Regal [h.s au]

32. Together

AMELIA

"Silas, over here!" I shout, looking down at the cloth soaked in blood as I desperately try to keep the dying man awake. He's breathing heavily, eyes widened and focused on the sky above while blood keeps leaking out of the wounds on his abdomen.

"I'm working as fast as I can!" Silas yells back, already struggling to help a young woman with similar stab wounds. "Catch!" He tosses me a vial filled with some kind of green liquid. "It eases the pain."

I nod, frantically opening the vial and slipping my hand under the man's head. "Here, drink this, it won't hurt as much," I say, watching as he coughs out blood and gurgles, his body suddenly going limp. My eyes widen as I shake him slightly, getting no reaction, his chest unmoving.

I will myself not to grieve, gently laying his head back down and closing his eyelids, covering his lifeless eyes. I lift my head, scanning the area, seeing dozens of other people scattered all over the ground, all of them dead. This is just another one of many attacks Edgar's soldiers have inflicted upon people in Frontera while his pirates attack ships in Solis.

It makes no sense, what does Edgar want from Frontera so desperately? He should be putting all his efforts into the invasion of Solis he's been planning, not send his men to pillage and kill around here. He is after something, I just haven't been able to discover what.

Lilly's scream suddenly fills the air and I immediately jolt up on my shaky legs, seeing her hunched over another dead body. A small one.

"No, no, come on!" Lilly urges as I speed towards her, dropping on my knees beside her. She attempts to wake up a dead boy not older than ten, a gaping slit sliced over his throat.

The sight makes me gag, my eyes closing for a moment to compose myself as I feel my stomach twist, threatening to spill out its contents. I usually have good control over it, but I guess this scene has shocked me too much. He was just a child, after all.

"Lilly, he's gone," I tell her sadly, watching as tears slowly pour out of her eyes as she shakes her head. "Lilly, come on. Don't look at him, don't torture yourself." I gently place my palm against her cheek, turning her head so her teary brown eyes meet mine.

"Why did they do this again? I thought- I thought the attacks were over," she says, sniffling. "What do armed soldiers have against innocent people?"

I stand up, pulling her up with me, wrapping my arms around her tightly. "They are all just pawns, this is Edgar's doing. He is after something and these people seem to be on his way."

"Adrian..." Lilly mumbles as she pulls away, wiping her tear stained cheeks. "Adrian is his son, we must send him to speak to him!"

"But the plan was to send Adrian to Solis to buy them some time," I reason, pondering her words for a few moments. "I don't know if it would be productive to send him to his father, but it is worth a shot, especially if we can prevent another one of these attacks."

Adrian received a message from Harry two weeks ago, asking him to come to Solis urgently, just like I advised Harry to do. On his way, he stopped here and has been staying ever since, deciding to help us first. He found a safe place for us in a secluded, abandoned village and has occupied himself with trying to decipher what are his father's soldiers after, but each time any of us have attempted to find out, we came out empty handed. Perhaps if he talks to him in person, he can get to the bottom of this.

"Exactly, he is the only one who can find out what Edgar is after and we might be able to stop him," Lilly says. "His plan is obviously not to just invade Solis and take over the throne, he keeps ravaging The Border. Poor innocent people keep losing their lives." She swipes underneath her eyes.