Ellody And Elliot

Chapter 1.29

Chapter 1.29 – Moving Forward

The guards escort us in silence. Aimee is still weak, so one of them is carrying her. Prince Lucas is walking and made the guards let him hold my hand. We walked through the debris littering the ground and saw the blood stains from where people had fallen. All the bodies had been moved, but I could tell from how much blood was on the ground that a good bit of people died in this attack. Blood was splattered along the walls and abandoned weapons littered the ground. A cleaning crew was trying to scrub away the blood and pick up everything on the ground. I'm sure they were everywhere trying to clean up the castle.

Anything to try and get the castle back to normal.

We finally stopped in front of the entrance to the hospital wing, and the guards gestured for us to go inside. The guard holding Aimee walked ahead of us and placed her on an empty gurney and whispered something to the nurse. I looked around and saw a mixture of servants and Ladies milling about, some with injuries and others unharmed. The royal family sat in the middle of the floor as nurses moved about the space with fresh supplies and bloodied gauze. Everyone had solemn looks on their faces.

I walk forward towards the royal family with Prince Lucas still holding onto me. "He seems to have healed after Aimee gave him her blood, but I still think he needs to be checked out." They look up at me, and King Xavier reaches for his son.

"Thank you for protecting my son. No amount of words can express how thankful I am," he says, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to it. He picks up his son in his arms and walks over to a nurse.

"We heard from some of the Ladies that you had left the group in search of our brother," Princess Fae says, giving me a hug. "Thank you so much for finding him." Tears well up in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I just acted on impulse." I pause and look around the room again. "Where is Prince Elliot?"

"He's speaking with each Lady one by one. We don't want any of you to stay if you feel threatened by the events that just unfolded," Queen Mae explains.

I nod my head. "How many casualties were there?"

"Several servants died trying to get to safe rooms, and about one hundred guards have died with a couple hundred more injured. Two Ladies also lost their lives on the way to the safe rooms. We're working on informing the families of the deceased and plan on holding a service for them as soon as the castle is finished being searched," Prince Clay explained, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Why do I feel like there's more?"

Princess Fae looks at me after exchanging a glance with the Queen. "Clark was badly injured in the fight. He's currently in a coma, and the Head Doctor unsure if he will wake up."

"I'm so sorry. I'll offer up some prayers to the Savior for his recovery." I feel someone stand next to me and turn to see Prince Elliot standing next to me.

"Please excuse the intrusion, but I need to steal Lady Ellody for a few moments," he says, taking my hand and leading me to a less crowded area of the hospital wing. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. Just a little exhausted, but nothing a good rest can't fix."

"So that's not your blood on your hands and face then?" I look down at my hands and realized that they're covered in dry blood. Flakes crusted off as I flexed my hand.

"No, it's most likely a mixture of your bother's and one of those creatures that attacked us." He raises his eyebrows at me. "I ended up killing one of them by bashing its head in with a bust."

"Impressive," he says, taking my hands in his and turning them over carefully. "Make sure to get checked out at some point, okay? You have a couple of scrapes on your hands, and I don't want you to get an infection."

"I will after those with more serious injuries are treated first," I tell him taking my hands out of his. I try looking for the scrapes he mentioned, but I don't see them.

"They're very small." I look up at him. "It's one of the perks of being a vampire." He flashes me a grin, but it quickly disappears. "Look, I don't want anyone to feel in danger or uncomfortable staying here. If you want to leave, I won't stop you from going. I much rather you do what's best for you regardless of how I feel."

"I'm not going anywhere," I tell him. "Everyone seems to forget, but I'm from Sector 17. Things like this happen more often than they should where I come from. I can handle this. Besides, being here is the safest I've felt in a long time."

"Are you sure you want to stay?"

"Of course." He lifts my hand to his face and presses a light kiss on it, bloody and all.

"May I have everyone's attention please!" King Xavier calls out standing in the middle of the room with Queen Mae. "I know the past few hours have been frightening for us all. If anyone wishes to return to their homes, including any staff of the castle, I bare no grudges against you, and I wish you a safe journey home. Tomorrow we will hold a funeral service for those who perished in the attack and pray for the well being of those still recovering. And although everyone's spirits may be down and heavy with sorrows, my wife and I want to offer up some news that may lift the spirits."

"The next royal family member shall be joining us very soon," Queen Mae announces, placing a hand on her still flat belly. Everyone claps at the joyous news, but I can't help but wonder how this changes things moving forward.