Four years had passed since her rescue. Adriana had stuck by Isaars side, using what little skills she had to aid him. Usually she would mend his armor or tend to his animal companions. She had met the men he had rebelled with. A dwarf named Rooze, a human man named Collins, and a night elven man named Kyn'las. Rooze spent his off time trying to teach the feeble girl how to wield a blade. Collins, only a bit older then Isaars, had taught her to identify herbs and what they did. Kyn'las, otherwise known as Lassie, had taught her how to handle animals and tend to their injuries. Slowly their tiny band of misfits had grown, and together- along with the mother of Isaars daughter, they had gotten a ship for sailing. Many men and women had slowly banded with the group.
One man, named Jeremiah, had been a recent addition. Only a year aboard. Ana was sixteen upon his first attempt to court her. The man himself being four years her older. She had agreed, and on her seventeenth birthday was when flames turned cold.
The usual birthday celebration had gone on. The boys had docked, taken her out to go window shopping and gotten her new books to read. Once back aboard, most of the men had taken to playing their usual games. Jeremiah, or then known Jay, had wandered into Ana's tiny room aboard the ship. Thinking it was like any other time, where he had come to just chat or complain, the girl had been taken off guard when he suddenly grabbed her face and forcefully kissed her. This sudden aggression had left her confused as she tried to reel back from it, knocking down her books off the nightstand. He had taken to shoving her on the bed. She began to try and shove him off, causing the kiss to be broken.
"What are you doing?!" She asked in distress.
His hands moved to pin hers to the bed. "Giving you a coming of age present."
"No! Stop!" She tried to break his grasp, his lips silencing her protests.
She felt him manipulate her hands so he could hold them with one wrist. Tears burning her eyes as she struggled. Soon she heard a familiar growl and her body free as her eyes opened to see Isaars slamming the guy into the wall. Her mind was numb as she felt Caoi's jacket slump over her shoulders while Isaars dragged the man out of her room. She hadn't realized she was shaking. She didn't know what had happened to Jay, and nor did she intend to find out. After an hour, Isaars, Rooze, and Kyn had come by. Kyn giving her an herbal tea to drink to ensure nothing permanent would happen. Rooze checked the bruises he had left on her wrists. Isaars glaring at the door while holding the girl close. The four men took turns staying by her side throughout the next week. Her mind and heart having closed itself off, behind iron doors.
No Love.
No Relationships.
And she would be stuck with that mindset for the next eight years.
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