Hope is all he has left...
Prince Kian is supposed to be dead. He was only 8 years old when the Dark King came into his home and slaughtered his family. Now 21, he lives in hiding, grieving the family and the kingdom both lost. With no magic left...
Zora was shaking. Blood stained her pale lips. People walked around where I kneeled over her. We needed a healer.
"Cayra!" I cried out, my voice hoarse from the smoke. "Cayra!" My throat burned. Hurried footsteps sounded towards me as Cayra shoved through people to get to us. Zora's forehead was burning. Cayra knelt down next to me, her platinum hair shining in the snow and moonlight.
"You need to keep going. I'll take care of Zora. Someone needs to lead these people forward," her voice was soft but firm.
"No. I'm not leaving her." I couldn't help but feel like this was my fault. I had asked her to come back here, knowing she had enemies. If Zora was seriously hurt I would never be able to forgive myself.
"Fine, but you better tell Tyri to go take your place at the front." I quirked an eyebrow.
"Kian, I need to work on Zora not argue with you. Just go, we'll be here when you get back."
"Fine," I huffed, feeling childish. My heart pounded as I pushed through the crowd. Just keep going, the quicker you find Tyri the quicker you can check on Zora, I promised myself.
"Tyri!" I called out, almost losing my voice. Only the wind answered me. I sighed, shoving my way closer to the front of the pack.
"Tyri Shielding!" I cried out again, sighing in relief when a head of short black hair turned my way. Tyri had already made her way to the front. I made my way to her.
"Something's happened to Zora, can you keep leading the way until I can come back?"
"Of course, you idiot! Go make sure Zora is okay!" She glared at me and shooed me back in the direction I had come from. I couldn't be mad, Tyri understood. She cared about Zora just as much as I did, it was a miracle she wasn't rushing back to her beside me.
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Zora was on the ground where I had left her, only now two pale heads of hair could be seen beside her. Areis was helping his sister. I briskly made my way towards them.
"Is she going to be alright?" I asked Areis, who had gotten up to meet me.
His face was grim, "It's poison. Cayra says we should get her to someplace better to look into it. "
"Then what are we waiting on?" My heart pounded in my chest. I didn't know when or how it had happened, but I had grown to care for Zora deeply. I didn't want to run this revolution without her. It scared me how much the thought of losing this woman affected me.
"Help me lift her."
Areis carried Zora next to me as we tried to catch up with the others. Her face was pale and her bloodstained lips were turning blue. The steady rhythm of her breaths had turned into an irregular gasping. My hands trembled as I brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. Stay with me.
"It'll be okay Kian. I can heal her, we just need to catch up with the others," Cayra assured me softly. I nodded, swallowing hard.
Areis was silent, a determined expression on his face. He hadn't been able to bring himself to look at Zora. The two of them were as close as siblings, perhaps closer than even him and Cayra in some ways. I wondered how he was keeping himself from sprinting towards where the others were setting up camp.
Just when I was beginning to worry we were going in the wrong direction, torchlight greeted us, shining through the gaps in the trees. Tents scattered around the clearing, luckily most of the critical supplies had been brought with the people of Stockgrove in the evacuation. Only buildings had been left to burn... along with the few councilmen Zora had left in them.
She hadn't shown it, but I knew that what she did had bothered her. In the minutes we had spoken before splitting up, she had been troubled. Though Zora would have to somehow overcome the guilt for what she had done, I felt no pity for the men left to burn. They would've sentenced her to a fate much worse and had sneered in her face when she had offered them mercy. I only wished that I could've locked them in myself, to spare her the weight of the deed.
And now I was afraid that she would not live to carry that weight at all. I stayed next to Zora as Areis cleared a table in my tent, setting Zora down and hurrying out to get his sister supplies. I tossed more wood in the fire, hoping the warmth would bring the color back to her lips.
Cayra held her hands over Zora's head and chest, eyes clamped shut in concentration. A drop of sweat beading on her forehead, she clenched her fingers as if grasping something only she could see.
Areis bustled into the tent, silently setting down the bottles of tonics and herbs he carried. He walked over to stand beside me, careful not to break his sister's focus.
I turned my attention back to the healer, who took a deep breath and suddenly went slack. Areis stepped over to catch her as she collapsed, the effort of healing Zora had drained her. I knew that Cayra would be okay after sleeping for a good while. However, I was more concerned with whether or not her attempt had been successful.
I stepped towards where Zora layed, inspecting her face. I jumped back as her blue eyes snapped open.
