Royal Red Roses - Prinxiety

Chapter Eight

(Tw- blood, pain, bow and arrow wound, animal gets shot with arrow)

Light filtered through the leaves, staining the ground with bright patches of morning sunlight.

Roman rode through the forest, still tired as he had not gotten enough sleep for the past few days. The smell of morning dew filled his senses. He could feel Buttercup's long mane against his forearm. He could hear the leaves crunch underneath his hooves.

He rode on, hoping to find a village soon. He hoped he had crossed the border by now; his father couldn't legally follow him into Monarch Emrywn's land. Then again, he hoped his father would be smart enough to not challenge their army on their land. Monarch Emrywn's army was quite well known as the largest, and deadliest, in the land.

Roman's spine tingled. He looked around, feeling prying eyes watching him as he went on. He slowed to a stop. He stared at the bushes in front of him, not able to shake the feeling of being watched.

He wasn't given time to wince before the arrow flew past, grazing his shoulder.

Buttercup reared up. Roman held on tight, panicking to keep the horse under control.

"Who's out there?" Roman called out. His voice sounded much more panicked that he wanted it to.

Another arrow flew. The sound of the arrowhead connecting with flesh filled Roman's ears. A sharp, searing pain erupted in his leg. He didn't need to look to know he had the tip of an arrow buried in his calf.

In a state of shock, Roman watched as three mercenaries emerged out of the bushes, daggers at the ready. An empty arrow quiver lay nearby, a small relief for Roman.

Without thinking, Roman flicked the reins. Buttercup launched forward. The shouts of the mercenaries faded as Roman got farther and farther away.

When Roman could not hear their shouts, he slowed. Gasping for breath from the pain shooting through his leg, he hesitantly looked. His leg was dripping with scarlet blood, staining the side of the white horse. He quickly looked away, his breath staggered. As much as he wanted to, he knew not to pull the arrow out. As much blood as there was, the arrow was stopping most of the bleeding.

He kept going, though his entire leg stung.

The light was dimmer now. As the sun set, Roman considered stopping. He hadn't found any sign of civilization. He couldn't stop now though. It was almost too dark too see, but the moonlight was barely bright enough.

Then the feeling of being watched came back.

Roman tries to ignore it, but it felt like there were thousands of bugs crawling under his skin.

"Virgil, no!" A panicked voice called.

The sound of another arrow piercing flesh filled Roman's ears, but he didn't feel any pain.

That was until he and Buttercup fell to the ground.

Pain and panicked pulsed through him like electricity as two masked people rushed out of the bushes. One kneeled beside Buttercup, who seemed to calm down immediately. Roman, on the other hand, did not calm down as the man clad in black dropped to his knees beside him.

"Are you okay?" The man in black asked. It was evident that he himself was trying to keep calm. His eyes drifted to the arrow sticking out of Roman's leg, and Roman could see the fear in his eyes. That was the only part of his face not covered by a mask after all.

"Pat, they're hurt," the man in black said. "I only shot one arrow, and it hit the horse."

'Pat' turned his attention to Roman, his eyes wide.

"We need to get him back to camp," he said. "We have stuff there."

"Can you walk?" The man in black asked.

"I- I don't know," Roman said, his voice hoarse.

The man in black pursed his lips.

"Are you okay to hold on to me?" He asked. "The camp isn't far from here."

Roman nodded, slowly standing and leaning all his weight onto his non injured leg. The man in black stood beside Roman and put an arm around his waist.

"Wait," Roman said. "Will my horse no okay?"

The man in black looked back to the man in grey.

"Yes. Patton will take great care of him."

And with that, they both hobbled off as Patton muttered something.

A/N
Not the best chapter I've written but oh well. Maybe I'll rewrite it later but I just need to write something