Villainess Loves

Part 67

Henry puts me down and we walk up to the podium where I will be announcing the winners.

"How joyous that you've arrived. We were wondering where you were, Lady Annelise." The Queen laughs slightly. Princess Echina looks curiously at me and Henry.

"How surprising it was to see you, Lady Annelise, in the hands of such a wonderfully handsome knight!" Princess Echina smiles, admiring Henry.

"How have I never seen him with you before?" She turns to Prince Caelum for a response. He shrugs.

"Don't look at me, I knew none of this." He curtly replies. Princess Echina sighs.

"You're still jealous? You know I'm marrying you!" She hits him lightly.

"What! Why would I be jealous!" Prince Caelum blushes slightly.

"Ahem, let us start the awards ceremony. We may discuss other things at another time." King Drayden interrupts. He turns towards me.

"You may proceed." He says. I nod and head up to the podium. A servant comes ups and hands me a list.

"Here's the list of all the winners, my lady." The servant says.

"Thank you." I thank him and take the list.

"Ahem, Hello all. Thank you for enjoying The Grand Elden Horse Race! This has been a wonderful event and I hope everyone has been enjoying themselves! Not to anyone's surprise but we will be holding more in the coming future so stay tuned and sharpen your skills!" I announce excitedly. 

This event has been such a success that it would be a shame not to hold it again. Queen Solana has already given her approval to hold this annually every spring season to welcome in the new tourists coming to visit in the spring and summer.

"Now, it's time to announce and reward the winners for today's event! Don't be sad if you didn't win! We will be adding more races and different kinds of competition in future events so you'll have plenty of time to win!" I gesture to bring in the rewards. Servants file in orderly carrying many different types of rewards. Some place them on the table and some remain carrying them.

"So, our first winners will be for the beginner's course!......" I announce the winners and runner-ups for each race and category. The winners all seemed satisfied with their rewards. We tried to keep it varied and prepared alternatives depending on who won since rewards for aristocrats may not be attractive to commoners and vice versa.

"Now, it's time for the skilled race! May the winners please head on to the stage once your name is called? It may not be such a surprise but-!" I pause for dramatic effect.

"The grand winner of our skilled race category is none other than the amazing Bella!" I applaud as Bella comes up to receive her reward. She shyly takes it from Prince Orion who I made carry the grand prize.

Bella dominated the whole competition, beating Prince Astric in a clean sweep in the skilled races overall and winning the couple's race with Prince Orion. The amount of admirers she's gotten has only exponentially increased with the acknowledgment of her skills. Her beauty had already amounted to a strong following that I had forgotten till they came to congratulate her when she won the first time. I guess it wasn't that strange that Prince Orion was so on guard of Henry when he first met Bella.

"Alright, and now to move on to-" "CRASH!" Before I could finish my sentence, an arrow hurdles towards me at breakneck speeds. As it comes closer, I could feel my life flashing before my eyes. As if in slow motion, the arrow inches closer to me and I take a deep breath before closing my eyes, preparing for the impact.

"CLANG!" The sudden sound of metallic makes me open my eyes back up to see Henry smoothing deflecting the arrow away with his sword.

Screams fill my ears as I realized that my arrow wasn't the only one that was shot as knights scramble around to protect their masters and the rest of the crowd as arrows whiz by, destroying the whole awards area.

"My lady! Are you alright?!" Henry's voice enters my ears as his strong hands grab my shoulders, shaking me slightly but enough to wake me from my stupor.

The realization of almost death hits me and I feel myself falling, but Henry swiftly catches me before I hit the ground, pulling me in close to his chest.

"Annelise!" His voice fades as my vision turns black.