Chapter 28

I wake up with a pounding headache. Why does this keep happening to me? It's really starting to get old. I look around and take in my surroundings. I'm in a comfy bed and all around me are... Weapons? I scoot up into a sitting position and realize that I'm laying in the prince's bed. I'm glad he's not in here so he can't see my red cheeks. Sitting up makes my head hurt more so I lay back down.

After a couple of minutes, I hear the door open. I turn my head and the prince is walking in.

"Good, you're awake," he says giving me a small smile.

"What happened?" I ask hoarsely.

"I knew you were listening in the secret passages, so I found the entrance. When I got in there, there were two men dragging you away."

"You fought off both of them?"

"Yeah. Then I found Samuel who was also unconscious. I was just checking on him. He's been awake for awhile now."

I look down and realize that I'm in different clothes. Wait. Does that mean that the prince changed my clothes?

He notices my expressions and where I'm looking.

With a smirk he says, "Don't worry. I had a maid that I trust change your clothing. Although, maybe I should've..."

My cheeks probably turn several shades darker. He laughs at my reaction.

"So how is your head?"

I shrug. "It hurts."

He sits down on the bed next to me and looks me in my eyes. The closeness of him and the intense look in his eyes makes me nervous. After a few moments, he leans down and kisses me. Without hesitation, I kiss him back. It doesn't last long. He pulls back and steps away from the bed.

After a few moments of silence, he asks, "Can you stand?"

I'm shaken out of my daze and try to get out of bed. My head still pounds but it's bearable. Thankfully, nothing other than my head was hurt. I'm able to stand and walk.

"We need to go to my father."

I sigh and nod.

Before we go, he hands me some clothing.

"Um..." I start.

"Don't worry. I'll turn around."

He turns and I quickly change, scared that he's going to pull some trick and turn around. Once I'm finished, I pull my knotted hair into a tight braid.

"I'm done," I finally say.

"Took you long enough."

I stick my tongue out at him and we head to the door.

"Wait," I say. "We can't let anyone else see me."

"Right."

We head back into the secret corridor. I grab a knife just to be safe.

Once we reach the entrance to the king's office, my heart begins to pound. I know that I'm probably going to have to give myself up so that the others are safe.

We enter and a very surprised king looks up from his papers.

"Father," the prince states.

"Son," the king responds. "What is she doing here?"

"We have to figure out what we're going to do."

"Well we're going to turn her in of course."

"That's exactly what we're not going to do."

"Unless I command her to."

"Well then I'll command her not to."

The king laughs. "You really think your words overpower mine?"

The prince is silent.

"She will return tonight."

"No," the prince says. "I won't let her."

"And why's that?"

"Because I love her!"

Now both of their voices are loud and both the king and I are shocked at the prince's words.

He loves me?

"I won't let you take her! She makes me happy, I smile when I see her, and she helps me forget about my sister. Ever since she died, I have nightmares, I'm sad and depressed. And then mother died. Life seemed pointless. Then Iris came along. She showed me that life is worth living and that there's more to the world than just a a kingdom to run."

The king is speechless and so am I. The prince is breathing heavily but looks relieved to have said those things. I hug him and he says into my hair, "I won't let you go."

The king sighs and gives a small smile. "I remember when I felt like this with your mother. I was madly in love with her. She made me smile all the time. I guess I really shouldn't be holding you back."

We all just stand there for a few minutes until the king asks, "So what do you think we should do?"

"I have a plan," the prince says....

The prince and I sneak out to the stables and knock out the few people that are there. We don't know who we can and can't trust. We grab our horses and head as quietly as possible to the hut. As we get closer, we hop off the horses. There are four men at each corner of the house. The prince and I climb into a tree and get the arrows that we grabbed ready. At the same time, we pull back and release. Two of the men are hit straight in the heart. The two that are left start yelling and the other men that we could not see appear.

In total, there are six men. Then Josiah comes out of the house. He carries his own sword and is swinging it menacingly. The prince and I then begin to shoot. We manage to get all of the other men down, but we leave Josiah. Then the prince and I hop out of the and stand there with our swords. Josiah claps slowly and laughs.

"Well done," he remarks. "But will your swords kills match mine?"

Then Isabella comes out of the house with her own sword. The prince nods and I run after Isabella while he takes Josiah.

Isabella's sword comes crashing down onto mine. I don't dare look over at the prince go see how he's doing. The only sound is heavy breathing and the clashing of swords. Isabella's sword comes down, I step to the side. I try to strike, she parries it. We fight for what seems like hours. Isabella is good, really good. Just when I think I finally have the upper hand, she surprises me. Then my years of experience begin to kick in. Her moves are easier to anticipate and I can finally detect a pattern. My father always taught me to watch carefully and pay attention to every detail of the attacker. She goes to deflect my sword but at the last second I turn and thrust the sword into her stomach. She gasps and falls to the ground. Blood spurts out of her wound but I feel no sympathy.

Then one thought comes to mind: Ashton. He's still fighting Josiah. My forehead drops with sweat and my arms feel heavy. Despite my weary condition, I run over to where he's fighting. Just as I approach, Josiah gets the better of Ashton. I watch in horror as the sword comes down, creating a deep gash in the prince's fighting arm. Infuriated, I step in for Ashton.