Found!
Alex couldn't get over those bright green
eyes, "Jackie....?" He didn't realize he was whispering, but he voice was fading..
he was at a loss for words.
"Yes! It's me!"
"But... but... you have blonde hair!"
"Oh, sorry." The girl reached up and pulled off
a blonde wig, showing beautiful red curls below. "Better?"
Alex's loss of words was gone, replaced with
a million questions, "Why are you covering up your hair? What happened? How'd
you get here? Did you miss me? How'd you know I'd be here?"
Jackie opened her mouth to say something, but
there was a knock on the door, "Ack! You didn't tell them to bring your lunch
in here, did you?"
"Yes, I did. I thought you--"
Jackie dashed under the bed, just like she had
all those years ago.
"Come in." Alex tried to sound regal. A little
Aisha came in and placed his tray in front of him, then left, "I knew it was
weird that you stayed in here. Come on out, it's safe."
Jackie crawled out from under it and picked up
the tray. "Can I have this? The food they give us is horrible." She sat on the
edge of his bed and took a bite out of a roll. "Ah.... heaven. Okay, first of
all, the people here in Nova think that red hair is a bad omen, and no one wouuld
hire me except a man who owned an inn. I knew that the ONLY chance I'd ever
have of seeing you again would be if I worked at the home of a noble, so I saved
for a wig of a different color. Sorta weird, I know, but it worked. I was a
cook's helper here, just like I was at the palace. Well, once they heard I'd
worked at the palace, they hired me immediately. And yes, I missed you the whole
time."
Alex smiled, "You're coming back with me."
Jackie winced, "Are you sure that's such a great
idea?"
"No, but I'm desperate, and you still haven't
taught me anything."
Jackie smiled and said, "Okay. I'll go back with
you."
Alex told Aledia's parents that he needed to
return home, and they reluctantly let him go. He told them he wished to take
Jackie home with them, and Aledia's father said, "Go ahead. She shows up late
for her duties, talks constantly, and complains about the food. Take her away!"
When Alex told this to Jackie, she shrugged and
said, "No difference from the palace, huh?"
When Alex showed up earlier than he was supposed
to, the King and Queen were hoping things had gone better than they hoped and
that he would show up with a wife.
The carriage pulled up in front of the castle
and Alex stepped out, then leaned back into it and said, "It's alright. They've
probably forgotten by now." The King and Queen glanced nervously at each other,
but then their faces brightened when he saw him draw a woman's hand from the
carriage, and a girl's head pop out of the carriage.
"So this is Aledia..." mumbled the King.
They were both very hopeful until they saw that
the girl was dressed in a servant's clothes. The queen almost fainted as the
king's eyes grew wide. Jackie winced when she saw them, "Are you sure they've
forgotten?" Alex nodded.
Just then a fat yellow mynci came out to greet
them. "So Alex's back, is he?" He was holding the arm of a starry lupe, who
nodded, then screamed.
"What is it?" Jared stopped when he saw her,
"YOU!" He said in loud, yet pure horror, "Skira! I thought you got rid of her!"
Skira winced, "I thought I did..."
Jackie turned to Alex, her eyes laughing, but
her face trying to look serious, "Darn you, Alex, for not carrying a sword..."
Alex couldn't help but laugh. Jared came over
and stood right in front of Jackie, "Why'd you come back?"
Alex stood right in between Jackie and Jared,
"Because I brought her here."
Jared stared Alex with a threatening look, "I'll
deal with you later." Jared turned on his heal and began walking away, but Jackie
popped her head out from behind Alex and shouted, "I'm sure I can always shove
you in a thornbush again if you do ANYTHING to him!"
Skira giggled as Alex and Jackie were laughing
harder than ever. The King and Queen glanced at each other uncertainly.
Alex felt as though a piece of his life had just
been put back where it should've been. Jackie taught him how to master the sword,
which came easier to him when she was teaching it, and anytime Jared got annoying,
Jackie would either challenge him (and win), or she'd just look at Jared and
he'd scurry off.
Alex got Jackie a REAL room in the palace, and
everyone treated her like they did Alex (or else), except his parents. They
didn't like Jackie hanging around him as much as she did. They wanted Alex to
have "real" friends that were "important".
Jackie could easily forget these comments. She
was used to it, and as long as she was in the palace, she was happy, and as
long as she was happy, Alex was happy.
But the dream world of happiness that they were
living in was soon to end....
Fields of Green
"We're under attack?!?" Jackie asked with horror,
"How can this-"
"I don't know, but we've gotta do something."
"My gosh, do you ever listen? Remember the eyrie?"
Alex gasped, "Yes! I'll go get my family."
When the royal family was assembled, everyone
was shouting, "What's going on?" and "Where are we going?" and "We're going
OUTSIDE?!?"
Jackie led them silently through the garden,
then she and Alex ate some glowmberries (to the astonishment of the royal family)
and opened the door. It took three tries before the whole group was in. They
all got comfortable inside, as Jackie and Alex started shooting at the enemy
with the hand. Alex would say when to shoot, and Jackie would do the actual
shooting.
They did that for several hours, until every
one of the attackers had either ran off and hid, or was a lump of ashes in front
of the palace. Everytime they shot, Alex's family would cheer. The King and
Queen were having second thoughts about if Jackie was really as bad as they
thought...
After danger cleared, they all came out of the
passage and began walking back to the palace, but where stopped as six of their
attackers jumped out in front of them and charged towards them. Jackie reached
back to grab Alex's sword, then frowned as she realized he didn't have it. She
spun back around and kicked one of them in the stomach, making them drop their
weapon. A spear... NOT her specialty.
She spun the spear around so it looked like a
propeller, and she knocked two of them over with it. She grabbed both their
swords and threw the spear as far as she could. She tossed one to Alex and said,
"You can do it!" As she spun back into attacking two of them, while Alex started
on just one. Jackie already had one down, and so she was now fighting with two
swords.
The first man with the spear was now running
at Alex, but he was turned around so he didn't see. Jackie was preoccupied,
but she jumped up and kicked the man she was fighting square in the face, he
fell over but wasn't defeated. She pushed Alex out of the way, which made both
of the attackers collide. With Jackie and Alex both laying on the ground, their
weapons slung away from them, The three remaining attackers surrounded them,
shouting something in another language, "Ruddek! Abooy! Ruddek! Abooy!". Suddenly
there were at least 50 attacks surrounding them. Jackie closed her eyes and
tried with all her might to remember the magic she had come out of practice
of. It worked. She was holding two swords. She pressed one into Alex's hands
and whispered, "Good luck."
Jackie and Alex stood up and prepared themselves
to be beaten. They knew there was absolutely NO way they could survive this,
what with just two of them and 53 of them...
"Buzz off you losers!" Everyone looked up and
saw a fat yellow mynci, followed by a gold shoryu and a skunk kacheek.
"Jared and his goons!" Jackie said with relief.
"I couldn't let THEM get you, Jackie... that's
MY job." Jared winked at her as Jackie laughed.
They had a chance now. Jared took the left, Theo
took the right, Jackie took the front, Arcane took the back, and Alex tried
to watch all their backs at once... very difficult job.
Jackie was collecting weapons the whole time,
throwing some like javelins, sometimes just tossing the excess weapons to the
other members... soon her side was completed and she went to help Alex. Theo
was the next to finish, and he went to help Jared. Arcane was done, so he helped
Jared while Jackie and Alex helped with defense. Soon they were all defeated,
and cheers were erupting from all over the palace. It seems that while they
were fighting, everyone in the entire palace had come down to watch.
"What were they shouting before they attacked
you guys?" asked Jared.
"Ruddek Abboy, I think. I don't know what it
means, though." Admitted Alex.
"I do. They were saying "Backup, emerge. Backup,
emerge. I guess they had a whole bunch of soldiers hiding in the trees and stuff.
They were smart, we weren't careful."
The group of heroes nodded as the mob of people
swarmed in around them. Everyone was shouting things, but only Jared and his
goons seemed to enjoy it. Jackie and Alex slipped away from the crowd and wandered
back into the palace to be alone, now that the whole place was empty.
They went to Alex's room, where Jackie was laughing
about Jared's excuse for helping, "Like I needed help, but..." Jackie tried
to look proud, but ended up laughing.
"You're amazing. You know that, Jackie?"
Jackie stopped laughing and eyed him skeptically,
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Alex sat down on the bed, and Jackie sat down
beside him. "Jackie..."
"What?" She smiled at him with her sparkling
green eyes.
Alex frowned. There was no way he could do this
with her smiling at him, "Stop that!"
"Stop what?" She was obviously confused.
"Stop smilin' at me like that, so I can get this
out!"
"You're not sending me away are you?" her eyes
were filled with pure horror.
"No, no no! I want you to stay forever. Marry
me." Jackie's mouth fell open, and she looked just like a little kid. Alex smiled,
"Please?"
Jackie hung her head. "You know your parents
would never go for something like that--"
"Yes we would." They both looked up to see the
Queen smiling at them, "You put on quite a display out there, and Alex NEEDS
to marry..."
Alex frowned deeply at his mother, hoping that
if he wished hard enough, he could just wish her away.
"Really?" Jackie said, crying. Alex turned quickly
to look at her, seeing her face of joy but her eyes of sadness. He'd learned
to trust her eyes more than her face, for she couldn't hide anything in those
fields of green...
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"A prince, marrying a servant girl?"
"What's wrong with that?" Jared asked as he popped
his head in the door.
Jackie smiled at Alex. "Absolutely nothing."
The End | 
