Tears of Fire

Fatal Secret

Tears welled in her eyes as she watched them drag her friend away "Tina!" she called, stumbling after them. Another girl stopped her; her eyes were cold she said with no sympathy. Tina looked over her shoulder "it's okay, Dahlia" she called, tears ran down her cheeks "don't worry about me," her friend offered a weak smile before one of the people holding her tugged on her arm roughly "don't talk to her! Traitor" he spat with hatred. Dahlia watched as they tied one of her only friends to the big wooden pole. Tina's eyes were filled with a quiet acceptance that absolutely terrified Dahlia, "no! No! Please, she didn't mean it!" she pleaded, struggling against the arm that was holding her. "Dahlia, stop! Please" the person holding her whispered in her ear "you'll only make it worse" his voice was filled with sadness. She knew he was right, she stopped, simply staring at Tina with a terrified expression. Tina smiled at her she assured "my only regret is that I'm leaving you with these monsters" she spat the last words with hatred, her dark eyes raked over the crowd angrily landing on a specific person before turning her soft gaze back to Dahlia "I'm sorry my little fox". A man with a knife and torch stepped up next to Tina. "Tina, you are being executed for betraying the trust of Pyre Crew, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked coldly. Tina looked at him with disgust "you make me sick" she spat in his face. He wiped his face "of course" he looked back her, noticing the tears dripping down her cheeks. He heated the knife he was holding with the torch then pressed it to her cheek tracing the tear stains with the hot metal. Tina closed her eyes and tried to flinch away, she whimpered. Dahlia didn't want to watch any longer, but she couldn't look away, her body was racked with sobs, but she barely noticed. Warm hands rested on her shoulders, no doubt it was Connor. Poor Connor, she thought. The man finished tracing the tears and backed away nodding to two men standing by with torches. They started to light the fire. Suddenly a knife flew past Dahlia's head and landed in Tina's chest, she lifted her head and stared past Dahlia 'thank you', she mouthed with a small smile before her head dropped and her body went limp. Dahlia spun around to see Connor still standing there, his face was etched with sadness as he stared at Tina, he shifted his gaze to look at Dahlia. He gave a small smile he cupped her face, kissed her forehead then turned and ran. He ran away into the woods and never looked back, three people chased him. She turned back around to see a huge fire, so big she could no longer see Tina. The man with the knife stood in front of her, he grabbed her chin roughly and made her look at him. His face was cold he asked with a cruel smile, tracing a tear on her cheek with the tip of his knife. She winced at the pain but put on a determined face. She grabbed his hands roughly she shoved him and walked away, tears obscuring her vision as she wrapped her arms around her torso to comfort herself.

Fox blinked against the pain in her chest.

"aww, Sam, have you taking a special liking to your guard?" the king had asked. Sam's face was cold when he responded "absolutely not. That's absurd" a new wave of pain followed the memory. Why do I even care? She wondered as Sam pulled her down the hall. As soon as they were in Sam's room with the door closed he pulled her into a hug. She hugged back instantly, cursing her bulky armor. "I'm so sorry" Sam's voice was muffled, "I'm so, so, sorry" he rocked them slightly. "It's not your fault" she turned her face into his neck and pulled him closer. Sam sighed "it kind of is" he replied without pulling away "if I hadn't told you to ditch the formalities it wouldn't have happened" he mumbled guiltily. Fox winced "no, I shouldn't have slipped up" she comforted, holding him tighter. Sam cursed "I'm sorry" his whisper was barely audible, "he's wrong, your gender shouldn't, and doesn't, define what you can and can't do" he said firmly trying to pull away. Fox held him tighter, preventing him from leaving, "no, stay" she said in a pouting voice. Sam laughed lightly "but I wanna see your pretty eyes" he replied, tightening his grip on her waist. Fox sighed "fine..." she let him pull away, but he kept his hands on her waist and he rested his forehead against hers "are you okay?" he asked, the worry in his voice made her heart flutter. Fox bit her lip "no, I don't think so, that was scary" she winced when she remember Sam's words to his father. She tried to pull away, but Sam stopped her "talk to me" he whispered and dropped his gaze briefly to her lips before flicking it back up. Fox felt her cheeks warm with a blush "uh" she tried to remember how to talk "did you uh...mean what you said to your dad about um...not liking me?" she asked quietly avoiding his gaze. Sam pulled his forehead away from hers. Fox cursed silently "I'm sorry it doesn't matter; I don't know why I said anything-" Sam cut her off by gently kissing her. Fox was too surprised to react for a second then her heart kickstarted her brain and she leaned into it. Sam pulled her closer then sighed and pulled away "of course I didn't mean it, Fox, I had to tell him that, I had to lie" he whispered not looking into her eyes, "I'm sorry I probably shouldn't have done that" he finally met her gaze, his brown eyes were filled with emotion. Fox moved her hands from his neck to his cheeks, cupping his face, she searched his eyes. "Don't say sorry" she whispered seriously "sorry means you didn't mean it" she pulled him closer and kissed him again. Sam tightened his hold on her waist and leaned impossibly closer. Fox pulled away after awhile and pulled him into a hug. Sam accepted it silently hiding his face in her neck. Fox ran a hand through his hair "what now?" she asked quietly. Sam shrugged "I don't know, I just want to stay here" he replied, his breath tickled her neck. She sighed "we shouldn't" she reasoned pulling away from the hug, shooting a glance at the door. Sam whined "whyyyy?" he fake pouted. Fox laughed "because someone could walk in" she replied moving her hands to his shoulders. Sam crossed his arms over his chest, a lock of dark hair fell into his face, and he tried unsuccessfully to blow it away. Fox bit back a laugh "you're so cute" she wrapped her arms around his waist and tugged him closer pushing the hair back into place before resting her hand on his cheek. Sam still pouted, "'m not" he pushed her hand away from his face playfully. Fox replaced her hand on his waist pulling him closer "are too" she taunted close to his face. Sam broke and smiled a little, he wrapped his arms around her neck, "I thought you said we shouldn't be this close" he teased, his gaze flicked to her lips briefly. Fox rolled her eyes "umm, I take it back" she replied with a smile. Sam shook his head lightly "too late" he started to pull away, but Fox stopped him with a quick peck on the nose. Sam smiled and pulled her into a kiss again, for longer this time. He pulled away "I hate your armor" he muttered flicking his eyes over the bulky metal with annoyance, he met her gaze and pulled her closer "can't you take it off?" he asked. Fox looped her arms around his neck, and he moved his down to her waist "why? So, you can tease me for being small again?" she raised her eyebrows. Sam brought one hand to his chest in mock offence "I would never!" he smiled then replaced his hand on her waist and planted a quick kiss on her nose "I won't tease you" he said seriously "but I think your size is cute" Fox blushed, she fiddled with her hands behind his head "thanks, I guess I can take it off" she started pulling away but Sam didn't let go "you don't have to if you don't want to" he said with a gentle smile. Fox smiled and kissed his cheek "I want to" she smiled successfully pulling away this time. Sam smiled softly and retreated to his bed while she carefully took her bulky armor off. After she was done she sat on the bed beside Sam. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into himself. Fox accepted the hug and slipped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek before snuggling into his chest, "this is better" she breathed, loving the way she fit perfectly in his arms. Sam hummed "much" he agreed, burying his face in her neck, "perfect" his whisper was barely audible. Fox shifted a little "what's perfect?" she asked, breathing in the scent of vanilla and old books. "You" he replied pulling her closer, which Fox previously thought impossible. She smiled "no you are" she retorted fondly, "and you smell good" Sam pulled away just enough to look at her "yeah? And what do I smell like?" he asked teasingly. Fox pretended to think "vanilla and old books," she drew a line on his chest with her finger "I noticed it the first day when you complimented my eyes..." she said quietly, watching her finger as she drew shapes on his chest. Sam quirked an eyebrow and gave a crooked smile "been in love with me for that long, eh?" he asked playfully. Fox rolled her eyes "I'm not 'in love' with you for starters" she said, "and you said I smelled good the day you found the note, remember?" she tapped his nose with her finger. Sam smiled, taking her hand, and interlocking their fingers "I remember," he replied softly, his gaze locked on hers. Fox felt a smile tug at her lips "so, what do I smell like?" she repeated his earlier question. Sam buried his face in her neck taking his hand away from hers to wrap it around her waist and tug her closer "rain... and pine needles" he replied, taking a deep breath. Fox's breath hitched. Pine needles? An image of large pine trees bordering a small encampment in the forest flashed briefly through her mind. She must've flinched because Sam pulled away and looked at her, he rested a hand on her cheek "Fox? Are you okay?" he asked, searching her gaze. "Dahlia" she breathed, blinking to refocus her gaze on the prince. A frown played on Sam's face "what?" he asked in a concerned tone. Fox finally cleared her vision, taking in Sam's lovely features "my...name-my name is Dahlia" she wrapped her arms around his neck again. His expression softened; he stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb "you didn't have to tell me that" he said gently. Fox shook her head "I wanted to, you deserve to know, especially now that we're...close" she replied. Sam smiled softly "thank you, it's a very pretty name" he said placing a light kiss on her nose. Fox smiled at him, "you're amazing, Sam" she whispered pulling him into a hug. Sam laughed a little "thanks, you are too, Dahlia" he replied lightly. Fox's heart fluttered at the way he said her name, she pulled away and kissed him. Sam accepted it and tugged her closer. Eventually they had to pull away and Fox hugged him again.