The Runaway Queen

Chapter 21

I wake up in a bed. Scratchy covers are pulled over my legs, and Kaone is at my side.

"Eadu-please please forgive me." Kaone murmurs.

I weakly smile.

"There is nothing to forgive." I tell her.
Kaone smiles at me.

"How are you feeling?" She asks. I give her a look.

"What do you think?" I give her a look. Kaone laughs and shows me a bandaged cut on her arm.

"You gave me a little something as well you know." She winces.

I smile and squeeze her hand.
"Good." I whisper before drifting off to sleep.

I wake up again to Kaone gently shaking my leg.

"Tago wishes to speak to you. Do you want me to send him away?" She asks.
I shake my head.

"I want to talk to him." I whisper. Kaone frowns, but walks away.
I close my eyes, and seconds later Tago is at the foot of my bed.

"My Queen." He drops to his knees. I glare at him.

"How dare you. How dare you come here and call me your queen when you just attempted to murder me so you can take my throne!" I say icily.

"Your majesty-in all respect you are too young for the throne! I honestly thought I would do so much better! And I'm sorry. Just one question though-why didn't you stay at the safe place I arranged?" Tago asks.

I chuckle and lean against my pillows.
"Tago-after all these years, I thought you knew me better. Even if I listened to your orders and went to the safe place, there's something you still forgot about me. " I snarl.

Tago laughs.

"What's that?" He asks.

I sit up in bed, ignoring the excruciating ache in my shoulder.
"One thing-I never run!" I yell. Tago's eyes widen as he is dragged out of the room. I collapse against the pillows.

Next time I wake, Mali is there, spoon feeding me chicken broth.

"How on earth are you still alive!?" She yells. I wince at the sound of her loud voice.
"Sorry-I just thought for sure you died. Yet somehow you ended up as the Queen!" Mali whispers. I weakly chuckle.

"Yea....about that. I have my own country to rule. I can't be the Queen here. I need somebody I can trust to rule. Would you be the Queen here?" I mutter.

Mali smiles and nods as I fall unconscious once again.

"Eadu....Eadu..." A voice says. I open my eyes to see three blurry forms above you.
"Oh my gosh-Eadu what happened to you!?" A familiar voice shrieks.

"Laura shush!" A second voice says.
I blink a couple times to see Laura standing over me. Next to her stands Mufar and Derrin. I smile up at them.
"What happened to you?" Derrin asks me.

"I got shot." I whisper. Laura's eyes fill with tears.

"I'm sorry-I shouldn't of left you!" She sobs. I grab her hand and squeeze it.

"It's ok. I'm ok." I murmur.
Derrin looks concerned.

"Not this time Eadu-this time you need help." He whispers. I nod.
"Ok." I whisper.

Mali comes in.
"Eadu-the Amazon's gave you their oath." Mali says. I smile.

"Good." I respond.
Mufar looks confused.

"What oath?" He asks.

"Eadu made everyone swear a oath of loyalty to Faiyria. Nobody's happy about it-but they've all done it. With all due respect, you should leave now before they changed their mind." Mali explains. I nod painfully.

"Thank you. One last thing-can I have that picture frame you stole?" I ask. Mali groans and hands it over to me.

"Thank you." I whisper.

When I wake up, I'm in the back of a wagon with Derrin and Laura.

"Kaone and Mufar are up front driving." Laura tells me. I try to sit up, but I'm gently pushed down.

"You need to rest. Save your strength. It's going to be a long ride." Derrin whispers. I lean against his arm tiredly.

Derrin is right. The ride is really long. I drift in and out of a stupor, every jolt sending a fresh wave of pain through my body. I hear voices every now and then. Derrin talks to me lots, trying to keep me awake. When we finally reach our destination, I'm picked up and carried into the house. I see Roth's concerned face as I pass.

"Stop." I mutter. Roth appears in my vision again. I want to give him the picture frame, but nobody understands. Luckily Laura catches on. She grabs the picture and hands it to Roth.

"Thank you." He mutters. I stop fighting and hang limply.

Pain, worse then anything I've felt before, rips through my body. I scream and try to fight, but hands hold me down. Somebody tells me that it's just a doctor taking out the bullet. I could care less. It feels like somebody is digging their fingernails into my wound and ripping it apart. I yell again and squirm. There's a excruciating, ripping sensation and the pain dulls considerably. I lie limply against the bed, trying to remember how to breathe.
Somebody lifts me up, and I lean heavily against them as a different person bandages my arm. I fall asleep for the first time in what feels like years, without the pain.