Impenetrable- Sequel to Arcanum

Chapter 12: Spruce

I walked toward the stable, grumbling to myself.

"Have you seen Colt?" I asked a stablehand, who shook her head. I sighed, and went into the stable, searching for Colt's horse. He was nowhere in sight.

"Oh Colt." I chuckled softly, and heard someone running toward me. I looked up at saw Kaliska, tears streaming down her face.

"Kaliska, what's wrong?" The girl pulled her horse over to her, and she retrieved an unconscious Colt from her back.

"Oh no. What happened?" I asked, as the two of us rushed into the medical room of the castle. Two healers came running, as we put Colt down on a bed.

"I-I was injuried, and Colt tried to save me with a crystal." She sobbed, "it's my fault. I should never have gotten injuried." I wrapped up the girl in a hug,

"It's not your fault." I rubbed her back, as the girl cried into my chest.

"We need you two to leave, so we can examine Colt." A healer said, and we nodded and left the room. I noticed Kaliska was still dressed only in a towel,

"Come with me, my mom probably has some clothes you can wear."

"Ok." She nodded, taking one glance at the room Colt was in, before she finally followed me up the stairs. I led the girl into my mother's room, and left her alone, leaving her to change.

"Is that Princess Kaliska?" My mother came up beside me, smiling, not aware of what happened to Colt.

"Yeah."

"Does my son like her?" She asked, smiling even more,

"I wish she liked me, but that girl has her eyes on Colt." I laughed,

"It's about time." She joked,

"About Colt mom, he's badly injuried. We took him to the healers."

"What?" My mom froze up,

"It's alright, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I have to go see him." She bolted away before I could grab her arm.

"I'm back." Kaliska opened the door, dressed in a long navy blue dress.

"Hi." I gave her a smile, and she weakly smiled back,

"Can I go see Colt again?"

"Let's go check."

---

Kaliska and I walked down the stairs, and the girl went toward the healer's room, and we both entered it. Colt was sitting up, looking at us with a tired expression.

"Hey guys." He smiled weakly, and I watched as Kaliska threw herself into his chest.

"Ouch." He let out a groan in pain, and the girl let go of him, tears in her eyes,

"I'm sorry, I'm just so glad you're alive." She put her hand on the guy's cheek, and I looked at them,

"Do you two want me to leave?" I grinned mischievously, and Colt gave me a glare. I chuckled, and left the two in peace. As I was leaving, I heard Colt apologizing to Kaliska about walking in on her bathing. She didn't even seem to care.

I walked up the stairs, and out the castle, suddenly realizing Harmony's lesson.

"She's going to kill me." I groaned, and jogged to the training arena. The black haired girl stood, practicing with a sword, and as soon as she noticed me, the girl crossed her arms, and sighed,

"What took you so long?" She grumbled,

"Family matters." I explained, and walked toward her, watching as she handled the sword.

"Can I help you?" I asked, noticing a few flaws in how she was fighting.

"You're my trainer, right?" She laughed, and I grinned, and walked toward her. I went behind the girl, and put my hands on hers, fixing her grip on the sword. The girl looked very flustered, as I placed a hand on her back.

"You keep slouching. You're not going to get anywhere if you're like that." Harmony grumbled to herself, and stood up taller, holding her sword out in front of her.

"Knees bent." I explained, as I stood back to examine the girl's position.

"Perfect, now come at me." I motioned for her to approach, and the girl ran toward me, sword raised. I backed up, about to jump out of the way, when my foot slipped behind me. I instantly lost my footing, and tumbled to the ground. Above me, Harmony was squealing as she was sent crashing into me. My eyes widened as she fell toward me, her lips touching mine.

"Aah!" She cried out, and jumped backwards, turning away from me, a furious expression on her face. "I didn't do that on purpose."

"I didn't think you would." I chuckled, "let's just forget that ever happened. So, back to what I was about to teach you." I was about to continue on, when a large white horse galloped toward us, a blonde haired woman on her back. The woman cackled evilly, and I felt a large blow to my head. I crumbled to the ground, and the last thing I saw was Harmony being taken away. My hand reached out, but there was nothing there but darkness.

---

"Harmony!" I cried out, when I woke. Looking around, I discovered I was in my bedroom. A maid was looking at me with concern,

"Are you alright, Prince Spruce?" She asked, and I blinked, and rose out of bed,

"They took her." I growled,

"Who, your majesty?"

"Princess Harmony." I growled, and the maid's eyes went wide.

"I'll let the king know." She left my room, and I ran toward the stables, leaping onto my horse.

"Let's find her." I said to my horse, as we bolted out of the stable, and through the forest, searching for the lost girl.