>>---> Simpler Times <---<< (Love)

By nightfall, the group had made camp. The king made sure his daughter was squared away in the most well-guarded of the tents, the one he would normally use, before stepping out of it to strategize with his remaining captains on what to do to defeat the uprising.

Faye kept her arms wrapped around herself, greatly shaken by her brief kidnapping.

The king and the rest of the loyalist cohort were able to escape the keep without further casualties, and within moments of leaving the castle the whole group were on horse-drawn carriages, which carried them far away from the rebelling province and into the next one over by nightfall.

Faye squeaked, eyes wide, and clutched tightly to her father.

"Now!" bellowed the human king, his archers suddenly raining arrows onto the party of anthromorphic negotiators from outside of the castle, cutting down several before the rest were able to raise their shields. The king and one of his knights protected the princess with their own wooden discs as the anthro party began to return fire, launching their arrows down from the walls directly onto the human party.

Faye glanced warily at Jamison and practically ran to reach the relative safety of her father's men.

While the king's eyes met Faye's for an instant, they quickly traveled another foot or so upwards to lock with Jamison's, the pair sizing one another up for some time although the anthro clearly held the advantage.

"You know the terms." Jamison growled, the first to speak. "Your armies allow us five days to leave your lands, and in return you get your daughter back. It hardly seems unreasonable to me."

The king remained silent, seemingly thinking things over.

Faye cast a wary glance back at Jamison, taking slow steps towards her father and his guards.

The pair reached the open courtyard, where, across the way, the king and about ten of his men were allowed inside the compound, eyes watching them warily from the battlements as Jamison stepped behind Faye and gestured for the human princess to walk towards them.

She was tense as she followed him through the castle, disliking the fact that she was so helpless and basically sandwiched between enemies. She was also nervous, because she didn't know if her father loved her enough to give up the chance of catching their enemies to save her. He loved her, yes, but she wasn't his heir. He had her brother.

"As you wish." Jamison grunted quietly to himself, beginning to make his way down the staircase as two other men followed behind him and the princess to act as extra insurance that she wouldn't make an escape attempt, neither extra guard speaking out of a mix of respect and fear for the wolf.

FAue stubbornly ignored his hand, making her way through the debris with care.

Sighing, Jamison stepped over the broken furniture with ease, offering a massive hand to help her across the debris if she so chose.

She wrapped her arms around herself, stepping out of his way.

"Then let's go." Turning around again, emerald green tunic emblazoned with a golden lion proudly displayed above pristine steel plate armor, the wolf cut a handsome figure.

Faye looked towards the balcony when she heard the familiar trumpets of her father, desperate hope flashing in her hazel eyes. "Yes."

"Ready?" Jamison questioned after a while, still looking out over the terrain as he spotted what had to be the king and his guard approaching the gates, trumpets blasting loudly enough to hear even from this far away.

Faye dressed as quickly as possible, changing into a simple brown and gold dress.

"Go ahead and change, I'm not watching." The armored wolf, sans helmet, spoke softly, having enough decency to step out onto the balcony and look over the countryside, back turned to where Faye was.

She gave an embarrassing squeak, flushing red when she realized he wasn't wearing any clothes. She scurried out of his way, keeping half an eye on him as she hurried over to wherever her clothes were kept.

"Yes."  The wolf replied, standing up from bed, revealing that he had slept in the nude, sheath and balls prominent between his legs.  However, he showed no interest in Faye's body at that point, the wolf padding right past her and over to his tunic and armor and starting to dress himself, muscular, scar-covered body convulsing as he slithered into the tight-fitting armor.  "If the king decides that he wants you back and doesn't attempt to kill us, you'll be returned to his care in exchange for our safe passage from his lands."

"My father?" She questioned, stopping in her frantic movements.

A slight frown crossed his face at her reaction. "I am civilized, you know. Not that your children's books would have you believe that we were anything other than loinclothed savages." He sat up and stretched luxuriously, adding "You should dress yourself. We're meeting with your father at noon."

Still bleary with sleep, she startled back, tripping over some rubble and nearly falling over in her hurry to get away from the bed and him.

(Ya, he's a bit of a creep anyways and has to control himself in this situation somehow.)

"Good morning."  Jamison growled deeply, though it wasn't an angry growl, more of a growl simply to mimic a deep voice from a human.  The wolf was lying topless in the bed, the rest of his body covered by the sheets.