The Sovereign's Sacrifice ☆ EDITING ☆

Chapter Seventeen: Ivan

I stood, frozen to the spot in horror as she rolled into the water. The cloth bag tied around her head once wer kept her from breathing even when her head was above water.

She stopped moving, keeping calm and channeling her energy until finally the rope around her arms broke. He made quick work of the hood and took a desperate, burning gasp for air. The water carried her closer and closer to the waterfall.

She remembered it's base from her arrival a week prior. Years of pressure from the water had shaped the bottom into jagged rock. Was this her fate? Had she fought so long to die here?

"No," she yelled out as if to herself. "Ellwyn, Samara, Louka, Vasi, Emry," she called out with each searing moment, the cold water causing an odd mix of pain and numbness. They were the names of children in our class who had been taken as a result if the war. "Callysta, Collodius, Amyr, Rhana, Elise, Fendran, Hylia, Eros, Eridia, Argus," she continued as she used the rope that had once bound her hands to latch on to branch.

She could see the coward who had tossed her into the water, waiting for a moment to strike. He couldn't currently reach her or the branch without wading into the water and they both knew he wasn't strong enough to fight the current. It was one of the reasons he hated her. To think that a young woman was stronger than him.

As she held onto the branch, "Allistair, Hyperion, Leonius," she chanted as she made quick work of the rope binding her legs. She then climbed up the branch, using it to pull herself out of the water. "Euripedes, Apollo, Eivor, Cassandra, Alexios, Poseidon," she continued as she reached dry land.

The man prepared to charge, to knock her back into the water. "You're weak!" He yelled at her. She stepped closer, a shroud of strength and power following her every step.

"Alesandra, Amereth, Bella, Casseopia, Amira," she continued as she raised her arms to fight, a newfound strength coursing through them. "Mehran, Megara, Nikita, Tran, Euriadyte."

"What are those names, you fucking weakling?" He jeered, lunging at her, but she leapt effortlessly out of the way.

"The only weak one here, is the coward willing to throw a comrade to their deaths to appease his own broken ego," she called out calmly. She lunged forward in an instant gripping him by his collar and slamming him against a tree.

He fell to the ground and she pounced on him, punching him. "Those names and more are the names of those I will rescue if they are still alive by the time I make my way to them. They are also the names of the ones I will avenge whether they are alive or dead," she growled at him. She punched him one last time, knocking him out.

She bound his hands and feet and hoisted him over her shoulder, before weakly carrying him back to the castle.

As she walked over the bridge, Eric and several others rushed to meet her. "Eliana!" he called out as she stumbled.

"I am alright," she yelled tossing the man to the ground. "He drugged me, beat me, bound me, and tossed me into the river with a bag over my head so I would fall to my death and drown."

The headmaster of the training, "My lady, I am terribly sorry."

"I am not royalty, nor am I a "lady" in the traditional sense so do me the courtesy of not addressing me as such. I had the opportunity to do to him what he did to me, and I did not. Keep him, train him, and for the love of God, keep an eye on him. I, however will be gathering provisions and leaving to train elsewhere," she growled pushing past them, her body still sopping wet.

A chill had set in as the last if her adrenaline was leaving her body. She began to feel a little weak, but refused to show it.

As she moved past, Eric gripped her upper arm with a gloved hand, halting her. He had removed the glove from his left hand and raised it to feel her forehead. "You're burning up," he spoke.

"What do you care? I can tend to myself," she growled as her body began to grow week. He pulled her into the castle and down the hall. The room growing fuzzy around her. Once they were away from prying eyes, he hoisted her into his arms. "Put me down," she slurred.

"I brought you here before carrying you because I know you do not wish to seem weak in front of the others. I believe that the drug is still in your body, making you ill. Let me take you to the infirmary," he spoke as everything went black.