Bondage (formerly Escape from the Obstinate Prince)

Jack peered out the door at Ami.

She looked more surprised than he felt.

“Hello, wife,” he mustered the courage to sit up. “I think we need to talk.”

“What was he talking about?” she nodded in the direction Madison fled. “What have you been thinking over?”

Jack sighed, grabbed Ami by the arm walked her out to the castle gardens. Ami stayed silent. Jack did the same, though he looked ten times more uncomfortable. “I was thinking things over…” he started.

“So I heard.” Ami bit back a smirk.

“And when I was thinking, I thought about how amazing it was that we didn’t die, how you just so happened to know how to swim, and how the wood splinters missed all of my vital organs. Then it occurred to me, that it wasn’t luck, it wasn’t happenstance - there is a God above who know our every need, who is real and who does cares about us.” He folded his hands and rested his chin on them.

Ami stared at Jack. Is he serious? She felt her heartbeat accelerate.

“I realize that I was wrong. I’ve been so blind, and I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have dragged you off during our wedding. I should have treated you better. There are lots of things I should have done, but I didn’t and I regret it.”

Is someone giving him money to say this? she studied his face. He looked as sincere as he could be. Maybe a ray of sunshine was making its way into Ami’s life. After months of misery (at times, self-induced) maybe things were turning around.

“Your Highnesses!” a page scanned the gardens until he saw the royals. “You are to meet with the King and Queen in the Council Room at once. There is a surprise for Princess Amélia.”

Ami furrowed her eyebrows. “For me?”

“Thank you, page. You may go.” Jack stood up and offered his hand to Ami. She smiled and took his hand.

They eagerly made their way to the Council Room to discover what surprise the King and Queen were talking about.

Jack opened the door and they entered, hand in hand.

“Ami! My darling!” A figure that Ami hadn’t expected to see in a very long time, hurried to Ami and embraced her, bumping her hand away from Jack’s. “I was so afraid when I got the letter! I thought for sure that I’d never see you again.”

“Mother?” Ami couldn’t do anything but stand in disbelief. “How…”

The King and Queen of Carenthia smiled and stood behind Ami's parents. Jack bit his lip and looked at the ground. “Ami.”

Her father wrapped both mother and daughter up in a hug. “We have some very good news for you. I think it’s better that the King informs you.”

“Good news?” Ami looked at Jack to see if he knew any more than she did. He shrugged at her.

They all took seats at the table (though Ami was stilled dazed) and the King folded his hands together. “This last month or two has seemed slightly hectic and bizarre to all of us, I’m sure.”

Both Jack and Ami nodded. “But something good has come from your kidnapping - though I would never want it to happen again.”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“The Svenlandian government heard of your kidnapping, and they heard that it was one of their own citizens that committed that heinous crime. Svenland has known for awhile that they’re in hot water, and it’s only getting hotter.”

Must he draw this out? Can’t he just tell us already? Ami felt like he was purposely prolonging their agony.

“So they have proposed an agreement; it states that they will outlaw all raiding, if we do not go to war with them. As in, if a citizen of Svenland is caught raiding, that they will be hanged.”

Ami’s eyes went wide.

“So that means,” Ami’s mother jumped in, “that you don’t have to stay here! We can have the marriage annulled and you can come home with your father and mother. We can be one happy family again. There will be peace even without the marriage alliance.”

Ami went weak in the knees. No alliance. No marriage to Jack. She could leave and never come back. She could wake up and know that she wouldn’t be seeing Jack all day. Or ever again. Is that what she wanted? She had lived years believing that she hated Jack. Did she still?

“There is one of our ships waiting in the harbor and we can leave as soon as you’re packed,” her mother smiled. “It would be best to hurry, as your younger sibling will be joining us shortly.” She rubbed her round stomach.

“Yes, of course,” Ami mumbled.

Her mother stood and looped their arms together. “I’ll help you pack.”

They walked out, Ami in a daze. Her former wishes were coming true, and yet, she didn’t feel ecstatic, or even happy.

She let her mother pack, while she sat on her soft bed. Her bed that she might never set eyes on again. Could she really just pack up and leave this castle? She had written her parents, telling them how much she hated life here. She was always complaining and telling everyone how much she hated Carenthia and Jack.

This is what I want. I asked for this. This is what my parents want. She buried her face in her hands.

“We’ll travel down the river to the wharf, and then take our ship back to Rhone,” Ami’s father spoke to the King. The King, Queen, and Prince of Carenthia all stood in a line, facing the royals of Rhone. Ami looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Jack. Madison stood a few feet behind them, holding Freya.

“We have discussed annulment with the priest and it is deemed acceptable. We will notify you when the process is complete and when Ami may remarry - if she chooses to do so,” the King said.

Ami’s eyes shot up at Jack, who was already looking at her, his steel eyes cutting into the depths of her soul and filling her with guilt. Remarry? She hadn’t ever, in her whole life, considered ever getting married to anyone but Jack.

“Ah-hem,” Madison coughed. “I think we should let the former couple perhaps have a moment alone to say their goodbyes?”

“Yes, of course.” The Queen of Carenthia motioned for everyone to leave Jack and Ami for a moment.

Ami fixed her eyes back on the ground. Jack did the same.

“I guess this is what you’ve always wanted.” Jack, hands in his pockets, cleared his throat and looked up to the rich blue sky. “This is goodbye, I suppose. I’m sorry I was such a prig. I wish now that I hadn’t been. I wish I could change how things went. But I wish you every happiness back in your own country.”

Ami knew if she said nything, she would start crying; so she stayed silent, looking at the dirt. They stood in silence.

Jack cleared his throat again. “Goodbye then.” He patted her arm and walked off.

Ami’s father gently put his arm around her and led her up the gangplank. Tears obscured her vision until they started spilling over. She turned to look back at the shore. Jack was not wearing a smile. His face was stained with tears,dripping down his face and onto his dark blue shirt.

He picked her up, taking her by surprise.

“Where are you taking me?” she looked at his face, noticing his thick, dark eyelashes.

“I was thinking of taking you deep into the woods and leaving you there to die,” he snickered. “But really, I’m just taking you to your room.”

Her leg throbbed, but at that moment all she could think about was how perfect his face seemed to be.

A snivel escaped Ami’s lips. She would never look into his eyes again and he would never joke with her like that again.

“Hello, my fine lady!” Madison entered the courtyard where the knights were training and grabbed a sword.

“She is not yours,” Jack muttered and swung his sword at Madison. “And she is certainly not fine.”

“I’m doing very well, thank you Mad.” Ami shot Jack a glare before smiling at Madison.

“Since when does she call you ‘Mad’?” Jack stopped swinging and frowned at the duo.

“Since I gave her permission to.” Mad smiled back at her. “Is that such a crime?”

Jack glared and swung his sword at Mad.

Ami bit her lip to keep from full on crying. Jack would never get jealous again. He would never have the chance to get jealous over petty little things. He would probably never again see her in this lifetime.

“Where’s Mother?” Jack frowned, in his delirium. His forehead glistened with sweat.

“Mother isn’t here right now.” Ami reached over Jack for the bowl of water. Even if she wasn’t a doctor, she could still try to keep his temperature down.

Jack grabbed Ami’s dressed and yanked her down on top of himself. “You are quite beautiful, now that I study your face.” He brushed her cheek with his clammy hand. “Your nose is a bit…” he paused. Ami waited for the insult. Jack shook his head ever so slightly, “it’s perfect.”

Ami’s heart felt like it was being crushed under the weight of the entire ocean. When she went home, no one would tell her she was beautiful. No one would tell her that her nose was perfect. No one would be there as a husband to hug her and teach her how to swim. No one to tell her problems to.

Yes, she had her parents, but they weren’t a husband. They couldn’t fill the roll of a husband - not now, not ever.

“All hands on deck!” the captain shouted. They started pulling up the gangplank. Ami looked at Jack and their eyes met. He looked just as devastated as she felt. His eyes were fixated on Ami, never wavering. He had come such a long way in such a short time.

I love him. Ami brushed the tears out of her eyes. She was leaving one of the best things that ever happened to her. Did it even make sense?

“Wait!” Ami ordered the sailors. They put the gangplank back in place and Ami ran down it. “I’m sorry Mother and Father!” she called back.

She hiked up her skirts and ran across the terrain that separated her from Jack.

Jack’s eyes flickered to her and he looked in disbelief. “Ami?” He walked, too stunned to do anything else, towards Ami.

“Ami.” The impact of her body almost sent him backwards. “I knew you’d come back.” He held her tightly to make sure she wouldn’t run away and say it was all a joke. “I knew you couldn’t leave.”

Tears dampened Ami’s dress. “Annulments aren’t right,” she mumbled. “I can't go through with it. I can’t go home. Not after all we’ve been through. Bring away from you would be detrimental and I shan’t do it.”

He pulled back and looked straight into her eyes. “You have grown a lot since I met you and I hope I have as well. We’ve been through thick and thin and I promise I won’t leave you till my dying day, my love."

And this time, he meant it.

The End