army

Aston's pov. 

Most people have now rushed out of the hall, all thoughts of celebration gone from the room, fear and chaos in its place. Ava is frozen beside me looking down. My heart pounds in my chest as I start to panic. Oh no, what have I done, she will never forgive me. 
"I'm so sorry" I say as I follow her eyes to the floor and survey the now squashed slice of cake on the floor. I'm sure I will pay for that later, but now I have to focus. 
Even the king has forgotten about glaring at me and has left to prepare the castles defences. The guards have been reassigned to other posts so we are now unguarded. I have a choice to make, escape with Ava or join the fight. I grab Ava's hand and jasmines and pull them towards the door. Ava looks back desperately at the cake and I sigh. I push them forward towards the exit and turn to retrieve the cake. I pick it up with a great deal of effort, the thing weighs more than the damned dragon and I follow them out of the castle. Once outside I catch up to where they have stopped abruptly and are staring at the army of men before them. Jasmine is trembling and looks terrified. 
I scan the army until I find who I'm looking for. He looks angry and determined, a born leader barking orders to his troops. I waddle towards him still carrying the cake. 
"Stop and surrender or you will be taken prisoner" he threatens. 
I glance back at Ava and I'm not sure if she is more concerned for me or the cake. "I think I have had quite enough of prisons, thank you very much and besides you wouldn't want me getting bored and entertaining myself telling stories... Stories involving frogs .." I threaten back.
Before I fully lower the cake to the ground, I'm pulled into a bear hug. 
"I was so worried about you! Risking everything to rescue someone and becoming a one woman man, you clearly must have gone insane" John says. 
Ava glares at him. I gesture to her. "Can you blame me, she is perfect" I say and her glare softens. 
John appraises Ava for the first time and his eyes bulge out of his head and his jaw drops as he takes in her goddess like figure in her dress. "Charmed to meet you Ava, if you ever get sick of him, please look me up." He kisses the back of her hand and winks. 
A growl escapes my lips "John, allow me to introduce my wife, Ava" I say through gritted teeth. 
"Wife!? You never were good at sharing, even as a child." John quickly recovers from his shock. 
"Well I guess you are just in time to be best man. Trust you to show up for the cake." I joke. 
"Did someone say cake?" A familiar voice enquiries as Ezra breaks ranks to investigate and then walks to the cake like a moth drawn to light. Ava steps into block his path and slaps his hands away. 
"Excuse me, but that is my wedding cake and I will be the first to eat it." She says sternly before pulling him into a hug. 
I cut a slice and offer it to her, she ignores it and cuts herself a bigger slice before stuffing her face. She moans as she indulges in the chocolate cake and I smile at her, falling a little deeper in love. I kiss her cheek, unable to interrupt her bites. 
"Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell is the plan Ashton!?" John demands. 
I look around and assess the situation. We would easily win this fight, but not without loosing men and the kings guards are innocent too, too many lives would be lost. 
"Anyone for cake!" I call and several men rush forward to try the cake, Ezra first in line. 
"Ashton, this is not exactly the smartest battle plan, sit at your enemies doorstep and intimate them by eating their cake?" John says. 
I look over at Ava "believe me, it would have been worse if you didn't let her eat the cake"  I explain. 
"Are you sure she didn't just marry you for the cake?" John asks.
"I don't care, if I have to feed her cake every day to keep her I will" I reply. 
As if summoned by my words, Ava appears by my side. "Cake everyday day you say, I will hold you to that" she says smiling mischievously. 
"As you wish princess" I lean in and kiss her. 
John clears his throat to regain my attention. "So what is your plan?" He asks. 
"I don't agree with the kings rule, but then I don't agree with my father's rule either. Ava is safe and the scouts are free, we got what we came for. We should return home." I explain. 
"What? No burn them to the ground or swallow then up under the earth. You really have grown up" John says shocked. 
I look back at Ava "I have other priorities right now" I say holding her tightly.
"Ok that makes more sense, you always did think more with your dick than your head" he teases and jumps out of the way before I can hit him to go and organise the troops to retreat. 
We march for hours to get safely out of this kingdom and back on our own dark road. Ava had managed to stop eating cake long enough to actually catch up with Ezra and Jasmine was busy pestering John about our kingdom and it's customs. 
Eventually we had to make camp because the men were exhausted. I sneak Ava away as they prepare the tents. 
I bring her to a beautiful waterfall I noticed nearby. I part the water to allow us to enter without getting soaked. It has a cave behind it and a small pool of water. I set up our camp and make a fire. Ava sits by the edge of the pool and dips her feet in the water. I notice her shiver and I turn my fire on the water to heat it up. 
She looks at me with a mixture of love and lust, it is even better than how she looks at the cake. "You know there are other ways you could heat me up?" She says.