The Eternal Queen

Chapter 44: Fallon

Coralie and I are being walked back to the carriage by Maverick. We stopped at Maverick's estate, the golem general of my war commanding team, to check in with him. I checked in with most of my generals this morning to see if they were alive and Maverick was last on my list.

This assassin is getting on my nerves. I hate that I cannot do much for the creatures that loyally serve under me. When I find the traitor, I am going to tear his limbs off one by one. He deserves nothing less.

Shouts from the distance grows nearer, and a young girl catches our attention by calling my name. She looks to be a peasant, and the girl is frantically running towards me. How did she get here? She drops to her knees in front of us, and Maverick is hanging back watching the spectacle.

"Crown prince Fallon and Princess Coralie, there is an emergency at the castle."

Tears fill her eyes, and she starts bawling.

"I don't know what happened, your highness. Nikolai dismissed us from work today, and everyone left. I had a couple tasks left to do that I didn't finish yesterday, so I stayed. Lady Ardele and Sir Daniel are left at the castle. I found Lady Ardele unconscious-"

The girl doesn't even finish her sentence and I don't even think twice. I unleash the stallion latched to the carriage, quickly mounting and taking the reins.

"I will meet you both at the castle."

Maverick nods and Coralie's eyes fill with worry. She slowly sighs and nods, and I take off, hearing Maverick call for two horses.

The town square is eerily silent, and the gate does not open as I draw near. Circling around on the stallion, I examine the area. Where are the gatekeepers? Dismounting, I groan. I am going to have to climb up my own castle gate. I only hope that Ardele is still alive after all this time. If Daniel touched a hair on her head or damaged any part of her, I am going to break his damn fingers.

Climbing up over the wall was easier than I thought, and I jump down, rolling on my back as I land on the ground. With my chest heaving, I run into the courtyard. Where is she? A growl rips out of my throat, when I spot Ardele at the entrance of the castle, blood pooling around her delicate body. 

Sprinting to her body, I check her pulse, running a finger down her throat and I feel a weak flutter touching back. Red welts line the base of her throat, and I pick her up in my arms. Where is hell is Daniel?

Bloodlust is curling through my veins, but I push it away. Slaughtering everything won't help anything at the moment. Striding through the unnervingly quiet castle, I take her to the infirmary. I am going to try to patch and clean the wounds as best as possible.

Stripping her from her dress, I clean up the blade wound in her stomach that looks extremely torn up. I wrap up her torso, trying to slow the bleeding. The injury looks deep and may have hit a vital organ. I'm not going to stitch that wound up until a medical or healer comes inspect it. Her shoulder got pierced as well, blood freshly pouring out.

"What happened?" I murmur, brushing a few strands of her ebony hair from her face.

Sweat is clinging to her body, and her coloring is off from the amount of blood lost. I patch up the shoulder, stitching it up closed as it is less deep that the one on her stomach. She slowly starts to regain consciousness, as the minutes go by, her little grunts of pain a balm and a sting to my worries.

Her eyes are cloudy when she opens them. "Fallon?"

"I'm here."

She wheezes. "It's Daniel. Oh god, it's him."

"I know. Don't fret."

Ardele smiles deliriously, placing her hand on the side of my face. Her other hand is shredded by glass, and the sharp transparent glints imbedded in her skin.

It aggravates me that I cannot not pull the shards out to ease her discomfort as I need to leave it for someone skilled in that matter. I don't want to make it worse. Intently staring in my face, her eyes shutter closed after a long moment, letting out a happy sigh.

"Thank you for coming back."

Turning my head, I place a kiss in her palm in response.

Coralie and Maverick returns with a medic beside them. Coralie immediately runs to Ardele's side, alarmed by her unmoving body. Ardele has been slipping back in forth between being unconscious and not. Through her soft words, I was able to gather information about what happened.

"Is she alive?" Coralie asks, her eyes wide.

I nod, and the medic, Leroy, shoves us out the infirmary so that he can carry out his procedure.

"I'll patch her up good as new, your highness."

The doors shut behind us, and Coralie sits back on her heels. She is wringing her hands, and I pull her in for a hug.

"Don't worry. She's going to pull through. Ardele isn't ready to leave this world yet. I won't let her," I murmur above Coralie's head.

Pulling away, I meet Maverick's eyes. "Sunroom. Now."

His whole body tense up, and he nods. We make our way through the castle to the room bathed in light, most days. Coralie is trailing closely behind, her steps quick. I don't know why Nikolai dismissed everyone; it is out of character for him to do something like that.

Thankfully, the guards in the royal wing are not under his order, so I am hoping my mother and father are safe. But if something were to have happen, I know that my parents can take care of themselves. I am sure they have experienced their share of near death experiences. Hell, my father did a few weeks ago.

Nikolai is the butler, but also the head of the royal staff. I don't know his whereabouts, and I hope he has a very good excuse for his actions. If he's still alive. He has been loyal since I was born. I have no reason to doubt his actions. But anything is possible now.

Maverick slams the door open, and Coralie recoils in horror at the sight. Daniel is laying by the furthest table with his head bleeding out, and a blade to his gut. Blood and pieces of broken furniture and glass are scattered about the room. The smell of alcohol and the metallic scent of blood darkens the aura of the room.

Maverick shakes his head. "What a shame."

He checks Daniel's pulse and nods. Daniel is still alive. Barely. And luckily. Ardele could have killed him easily, but she spared him for reason. It is a shame that Daniel was the traitor.

I didn't suspect it. I have known him for over a decade now, and I am wondering when a shift happened. I don't recall him having any contact with the kingdom of Clairemont if he was working for them. I actually considered him a close acquaintance. What a shame indeed.

Maverick swings Daniel's limp body over his shoulder, blood darkening Maverick's light colored tunic. We walk back to the infirmary, and a thought occurs. Where was the bodyguard assigned to Ardele? Is he still inside the castle walls? Did he run off during the battle or did he slack off?

Maverick drops Daniel onto another bed at the infirmary, and Leroy glances over at Daniel's wrecked body in dismay.

Sliding up to Maverick, I lower my voice. "Search the area for guard 83. If he is inside the castle bring him to me."

He nods, and exits the door, silently. Coralie sits at the side of Ardele's bed, holding her hand. After Leroy got Daniel on sedated on medication, he walks over to me. Leroy is a fairy graced with healing hands and has been a part of the medical team for as long as I can remember.

"Lady Ardele is going to be fine. The blade to her stomach narrowly missed vital organs. She is going to need a few weeks of recovery time, but I am sure she will be up and running early than that."

"Thank you, Leroy," I shift pass him. "I need Daniel alive. But do what you want with him."

Leroy grins. "My pleasure."