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Chapter Twenty

Evelyn's POV

I wake up to feel drops of water falling on my face, one almost landing in my eye. I blink quickly and sit up, realizing that it's still raining. 

"Wake up, Court." I shake my friend gently. It takes a few moments for her to stir. And as soon as she does, she lets out a loud groan. 

"Still? I hate rain." She sighs quietly. 

"Me too." I look around. "We'd better start making our way back to the palace." Forgetting the condition my leg is in, I try to stand up. But, of course, I fail and fall back down. 

"We can't. You need to recover first," Courtney reasons. 

"Screw that. We need to get back." I attempt to stand one more time, but it just results in the same fate. 

"They're looking for us, okay? I'm sure they'll search the woods soon," she reassures, raising an eyebrow. 

I nod slowly. "If you say so. But what do we do now?" 

She stands up. "I'm going to go and find some cleaner water." Court smiles a little before walking away. 

I watch her footsteps, sighing out quietly. Oh well, I think, I can try to have a nap now so that I'll be more alert later. 

But as soon as I start to drift off, I hear a twig snap. My eyes widen immediately. 

"Courtney?" I call out, desperately hoping it's her. I don't get a response. My eyes dart around my surroundings, trying to find a sign of movement. 

"Boo," someone whispers in my ear. Naturally, I scream and turn to where the voice comes from. 

"Oh my God," I whisper back, smiling. 

"Miss me?" asks Archer teasingly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What happened? I saw them pull your body away. They told Courtney and I you were dead." 

"They shot me in the side of my stomach and didn't tell you in order to scare you. I also pretended to be dead for a while." He grins a little. "But I believe you owe me an explanation." 

"Explanation for what?" I retort. 

"Whilst I was faking, I put all the pieces together. You and my sister switched places, and it was believable because you two look so alike." Archer narrows his eyes a bit. "But why?" 

Before I can say a word, someone rushes forwards and hugs Archer tightly. "I thought you were gone," his step-sister murmurs. 

"Stomach, sweetie," he chuckles, and Courtney pulls away quickly. 

"Sorry." She hands us both an apple each, taking a swig from her flask of supposedly clean water. "Good thing we're under such a big tree. Where were you, Arch?"

He takes a bite of the fruit. "Here. I was on my way to the palace, slowly, I'll tell you, my injury is definitely not letting me move any longer. I saw Evelyn here and, well, I'm just so glad she's alright." He smiles at me, and I can't help but return it shyly. 

"Yeah, yeah." Courtney smirks slightly and elbows me. 

"As I was asking her before, why did you two switch? For fun?" He raises an eyebrow. 

Courtney and I exchange looks. "Well..." she starts, hesitating. I decide to take over. 

"Her mother proposed the idea. It was to protect her, and the province, from Falconrose and their assassins. Her necklace has the world's most precious stone in it." I pause for a little while. "She took my place, and I took hers. We didn't expect you to fall in love with me, and she almost got murdered by some street thugs too. But... I guess it was worth it. We had to save Foxien."

"Are you okay, Court?" Archer asks, placing his hand on her shoulder. 

She nods. "I'm fine. Jordan saved me before they could even make a mark, and I was staying with him." She looks directly into her step-brother's eyes. "But now we need to get back to the palace. We know where the Falconrose assassins are hiding out, and we just need the guards to get to them." 

"Why can't we do it ourselves?" he pipes up, and we turn to face him. "It'll be too late by the time we get the royal guards. We need to act quickly." 

"But, we're both injured," I point out, tilting my head to the side. 

"Fair point." He sighs. "Never mind then." 

"We can't get back fast enough either, not with the conditions you two are in." Courtney folds her arms. "They still have the gem too, another reason why we need to seek them out." 

"Well I guess we're fucked, then," I mutter. 

"Language," a voice scolds jokingly, and we all turn our heads. Archer's strawberry blonde sister trots in on a palomino horse, smiling gently at us. 

"What are you doing here?" Courtney goes to hug Isla tightly. 

"Mother sent me here to find you. Are you alright?" She pulls away and rubs the blonde's arms. 

"We're fine. Well, not really. Archer and Evelyn are injured." 

I glance at the other horse that seems to have followed Isla's. "I brought an extra one," she explains. "Four people is too many for a single horse." 

"Well, I'll take the other one with Evelyn, and you can take Archer." Courtney pulls me towards the chestnut stallion and helps me on before mounting it herself. 

"All saddled up?" Isla asks, glancing at us. Archer and my eyes meet, and he nods slightly. 

"Actually, Courtney and I need to take a detour. Got any weapons on you?"

A/N

Okay soooo we need to update more often, sorry!

Please comment and/or vote so that we know people are actually reading this <3 

~ Zalie :3