My Princess

Chapter 20

Clara POV
Cronus stands in front of me, fighting off Myra's blows. All I can do is look at her, in shock. What has she become? What did they do to her?
A grunted sound from Myra breaks me from my thoughts. She staggers back and falls to her knees.
"What did you do to her, you idiot?" I scream at Cronus. I rush over to Myra. She breathing heavy but I can see no wounds. Cronus must have knocked the wind out of her. I sigh with relief.
"Clara, get away from her!" Cronus yells, panicked. But it's too late because Myra has already regained her footing and now points her blade at my chest.
I freeze with fear. Her once beautiful green eyes, all darkness. They stare at me as though I was her enemy.
"Wait! Don't kill her." My father commands Myra.
She lowers her weapon and looks back at me, she is still so full of rage. I take this hesitation as a chance. I stumble away from her. And then I draw back an arrow.
"I'm sorry, Myra," I tell her, tears running down my face.
I release the arrow and it goes right to my target. It's like time as slowed as I watch the arrow. Then it finally breaks through the skin of Myra's leg.
She drops to the ground in pain. And then Cronus runs up to her and hits her in the head with the hilt of his sword. She drops to the ground, unconscious.
Cronus scoops her up into his arms. I take this moment to draw back another arrow. But this time I point it at my father.
But it's too late for my father has already taken off. I can still see his faint shadow and try to make the shot anyway but it doesn't make contact with him.
"Dammit," I scream out.
"Hey. We don't have time for this okay. Myra is fine for now but she is bleeding. If we waste any more time, she will die." Cronus tells me.
"Where are we going to take her?" I ask.
"I know a little place. It's hidden in the woods. Follow me, quick." Cronus says frantically.
We quickly mount our horses. Cronus carries Myra in front of him while he takes off. I follow him through the forest.
We keep going for what seems like forever, but I can finally make out a small barn. We hurry up to and jump off our horses. Cronus takes Myra and carries her to the barn, he lays her down on a small bed.
"Who's there?" I hear a woman shout.
"We have weapons... so you better just get the hell out before things get ugly." A man yells.
"We have Myra. She's hurt, we need your help." Cronus yells back.
Then two elderly people rush into the barn. The woman goes straight to Myra. While the man shuts the barn door.
"What happened to her? Who are you, people?" The man asks us.
She was uh...shot. And I'm Clara and this is Cronus." I say
"Shot. By who?" He replies.
"Um.. well, you see-" I stumble.
"It doesn't matter who shot her, it just matters if we can save her." The lady says. "Wait, did you say Clara. As in princess Clara."
"Yes." Then the woman comes up to me and embraces me.
"She did it. She found you." The woman says.
"Um... I'm sorry if I sound rude but who are you, people."
"Well, we are Myra's grandparents." The man tells me. "She came here not too long ago, looking for you. She was all battered up, but she was willing to do anything to get to you. And she did it."
"Well, we have another problem. She has been brainwashed. She was told to kill us and if that failed she was supposed to kill herself." Cronus explains to them.
"Oh god, no. Not again." The woman shakes her head.
"What? What do you mean again?" I ask.
"This happened to her father, our son Lance. He was captured and brainwashed. Once his love, Grace, gave birth to Myra she went after him. So he could meet his daughter. She got there but the king was already waiting for her. He took Myra and then Lance well he killed her. Somehow he broke from his trance to see her lying in front of him, dying. We were able to talk to him before his execution. But because of what he did he was ready to die, wanted it more than anything." The woman tells me through her tears.
A few tears of my own escape me. How tragic. My father is the cruelest man in existence. He deserves to die.
"How did he manage to break from the trance?" Cronus asked.
"It was probably because he had done what the king told him. He killed Grace." Said the man
"I don't think that was it." Says the woman. "I think she broke his curse with true loves kiss."
"That crazy talk and you know it." The man replies.
All the sudden Myra wakes up. She seems dazed but her eyes are still colorless. She looks at all of us and starts to go after Cronus. Jumping on top him. He manages to wrestle her down and hold her arms beside her head.
"We need to tie her down to the bed, hurry," Cronus says.
I find a rope and bring it to him. Cronus lifts her back into the bed and ties her down.
She is struggling like crazy and screaming at the top of her lungs.
"We have to do something quick. If she keeps moving like this the bleeding won't stop and she will die for sure." Says Myra's grandmother. "She loved you. More than anything, please try to save her."
"It won't work." The man tells her.
"Well, its better than nothing. Would you rather her kill them, or herself?" Screams this woman.
I walk up to Myra. Cronus is holding her down. I gently grasp her face in my hands. She looks at me like a wild beast looking at its prey.
I slowly move towards her and whisper "I love you" in her ear. And I lightly press my lips against hers.
I start to deepen the kiss. But she does not seem to be responding. I pull back and look her in the eyes. They are still all black. I have given up all hope and just continue to get lost in the darkness of her eyes.
But then her pupils, they start to shrink. The green is starting to come back. She is coming back to me. She blinks a few times and looks around confused, then she looks right at me.
"Clara."