Chapter Text
A pair of hands around your throat, choking the life out of you. You claw at their arms, vision going blurry from air deprivation. White bursts across your vision, sweat starting to trickle down from your scalp from the exertion it takes for you to fight back.
Someone whispers your name, and you feel another set of hands on your shoulders, shaking you.
You can't focus on the second person, but a weird feeling overcomes you. You start to fight harder, the need to breath gives you a burst of adrenaline. You jerk your body around, trying to free yourself.
You hear your name again, louder this time, and the grip on your shoulders harden, the shaking even more intense. It's an out of body experience for you, and finally, you break free.
Your eyes open wide and you jolt upwards. Or you at least try. A pair of masculine hands hold you down, and all you can do is fight for your life. Your mouth opens and you start to scream, but one of the hands holding your shoulders lets go and slaps over your lips, muffling the garbled sound.
"Hey, shh. It's just me," a gentle yet firm voice says, "it's me, Jean."
You struggle with the man on top of you for a couple more seconds before everything becomes clear for you. You go limp, your eyes still open wide. Your vision comes back into focus, and you see Jean on top of you, his amber orbs filled with concern and a little bit of terror.
"That's it, there you go." He mumbles quietly, letting out a breath of hot air. He still holds you down, and you two lock eyes.
Your heart feels like it's going to beat out of your chest, and sweat clings to every inch of your skin. It's just Jean.
The thought slows your heart to a somewhat normal rhythm. Relief floods your entire being and you start to tear up a little bit. Jean.
"I'm going to let go, but I need you to be quiet, okay?" His forehead bumps against yours for a moment.
You nod.
Slowly, he eases off of you. His legs are on either side of your hips, bent at the knee, his chest pressed up against yours. He lifts his upper body up and lets you go, the hand on your other shoulder now resting on the bed beside your head and the one previously on your mouth now cupping your cheek.
You take in a shuddering breath and just stare at him, waiting for his next words.
"I'm here to break you out, just like I promised." His eyes dart towards the open door to your room briefly before they're back on you. "I know it's been awhile, but I have no time to explain right now." He lets you go and shifts his weight over to one leg before hoisting himself off of you quickly. He shuffles to the edge of the bed and gets off, reaching his hand out to you.
You take it without hesitation, affection filling your chest. It's an amazing feeling, and you forget the dream you just had. Jean is here to save you, just like he said he would. He pulls you up into a sitting position, your body protesting at the sudden movement. You're able to ignore it, hope overriding the pain.
"We have to be quick," he says, letting you go, "we have about fifteen minutes before the guards wake up."
You don't outwardly question his words, but on the inside, they bounce around your skull. Wake up?
You are brought back to the present when Jean throws something soft around you, warming your skin instantly. You look down at the cloth, and it takes a couple of seconds to register that it's a green cloak, one that you've seen on any given military personnel. You look up at him with doe eyes, waiting for his next instruction.
"It's my cloak," he mutters, turning around and bending a knee so that he's kneeling on the ground in front of you, "You don't need to be naked. Now climb on."
You throw your arms around him, but not without great effort. It's only a brief movement, but your breath comes out in harsh puffs as you do it.
He wastes no time, and he grabs your hips and stands up, instantly heading for the door to your room. "Marco is outside, waiting for us. Two horses, one for him and one for us." He says nothing more and steps into the long hallway.
The walls seem to close in on you, and every step towards the exit makes it harder for you to breathe. It's silent, except for his light footsteps, and they sound deafening to you. You feel like guards might come at any moment and drag you screaming back to your room.
You settle for closing your eyes and burying your nose into the crook of his neck. You let his smell calm you as he carries you to freedom.
"Don't open your eyes, he whispers, his fingers digging harder into your skin, "not until I say."
It feels like an eternity before the fresh wind outside caresses your skin, yet you can't calm your heart. You aren't safe yet.
Minutes pass by without anything happening before Jean speaks again.
"Marco, help me get her onto my horse."
You keep your eyes closed. You don't even know who Marco is. Can Jean really trust him? You can't. Not now. Not until you're out of harms way.
"Okay," a different voice says shakily.
You're so afraid that you don't register anything happening until you're on the horse and Jean is settling in behind you.
"Thank you." His arms envelop you, holding you firmly while he grabs the reins. "We don't have much longer. You know the plan. Don't stop until we get there." He whistles and suddenly, you're in motion.
Hooves beat against the grass, barreling forward. Wind whips around you, and it feels like a million tiny knives cutting into your skin. Your heart now thunders in your ribcage, yet you are firmly in place, Jean's massive hips encasing yours.
"It's all going to be okay," you think you hear him say. His chest is flush against your back and you can feel his own heart mirroring yours. "You can open your eyes now."
It's enough to soothe you, and you do as he says and you open your eyes.
Darkness surrounds you, and you can barely make the buildings out around you as you fly through a field close by a cobblestone road. It makes sense that you're beside it, as grass makes less noise, which means someone is less likely to notice you three escaping.
It isn't until you're going through it that you see the huge metal gate to the palace. It's only for a second, but hope blossoms in your chest once again.
"We aren't safe yet, but we will be in about three minutes. We aren't going to stop until we hit our destination, which will take us the whole night."
You look towards the other horse, getting a glimpse of the other man through Jean's chest and arm. You can only see his silhouette and his hair whipping behind him. You wonder who he is, and how Jean had come to trust him fully. You can't put that faith in him yourself, but you trust the man who saved you, and in turn, that means that you trust this Marco dude.
You face forward, burying your face into the horse's neck as you hug it as tightly as you can.
Finally, Jean relaxes a little bit. "Just a few hours separating us from a good day's rest."
You feel his words deep inside you, and you start to feel giddy. Just a few hours, you repeat in your mind as you three ride on. You know you aren't going to be able to sleep, but that's okay.
You're finally free.
"Thank you, Jean," you whisper, tears falling down your cheeks. The nightmare is finally over, and you'd forever be making it up to him.