The Bleeding Heart

Chapter 37

The Bleeding Heart

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Chapter 37

Richelle Chalot stood frozen behind Eric as Princess Erielle started to rant in between constricted breaths as Eric wrapped an arm around her tightly, the dagger pressing onto the princess’ neck.  Richelle didn’t know what to do.

This wasn’t supposed to happen, she thought.  It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Richelle’s eyes travelled from the farthest soldier of Aria, to the one of Orion and then up to where Elysia Scott and a few archers were poising to shoot.

Richelle’s lips trembled and she shivered in fear, Eric, you…

This can’t happen, she told herself.  I won’t let it…Everything I lived for up until this time…it can’t be…it just can’t end like this – not like this.  No one was supposed to be hurt.

And she scolded herself why she hadn’t thought of that earlier.  If she had, then nobody would’ve died, at least, not a lot. 

Back then, during the first war, it had been Eric who instigated it.  All this time, it had been Eric who was the cause of everyone’s suffering.  It had been he who killed a citizen of Cornwall.  It had been he who killed a citizen of Aria next.  Misunderstandings that led to anger.  Anger that led to violence.  Violence that led to murder.  And murder that led to vengeance.  And the cycle went on and on, with no signs of stopping which ended in a war.  A war between two kingdoms that wasn’t even supposed to happen.

It was all him.  And Richelle knew.  She always knew but she never said anything.  She didn’t dare say anything.  Was it out of fear?  Or merely because she was blinded by her so called feelings of love for a man who was insane beyond repair?

How foolish can one woman be?

I can’t let him hurt anyone else, she shut her eyes tight.

Then she snapped in realization.  His arms.

She looked up and caught Elysia Scott’s gaze.  She started rubbing her arm, furiously and she noticed that Lieutenant Scott was looking at her, confused.  She started to tap her lower arm then.  She tapped and she tapped, hoping that Elysia got the message.

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Elysia knelt on the ground, posing to shoot, along with the other archers.  Her line of sight then encompassed Richelle, which to her surprise, stared at her with fervor and desperation.

“What are you…?” she whispered to herself.

When it seemed that Richelle knew that Elysia was looking at her, Richelle then started to rub her arm and Elysia narrowed her eyes.  What is she doing?

She started tapping.

What the – ?

And tapping.

Is she going mad?

And tapping.

Elysia then focused on Eric and Erielle once again.  By this time, Erielle was holding onto Eric’s arm, clawing at it with her nails. 

And tapping.

“His arm,” Elysia suddenly gasped then turned sharply towards Richelle who kept on tapping.  Elysia swallowed and nodded slowly, silently telling her she got her message.  She saw Richelle relax just a bit.