The Seven Sins

26. A Fight Between Brothers

I couldn't remember falling asleep. My head was pounding when I woke up. The sky was almost black, just a little bit of sun left before it disappeared behind the hills. I was lying on a thin matrass, a warm blanket draped over me. Above me was a tarp, closing me in. I pushed myself up and glanced around. Leon was sitting right next to my makeshift tent, his back towards me. Around the fire the princes were scattered around. My heart stopped when I found Pride. His eyes were already on me, his eyes aflame with the reflection of the fire.

"You're awake." Leon moved to block the view from Pride. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone trampled on my head."

"It's a side effect of the potion." He put the back of his hand against my forehead. "You don't have a fever, that's good. Want to try and walk around? Elmir coated the wound with a substance to ease the pain."

"Yeah, sure." Just as I wanted to toss the blanket of him, I stopped. "You called him Elmir."

"I did." He smiled.

"Did you know?"

"I did." He nodded. "Even if I didn't, I would have found out today like all of the others."

I groaned. "What did I say?"

"Of course, you don't remember." He chuckled and helped me out of the tent. "I'll tell you when we walk."

"Who dressed me?" I asked when I noticed I was wearing different clothes.

"That would be me. Don't worry, I made all of the princes turn around." He winked. "Even Pride. Though -" He tapped his chin like he was thinking it over. I could feel Pride's stare on me. "He hasn't taken his eyes off you since."

"I don't want to talk about him." I grumbled.

"Right." He nodded. He looped his arm through mine. "Lead the way, Lady Ava."

There was only a slight limp now. The pain was gone, just an annoying pull of my flesh. He started telling me what happened after I drank the potion. Just as Leon and I walked halfway across the clearing, Sevrin offered to take over. Then Griffin and Elmir. None of them asked me what happened the past few days. I wondered if they had grilled Pride about it when I slept. Because apparently, I had said some things when Elmir was patching me up. Just as Lucien guided me to the tree line, he stopped, his eyes looking through the dark trees.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Just wondering what happened at the pond." He grinned at me. I punched his arm with a laugh. A laugh that echoed over the clearing, the others at the fire looked in our direction. "Let's get you back, enough walking."

When we reached the firepit, I choose to sit next to Wymond. He threw his arm around my shoulder casually. I looked at him, his eyes trained on the fire.

"How did you find us?"

"Leon found it weird he didn't hear from you. He said you promised to contact him every other day." I nodded when he glanced at me. "So, he went over to Pride's with Sevrin and found out you haven't been back from riding. Since we know the rebels are after you, we knew something was wrong. Sevrin gathered us all and we started searching. When we found the horses in the safe clearing, we figured he would take you here." He glanced at my hand and lifted my bare finger. "Your portal ring."

"Sevrin has it. His going to fix it right up when we get back. It broke when I fell from the horse. Must've hit a rock or something."

He lowered my hand and nudged his chin towards the dagger. "How is it handling?"