Brotherly Love

He gave a vague gesture with his hand but didn't bother explaining it.

He had a foul mouth but he didn't want any young impressionable girls using his language.

"I willnae let anythin' happen to ye, lass." She'd have to get that thought into her head because he wasn't going to be letting anything happen to her.

He was here to protect her and he was going to do his job.

"My brother nearly ate you, if you're too weak to take him on then you'll have no chance of protecting me from the rest of them."

She replied with a little shrug, he could try to protect her all he wanted, but he would be killed in the process of doing do.

"Besides, I won't have to worry about my brothers soon, I'm...moving away."

She added, not knowing that the man had heard her in the carriage.

"I'll protect ye from them, lass."

He would do everything in his admittedly meagre power to protect her from her family made of bullies and assholes.

"And I'll protect ye from him when we go."

He'd protect her from anyone that had ill intentions for her. It was his vow to her.

"When we go?"

She asked, looking up at him with furrowed brows, he didn't understand did he?

"Graeme I wont be allowed to take you with me, my husband is possessive, he wont like another man being around me."

She had been allowed to bring a handmaiden with her, only a hand maiden.

Graeme's shoulders shrugged and he gave a small grunt of discomfort.

His first action when he could would be to wrap his ribs. He was in quite a bit of pain at the moment.

"That is something he has no say of. I belong to ye and only ye have the right to decide whether I stay with ye or not."

Graeme wasn't going to let her be pushed into leaving him. Graeme was going to protect her no matter what.

"I brought your freedom, you don't belong to me at all, you're your own man and we both know that even if I told you to go, you wouldn't budge."

She had tried to tell him to leave multiple times already and he stubbornly stayed by her side.

"It might be horribly selfish of me, but I'm glad you're here, I needed someone on my side..."

She had been alone for far too long now. The girl pressed her knees in against her chest and hugged them firmly, wiping her mouth against her skirt, uncaring of ruining the fabric.

"I wish we could just run away from all of this."

Graeme's lips curled into a smirk at her observations. "Clever lass."

He was staying by her side whether she wanted him there or not. She wasn't going to go through anything alone. Not her brothers abusing her. Not her father abusing her. Not even her intended husband abusing her.

Graeme would protect her from everything.

"I would fare better chances running when my ribs are healed."

It wasn't an idea that he was throwing away, for sure. He'd definitely enjoy getting away from everything. He could protect her better if he removed her from the situation, too.

Eva gave a soft shrug, "I'm not as dumb as I look."

She had caught on to his intentions quickly enough, he wasn't going anywhere and she knew it. Why he was doing it was what she didn't know.

"I wasn't being serious about running away... there is so way we could get away with it."

They would be caught sooner or later and things would be worse for the both of them, she could only imagine how her running away with a male slave would look.

Grame's hand rested on her head, ruffling her hair gently.

He had no doubt about that. The girl was of a high class. She would have been formally educated. Her intelligence would far outweigh his; born a boy on a farm and raised to know just how to milk a cow best rather than the ins and outs of languages and numbers.

"I was," he responded quietly.

The man's eyes slid shut.

"We'll give it time before returning. let your brother cool. When we return, we rest until my ribs are healed enough." A week would do it if his ribs were wrapped properly.

And then they'd run.

Eva looked up at him in shock, he really was serious wasn't he?

She pause for a moment before protesting. It was what she wanted, she wanted to get away from all of this, she didn't want to get married and she didn't want to live under her father's roof.

Graeme was offering her an escape.

"Alright then."

She replied with a soft nod, a few days would be enough for her to slowly steal things, pack food from the kitchens, take a few valuables that they could sell if they needed anything.

"We head inland."

From what he'd seen of this area, they were at the edges of Nalithian territory. Some plants still grew readily and the dust wasn't quite so dry.

Initially his plan had been to leave Nalithia and head northeast, through Kennedrick and the Elven countries and move upwards towards the coasts.

He couldn't do that carting around Eva. Their best bet would be to go to a heavily populated city within Nalithia and hide in plain sight. What better city than the Queen's city; the largest city in Nalithia?

That was where he planned to take the girl.

Eva nodded softly, they sounded like a good plan, if they headed out of Nalithia they would only move for half of the day, she couldn't be out in the sunlight.

"I have a horse, we can wait until everyone is sleeping and slip out on his back."

Her horse was faster than either of them could run, he was a gentle creature and would serve them well in their escape.

"I'll see how much gold I can get together, we'll need it."

"We move through villages on the outskirts, head north towards the Elven lands."

His eyes narrowed at nothing as he thought.

"Slay the horse and leave it as if attacked at the borders then we double back towards the Queen's city." His tongue laved over his lips slowly.

"We stay there for as long as we are able."

Eva's lips pursed in a hard line at his plan.

"You can slay him if you absolutely must, but I want no hand in it."

Her horse had been her only companion for so long, she would feel horrible betraying him like that but she knew her escape would come with sacrifices, ones that she wouldn't want to make.

She glanced down and stared at her feet, the plan left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Graeme nodded in response.

He wouldn't have her kill her own horse. He wouldn't be able to do the same to his own steed if he were still alive.

His fingers ran gently through her hair.

"We will work in the city; move from the slums upwards. Perhaps we will make working class in a few years." It was highly unlikely, but the possibility was there and it was something that he wanted for the girl. He wanted her to be able to not work her hands to the bone and live in relative luxury compared to what they'd be living like over the next few weeks of travelling.

Eva gave a soft purr as his fingers ran through her hair, gently she leaned up against him, cuddling into his side.

How was it that in the few sort days he had been around Eva felt closer to Graeme than her own family? The answer was obvious but it was still strange for her to be close to someone like this and actually feel safer.

"If I can steal enough gold and valuable before we leave we should be able to live comfortably enough for a little while, long enough for us to get settled and find jobs."

Graeme shook his head.

"We save currency. Emergencies happen." He didn't plan to pay out for anything. Keeping gold and valuables safe was the best way to play it. If they needed them for a real emergency then they would use them.

For all intents and purposes, they'd live like beggars without a copper piece to their name.

Eva gave a hesitant nod, Graeme knew a lot more about surviving out in the world than she did, when it came to street smarts she had very little.

If he said they didn't touch their gold, then they didn't touch it, even if they had quite a large amount of it.

He was her best hope of survival and she would trust him on his decisions.

Graeme had a lot of experience with being poor and having very limited savings.

He'd make sure they could scrape by without too much trouble.

He'd be protecting Eva from everything; abuse, hunger, poverty. They'd make it okay.

"Think your brother's balls have cooled down now?"

"I doubt it..."

She admitted as she looked up at him, Austin had one hell of a temper, no doubt he would be waiting for them to reappear.

Though her brother was also a busy man, hopefully he had been called away to attend to business so they could sneak in without him noticing.

Austin was rarely ever home, he would be leaving again soon enough.

"We might be able to sneak in though.

"I hope he walks gingerly for a long time," the man murmured as he pushed himself to his feet.

"I need to wrap my chest," he murmured, holding his hand out to help her to her feet.

The two could sneak back into her room and he could treat himself before they rested.

"We don't leave each other's sides while in the castle." He would stay right besides her; whether she planned to go bathe, walk through the gardens or attend dinner with her family, he would be right there by her side.

Eva held onto his hand and nodded as she looked up to him and stood.

She would stay beside him no matter what, she didn't want to be alone and Graeme had promised to protect her no matter what.

"If we go through the Servant entrance no one should see us."

That way they could sneak into the kitchen and get them both something to eat, it would help the healing process.

"Come on."

She held onto Graeme's hand and led him back out of the garden and toward the house.

Graeme followed her silently as he held her hand.

Her hand was so small in his. Her body was tiny, delicate. His was much larger. The workers body of a large farmer. She was like a tiny little doll.

His hand squeezed her gently.

Eva led him through the Servant door which connected onto the kitchen, none of her family would ever disgrace themselves by stepping foot in here, she however spent a lot of time hiding here.

"What do you want to eat?"

She could grab enough for a few days so they wouldn't have to leave the room until Austin was gone.

She took a potato sack and started to fill it with what they would need, a few flasks of blood, a loaf of bread, jam, jerked meat and various other foods that would hold them over quite well for now.

Once she was satisfied with what they had she took his hand again and led him through the narrow stairwell, carefully checking corners until they arrived safely to her room.

"Anything."

He'd be content with eating anything. Any meal was a blessing when you lived with Vampires. He was just glad that this family seemed to still eat. There were a lot of noble families that didn't.

He took the bag from her hand gently when she led him towards the staircase.