Outcasts and Royals

Chapter 12

"Hey, guys, are we expecting any visitors today?" Katherine asked as she looked in the distance and saw a vessel with several men and a horse emerging while eating lunch.

"No one has ever come to this island before, and as far as we know, we've never told anyone else about this place," Erik answered, concerned about what was happening.

"I guess we know what that means," Damien realized.

"Get to the boat and sail away!" Sylvia exclaimed as she ran to their boat. She grabbed an oar and started rowing away from the island with the rest of her companions.

"Look over there. It seems as though those three people have the Princess, and now they're sailing away with her! Follow them!" Nathaniel demanded after seeing three people and a girl that looked like Princess Madeline leaving the island.

"Um, guys, it seems as though we have followers," Katherine told the others as she looked behind.

"They must believe you're the princess! Row faster!" Damien exclaimed as he started to row his oar even faster.

"Oh, my, it seems we have a group of persistent thieves over here. Servants, pull out your arrows and start firing!" Nathaniel yelled once the vessel they were following started to go faster.

"As long as we don't stop rowing the boat, we should be able to make it to that island over there," Damien said. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his left shoulder and fell to the bottom of the boat, where the others saw what had happened.

"Oh, no! They shot an arrow into Damien's shoulder!" Erik panicked.

"Katherine, Erik, get out of the boat and start swimming to the island. Make sure to grab the rope at the front of the boat so we can bring it along," Sylvia commanded as she tied some rope around her and Damien's waists.

"What are you doing?" Damien asked, sounding faint from the attack.

"You won't be able to swim on your own, so I tied you to myself. That way, I can pull you along," Sylvia answered before jumping into the water while keeping Damien close to her. Soon enough, the four of them and the boat were on the new island.

"Oh, man, we made it," Katherine said through heavy breaths as she lay on the ground.

"There's no time to rest! We need to hide from the enemies and tend to Damien's shoulder!" Sylvia said as she removed the rope that was attaching her and Damien. She held onto Damien as tight as she could, and they immediately ran off into the forest, hoping not to be seen by the people who had chased them in the first place.

"I can't see anyone else around here, and we're well hidden in the bushes. Now we can tend to that wound," Sylvia told Damien before pulling the arrow out of his shoulder with no hesitation.

"YOW! Why'd you have to pull it out like that?" Damien moaned.

"Better sooner than later is what I always say," she replied as she began to try to bandage the wound.

"What do we do now?" Katherine asked, trying to remain calm, despite the grave situation.

"We should at least give Damien a break from doing any difficult work with his left arm. But since people who seem to want us dead are chasing us, we are officially on the run as outcasts and simply need to stay alive," Erik replied.