A Princess's Sword

Chapter 16

The princess's crown

I had fired one shot with the initial volley of arrows when something touched me on the shoulder. Caught off guard, I whirled around whacking the person with my bow. With a groan, Ithagar sank to the ground clutching his stomach where I had hit him. Every part me wanted to rush to him but I kept my distance.

I managed to say, "Are you alright?"

He smiled feebly and tried to keep the pain from his voice and face as he replied, "I will be fine in a minute or so."

"What are you doing here?" I asked with compassion, forgetting about the battle.

"I wanted to try one last time. Arilina, I have nothing to offer you. All my life servants have done the work for their prince. But I am no longer a prince. I carry a sword, but I am not a knight. I am worthless. My whole life, I have been trained to be king, and now I will not even be that. I know no other trade. Once again I tell you I have nothing to offer, except myself. Will you trust me?" Before I could reply, but a stray arrow flew through the opening near me and pierced my leg.

I suppressed a cry, by covering my mouth with a hand. The next one escaped. Every detail of the arrow caused me intense pain. My ragged breaths caused the shaft to move, sending agony shooting through my body. To keep from screaming and making it worse I clenched my bow until my knuckles turned white. With the care of a mother for her child, Ithagar placed his hands around the wound. Moaning, I sucked in another breath.

"Arilina." He brushed a hair away from my face in an attempt to soothe me. But the sight of blood, my blood, on his hands made me feel light-headed. "I have to push it through."

"What?" The word was shaky and barely intelligible.

"I can see the tip on the other side of your leg. Brinderian arrows are barbed, it will hurt worse and cause more damage if I pull it out the way it went in. Do you understand?" Biting my lip, I moved my head in a small nod. I close my eyes, afraid to watch. Before I did, I saw Ithagar take a deep breath. I felt the arrow move slightly, then there was a loud snap. My suffering increased tenfold and I was on the verge of losing consciousness. Like a horse fighting the saddle for the first time, I used every ounce of energy to stay awake. My eyes flickered and I saw the arrow still protruding from my leg and Ithagar leaning over it. The fletchings were gone; that was the sound I had heard. But, of course, the feathers would never pass through the wound, so he had to remove them.

"Are you ready, Arilina?"

I managed to open my mouth without crying out in pain and said, "Yes." The moment he put pressure on and began pushing, I felt it. With every half-second that passed the torment passed until I lost my battle and slipped into the darkness that had beckoned me from the moment the arrow had hit.

۩۩۩

My eyes fluttered open, blinking until Father's face came into focus. "What happened?"

Relief filled Father's face as he exclaimed, "Oh! My precious Arilina! You are going to be alright!"

"Sire, I have already assured you that she will be fine, in fact, she can even participate in the ceremony," said the royal healer.

"The ceremony," I mumbled, almost incoherently.

"Now, do not worry. Everything will be fine." Before Father had finished talking I had fallen into a deep sleep.

The next time I woke up, I glanced around, feeling refreshed. I noticed that Ithagar slumped in a chair sleeping. My wound felt almost completely well. But I had an idea that would change when I put weight on it. At that moment, Father entered the room, waking up Ithagar in the process.