Chapter 5

"Sir, there's no sign of her," the soldier reported, waiting for the general's nod of dismissal, scurrying off when it came.

General Wrothing felt a growing agitation in the pit of his stomach. Every time they received a tip of where the Princess Harley was, they always arrived only a day or two too late, finding that she had already gone.

"Listen up men," he shouted to the small group of soldiers he was leading in a search party, "She's already gone." There was a collective groan from the soldiers who had already experienced this same disappointment too many times in the weeks they had been searching for Harley. "We will leave immediately for the next town, as that is most likely where they will be," he said resignedly.

The men shuffled off to prepare to leave, and General Wrothing broodingly prepared his horse.

Harley skipped happily through the camp, carrying some food for the little unicorn, which she had practically adopted as her own since she got here. Once she had accepted the fact that she was stuck with the show and stopped being so obstinate, she had really come to view the place as home.

She liked not being the weird one, and she felt comfortable around her fellow "freaks." She also liked having the freedom to do as she pleased. At home she was constantly watched after and overprotected, she knew her parents only did it because they loved her, but this was a nice change.

Skipping happily and not paying attention to where she was going, she ran right into Tanner. She greeted him with a smile, the two had become fast friends in the couple weeks Harley had been with the show.

"Hey Rabbit," he said affectionately, "Where're you off to in such a hurry?"

"Oh, I was just going to see Lulu," she showed him the little bag of seeds in her hand.

"Yep, should a known," he said gruffly, leaning down and lifting a heavy bag over his shoulder. "Come with me, I got somethin' to show ye,"

He started walking away, and Harley had to practically run to keep up with his long strides.

"In here," he lead her into a tent, "I found these little guys on one a my scoutin' missions, and I figured you might wanna take care of 'em, since ya like lil' creatures an' all."

Harley went over to the box in the corner, and peered into it to see three little baby lions, all with a pair of wings folded across their backs.

"Oh, how adorable," she crooned, reaching her hand into the box to pet them. All three instantly vied for her attention, licking and nipping at her hand. "What are they?" she asked curiously.

"Them there are griffins," he told her, smiling at the fact that she seemed to like them.

"Oh, thank you," she said bouncing up and giving Tanner a hug. The big man, for his part, seemed embarrassed to be receiving a hug and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her.

Just then however, the tent flap opened and Cal's stormy presence could be felt in the room.

"Ah, Cal," Tanner said nervously pulling away from Harley and shuffling his feet under Cal's unyielding stare.

"Out," the single word escaped Cal's lips with a deathly calm, and Tanner worriedly looked at Harley before making his escape. Harley hastily tried to follow him, but Cal grabbed her arm, "Not you."

Harley looked up at Cal nervously. She and he had gotten along great in the past few weeks. He had been unerringly kind to her, being patient and friendly, and Harley had come to forgive him for how he treated her when she first got here. She even grew to feel a certain affection for him. The only hitch was his growing anger whenever she was near Tanner, and Harley didn't understand why he would get so angry about it.

Cal hovered menacingly above her, "Harley, you must know I've wanted that gorgeous little body of yours since you arrived here," he said cruelly, "And usually what I want I get."

Harley gulped nervously, she hadn't seen him like this since the day of her arrival. She tried to cower away from him, but he kept a firm grip on her shoulders.

"I was giving you time, but all you did was run into the arms of that damn Tanner," he shouted at her, shaking her shoulders. Harley felt tears come to her eyes at his rough words and manner. "But I will wait no longer, I mean to have you now."

Harley stared at him in horror. Much to the discomfort of her maidenly sensibilities, she had often found herself picturing what it would be like to once again be naked in Cal's arms. But it was the tender Cal she had grown to know, not the cruel one she had met the first day.

"Please, please," she gasped out in a little voice, finding herself unable to say anything else.

"Don't try to beg your way out of it. I've had enough of your little games," he said pushing her onto the ground, "I'm going to fuck you right here and now. You might as well accept it."

Harley opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't pleading for him to stop, but only to be gentler. She wanted him to make love to her, but not this way. Before she could get the words out, though, he was roughly smashing his mouth onto hers.

His kiss was hard and cruel, and Harley could taste blood on her tongue, but whose she didn't know.

She didn't struggle when he ripped her dress down the middle, exposing her body to his eyes. He grabbed her breasts, not to pleasure either one of them, but simply to show that he owned her and could do what he wanted to her.

Harley felt silent tears fall down her cheeks and puddle in her ears, but she made no other sign of feeling anything, only laid there like a limp doll.

Cal quickly undid his pants, and roughly pulled her thighs wide apart. Harley felt cold and dead on the inside as he took her virginity so callously. She felt impaled and used.

He quickly came inside her, then pulled away and sat up, a scowl on his face. Harley turned onto her side, not even bothering to cover herself up. She stared at the blank wall of the tent, her head pillowed in the grass. She thought he might have left, until he eventually spoke.

"Are you okay?" he asked. There was no emotion in his voice, and Harley couldn't see his expression.

"What do you care?" she asked bitterly.

He didn't answer and the two of them stayed like that until once again Cal broke the silence.

"What's that growling sound?" he asked looking around.

Harley didn't answer, but immediately scrambled onto her knees and crawled over to the box of baby griffins. They were all baring their teeth, the hair on their backs raised. Harley felt bad for not noticing their growling and coming over to be with them sooner.

She put her hand in the box to let them know she was all right, and gently picked one up to hug against her chest. She buried her face into the soft fur of the baby griffin, letting herself become distracted from her recent hurt.

She didn't notice Cal approach, but heard him say ruefully, "The griffins."

"Tanner was giving them to me to watch over," she told him, kissing the baby on the head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked desperately, "What was I supposed to think when I saw you two alone in here together?"

"You didn't give me a chance to say anything," she spat at him resentfully.

"Harley," he said despairingly, reaching his hand out to her. The little griffin she held nipped fiercely at his outstretched fingers, and he drew his hand back.

"Harley, please, I'm so sorry. I just let my stupid jealousy take over," he looked at her so pleadingly, that Harley felt the ice around her heart melt, and flow out her eyes.

"Harley," he said again when he saw her tears. She gently set the little griffin back into his box, and looked directly at him without trying to hold back her sobs.

"Don't Harley, don't cry," he said moving as if he was going to take her into his arms, but he held back, afraid to touch her.

Harley was the one who went to him, she threw herself into his arms and sobbed against his shoulder. Cal held her tenderly, but tightly against his chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he whispered over and over again against her hair, just hugging her tightly. Harley could feel the fast beating of his heart under her cheek, and it comforted her.

Eventually the tears stopped and Harley looked up at him. He looked at her distraughtly, and Harley felt a perverse pleasure in his pain. He deserved to feel a little distress, she thought.

She had forgiven him, but he didn't need to know that yet. Harley pulled out of his arms, and he looked so forlorn that she almost went back into them, but decided he wouldn't get out of his punishment that easily.

"Do you love me?" she asked, staring directly into his eyes.

He simply nodded and looked down. If he had been looking at her face, he would have seen the brief smile that hovered there before she quickly suppressed it. As it was, all he saw was the miserable ground.

"Then you'll let me go," she told him monotonously.

His gaze quickly jerked back up to her. "You would leave?" he asked, agony deeply embedded in his voice.

Harley simply nodded.

"But, how would you get home?" he searched for an excuse to make her stay, "It's not safe for you to be traveling alone."

"I'm sure Tanner would take me," she said, twisting the knife she had already driven into his heart.

Cal quickly turned his face away from her so as not to embarrass himself with the water filling his eyes. After a moment, his voice came out dull and wretched, "Fine, go," he said, not turning to look at her.

"You would really let me leave?" her voice was light and sweet.

Cal heard it and knew that she must be overjoyed at finally leaving this place and him.

She had never felt anything for him.

"It's what you want, so just go already," his voice was tortured.

"I wanted to go before, but you wouldn't let me, so why now?"

She wanted her pound of flesh, he thought, and she deserved it after what he did to her. So for the first time in his life he opened his heart and spoke his true feelings. For her.

"Because I love you. I have almost from the beginning. I had thought I could make you love me too, or at least care about me, but now I see that that will never happen. And yes, I will lose the only bit of happiness from my life when you leave, but it will be a comfort to know that you will have yours.

You don't love me, but I will always love you, and that's why I'm letting you go, Harley."

He stared into her eyes hopelessly, looking at her for what he thought would be the last time.

Harley couldn't take anymore of his sadness, and she threw herself into his arms. "But I do love you, I do. I love you. I love you. I love you," she said with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

She felt his hand rest hesitantly on her back. "What kind of game are you playing?" he asked suspiciously, not ready to believe that she loved him, in case it was her plan to give him utter and complete happiness only to take it all away.

"No game," she told him fiercely shaking her head and pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. "I was never going to leave, I only said that to punish you a bit for earlier," she said once again snuggling fully back into his arms.

"A bit?" he asked, still unbelievingly holding her in his arms.

She pulled back to look at him. "You did deserve it," she told him defensively, even though she was starting to feel a bit bad about the whole thing.