The Seven Sins

24. An Arrowhead

When I woke up, Pride was gone. I pushed myself up and saw he had wrapped part of my cloak over me. Where was he? I scanned my eyes over the clearing, that's when I spotted him, he was picking something from a large bush. I stood up but fell to the ground with a cry. Intense pain shot through my leg, I placed my hand on my leg and winced. Blood covered my palm and trousers. Did I get hit? I didn't know when or how, probably the adrenaline made me push through the pain.

"Ava." Pride had crossed the clearing in a matter of seconds, he was kneeling in front me. "What-" He noticed the blood on my hand. "Fuck!"

"It's just a bit of blood, Penelope. Nothing to worry about." I said through the pain.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked as he carefully felt around the bloodstain on my breeches.

"I didn't know." I frowned.

"How could you not know you've been hit by an arrow?" He asked exasperated.

"It's an arrow?"

"I think so." He frowned. My skin tingled as his finger grazed over my skin. "We need to clean the wound, part of it is still stuck inside your leg."

"Then we better hurry back to your castle." I began pushing myself off the ground. "How far is it? AH!" I squealed as he scooped me up in his arms. "What are you doing?"

"We can't wait until we are at the castle." He said as he started walking. "I need to be sure the rebels are gone, so we'll be here at least for another two days. And the walk back to the castle would take two or three days on foot. With your leg, maybe even longer."

"I'm fine." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

He rolled his eyes. "Stubborn woman." He muttered. I hid back a grin. I took him in, a light stubble was already forming on his jaw. I turned my head and saw him going in the direction of the stream. But he didn't stop when we reached the stream, he kept going until we reached the pond. The clear blue water rippled softly when a fish bobbed his head to the surface. He sat me down carefully on a rock. He crouched down in front of me, eyeing the hole in my breeches.

"So, what now?" I asked. I knew he couldn't do anything with my breeches still on and I wondered if he would say anything or just try to clean the wound through the tiny hole in the fabric. It was the latter. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Really, princess? You're going to try to pull an arrow out and clean it like this?" His eyes shifted from my leg to my eyes. I stood up but when I winced, Pride wrapped his arm around me waist, pulling me close to him. I ignored the fast beating of my heart from the close proximity and pulled down my breeches. I kicked it to the side and sat back down.

The tunic was long enough to cover my bum and thighs. Pride eyed my bare legs slowly, starting at my ankles until his eyes fell on the wound on my upper leg. He grimaced. I looked down too and saw blood circle around the wound, but it was red too, infected probably.

"The arrowhead and a piece of arrow are stuck in your leg. We need to get it out before it gets even more infected." He said as he searched his pockets. "How come you didn't know it was there?"

"Arrows were flying over my head when Cleo took me away, one of them hit me, I guess. It -" I stopped talking when I saw him take a pocketknife out of his vest. "It probably broke off when I fell."

"You fell from Cleopatra?"

"Uhm, yeah." I saw concern flicker in his eyes. "She threw her legs at the demon. I wasn't holding the reigns."

"Why weren't you holding the reigns?!" He asked angerly.

"Because -" I threw my hands up in the air. "I was making sure you weren't being overrun by rebels."