The Sovereign's Sacrifice ☆ EDITING ☆

Chapter Three: Ivan

It had been a full week since I saw any true signs of life from Eliana. Her armor and clothes had been removed from her frail body and now rested on a mannequin beside her bed.

She wore a thin white gown the nurses had changed her into. When they removed her top, leaving her only in her undergarments, three large wounds came into view along with the blue and purple bruises that painted her body. How had she been able to lift her sword and continue to fight?

She had been stabbed three different times in the abdomen. The doctor assured me they were only flesh wounds and that she'd survive with rest to recuperate the red blood cells she'd lost as long as she took the potion he'd made her. Her head wound had already healed and the bruises on her arms and legs were turning yellow and brown.

"Eliana, the biggest regret of my life is leaving you the way I did. You were the only source of happiness in my life, and I cut you off. I punished you because I was afraid of becoming King. Please, come back to me, let me make this up to you," I spoke to her, her hand wrapped in mine.

"It's sort of ironic that I had already been heading to your home today. I was coming to tell you everything, why I had shut you out, why I had acted the way I did, and beg for your forgiveness. I wanted to give you a true place in my life again, though I didn't deserve it," I explained.

"If you rejected me, I was planning to take that rejection as a sign to keep trying to show you that I meant my words. So many times I had wanted to come to you, but my fear kept me at bay," I added with a sigh. "But today something told me I needed to come to see you, that there was no more waiting. I can't fathom the possibility that though I finally came, I may have been too late. I cannot lose you," I spoke, tears falling from my eyes as I kissed the back of her hand.

I had never seen her look so weak and so frail. She had lost weight since being here, despite receiving nutrients through an IV. I wiped my tears as the doctor entered the room.

"Is there any update on her condition?" I asked him without looking up.

"I remember you two when you were just little runts," the doctor smiled sadly as he sat beside me. "Shortly after Tilly and Ellewyn, her parents died, she withdrew from everything and everyone. She felt lost. But then you became her light and in turn, she brightened up your world. This young woman had never done a selfish thing in the world. When you left her, she kept that fire, but she was different. She fueled all of her energy into protecting everyone, even at her own cost. She helped where she could, whether it was relocating an infestation of golems or risking her life to try and save the children of the village. She is a symbol for the people, and I believe your father would have been full of pride to see you had fallen for someone who would make such a wonderful queen. Now all you have to do is convince her, she will be waking soon," he spoke patting my shoulder as he stood and left the room.

Damn mages. They seem to have all the answers but are never willing to share them. I just needed her back.