-You have to go-

-- Damek --

"I can't believe you! How are you so calm? No! I won't go. You can't make me!" Avery yelled at me while crying. Tears were streaming down her porcelain face, partially from anger and the rest from sadness. Sobs racked her body, and her wine red hair fell, tangled, around her face. I wasn't sure what to do, I had only seen her cry once before. I stepped forward to try and comfort her. She struggled to push me away, but I held firm. She would have to get over it. For her country. Avery started screaming at me, pounding at my chest, as if she could punch her way out of this mess.

The thought of her leaving scared me and the ground swayed a little beneath my feet. It's not like I had a choice either. I grabbed both her hands with one of mine, holding them firmly against my chest. I grabbed her chin gently, forcing her eyes to peer up into mine. She stopped screaming and looked up at me, silent tears falling from her sapphire blue eyes and wetting her face. As her personal guard, I was the one who had the responsibility of delivering messages from the King.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her shakily. I tried to keep my voice steady for her, "It is your father's wish, not mine. If I could choose, you would stay here with me. You know that." I could feel tears stinging behind my own eyes. When I first heard the news, I had immediately put up a mental shield, blocking the pain from spreading because I knew that if I broke down, that a whole dam would flow over.

Her bottom lip quivered delicately, and I couldn't bring myself to repeat her fathers' wishes for her- to marry the Prince of Benrute and to become their Queen. She was to leave for the Bentrutian castle to meet him in less than a week.

When she stopped struggling and pounding at me I looked down "I don't want to go," Avery whispered, so quietly I barely made out the words. She had given up being angry, and let the grief wash over us like a quilt. I released her hands from where they were clasped to my chest. We were inches from each other. I could smell her nutmeg and cinnamon scent, letting it calm me. Her sniffles had quieted, and her breathing had slowed, though not by much. "You-you'll be there with me right?"

"Yes Ave, I'll always be here for you."

"That sounds so cliche," She mumbled, wrapping her arms around me, and I hugged her back, not letting go until she did, brushing her tears away with my thumbs. It had been an hour since I had first told her that she was to be married off, with no say in her future. Avery had known that there was little chance of her ever being with someone that she chose, but she had clung to that one, possible choice in her life. As the Princess she never got much say in what her life was to be like, even I seemed to have more freedom then her at times. After hearing the news, she had started by screaming and a blind rage took over, then she slowly broke down piece by piece, the anger turning to sadness and pain. A numbness came next, and she didn't talk for a few hours, but merely sat on her bed and cried, trying to process the information.

I had done the same thing when my mother died. Two years ago, I was only eighteen. The men came in when my father wasn't home, I had tried to fight them but they beat me so badly I couldn't move and then proceeded to whip me, making my mother watch. The men raped her, then slaughtered her and her unborn child. My voice went raw from the screaming I had done that day. They did it as a revenge to my father, the King's war commander. When my dad came home, he took me to a healer then hunted down the men, one by one. He killed them all with no remorse. I was forced to stay home and heal, not helping him.

I stood up to leave, so that Ave might have the time she needed alone to mourn the loss of her freedom regarding relationships. In truth I didn't want to leave her, but knew that it was the smart choice, for both her and me. Though when Ave called me back to her, I disregarded my previous though and looked back towards her.

"Wait," Her voice was raw and quiet. "C'mere. Please." I her voice broke with pain.

I walked over to and scooped her up. She dropped her head onto my chest, and I leaned on the backboard of the bed, holding her. I couldn't believe that she would get married. Avery was only nineteen, but there was a growing tension between the countries. I didn't want her to go. Not just because I loved her, but because it would break her. She was a free spirit and hated being controlled.

I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She turned her face up toward me, and brought her mouth to my own. It was like the first kiss we had. It sent a thrill throughout my whole body. It was gentle, though it soon became searing. I pulled my mouth away from hers. It wasn't fair to either of us to be doing this when we would never be able to be together anyways.

But Avery looked at me with such pain in her eyes that when she brought her lips to mine again, I didn't stop her. I didn't pull away from her gentle kisses, her hungry kisses, or her mind numbing kisses. I just let her kiss me, and enjoyed the last few times I would be able to share this with her before she was sent off into marriage like chattel. She deepened the kiss and I happily obliged, moving my lips against hers with the same amount of passion. We stayed like that for quite awhile, tangled together, desperate kisses passed between us.

Hours later, we heard a knock at the door. Frantically, sitting up, Avery called out "Just a minute please."

I rushed toward the door, giving her one last kiss as I passed. As she tried to brush down her mussed up hair, I straightened my uniform. Ariel just opened the door and ran to Avery. I let out a breath of relief at seeing her face. Ariel and Avery's other guard, Lex, were the only people who knew of our . . . relationship. Ariel's shoulder length, curly, brown hair framed her face, her chocolate colored skin complementing her green eyes.

"Avery I am so sorry! I just learned about. . ." Instead of finishing the sentence she wrapped her friend in a huge hug. I casually stepped away from them, turning my head.

"I know, I-Im not sure what to do. I know I have to, but it would mean. . ." She turned her face toward me, and my eyes stung with the effort of holding in my tears. I met her eyes, and the pain hidden in her gaze cracked my heart even further.

"I-I have to go," I muttered before dashing out of the room. "Lex, you're in charge of her," I spoke to the guard outside Ave's royal chambers.

"Damek wait!" Avery's voice chased after me but I shut it out and started sprinting as soon as I reached the outdoors. I ran out into the courtyard which led to the woods. The cold air whipped at me, turning my cheeks red. Thankfully, nobody was around to notice my departure. The dirt pounded at my shoes, and branches stung my face. I couldn't breath, yet I kept my legs moving. I ran until my legs gave out. Not sure where my body took me, I realized that I had reached a cabin. It was the place Ave and I had kissed for the first time. I stumbled into the building, gasping for breath still. I moved to the bedroom before my legs gave out completely. Then the dam broke.

The tears fell in big splotches, and all the emotion from the past two days, knowing that I would lose Ave, my Ave, came rushing out of me. I never liked crying, I became me weak and vulnerable, but the tears wouldn't stop falling. Great. Now I was ugly crying. She would be another man's wife. My beautiful Ave. What would I do without her? The tears came and came, they didn't seem to stop.

It had been about an hour when I was jostled out of my misery by footsteps nearing the cabin. I unraveled myself from the ball I had been huddled in and quickly ran into one of the massive closets the building had. This was so stupid I shouldn't be hiding, I chided myself but didn't move. Voices flowed in from the entrance. I immediately recognized one as Avery, Ariel as another, and Lex as the third. I was surprised to hear Lex talking with them. She was usually an introvert who only spent her time with a few other guards that she was close too. Though I was aware she knew of Avery and my relationship, I didn't know that the women were so close. My Avery had that effect on people. I waited in silence, not giving away that I was in the cabin with them.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Ave sniffled. I heard muttering from Ariel and Lex. My heart broke at the sound of pain in Ave's voice. I would sell my soul in order to never hear that again. In fact, I would do anything for her.

"We'll think of something Avery," I whispered to myself.

"What was that? Who is there?!" I heard Avery yell into the cabin. I stepped out of my hiding place with a sheepish, sad smile and rounded a corner to face her, eyes still red from crying. She ran into my arms, and I spun her around. I held her close, her damp cheeks wet on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into her hair. "It's just. . . hard." I moved my face from where it was resting on her head and looked down to find her already facing me.

"I know," she said softly, reaching her hand up to cup my cheek. I leaned into the touch, trying to memorize the feeling of her hands before I would lose her.

My heart was shattering slowly. Avery was leaving in a week. I should be distancing myself, slowly, so my heart had more time to heal. Yet I couldn't bring myself to halt my movements as I leaned down and kissed her. She meant too much to me. And I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to forget her.