant what she said about starting as friends, but she hadn't been able to help herself. She would keep it to herself for now, seeing no reason to scare Kais off right before the wedding which was tomorrow. Besides, today they had to deal with their families and she knew that her father would be arriving early, and since she had overslept, that meant he could be here any minute. In fact, it wasn't long until a maid came up to tell her that her father arrived, and wanted to see her, and she told the maid to let her in, as she had just finished dressing for the day.

"Hello Father!" Arianna greeted her father and ran up to hug him. He swung her in his arms. "Ah, my little girl, where have you been all week. I have missed you. But alas, the King tells me he has found the perfect man for you and you are to be married tomorrow. So I guess I will just have to be patient as I won't be seeing you as well. But you look happy, except for some of these cuts, what happened to your arms? Why did you not write me? I want to know everything!" He father exclaimed, and Arianna was glad that the bruise on her cheek was gone as otherwise he would really be concerned. One injury she could explain by clumsiness, but multiple would be difficult. Besides, here came the hard part.

"Well Father, you know me, I am so very clumsy. The cuts were my own fault," which was technically true, she did run into the whip, but she didn't think it was a good idea to elaborate. "And for to who I am marrying, his name is Kais, and he is a really good man. I think you'd like him. He is also really protective of me, so you'll have nothing to worry about." Arianna smiled as she explained, though purposely did not mention his last name, though sadly it seemed like she didn't need to, as Kais was not a very common name at the time, and the only Kais near her age was Kais Avalon, and she watched her father's face go bright red and took a step back.

"Absolutely not! I forbid it. I will not have you marrying one of those filthy, disgusting Avalons! I will go to the King right now and take care of this." Her father turned to leave and she caught his arm. "No Father, I want to marrying Kais. I meant what I said about him being a good man, he is. Don't judge him just because of his name. You are better than that. Arianna pleaded but her father shook her off. "No daughter of mine is marrying an Avalon. You have lost your senses. No, we will go take care of this." "No Father, we won't. Unless Kais decides to not marry me himself, I am going through with this wedding, whether you like it or not. I asked the King to invite you because I wanted you to walk me down the aisle."

Her father stood there for a few moments, glaring at his daughter furiously. She had never defied him before. "Besides you never even told me what the stupid feud was about!" He slapped her, hard across the face, and Arianna's eyes widened. "You want to know what happened, ask how they caused the death of a Lovette girl a few generations ago. Maybe then you will understand." Arianna touched her cheek, which she knew would bruise. Her father had never hit her before. "But Father, that has nothing to do with the current generations, I don't understand." Arianna tried one last time. "You are just a foolish, stupid girl. What need is there to understand. Now either come home now, or when you have returned to your senses come crawling back, but I will not be part of this disgusting event." Her father waited a few moments to see if she would listen to him, but when he realized that she intended to stay, he stormed out, yelled at the servants to take his things back to the carriage, and within an hour was gone, leaving Arianna completely alone.

Arianna sunk to the floor, mostly in sadness and shock. Though she had expected some resistance, she hadn't expected her father to abandon her. She only barely remembered a maid coming in and telling her that her father was gone. He hadn't stayed long. She needed to run, to get out of there for a while, and so she put on some riding clothes and stormed out of the castle, needing to find her horse so she could just take her mind off things, because if she didn't, she would break down completely. And Kais would need her strong to deal with his family, who he had expected to react badly. And if her father was any indication, today was going to be a nightmare.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais dressed in simple clothes as he waited for someone to retrieve him for his parents arrival. He wore the same clothes as he did when he left, having recently been washed and read for him to wear again. The clothes were loose, and felt good against his back. He wondered how soon it would take for his family to realize he had been whipped, and when his father would give him a whipping of his own.

Soon he heard the knock on his door, and he was down in the front of the castle before he knew it, watching as a carriage carrying his mother and sisters appeared. Riding in front was his brother, and his father. His father was a intimidating figure. He stood nearly a head taller than Kais, muscles nearly ripping through his shirt from years upon years of working in the quarries. He rarely smiled, and he looked at Kais with just a simple look.

Kais always wanted to make his father proud, and while his mother always told him he was, Kais wanted to hear it from his mouth. Though he suspected it would not be as easy. His father dismounted, his brother trailing close behind and walked over to the carriage. Kais soon walked up to them and went to help as they helped his sisters and mother come out. His mother, Marina, was very beautiful. She had curly brown hair, and blue eyes that apparently were a trait of her family the Richardsons. She was a head shorter than Kais, but unlike his father was almost always smiling. When she was not smiling though you did not want to be the reason for causing her anger.

Once out she was the first one to greet him, cupping his face in her hands. "My son." She said kissing his forehead and then coming in for an embrace. Kais could see his sisters Leigh and Kaylee, who were the spitting image of their mother, only with the brown eyes of the Avalons. Soon though his mother jumped back slightly and gave him a quizzical look. Kais was in a slight bit of pain when she had squeezed him so hard and he assumed she had felt the scars on his back. "Kais..." She said now in her serious voice.

"What is it Marina?" His fathers deep and powerful voice asked from behind, sounding slightly befuddled. "Did you get whipped!?" His mother asked now placing her hands on her waist. Kais backed away a bit as his father moved to stand next to his mother. "Yes." Kais said, standing his ground though and not looking away. His siblings gasped slightly, and he could see his brother shake his head.

"What did you do boy?" He father asked, typical Avalon fury beginning for formulate in his voice. "Auroc....." His mother said in a warning tone and his father silenced himself. "Kais you are to be married we hear? Did you reject this at first or something?" His mother asked.

Kais nodded. "Mother, father, I rejected it at first yes. Arianna is a beautiful girl, and she is everything I want in a wife, she is kind, loving, intelligent, but...." His father though seemed to suspect what was coming next and he burst forward and grabbed Kais by the collar, pulling him up with relative ease off the ground and too him. Kais felt a sharp pain in his back as he arched it, but quickly shut down as his father began to question him.

"This better not be one of them your marrying!" Auroc yelled, Kais could see his mother trying to tell his father to let him go, but apparently the Avalon fury was not going to be stopped this time. "Yes father. I am marrying Arianna Lovette, and I want to marry her." Kais said it with surprising strength, not many people would ever look the Avalons in the face were they angry. His father threw Kais backward, forcing him to land on his back as he hit the dirt. Kais yelled in pain and grabbed his back, holding back the water that was forming in his eyes from the pain.

Soon he saw though his mother stand between him and his father. She pointed a finger at him and from what Kais could tell told him to go inside and get her things to her room. Mother was not happy at this point and Kais knew this meant even his father would have to listen. Leigh and Kaylee hid behind their eldest brother and they three of them retreated inside with his father, Auroc still fuming with anger.

Kais slowly got up and was now face to face with his mother. "Kais." She said in a very stern voice. She was nto smiling right now. "You know better than to disobey the Kings wishes." "Mother i know..." "No you listen to me mister!" She yelled waving a finger at him. "You do as your told, your father will not be happy about this. I am not either, but you must do this because the King says so. Never defy the King! Or else I will come here and make sure you get...." "Mother i want to marry her!" Kais yelled to throw her off.

It seemed she must have missed that part of Kais earlier speech to his father. She was too busy trying to calm his father down. "Mother...." He said seeing she was slightly surprised. He filled her in on the story of how he resisted at first, and how she jumped in front of the final whip. How they had shared a kiss by the garden, and how she calmed him at the party. The whole time his mother was silent, but he could see the smile on her face reforming. "...You would like her mom." He said finally, hoping his mother would see he was telling the truth.

"Well if my baby boy wants to marry a Lovette I do not care. Your father is a whole other issue. He would be mad whether you wanted this or not." She said with her hands on her hips. She wore a simple Green dress today, for the traveling purposed. "I want to meet this girl though, she needs my approval or I will have a word with the King."

Kais laughed a bit, if anyone could tell the King to not go through with this it was his mother. He only hoped Arianna was ok, and he wondered himself why he had not seen her yet this day.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna was so upset, that she wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings. She only prayed that Kais had a better time convincing his parents than she had of her father, Frank Lovette. At least he might be able to convince his mom and have some ally on his side. Her mother died giving birth to her, so she had no siblings or mom to fight her dad on her behalf. She was still trying to control the tears that wanted to spill over everytime she thought of the fact that her father had chosen to abandon her rather than listen to what she was saying. And she was finding it hard not to think about it. Her horse wasn't at the main stables, which she found to not be surprising, but the King, or Charles, did not know that she knew where his other stables were, and she started to cut near the forest when the nightmare got worse.

She was so oblivious to her surroundings, that she had no idea what was going on until she was jerked back again someone, all she could tell was that he was male, and her mouth covered before she could even scream. She tried to bite the man, but he laughed, jerking her head back by her hair, causing her hat to fall into the grass near the forest enterance. The only proff that she had been there. The man covered her mouth with some sickly sweet smelling rag, and before she could fight anymore, she found herself passing out, feeling slightly nautious. The man smiled, tossing Arianna over his shoulder, and entering the woods, heading to a cabin that very few people knew about, hoping to have enough time to have some fun.

TIME SKIP

Arianna moaned as she work up, and felt nautious. She didn't know what he had made her smell, but its effects still lingered there. She could hear the man moving about the cabin, or at least that was what she assumed the place was with its wooden walls. She closed her eyes, wanting to continue to pretend that she was asleep but it didn't work, the man must have noticed her slight movement, because soon he grabbed her up, shaking her. She moaned as she opened her eyes to stare into the face of Jonathan Sullivan, the nasty man from the party. Her eyes widened and she tried to move away, but he held her tight.

"Looks like I will get me some of Kais' tail after all. I need you ruined so the King won't force Kais to marry you. Once he isn't required to marry you, you will be dropped like a log, cause I can't see Kais defying his father for anyone but the King." Arianna whimpered as she understood his intent. "Let me go, Kais will kill you if he finds out. Please, I won't tell anyone." she asked, very close to begging, she was already upset because she had been abandoned by her father, and now she was stuck dealing with a psychopath. Jonathan just laughed, and leaned down, forcing a kiss upon her. Arianna bit him, and he slapped her on the same cheek her father had, and Arianna knew there was no way it wouldn't bruise now. Arianna moaned in pain.

Jonathan glared at her. "You will behave if you know what is good for you. Kais may try to kill me, but I have bested him as many times as he has bested me. We are evenly matched. But even if it was a risk, I cannot allow you to marry. With the rumors about the King's health and this sudden engagement, things are not looking good for my family. I cannot allow this marriage to go through." Arianna looked at him confused, having heard none of this before. "What are you talking about?" Arianna asked and Jonathan realized too late that he had said too much.

"It doesn't matter. Kais will never marry you after this." And with that, Jonathan made a grab for her skirt, tearing it, and laughing as Arianna's face went white. As he went to move in though, Arianna surprised him by kicking him in the groin, then spinning around on the bed to slam her elbow in his nose. Blood started gushing out, a lot of it getting on Arianna's dress, and Jonathan, cursing at Arianna, grabbed her by the top of the dress, and threw her across the room, ripping the bodice of the dress in the process. Arianna's head hit the wall rendering her unconcious, as Jonathan stormed out of the room to take care of his nose, not bothering to see how serious her injury was, as it too was bleeding.

When he returned, Jonathan tossed her on the bed, tied her hands and feet, and left, figuring the ripped and bloody clothes would be enough cause for ruin and make the King cancel the engagement. This would leave Kais free, and Kais would never go against his father. The wound on her head had clotted and so was no longer bleeding but she was still unconcious. Besides, by leaving, he wouldn't be around for Kais to kill. As Arianna said, Kais would be furious because the girl technically belonged to him for a few more hours, and Kais wouldn't like Jonathan playing with his girl. Jonathan didn't want to admit that Kais could possibly beat him, especially in anger, so he left leaving Arianna unconcious in the cabin bedroom. He figured it would take them hours to figure out she was missing, and if he was lucky they might think she ran away with her dad. Either way, it may be a long time before they found her.

Meanwhile, the maids go and search for King Charles and Kais, planning on telling them that Arianna had disappeared after she had found out that her father had left. Also, a little stableboy was looking for the King because the King had told him to tell him if Arianna or Kais came looking for their horses. He wanted to tell the King that Arianna had come and was probably heading towards the stables just past the forest line, as she knew where it was. The King said it was important to know if they wanted their horses and to tell him right away, so the child rushed around the grounds, looking for the King or even the lord Kais who might know where the king was.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais walked inside with his mother, who he led to his room because she wanted to make sure his living arrangements were satisfactory. When walking in she was criticizing the manner in which he had kept it dirty for the most part, and she wondered whether the Kings servants were competent enough to know how to clean the room. "Mother I kind of scare them I think." He said shrugging his shoulders and watching as his mother shook her head at him. "You and your temper, you need to control yourself."

He was glad to have his mother around, he was so reliant on her being there to control him and tell him what to do in difficult situations. She was also one of the few women, or person for that matter, he had ever met who seemed to not be bothered by the Avalon’s rather notorious anger. She almost seemed to relish in it, and find that she was sent to be the mother of two angry young boys, and try to get them to become gentlemen. Despite all the barriers that clearly blocked her way, she seemed to succeed in raising a very good group of children. His sisters had a temper, but it was much more along the lines of that possessed by their mother.

Soon though he heard a knock at the door, and his father came in, looking furious, but standing besides the King. “Your father wants me to call off the wedding.” He said to Kais, a smirk evident on his face. “Though we both know I am not going to change my mind on this. Trust me when I say….” The King paused for a moment. “…This is for the betterment of the Avalon family, and you shall be rewarded with something irreplaceable.”

Kais did not understand the meaning of the King, but he did not care what he received, at this point he was just going to accept the face he was marrying Arianna, and he would not back down from that idea. “I am not opposed to this.” Kais said to the King, rather coldly. Kais still did not forgive the King, despite his acceptance of the situation. His mother hit him in the arm not happy with his mannerisms. The King smiled to her and shook his head. “Don’t worry Lady Avalon, your son is only reacting as I would suspect he would.” She kept silent though, Kais realizing she probably wanted to talk about the whipping incident.

Soon though a servant came rushing into the room. The King looked at him puzzled. “Your Grace……Lady…..Arianna…..” He seemed to be struggling to catch her breath. Auroc Avalon grabbed the man and in his deep voice yelled at him. “Stand up straight and spit it out!” He clearly was still angry, and this man seemed the best option for him to take it out on. The man looked frightened but still continued on. “She….ran after he father, she did not retrieve her horse to my knowledge, but when the Lord Lovette left, she disappeared.”

Kais felt his heart drop at the news. He wondered if Arianna had decided she did not want to go through with this, or if her father had taken her away. No though, he would not believe her to do such a thing, she would have spoken to him first. Something must have happened. “Good riddance, that could solve this problem.” He heard his father mumble, his mother shot him a look.“Send news to the Lord Lovette, find him and see if she is with him. Otherwise get the riders together, we ride out to search for her.” The King turned to leave but Kais stepped forward. “Your grace I wish to come with you.” The King paused for a moment and then looked at Kais. His eyes were pleading to the King to help. “I promise I will not run.” This was the first time the King had seen Kais have a civil look on his face. “Fine, be outside in ten.”

Kais father as soon as the King left though turned to him. “You will NOT do this! We can be out of this mess with no trouble.” “Father I do not wish to be out of this mess.” “Your listen to me Kais!” He said, fury rising. “This is not up for debate.” Kais’ anger rose himself. “Your right! I am going so that is that. If you have a problem with it you best strike me so hard you knock me out for a long time cause I won’t stop otherwise.” At those words though his mother stepped in between the two of them, and shooed Kais away before his father became angrier.

Within fifteen minutes Kais was leading the pack into the woods on horseback. He searched every nook and cranny to try and find Arianna. There was very little in sight but soon he picked up on a trail, with the help of one of the Kings rangers, on a horse that had run in a specified direction. He saw a cabin in the woods, and wondered who’s lands they were currently on.

Running inside he found Arianna on the bed, unconscious, bloody, clothes torn, and bound to the bed. He quickly ran to her and untied all of that bound her to the bed. He was angry that someone would do this to her, and he wondered if her father was the perpetrator. He bit his lip though because he was more concerned with her well being rather than anything else.

“Arianna!” He yelled, leaning over her trying to shake her away.

“Arianna please….” He was panicking, praying to every God he could think of that she would be ok. She appeared to have been raped, and that alone was making him angry at the same time. He had such a rush of emotion he could not tell exactly what was more prominent.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

The ranger who was with Kais ran out to gather everyone, and tell them that they had found Arianna. He had caught a glimpse of the unconcious girl, and he knew she had not had an easy time. There was a lot of blood, and the wound on her head worried her, especially since she was not awake. He found the King's group, and sent more people to gather the others. The King followed the ranger back to the cabin, which the King recognized as one of his abandoned cabins that the Sullivans borrowed from time to time during hunting season. He remembered the fight at the engagement party, and when he saw Arianna, wondered if Jonathan Sullivan was behind this, because there was no way her father would have done this to his own daughter, no matter how mad he was at her.

Arianna felt someone shaking her, and she moaned in pain. The wound on her head throbbed, and she couldn't concentrate, but someone really wanted her attention. She forced her eyes open, struggling to stay awake and saw Kais trying to get her attention. "Kais?" she asked weakly. "How did you find me?" she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open and saw the king and a few others who were murmuring amongst themselves behind Kais. All the noise hurt, and she whispered, "Please, stop talking, it hurts." She drifted back to sleep.

The King came forward and looked at Kais holding Arianna. There was no way to avoid Arianna's repuation from being ruined, and so he knew that Kais would be let of the hook. He wondered what Kais would do with the freedom to choose what he wanted, as he seemed to care for Arianna. But it didn't matter right now, she had a nasty head wound and possibly even more, considering she was covered in blood. "Let's get her out of here and take her back to see the doctor, her head needs to be checked out soon. It looks pretty serious, and it worries me that she can't stay awake." The King went to pick up Arianna to take her with him, but Kais held on to her too protectively so he couldn't even touch her.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais was oblivious to the movements of everyone around him. He was relieved the moment that she woke up, and he leaned down and rested his head on he shoulder, delighted that she was still alive. "It is me." He said to hr smiling. "There is no time to tell you the story, we need to get you to the doctor." Kais put his arm behind her shoulder and slowly lifted her up into his arms, cradling her close to his body. He signaled for the King and his men to clear a path and open the door.

With the assistance of the King and his men he mounted his horse, and had Arianna saddle in front of him, resting her leaning back against him and tucked safely between his arms. As everyone began to ride back he led the pack swiftly. "Nobody will harm you now. I promise." He whispered into her ears. "Your safe with me." He was surprised at how calm he was. He had never spoken this way to anyone before.

He was worried about her body, if she had just been raped....things may be entirely different. He would have the option of whether or not to marry her. Before he would have been able to use the excuse of the King for hope his father would not hate him. He did not believe this would be an option though anymore.

They soon arrive, and the doctor was waiting for them with a mat to carry her on. Kais dismounted and helped them lie her down on mat. He then lifted it himself with one of the servants and helped them bring her into the medical area. "Kais I will have to ask you to leave." The doctor said. Kais felt a rush of hatred come up when the doctor spoke, and he felt the King guide him out of the room. The King himself though stayed to observe.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

The doctor stripped her of her clothes, and had some maids help him clean her off. He was glad to see the majority of the blood on her clothes was not hers, though there were a lot of bruises. The head injury worried him the most, as she spent most of the time unconcious. Once they managed to wake her up again, they would need to keep her up for a day or as long as they could. Many people slipped into sleep with head injuries and never woke up again. He was just glad to hear that she had woken up once, even if she passed out again. Last he checked whether the man who attacked her had been successful in raping her, and with a sigh of relief, he found that he hadn't. The additional blood must have been her fighting him back. He also did a drug test and found trace amounts of chlorform which is used to knock people out. That explained how the kidnapper was able to get her out without much notice.

The doctor had the maids dress her in simple clothes and took her ruined clothes to be cleaned and fixed, though he didn't know whether she would ever want to wear them again. The doctor picked Arianna up, and exited the medical ward, though he knew it was probably better to keep her in the medical ward, he also knew that she could freak out when she woke finding herself in an unfamiliar area. She needed familiar right now, and if it meant monitoring her in her own room, it was an extra effort he didn't mind making. This girl had been through a lot in the last week and she needed a break. He looked at the King and Kais, and told them to head to Arianna's room in a few minutes once he got them settled. It would be easier to talk to them both. He also told them to limit how many people entered Arianna's room, as she could not have a lot of commotion.

The doctor took Arianna to her room, and settled her beneath the blankets, and he waited for Kais and the King to arrive. He was not happy to see that Kais' parents had decided to join as well, though he figured they wanted to know the fate of their son. He looked at everyone for a few moments. "Keep it down, she cannot handle a lot of commotion right now. She went through a lot today. I would say that she was drugged, and then taken to that cabin. When she woke, the man tried to rape her but she fought back. He didn't succeed, but he definately punished her for fighting. She has a lot of bruises on her, but most of the blood was not hers. The head wound concerns me, and when she wakes up next, we have to keep her up as long as we can. She will be critical for the next 24 hours. If you still plan on having the wedding, it will need to be post poned a few days."

The doctor finished, but did not leave. There were a lot of explosive tempers in this room, and he needed to keep his patient safe. Everyone looked at the king, who sighed. "Even though it was unsuccessful, enough people were there that Arianna's reputation has been ruined. Kais, you are free to leave and are no longer bound to Arianna." Everyone was so focused on the King, that no one noticed that Arianna had woken up to their voices and had heard everything. She closed her eyes, wanting to disappear.  

[kaissaj777]

He looked at the King like the man had lost his mind. Arianna was not raped, though someone had tried to take advantage of her. He was furious, yet this time not at the King, and not at anyone else. "You will postpone the wedding, but it is happening." Kais said in a trembling voice, very close to exploding in anger.

His Father was looking like he was ready to punch his son. But apparently his mother had said enough to him while he was gone that he was not going to say anything at the current moment. "Kais....you don't have to do this." The King said, trying to gage the situation. Kais took a step forward and looked the King in the eyes only inches away.

"A week ago you dragged me here against my will and tried to marry me off to a woman who my family hated. You forced us to fall upon each other as you whipped me and left me with nobody to talk to. You set up a confrontation with an rival of mine, and only gave me Arianna to fall back on. I learned to like her, and now i want to marry her. Correction, I will marry her, and there is NOTHING you can do to stop me." Kais was still trembling, and his voice was indeed slightly raised.

The King smiled and nodded. "Then you shall be married, but her reputation..." "I don't care." Kais said cutting him off. "I will find who did this King.....I will beat him to within an inch of his life, revive him, then beat him again." The King looked at him for a moment. He knew that nothing he would say could stop Kais, and in all honesty he agreed with the sentiment. "We will find out who it was in a bit, and then you will get your wish." The King said. They waited for Arianna to awake, and try to speak to them.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna's eyes had flown open when Kais insisted on still marrying her and she struggled to sit up slowly as everyone was watching Kais yell at the King. She placed a hand on her head, these raised voices were making her head spin and she was already struggling to stay awake. When it finally quieted down, everyone suddenly looked at her, surprised to find her awake and sitting as none of them noticed her moving as they had watched the exchange between Kais and the King. She sighed, wanting to hide, knowing there was a lot of antagonism in the room, and knew that at least one person hated her. She could still see the barely controlled fury in Kais' father's eyes.

"Would you all just shut up? Too much noise." The doctor came forward but she shooed him away, she wanted to be left alone and fury was better than breaking down and crying. As she rubbed her temples, she pointed to the King. "You have some explaining to do later. Jonathan, the awful man from the party, told me a few things I want clarified." "Then it was Jon..." the King started and she glared at him, so he shut up. "Yes, that b*****d isn't happy with your plan and wants to prevent this wedding." She looked at the other people in the room and decided to turn to Kais' father next.

"You do not know me, have never even spoken to me. You do not know what I am like, and yet you judge me. Why don't you use that brain of yours, as I am sure you are smart, because your son is incredibly so, and make your own judgements instead of using the opinions of past generations. Stop glaring at me because someone who isn't alive pissed off someone else. I don't know the details really of what happened, but I do know that none of us currently living were involved, so I don't understand this need to hate and be angry with each other." Almost no one stood up to Kais' father, and she didn't know how he would take her yelling at him, so she turned to Kais, her next victim.

"And you, stop yelling, okay. As you can see, I am alive. But all your yelling is making my head hurt. Trust me, I'm not going anywhere. If you still plan on marrying me, I will be here. But I won't hold it against you if you cancel the engagement. I know how much your family means to you, and that you don't want to be barred from working with your family in the quarries. I don't want you to be cut off either. It is bad enough on of us got ditched." She looked down at her hands for a moment, taking a deep breath as the pain of her father's betrayal still hurt. "The reason I was out in the first place was my father told me to leave you or not bother coming back until I came to my senses. He left, and I needed to ride, but my horse wasn't in the main stables, so I was going to the stables beyond the forest." She looked at the King. "Sorry Sir, I knew where they were the entire time. I could have left, but chose not to."

All of this talking was making her feel ill, and she closed her eyes, leaning against the headboard of the bed. "Honestly, I don't have the energy to deal with any of you at the moment. Do me a favor, and please leave." she ordered. She didn't care that she was being rude, she needed a break and her emotions were all shredded inside. She just wanted to be left alone so she could curl up in bed and cry. The doctor finally spoke, "Arianna, I'm sorry, but you cannot be left alone. We must make sure you don't fall asleep. Your head injury is ..." Arianna snarled at him. "Just leave!"  

[kaissaj777]

It was moments like these that reminded him why he was falling for this woman. She stood up to the King, and he watched as the Kings face and eyes widened as she yelled at him. Kais though felt his eyes narrow when she mentioned Jonathans name. The King looked at him and gave him a reassuring nod, and Kais knew that he would call for the man soon enough.

Kais though was shocked when she lashed out at his father. He actually stood there open mouthed as he looked at the befuddled look on his fathers face. It seemed she had taken the fury right from his chest. Kais saw his mother giggling a little bit at his fathers expression as well. Kais smiled but then she soon got to him.

His mother would not get rid of him, that much he was sure. Though she was still yelling at him and seemed angry at him for some reason. Kais though felt anger at her father for having put her in a situation where she became vulnerable and nearly got herself raped. He wondered if her father was aware of what he had nearly done to his daughter to protect his own selfish pride.

When she yelled for them all the leave his mother looked at him from across the room. "I like her, she has style." He mother said with a laugh and escorted a still shocked Auroc out of the room. The doctor seemed hesitant and Kais leaned to him and whispered to him that he would stay. She was not going to rid herself of him that easily.

Once everyone was gone Kais walked over and sat down on the bed. He knew she would likely yell at him but he was not going to leave her. "You can yell at me all you want." He said placing his hand on top of hers. "But there is no way I am not marrying you after that performance." He smiled to her. "You would not leave me were I in your place, and I sure as hell am not going to leave you."  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna watched as one by one they all left, finally giving her some peace, smiling at Kais' mother's comment. Kais was right about one person being on his side. Well, until she realized that Kais had returned, and she sat there, glaring at him. But she didn't have the energy to stay mad, and just leaned her head against the headboard. She touched her head, and finally noticed that the doctor had wrapped it in white bandages. Her head hurt, but she knew it would be dangerous for her to fall asleep for a bit, so perhaps Kais staying wasn't a bad thing. But her emotions were in such a turmoil, that she just wanted to cry, and she didn't want to do that in front of Kais.

She thought about the last few minutes, then realized that she yelled not only at Kais, but the King and Kais' father too. "Is your father going to be more mad at me?" she asked, worried she may have made things even worse for Kais. She didn't want his family to leave him, the way her father had left her. The thought hurt and Arianna, too weak to fight anymore, finally broke down for the first time that entire week.

Arianna started crying, unable to stop herself, and through sniffles, she apologized. "I'm so... sorry. I can't s...s...stop. I can't t...ta...take it anymore. This whole w...week has been awful. And t...t...today, my dad, he j...just l...l...left. He w...w...wouldn't listen to me at all. I was upset, and then J...Jonathan grabbed me. I w...woke up, and he t...tried to k...kiss me. Then r...ripped my sk...skirt when I b...bit him. Then he th...th...threw me against the w...w...wall when I b...broke his n...n...nose." When she started sobbing harder, she couldn't talk anymore, and curled her legs in, wrapping her arms around her legs, lowing her head to try and hide her shame.

Meanwhile. the King sent two missives out. One to the Sullivan residence, with a set of personal gaurds to escort Jonathan to the castle immediately, and one to Arianna's father. In the second letter, he told Frank Lovette everything that had transpired since he left, and that he was needed immediately at the castle, that Arianna's life was in possible danger. He knew that no matter how mad Frank was at him or his daughter, that knowing his daughter might die would have him returning here immediately. Though he wondered if Arianna would even agree to see her father after what he had done.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais smiled to her a gentle expression. "Arianna.." He said chuckling slightly. "My father was too surprised at your out burst to be mad. I think he may even have been impressed. You have the makings of a true Avalon wife in you. That is why my mother reacted in the way she did." She soon broke down though, and Kais watched for a moment as she apologized and just let go of herself in front of him.

He moved upon on the bed, and picked her up, placing her on his lap as he sat and lying her shoulder against his head so she could cry against that. He ran his hand up and down her back, just letting her cry for a moment. "There is no need to be sorry." He said leaned down and kissing her cheek. "This week has not been easy for either of us...." He began, trying to formulate his next sentence carefully.

"But I am glad I came, because I am glad I met you." He said in a loving voice, holding her tightly so she would feel secure. "If I have to ride out and bring your father back here myself I will. As your future Husband I promise you Aranna, you father will walk you down the aisle, or else you can hate me for eternity." His voice though now was moving from gentle to slightly angry, not at her though. "As for Jonathan, I am glad you broke his nose. And whether you like it or not, when the King brings him here......." Kais took a big sigh to calm himself down. "I will make him pay for hurting the one I am falling in love with."

He knew confessing the fact he was falling for her may not be the best idea. In fact she was rather vulnerable, though he still felt he needed to day it. She needed something good to happen right now, though he was not sure how she would react to him saying that. He was not in love with her quite yet, but maybe she still saw them as just friends, even though he was slowly moving on past that. He wanted to marry her, and he wanted to make sure that she knew why he did.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna let herself cry until there were no more tears and she just sat there, curled up in his arms. She listened to his words, but it took her a while to process them, and understand what he was saying. When she did, she wasn't really sure how she was suppose to react. She was glad that it didn't look like her little outburst would cause problems with Kais' family. Actually, but the way Kais explained it, it sounded as if her outburst may have actually helped matters, though she still felt bad about it. She didn't like getting mad and yelling at people.

Kais was obviously angry about her father, and furious with Jonathan. She was afraid that he would do something stupid and get himself in trouble. Jonathan clearly didn't like him either and would love a chance to seriously hurt Kais. "Please don't get in trouble for me. As for my father ... I don't want to see him. I can't ... not yet. The betrayal hurts too much. I'm sorry. I need time." She hated admitting her weakness, but she didn't know what else to do. "And as for Jonathan, be careful. I don't like the violence, but I know nothing I say will stop you. Just remember, I punished him a bit myself." She gave an small smile.

Just then, his final words hit her, and she looked up at him, eyes widening. "You are falling in love with me?" She was having a hard time believing it considering his family, but she knew he wouldn't lie to her. If he was indeed falling in love with her, that explained why he still planned on marrying her. She wasn't sure what to say so gave him a small impish smile. "Can you keep a secret? I think I am falling in love with you too." She kissed his chin, which just happened to be in easy access. She closed her eyes, she was so tired, and wanted to sleep, but didn't know if it was safe for her to do so. She stifled another yawn, the crying jag had made the sleepiness worse.