Erivale: The Lost Princess

Chapter 15: Part 2

The large group of guards escorted me back to my room; the entire palace was still on high alert from the attack. It sounded like it was quick; the rebels were in and out to grab their members housed in the dungeons. No one was seriously hurt, and no one died.

Heinrich was furious that the prisoners were gone, and the palace was on lockdown for the rest of the day. He was also extensively questioning the palace staff for any information about how the rebels got in. No one is entirely sure of their entrance, all of a sudden, they were here almost as if someone let them in.

After being escorted back, I was left to sit in my room in silence as I often did here. What wasn't often was finding myself in a broom closet with the leader of the rebels. I still felt shaken up from everything that happened, and I found myself simply staring at the wall. My mind was too wound up to do anything else. I hardly noticed when someone entered.

"Amberleigh?" They called.

I stood up slightly surprised to see a disheveled looking Ulric in front of the now-closed doors. He was still wearing his sparring clothes and his sword was in his hand at his side. His chest was heaving gently as an indication that he had previously been running.

"You're okay," he sighed and took a few purposeful strides towards me before wrapping me in a tight embrace. At first, I was rigid and unsure. I never pictured Ulric as the affectionate type, and I had never seen him give a hug, but I soon relaxed. His touch was too comforting not too. "I thought I lost you," he whispered in my ear.

"You didn't lose me, I'm right here," I said into his shoulder. I felt so numb after everything that happened, it was all I could do.

He pulled away and began inspecting me for any injuries. His fingers were quick and gentle, running over my scalp, my face, and arms. "It doesn't look like you were injured at all."

I had never really seen this side of Ulric before, he was usually cold and quiet, occasionally he was arrogant and flirty, but concerned and caring was new to me. It seemed like it was new for him as well. I could see the uncertainty in his eyes as he caressed my face.

His hands moved down to my shoulders, and he held me at arm's length. The thoughts in my head were beginning to run rampant. They felt like an unruly tornado, spinning with fragments of thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Slow enough to see them, but too fast to truly feel them, and just the right speed to feel utterly hopeless. I began to cry, softly and slowly at first. And then the tears came in great torrents down my cheeks and I was sobbing into Ulric's shoulder. It wasn't the gentle kind of crying. It was the snotty tear logged sobs of heartbreak.

My heart was broken today, my parents, the people who I thought would love me unconditionally and at all costs were liars.

It took me a while to realize that Ulric had begun rubbing my back to try to calm me and he was calling my name gently.

I pulled away and wiped at my face trying to clear the remnants of the snot, but gave up realizing it was all over his shirt too. He didn't seem to mind.

"Amberleigh, what's wrong? Did the rebels do anything to you?"

"No, well-" I looked around nervously and whispered – "They found me, they didn't hurt me, but they told me things, showed me things."

His face grew stormy. "Showed you what?"

"Ulric, all the pieces of the mystery are fitting together. It was the rebels that were leaving the notes the entire time, they were trying to protect me."

"But the rebels were the ones who kidnapped you." His tone showed little emotion. I couldn't tell what he thought of the situation.

"They were trying to save me then, too." I could feel the emotion welling back up along with the anxiety as the gravity of the situation hit home. I hadn't had a panic attack since I was a freshman in high school. I had the privilege to almost forget what they felt like, but only almost. The way the anxiety and fear were building up in my body was causing my toes to tap and my body to shake. I couldn't help the stutter as I spoke, "T-they, wa-want to sacrifice m-me for power."