There I was in Alex’s embrace when I remembered the girl.
“Fuck.” I whispered then broke away from him and ran into the house. I heard him call to me and follow but I ignored him. I ran to the bedroom to see the girl shaking on the bed, unable to take her eyes off the man.

I shouldn’t have left her alone with his body.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. Sire, could you take that man’s body and dump it in the street?” I asked when he came up. He did as I asked with no questions and by the time he came back, I was holding the girl as she hugged me for dear life. Alex looked at the two us and then mouthed the word,

“Rape?”

I mouthed back a response,

“Almost.”

“Okay sweetheart do you have any parents or anyone?”
She cried harder when I asked this.
“T-they w-were k-killed.” She sobbed into my chest. I gave Alex a questioning look and he nodded.
“What’s your name?”
“Emily.” She replied, her breathing ragged.
“Okay Emily do you know who we are?” I asked in the most soothing, gentle voice I could find. She shook her head into my chest.
“I’m Jack and that’s my master, Prince Alexander.” I replied quietly. She froze and recoiled from me quickly, scooting to the far corner of the room.
“A-are y-you g-going to hu-hurt m-me?” She asked, her eyes wide with fear.
“No no no. We’d never do that.” Alex said softly, kneeling to the floor. “Do you want to come with us? We’ll give you a home and a job and keep you safe.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous over how nicely he’s treating her because when it was me, he was indifferent and even a bit harsh. But then again, I hadn’t just witnessed my friends and family being killed in front of me. She seemed a little hesitant but then I spoke up,
“Come with us. You have nothing to lose.”
She pondered it for another moment but then nodded.

---

We’d gotten Emily a job at a local bakery who was run by a jolly old man by the name of Dolph and she had a nice place to live. I knew she was going to be alright.

Alex kept me right next to him for the next few days. I think he thought I was going to explode or something but I wasn’t. Actually, I’d been feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The next day wasn’t so great. It started off okay, Alex acknowledged my existence so that was nice and no one seemed to bother me but it was after parol when I heard arguing from somewhere in the castle. My gaze went to Alex who looked up, put his quill down, and opened the door. He listened for a moment before looking to me and saying,
“Stay here.”
Then he left and shut the door. I continued with my duties of cleaning the armor and his room. I was in the middle of sweeping his floor when he burst in looking absolutely pissed.
“What happened?” I asked, putting the broom back.
“The fucking truce is hanging in the balance.” He spat. I knew not to take offense, he was just stressed.
“It’s what?”
“Cenrid has demanded that we give him more land but doing this would make us weaker than we already are and we can’t afford to be weaker but we can’t afford to make him an enemy either.” He said, rubbing his face. I got up off the ground and rubbed his arm. Then I was hit with an idea,
“Sire, I think I might have a solution.” I almost whispered.
“What is it?”
“What if we asked King Lance for help?” I said in a small voice. Alex looked at me for a moment, seeming unsure, “No, think about it. King Lance hates Cenrid, he’s a nobel man so he probably won’t try to weasel anything out of us, plus with him as an ally and with our forces combined, we should outnumber Cenrid, if not then we’ll at least stand a chance.” I reasoned.
King Lance’s kingdom was about the size of ours. From what I’d heard, he was a respectable man but there was only one problem,
“He’s gay.” Alex mumbled. “Father won’t allow it.”
“Alex this is the kingdom we’re talking about. Thousands will die if this alliance isn’t made! You have to make your father see reason!” I cried.
“That stupid law.” He mumbled. “I’ll try. Even if he says no, it’s a brilliant idea and if I was king, I’d have a message to Lance already on the way.” He informed. He kissed the top of my head and rushed out the door. I smiled and sat in his chair and watched the fire.

Notes

Title Cred: Wonderless by Pierce The Veil