Emmy

CHAPTER SIX

There was screaming. Men running into the arena. Shouting from the royalty box. Both Alex and Emmy didn't know what had happened, but they had a sinister idea that made both of them feel sick.

Alex felt he couldn't move, as if his feet were stuck to the ground. He got glimpses from his vantage point of the man on the ground, and he instantly recognised the purple and gold livery.

"Who is it?" Emmy finally asked. She felt like she had been holding her breath.

"I think it's ... no. It ... it can't be. Edmund?" His voice was raspy when he mentioned his brother.

"But ... the King is a brilliant jouster?" Emmy said but it sounded more like a question.

"How could this have happened?" Alex's head started spinning with questions. "Is he still on the ground?"

Emmy tried to get the best visual she could. "I think so." She watched as the news pained Alex immensely. "Run down to him Alex. It might not be him for all we know."

Emmy didn't have to tell Alex twice as he bolted down the hillside. Emmy knew she could never keep up but she struggled behind him as best as she could. She saw Alex further down the hill push people aside as he made his way into the arena. Once inside he knelt down beside the motionless man. It was then that Emmy's fear was confirmed: Alex's brother, King Edmund, was the man on the ground, the one who wasn't moving. Tears filled Emmy's eyes for her King but also for Alex. The aftermath of this terrible accident would be one of the worst times of his life.

Emmy made it to the outskirts of the crowd area. Rumours were being spread like wildfire.

"Is it definitely the King?"

"I heard someone gave him a bad horse to ride on."

"The King shouldn't have been involved in the tournament."

"His opponent appeared to have a heavier lance."

The rumours bounced off Emmy as she walked quickly through the crowd towards the scene of the accident. Everyone was in suspense as to what had happened exactly.

Emmy entered the arena, which she wasn't sure if she should do, and made her way over to Alex and the King. She saw Alex's worried, white face. His eyes were wide in fear and terror as he didn't know what to do. Then she saw Edmund, lying on his back. His eyes were closed as if he were asleep. Yet, a ghastly red stream of blood was pouring slowly from his forehead, staining his hair and the ground below him.

"Physicians! Let them through!" someone behind Emmy shouted. She quickly moved out of the way, as well as everyone else, to give three physicians a direct route to the King.

"Is he still breathing?" one of the physicians asked. 

"Yes," Alex responded in a monotone voice. He looked straight at the man. "Is he going to-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Prince Alexander. We must assess first and make assumptions later."

Alex nodded, a tear rolling down his cheek. Emmy wanted to rub his shoulder, to take his hand and to tell him everything would be alright, but he was surrounded by so many people there was no chance she would get to him. 

"Did he ever stop breathing?" 

"Not that we know of," a nobleman said.

"Alright. How did he fall off?"

The nobleman stepped forward so Emmy could see him. "The lance hit his right shoulder hard and the force must have toppled him. He fell onto his front."

"Did he fall on his neck?" the physician questioned.

"No. More on his front."

"Alright, that's good. That's better than his neck." The physician stopped. "Who moved him onto his back?"

"I did," the King Mother said gently, yet anxiously. "Why?"

The physician grumbled to himself. "His neck! It's-"

"There's a pulse!" another physician exclaimed.

"What does that mean?" Alex asked, full of emotion. He didn't know if that was good or bad. Emmy held her breath.

"It means he's breathing," the first physician said, angrily eyeing his excited apprentice checking for a pulse. "How is it?"

"Strong," the apprentice said. "Hold on, it's ... strong and then it weakens."

"Let me listen," the physician said. He was silent whilst he listened, as was everyone else. Emmy was still holding her breath.

"It's alright," he said at last. "For the fall he has sustained his heart is in good enough condition. Now, King Mother, did you twist his neck when you moved him?"

She looked worried. "I ... I don't know." Tears fell onto her pretty cheeks. "I thought he would awake as soon as he fell. I didn't think about his neck. I don't know!" She turned away as she broke into huge sobs.

The physician composed himself. He went to the King's side and felt around his neck, checking for anything that was broken or unusual.

"His neck feels ... unbroken. It appears fine." The crowd breathed a sigh of relief.

"But what about his wound?" Alex questioned, breathless with anxiety and anguish.

The physician examined it. "It's not too deep," he said after a moment. "But his head may have sustained a lot of trauma."

"Is that why he isn't awake?" Alex asked. He looked so afraid for his brother, and Emmy couldn't help but think he looked so small and helpless.

"Potentially. The fall would have knocked the wind out of him, and the wound suggests he has damaged his mind."

Suddenly, lightning rippled through the sky above the crowd and down onto the forest beside them. Roaring thunder bellowed from the skies overhead and tiny spits of rain speckled each person.

"We need to move him inside," Alex said. He went to pick him up but the physician swatted at his arms.

"Not like that! Not like that!" he said angrily. "We need to move him carefully. I need him on a stretcher. William, Andrew, grab one from my medicinal room."

The two other physicians ran towards the castle as if their lives depended on it. Everyone else sat or stood in horror at the fact their King was asleep and could not wake up.

Alex leaned down and whispered into his brother's ear, but nothing he said woke the King up.

A hand slid onto Emmy's arm which made her jump slightly. It was her Mother. She beckoned Emmy to come with her, and she followed. She looked at Alex as she left, to see if he needed her, but he was too distraught to even think of such things.

"Emerald, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mother. But the King-"

"Do not talk of his condition. He will hopefully get better. He has the best physicians in the world."

"But his wound! And the blood?" Emmy shed a few more tears. "What if he..."

Her Mother looked at Emmy pitifully. "We do not need to think of that now, Emerald. We should go and let the family have some privacy."

"But Alex-"

"Is upset and needs to be with his brother. There isn't anything you can do for him now Emerald." She nodded her head because she knew it was true.

"Alright. Let me see him one last time." She stepped closer to the crowd where Alex was with his Mother. They were watching Edmund being loaded carefully onto a stretcher and then silently being taken to the castle. Alex and his mother followed, both crying, at the terrible consequences of the accident. Lightning shot across the sky again, followed by thunder, getting closer.

She returned to her Mother and they both walked in solemn silence to their carriage. Not a word was spoken by anyone they passed. Not a word was spoken on their journey home. Everyone in the kingdom was silent with fear for their King.