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Courtesan	By : Shelindrea Category: Twilight Series > Het > Jacob/Renesmee Views: 4787 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

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Chapter 34

JPOV

Traveling to Volterra City went much faster when it was only we men. Having no reason to stop and rest every few miles we managed to cover twice as much ground as we had previously. We were a merry band, each of us enjoying the freedom from the ladies' sensibilities. We made ribald conversation and laughed heartily as we journeyed east.

"At this pace we should reach the king in less than two days, assuming that "the begging" goes well we should return home to our women in but a week's time," Sam mused as we looked for a place to make camp.

"Is that a hopeful thought, or a worrying one?" I asked my brother-in-law.

"I believe it is a hopeful one. I miss her, and would hurry home to her. I would also that she was anxiously awaiting my return. What think you the odds of that?"

"Better than you imagine, I would think."

"This looks like a fine place to bed down this night," Jasper called from the lead.

We dismounted and tied the horses. We had each brought bedding to lie beside a fire and a canopy to cover us from inclement weather. Edward and Jasper went to fetch some fuel for the fire and Sam and I made camp. We had the food that the women had packed us; fresh bread, wine, and cheese. Sam took a bow and made to fetch us a rabbit or two.

The sun was already beginning to wane and it took little time for Edward and Jasper to return with firewood. They were chortling heartily as they came back to the camp and began to build a fire.

"Charlie sounds like a fine father," Jasper laughed slapping Edward on the back.

"Oh he was, rest assured. Still he made me sweat an ocean at the begging. I was half convinced he would put me out and send Jacob to run me through so I could not pursue Bella any longer," Edward crowed in response.

"Oh lord," I enthused remembering the ordeal Charlie had put Edward through, "I remember that. Bella was fit to be tied."

"How did you go about winning Alice's hand? Was it Aro who received the begging?" Edward asked.

"Yes. It was."

"Yes, it was?" I yelped. "That's it? No advice? No stories to lend me insight into how this might go? Have you nothing more to offer your brother in arms?"

"Have you had much exposure to the ritual of' the begging?" Jasper asked.

"Only peripherally, I was a mere whelp when Sam begged for Emily's hand and an anxious young soldier when Edward claimed Bella as his bride. Are there things I should know?"

"There are any number of useful lessons to teach you of the rite," Sam chimed in as he presented us with three fat rabbits to roast on the now roaring fire.

"Let us cook our food and we can regale our tales and attempt to assist you in avoiding the pitfalls that await you," Edward offered.

We ate and talked. Each told me of the begging they had performed to gain the right to wed their loves. I remembered my father roaring with laughter after Sam had performed the rite.

"The begging" was traditional and dated back to the time when the old religion ruled. The story went that the god of the heavens, Alpha, had a daughter of incredible beauty and grace. She was the goddess of the earth, Terrine, and ruled over a vast planet of land when the goddess of the underworld, Tenebrocity's son, the god of the oceans, Aqueous, fell in love with her. They found that they could no longer bear to be separate entities and so they chose to unite. The problem was they were separated by the veil between their worlds.

Aqueous confessed his love to Tenebrocity, and as she adored her son she agreed to lift the veil from her side. Alpha had only to lower the veil from his side for the two lovers to unite, but he was a concerned father and declared that he would not allow their union unless the ocean lord could prove himself worthy of his daughter.

At first Aqueous swelled with indignation and attempted to impress Alpha with storms and waves. The god of the heavens laughed at what he deemed a feeble display and refused to relent to anyone unworthy of his child. So Aqueous gathered every treasure he could find; an abundance of sea life, innumerable beauties of coral, and the purest clearest water and gave it to Alpha in tribute.

Alpha viewed the wonders of the deep and agreed that they possessed refinement and artistry, but again he rejected the offerings saying that he needed more proof of worth than mere trinkets could provide. Aqueous retreated convinced that there was naught he could do to win Terrine's father.

When Terrine heard that he father was being stubborn she made a plea to her mother, Terminus, to speak with him and devise a means for Aqueous to win his favor. Terminus proposed that the young man convince Alpha by a series of feats to prove his worthiness.

Aqueous was charged with finding the perfect adornment for Terrine's beauty. Aqueous brought forth a perfect pearl forged in the belly of an ancient oyster, and costing its life to produce. Alpha saw the light in his daughter's eye as she was presented with the perfect orb and his heart softened. Next he charged Aqueous with finding a way to honor Terrine in perpetuity. Aqueous gathered the sea breezes and composed the song of fair winds to blow eternally in honor of his love. Again Terrine was moved by his efforts and beamed a smile so bright that Alpha's heart was warmed from within and again he was moved. Finally, Alpha demanded to know how Aqueous planned to live with his daughter so that she never lost herself to him.

It took some time for Aqueous to devise a plan, but he presented it to Alpha that they should completely join, Land and Sea, forming one world that would nourish itself by becoming the planet we know. The earth would be fed by the water as it rained and renewed it to lushness. The plants which the land produced would provide roots which would not grow without both light from the heavens, and dark from the underworld. All those that they loved would become one family nurturing their offspring and creating life that would honor them all.

Alpha saw hope in this solution and lowered the veil. As Terrine and Aqueous joined the earth we know was formed and all the life upon it was charged with honoring the gods who so wisely created it.

In honor of the old legend would be bridegrooms must 'beg' the father of their heart's desire for permission to join their lives, and the fathers were charged with providing questions and tasks to prove their worth. Many parents utilized this as a means of extracting a 'begging price' to be paid to the bride's family, but that was not generally enough. As Nessie had no known parent Aro had stepped into the paternal role. The king had no need of coin, and I already knew that no money would be exchanging hands, but I was not certain what might await me.

"Charlie insisted I spend time with him so he could determine what kind of man I was," confided Edward. "I was certain it would be easy. I was vastly mistaken. We went camping in the forest and Charlie made certain I was rained upon, worked to the bone, and at one point lost in the wood. Then he took me out herding the horses."

"What was wrong with that?" I asked confused. I did that almost daily.

"I am a physic, Jacob, and although I ride well, I lack the skills required to cut the horses. I fell off the horse close to twenty times. Do you not remember how I limped for a week during the begging?"

I chuckled. I did in fact recall that. Edward had never given an explanation for his physical distress, but it was apparent in his gait.

"The final trial was to go fishing with him."

"Oh lord," I wailed in amusement.

Jasper and Sam wore twin faces of confusion. "Fishing?" they asked in unison.

"Charlie fished almost as a religion. He sat for hour upon hour in utter silence communing with nature and drinking the finest wine he could find. There we sat, in utter silence, him looking at me, me looking back. Finally I cracked and words rained from my mouth. I told him that Bella was the only reason I found to be alive and that without her to share it my life would cease to have meaning." Edward shook his head and a blush rose to his cheeks. "When I was finished, Charlie said he would give his blessing, if for no other reason than Bella would ensure that he never again had to go fishing with me, because I frightened all the fish."

We all dissolved in riotous laughter. We were in full belly laugh enjoying the camaraderie of men being men. That was why we did not hear them approach. The first sign of a threat was the arrow that flew past Sam's head and stuck itself into a nearby tree.

"Hold!" cried a bandit from the trees.

We each made grabs for our weapons and in no time we were engaged by a band of thieves who had appeared in the night. There were eight in all. We were outnumbered, but we were all fighters and these men were far from trained soldiers. We dispatched them rather easily, and held two for questioning after the other six had fallen or fled.

"Kill us now!" cried one in a panic. He was young, fit, but obviously not well fed.

"Shut it! They might well take you at your word." His comrade spat.

"I mean it, as should you. He'll kill us if we return."

That caught my attention. "He who?"

"Told you to shut it, Trevor," growled the obviously older partner.

"You shut it, John. The Duke is not going to be pleased to 'ear we failed so miserably. He ain't gonna pay us and send us on our way, now is he? Nah, he's gonna take it outta our hide and I'd rather have it quick. Wouldn't you?"

"The Duke, you mean Caius?" Sam asked astounded.

"Aye, sir."

"What has he to do with this mischief?" Edward inquired.

"Oh, hell," the older bandit sighed, "might as well tell you all now that this 'un has blabbed. We was sent here to hinder you're travel. He wanted us to cause enough harm to waylay you by a day or two. He offered us a bag of gold each to set upon you. Course now he is like to kill us all, at least those he can catch. Might as well beg you for mercy, we know he'll have none."

"What exactly were your instructions from the Duke?" Sam asked.

"Just what I told you."

"The 'what' seems less important than the 'why'? Do you not agree Sam?" Jasper queried.

"I would agree," Sam mused. "Were you given a motivation for this delay?"

"We was just told to hinder your travel sir. Oh, and how to recognize your party," said the one called John.

"Curious…" said Edward.

"Indeed," agreed Jasper. "Tie them well, we can bring them to the king's court with us. Perhaps he can unravel this tangle for us."

After securing the two and leaving Jasper to keep watch we all bedded down for the night. We had set up a watch schedule and an alarm should the bandits return, although that seemed unlikely. The evening passed and we each slept for a time. Still my mind kept returning to the thought that this man I had very little experience of had sent bandits to attack us. On the morrow I would inquire as to whom was at odds with the duke.

We broke camp at dawn and planned to complete out journey more hurriedly now that we had prisoners in tow. We were just about to depart when a cry rent the air.

"Hold! By all that holy, I beg you hold!"

A youth upon a fine steed sped into the clearing nearly falling from his mount as he pulled at the reigns. Sam leapt up and rushed to the side of the rider. "Eleazar, what are you doing here?"

"Miss Emily sent me to fetch you, sir. She and the other ladies follow with your children," he said gasping for air. "I bear a missive to explain. You are needed sir, urgently!"

Sam took the scroll the boy held in his fist and brought it to us all reading aloud.

Dearest Husband,

We race to meet you, Alice, Bella, Leah, and myself. You must help us. Caius has manipulated circumstance to cause our sweet Renesmee to sacrifice herself for those she loves. She remains in his clutches ready to do all to protect those she loves. We shall inform you of all as soon as we can get to you, but travel is uneasy for Bella and Alice, and we have had to stop at the posting inn.

Pray hurry for we do not know how long she can remain unharmed in his clutches.

Emily

In no time at all we were mounted and away. We used the boy guard the bandits until we could return, and raced to the sides of our women. We barely paused to give the horses to the grooms at the inn and thundered in calling for them.

Alice was the first to fly forward. She clung to Jasper's neck, tears streaming down her face and simply repeated "I'm so sorry," over and over. Bella walk laboriously into Edward's arms and shook her head. Emily came forward with Leah in tow and they paused before Emily walked up to Sam and kissed him. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"What is going on?" I cried.

"I think it best that Leah inform you, as she has the most information. We will need a plan and must form two parties I believe if we are to save Nessie," Bella stated plainly.

The innkeeper led us to a dining chamber and we all took seats. I was anxious and curious, but I mastered my fear to listen to the tale Leah had to tell.

Leah explained how she had been a bed partner to Caius and that when he had met Nessie at the palace he had become obsessed with her. He devised a plan to entrap Alice in hopes that Nessie's kind heart would move her to acquiesce to his desires. Leah explained that she and Ness had discussed it and that Ness insisted that all four of the women escape while she attempted to hold Caius off. Leah assured us all that Ness would not be gainsaid on the matter and that she had sworn Leah to secrecy on her exact intentions until they were reunited with the men.

Seeing as we were all here she said she believed she could now enlighten us. "Your girl is a brave soul, Jacob. I apologize for not being able to see past my desire for you. She bid me tell you that I assisted her, but there was really precious little I could do. She has agreed to accept Alice's punishment, no matter how undeserved. She made a wager with Caius that if she can withstand the lashing in utter silence she is free. If, however, she cries out, or even moans, her freedom is forfeit to Caius and she must become his."

Without thinking I grabbed Leah by upper arms and shook her. "How could you allow such a wager? What were you thinking?"

"We were thinking to save those your Renesmee loves. She told me she could not leave the children motherless, as she had been. She told me you would understand when I told you that she has made this choice to save her family, to save your family."

I released her and hung my head. Of course she would think of me and mine before herself. Foolish girl that she was she still could not see that all I needed in this life was for her to be by my side.

"We did make provisions to protect her though," Leah confided. "I gave her a small knife, small enough that Caius is unlikely to find it on her person. She said she could use it to defend herself. I do not think it will do much good, but she insisted."

"We need to proceed as quickly as possible," Edward said urgently.

It was decided that Sam and Leah would head to the king and seek his assistance. Edward would remain with Bella, Alice, Emily and the children, here at the inn. We would utilize the inn as a means to send messages between if there was news. Finally Jasper and I would return to Port Angeles and attempt to rescue my love.

We were set to depart at noon. I made to ready Rabbit and ensure I was prepared to go when Leah caught my sleeve. "Jacob?"

"What do you want, Leah?"

"I need to tell you something. I did not wish to say it in front of the others, but I believe you must know."

"Well?"

"I believe I gave Renesmee some information that could hurt you all in the end. I did not tell her for that purpose, but I saw her eyes when I told her. I confessed that Caius has spoken of needing her as he has never needed another. He is determined to have her by any means possible."

"Why is that something that could hurt her?"

"Because I believe she means to provoke him. She thinks if she angers him enough she can get him to…" she paused, looking at the ground clearly afraid.

"What?"

"She said she would rather die than submit to him. She said if necessary she would provoke him to kill her. Use his anger against him to free herself from his grasp."

"Good God! Is it possible?"

"He has a devilish temper and he has used violence in the past. I fear it is quite possible, should she provoke him."

Without thought I called for Jasper as I swung myself up onto my mount. I would not wait another moment to rescue Renesmee from Caius' clutches.
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Courtesan