The First Princess's Birthday-Part 6

Kye and Elenor gradually got more comfortable as they talked, so much so that a full hour passed before Natalia exited onto the balcony.

"I apologise for interrupting, but both of you should return to the party. I am sure your prolonged absence will appear suspicious to those in the court."

"You are very right Ms Natalia, I had no idea how long we had been talking. If you will excuse me princess, I should be getting back to the gathering."

Kye offered his hand to Elenor to help her stand up. She took it and they both gazed at one another once she was upright. Kye let go of her hand and turned around to leave the balcony.

"It was a wonderful time. I hope we can do this again Kye."

Kye stopped walking, looked over his shoulder and gave a smile to her.

"I'd enjoy that."

With those words, Kye turned and walked through the glass door, gently closing it behind him leaving the two ladies out on the balcony still. Elenor looked Natalia in the eyes as she spoke.

"What were your impressions? I quite like him but you are better at reading people."

"I have an overall positive impression of him. There are things that only time will reveal about him but the connection between you two was immediate, no?"

"Yeah... I felt like I had known him for years even though we had just met. It was so... surreal."

"Your parents will be expecting you to at least give them an inkling as to who you will pick to be your husband. Will Kye be your pick?"

"Yes. Even though we will be taking a risk given how both of his brothers turned out, I believe Kye to be the best choice."

Natalia nodded and opened the door for Elenor.

"Then, we should return to the hall."

-

Kye was sitting at the Runewalker table, nervously watching the steps at the far left of the room waiting for the princess to come down them. He had no idea why he was so anxious but Alicia noticed it and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Kye, is something wrong?"

"No! No, I'm just uh, a little nervous I guess."

Alicia raised her eyebrows and smirked at Kye.

"Oooooh, I see. Mother understands."

Before Kye could retort, the princess came down the stairs with Natalia and walked back to her seat next to her father. They had a quiet conversation for several moments before the king nodded and stood up with his glass raised. He tapped the side of the glass with a spoon as he spoke.

"If I could have everyone's attention for a moment."

The entire hall went quiet and focused on their monarch.

"As all of you are aware, typically at the coming of age ceremony for a child of noble blood, they pick a member of one of the four archduke houses to start the courtship process with. While both my sons abstained from this process of their own will, my daughter has made a decision from the four house heirs currently in attendance."

The king gave one last look at Elenor. She gave a single nod before the king cleared his throat and continued.

"The person she has chosen is Kye Runewalker. If the young man would please join me and my daughter before this hall."

Kye was oddly calm about the situation and confidently walked up next to Elenor and King Glennor.

"I would like to humbly ask that this hall give them their blessings as they begin the start of what I hope turns out to be a prosperous and happy relationship."

The hall was filled with claps and cheers. Elenor smiled gracefully while Kye smiled stiffly. His eyes scanned the crowd and he saw something off, one of the members was slowly walking through the crowd to the front. Kye continued smiling but his eyes tracked the man's every move as he slowly got closer to the three of them. He was now at the front and reached into his jacket, pulling out a tri-cylinder revolver.

"THIS IS FOR MARUVA! DIE!"

Kye reacted quickly by wrapping the princess in his arms as the man pulled the trigger on his revolver aimed at the princess. The first bullet grazed Kye's shoulder, the second sunk into his upper right arm and the last embedded itself in his lower back. Managing to ignore the pain, Kye let the princess go and pushed off the ground and lunged at the man, tackling him to the ground. Kye was on top of him wrestling with him until Kye managed to knock the gun out of his hands and delivered a swift punch to the man's jaw. Kye felt bone shatter under his fist before he slumped back and laid prone on the ground.

Quickly after this, the royal guard moved in and detained the man while surrounding the royal family. Frey pushed his way through the crowd to reach Frey with Alicia close behind. Frey saw Kye on the ground and quickly knelt next to him, grabbing his hand.

"Kye are you okay!? Can you hear me!?"

Kye coughed a few times before slowly sitting up.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Low powder rounds still penetrate but don't go that deep."

Kye groaned in pain as he removed the jacket and vest to reveal the large blood stains seeping through his new shirt. Alicia helped him unbutton his shirt and tried using it to stop the flow of blood. Frey quickly got up from his crouched position and began looking around frantically.

"Can anyone here use healing magic?!"

Several people stepped forward and began trying their utmost to stop the flow of blood from Kye's wounds. Elenor tried to go to Kye but was held back by the captain of the royal guard.

"My lady, you mustn't leave us! There might be more assailants around!"

Elenor beat on the arm that held her, screaming all the while.

"Let me go!"

Natalia tore the guard captain's arm off her and spread her angelic wings.

"Go, my lady. I will make sure to protect you."

Elenor crouched next to Kye and grabbed his limp hand, squeezing tightly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

She muttered as her eyes filled with tears. Kye gave a small chuckle and gripped her hand tightly back.

"I've gone through worse for a lady. I'd rather hear 'thank you' instead of 'sorry'."

Elenor managed to give a small smile at those words and gently rubbed Kye's hand with her thumb.

"Then... thank you, Kye."

"Anytime."