The Dance of the Keepers

Chapter 36 Sharing Scars

There was a mass scramble to get the injured Princess back to the palace where calls had been made to have a physician ready and waiting. I had left the body and the woman up to the guards and jumped in the vehicle that had been unhitched from the float and already carried the royal family and the other Keepers, just before it sped off. Civilians moved out of the way or were plowed over so I tried not to look out the windows or think too much about the occasional thump. The Queen was cradling her unconscious child whispering softly in her ear, tears staining the monarch's beautiful face.

"Is Navia going to be okay?"
Cymber asked in a small voice.

No one seemed to want to answer. Finally, Ranen leaned forward to look his middle sister in the eyes.

"We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that she is."

Lady Abberthorn had come with the royal family and was as pale as my skin, which was really saying something.

"I can't believe they did that to a little a girl."
She spoke softly, her voice trembling.

"I've been too easy on them, ungrateful peasants! They'll be sorry for this, the whole country will."
The King fumed.

That did not bode well. If the princess sustained permanent damage from the attack, or worse, didn't pull through, I had a feeling the retaliation from the King would make what had happened in the Plaza look like a mere drop in the bucket. The entire affair had been seen on national television, that made the offense a thousand times worse because there was no hiding it or misconstruing the truth, everyone had seen.

It took us a third of the time to get back to the palace that it had via the parade route and soon we were rushing the little girl inside to waiting caretakers. While my Keeper duty was completed and the others with the exception of Shane, who was on watch for the King, disappeared, I felt compelled to stay until I knew the outcome. I leaned against the wall outside the Princess's bedroom and waited, hoping I had acted in time to save her.

Ranen appeared a short while later pausing when he caught sight of me.

"You're the one who stopped the Sound Wielder?"

I nodded.

"Thank you. Thank you, for saving my little sister."
He whispered, eyes full of emotion.

I nodded again, unable to respond in any other way. He entered the room, the door clicking shut behind him. It felt like an eternity before anyone came back out.

When someone did step outside again however, I was surprised to find it was the Queen. She took one look at me, closed the distance between us and drew me into a hug. I was too stunned to have made a reply even if I had been allowed to use my voice.

"You saved her life."
The Queen told me, drawing back.

I wished I could ask how she was doing.

"The doctor says she's sustained significant hearing loss, but we won't know the full amount until she wakes."
The Queen said as though reading my mind.

I dropped my gaze to the floor, wishing I had been able to stop the atrocity sooner. I now understood just how unfair of me it was to have held Ranen responsible for his father's sins. An unfamiliar man in a white lab coat stepped out of the door and had a whispered conversation with the Queen. A moment later they both moved back into the bedroom.

Knowing there was little else to be known for several hours likely, I pushed off the wall and made my way slowly back to the Magna Complex.

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