Juliet

To Milan

"Will that actually work?" Juliet asks after he finishes explaining everything to her. The room now dim as the sun begins to set on another day.

"Nothing to doubt," Aleron says confidently. "Well enough that the necessary supplies can be found where we're headed. Now eat."  He says placing a plate in front of Juliet. "We'll have to go to bed before the sun entirely sets. We have a long road ahead of us and if we're even an hour behind, that could lead to worse consequences." 

Juliet nods and begins to dig into the food. Aleron takes out a gown and lays it out, "This is for you as well. You can change into it after you awaken." 

Juliet looks at the gown. It was nothing like she had ever worn, yet it held a beauty of its own. She smiles at the gown, then she quickly frowns realizing that Aleron had went through the trouble of finding it for her and that she only managed to stir up trouble, "Thank you." She whispers, a wave of guilt rushing over her. 

Aleron takes the empty plate, "If you are finished then hurry and get some rest. You'll need it."

"But first I must tell." Juliet speaks up. "Of the man he chased me. He was no Capulet, but a Montague, a rival House of which I told you during our travels here." Aleron's eyes narrow at that. He senses that this was a no good situation. 

"Rest now." He tells her. "That only confirms that we will have to leave to soon. The sun has almost set, we'll discuss this on the way to Milan."

Juliet lays her head down and goes to sleep. For the first time since his death, Juliet has a dream of Romeo. She missed him dearly, seeing his face in her dreams pained her, when she realizes it was the only place she could see him. She whispers his name in her sleep, calling to him. If only he would be there when she waked, if only the pain and ache of losing him would end. Juliet reaches out to touch him, to be with him, but no matter how close she got, he was always too far, too far for her outstretched hand. He disappears and her dreams turn dark. She was alone, all alone. There was no one there. She falls to her knees and silently weeps, letting out her pain.

Aleron watches Juliet as she sleeps; listens as she calls out Romeo's name ever so gently. She starts to whimper, tossing and turning. He closes his eyes. If he left like this, she would not be well enough to travel. Nightmares caused a sense of restlessness, and if they were going to move quickly he needed her to be wide awake. Unable to give her medicine for the bad dreams, he lays beside her, and puts his arm around her. His grandmother often taught him that the best way to rid someone of the devil's dreams, as his grandmother would call them, was to lay with them, for the devil had a hard time taking a hold of one soul if there was another in its presence. Despite not being too heavily religious like his family who wished him to become a clergyman, it was the one remedy h believed in that was based off of what he considered nonsense. 

Juliet stops her tossing to Aleron's relief. He becomes aware of how close her face is to his, her breathing light like a puff of air. He stares at her lips, "You love to tempt me, even in slumber. Why? Apart of me wishes to hurry and be rid you, yet another wants to take you for my own," He whispers. "I curse your beauty, your naivety, for it's what draws me to you." He tightens his grip around her, pulling her closer possessively towards him. "Instead of his, I'll have you calling out mine. Force his name with the sleeping dogs and make my name the sweet gentle whisper you breathe in the night." He frowns. "May you never come to know these feelings, for rejection is adamant. I may have your body, but your heart and soul will always belong to him."

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Juliet wakes up in the middle of the night surprised to find Aleron in the bed with her. She gasps holding in a scream. She tries to slowly get out of the bed when she feels his arms tighten around her waist and pulls her closer. Her  face was now in his chest, her cheeks turn as red as roses. "Aleron..." She tries to wake him. He grunts and tightens his grip on her. "Aleron." She says a tad louder.

Aleron wakes up, now alert. His eyes on her. He lets go of her and gets up as if nothing happened keeping his expression cool. Juliet stays frozen on the bed, blinking trying to get a grasp on how such a situation came to be.

"Come on, get up," Aleron says. "We have to go now." He moves to open the door. "I'll be back. Make sure you're ready by then." He leaves the room quickly.

It takes a while before Juliet actually gets up. She tries not to think too much about what happened, yet her thoughts could only think how it felt to have his arms around her. She shakes her head of the oncoming lewd thoughts, "No," She says to herself. "I cannot be. I must be going mad." She turns look at the dress Aleron had gotten for her. She touches it feeling the cloth beneath her fingers. "Drown in sorrow or fall into madness. I think I'd rather fall." She whispers.

Juliet changes into the dress. It was moderate and plain, it was different from the extravagant gowns that she was adorned with. She looks down at her old dress lying on the ground torn and muddy. She stares at it for long time, thinking of her family, her home, and the life she grew up in. She snaps out of her daze when she hears the door opening. She turns to see Aleron step into the room. As she's about to speak, he throws a cape onto her head. "Put that on and come." He says walking back out. 

Juliet puts on the cape as he said and begins to follow. She stops and looks at her old tattered gown on the floor. She leaves it, turning away and shutting the door behind her. She rushes after Aleron and follows him out of the inn.  He leads her to a pair of horses. 

"Where did you get these horses from?" Juliet stares at them.

"I'll tell you later. Now get on. We need to go before someone realizes."

Juliet allows Aleron to lift her up onto the saddle of the brown mare when it finally dawns her her, "It was you!"

"Lower your voice woman." He sneers. 

"You stole these horses." She hisses trying to keep her voice down.

"We'll speak of this later, Juliet. We must leave." He says hopping onto the horse next to her. "Now, do you know how to ride?"

"Of course I do, I-" 

Aleron cuts her off. "Then let's go." He takes the reins and sends his horse into a gallop. 

"Wait! Aleron!" She yells taking the reins of her horse, at that moment she sees Guilelmo standing and glaring at her. 

"That's my horse!" He shouts and begins to run towards her.

Frightened, Juliet quickly gallops after Aleron. Guilelmo continues chasing and shouting after her until the distance between them becomes too great. He stops, but Juliet doesn't stop and continues catching up with Aleron. The two ride into the night, heading towards Milan. Even being far, her heart was beating fast. A smile makes its way onto her face, the thrill of being on the run was exhilarating. She had never felt so alive, and she did not want this to end. Juliet begins laughing as she rides along side Aleron.