**Please read Chapter 1 before reading this one. Thanks for all the feedback**
Chapter 2
Tears slid down Eva’s pale cheeks as she saw what was left of her once happy home. The hut had been burned to the ground and only charred remains were before her. She heard light crunching sounds as she walked over the burnt splintered wood and leaves. Slowly, she found herself in the middle of her parents’ hut. As if the weight of the world was upon her shoulders, her knees gave way and she fell, sobbing into her hands. She looked up when she felt a large hand on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” was all he said, but the look in his hazel eyes told her more, as if he knew too well what she was feeling. He went down to his knees and surprised her by wrapping her in his arms. She continued to cry although she felt much better being held in his gentle arms.
She had been so happy when she found that she could work in their beloved Lord Candon’s castle. Although she loved her small village, she had always felt a need to explore and to be adventurous. When she had reached her eighteenth birthday, her mother finally allowed her to leave the village and to become a servant in the castle. Melody had hoped that her darling daughter would get her adventurous streak out of her so that she could marry one of the nice village boys and have many babies.
Of course, Eva had different ideas. Instead, she loved watching the soldiers train and plan. If anything, she wanted to marry a soldier and be for him when he came home from war, regaling her with tales of valor.
Then again, the soldiers had other ideas as well. As she watched some of her new castle friends flit from one soldier to another, she realized that her dream may not come true. In fact, whenever she talked to one of the soldiers, she found them looking at her as more of a play thing than as a wife.
Eva was an optimist, however, and much to her parents’ dismay, she would only settle for the man of her dreams and no one else.
And then Jacob arrived at the castle. He always stood away from her group, as if he was always deep in thought. Instead of flirting with the castle females, he would leave to consult with Lord Candon or simply brood by himself. To Eva’s annoyance, many of her friends tried outrageous tricks (such as naked-middle-of-the-night-groping and claim it was sleepwalking) to land themselves into his bed.
Eva decided that she felt in love with him when he saved her from tripping down the last couple of steps of the main stairwell, although she tripped because she saw him and completely missed the step. He had simply smiled and nodded as if she was a real person and not some object to ogle over. As she watched him walk away from her, he briefly turned his head in her direction and smiled again.
Eva sighed as she walked away, thinking of his darkly lashed hazel eyes, dark blond hair, and heavily muscled body. His face was a handsome image that she liked to keep tucked away in the corner of her mind when he wasn’t around.
Although she didn’t know it, he also kept an image of her in the corner of his mind as well. With her dark black hair and bright green eyes, she stood out in the sea of fair-haired females that were abundant in the castle. Her creamy white skin looked soft and her full lips were inviting. Plus, with her lush breasts, narrow waist, and curvy legs, she had the kind of body that a man wanted to come home to. But, Jacob had other plans and although he wanted her for his own, he couldn’t risk it now.
But just this morning, his plans suddenly became second place. While Eva was dusting in the hallway next to War room, Conroy, one of Lord Candon’s loyal guards entered and revealed unwelcome news.
“Dunmore has destroyed the village of Fenroy this morning. Apparently, she has decided it was time she continued her attack on our lands.”
Jacob didn’t hear the rest of the message. Instead, all he saw was the stricken look on Eva’s lovely face. She dropped her rag and quickly disappeared from view.
Eva couldn’t believe what she had heard. She ran as fast as she could to the stables, not noticing that Jacob was not far behind. Thoughts kept racing through her head of what could have happened to her village. She prayed that the messenger was wrong and that all the Fenroy Villagers were happy going about their everyday lives. It took her the longer part of the day to ride to her village.
That is, the remains of her village.
She swallowed hard as she gazed upon the smoking site in front of here. Slowly, she got off her horse and tied it to a low tree branch, despite the fact it took her several tries because of her tear-filled eyes.
She closed her eyes as she let her hands linger on the rope, as if when she opened her eyes, everything would be back to normal.
Instead, when she opened her eyes, it was to see Jacob on his war horse, looking solemnly at the view in front of him.
“I was wondering if you’d let me see you,” she said, noting how her voice was shaky from unshed tears.
“I just wanted to make sure you were safe,” he replied as he remained on his horse.
As she walked around the charred buildings, he leapt off his horse and continued to follow her. For some strange reason, although he felt the need to protect her, he also knew that this was something none should be shielded from. This was a journey she had to take to help her grieve. When he saw her fall, he knew that although she had to grieve on her own, he could at least hold her to let her know that she wasn’t the only one who had to take such a difficult journey.
“I should have come home...when mother asked me to,” she hiccupped, after several heartbeats of solid crying. She looked at him with her large green eyes and sadly smiled as she remembered. “The last thing she said to me... was that she wanted me to hurry up and find someone special so she could spoil her grandchildren.” She ended with a fond laugh of the memory.
As she looked around the remains, a hint of sparkle in the burnt remains caught her eye. Jacob let her go as she pulled away.
Bending down, she brushed away some ashes and found herself uncovering a piece of golden jewelry. She picked it up and shook away the rest of the debris. As she looked at in the palm of her hand, she realized it was the necklace, a simple golden chain necklace with a heart charm, that her mother never took off. Choking back more tears, she turned and showed Jacob what had caught her attention.
“It was my mother’s necklace; she never took it off,” she said. She tried to unclasp the clasp but her hands were shaking too much and her eyes were blurring over again. Jacob gently took the necklace from her. While she lifted her long wavy black hair, Jacob slipped the necklace around her neck and clasped it for her. While doing so, she felt a gentle kiss on the side of her neck and gasped at the sudden rush that flowed through her body.
“It’s time we get back,” he said as he lightly kissed her forehead.
All that she could do was nod as her fingers fondled her new necklace.
They rode on their horses slowly as they made their way home and spent the time talking about various things. She spoke of some of her favorite parent memories while he talked about his recent travels.
Suddenly, they came across two guardsmen that looked like they were on watch. Although Eva didn’t recognize them, her new friend certainly did. After ordering her to stay where she was, he unsheathed his sword and started charging toward the two men. The two men, seeing the charging soldier, quickly ran into the cover of the forest, forcing Jacob to leap of his horse and chase after them.
Never one to listen to orders, Eva followed him, watching as the two guardsmen were joined by two more soldiers in a small clearing in the woods.
