The Rightful Queen

Forty

It all happened so fast. I caught something lurking in the trees. I didn't have time to warn anyone or even scream. The moment I saw the arrow, all that I could think of was Zain. I wanted to keep him safe, so I pushed him. I didn't care about myself. He was my priority.

The arrow hit me straight in the shoulder, right under my collarbone, and I fell to the ground with shooting pain. I wasn't sure if more arrows were being shot or not, but my pushing Zain and the way I fell with an arrow in my shoulder alerted the guards who started to move around quickly.

"Nuriya!" I heard Zain yell as he brought himself close to me despite his guard's attempts to get him to a safe place. Horror flashed in his eyes when he noticed the arrow in my shoulder. "What the hell did you do!?" he hissed through gritted teeth as he placed my head on his lap.

"I th-thought... I thought I had enough time to push... myself out of its w-way," I stammered. That was a lie. I knew I didn't have enough time, but I had to save him. I would have never forgiven myself if he had gotten hurt. I was thankful that I was the one who got hurt, not him. This quick weakness that ran through my body indicated one thing. The arrow was poisoned.

"You should have never done that!" His voice held something I could not decipher.

"Stop being stubborn and g-get inside the coach. They h-have to remove the a-arrow. It's p-poisoned," I whimpered as he held my hand. I didn't understand how careless he was. He had to get to a safe place. They wanted to assassinate him, yet he didn't move from where he was, as if he were welcoming death. I had a feeling Laith was behind that.

There was no point in calling him with his fake name from now on. He was Hood. Hood Orman.

"I'll do it," he told me, then he looked at the guards. "Cover my back well!" he ordered them, before turning his attention to me. My vision was getting worse. "This is going to hurt and I'm so sorry in advance." He gave me an apologetic look. I knew how painful this was going to be, but if the arrow was left in my shoulder for long, I might die. "On three," I nodded again, already feeling myself getting weaker. He wrapped his hand around the shaft of the arrow. "One, two..." Not waiting until three, he snatched the arrow out of my shoulder, causing me to scream out in pain. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he placed both of his hands on the wound to stop the bleeding. He tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped my shoulder with it. Carefully, he picked me up and put me inside the coach.

"Stay awake," he muttered, caressing the top of my head. My body was boiling. I didn't understand what was going on with me, but it surely felt like death. "Be quick!" he yelled as the coachman started moving the coach. I didn't know if I was going to make it or not.

"I'm tired," I mumbled, closing my eyes for a few seconds. It was so hard to open them again, but I did it for him. He was panicking.

"Keep your eyes on me," he instructed me and I nodded, but I could barely see him. "Hey, tell me a nice memory." He was trying to distract me.

"I... I have this m-memory of my mum," I whispered, closing me eyes.

"No no no, open them. what's this memory? Tell me about it." I felt him placing a kiss on my forehead.

"Mum could b-bake really well," I started and gulped, "One day, she took me to... to the kitchen and... we decided to make a chocolate cake." It was getting harder to stay awake. I closed my eyes, debating if I should completely give up.

"Chocolate cake? I love chocolate cake! What else? What happened?" Again, he tried to distract me. I was only fighting this state of dizziness for his sake, but I didn't have anything left in me to continue fighting. "Nuriya! For the love of God, stay awake."

"C-Can't," I choked. 

"Yes, you can! You can do it, sweetheart!" Another kiss was placed on my forehead. "Okay, don't talk. If it's exhausting you, don't talk. But do your best to stay awake!" Could I do that? Was that possible?

"The p-poison is spreading through my b-body," I wasn't sure if I was actually talking or not. It was so hard to differentiate between reality and my subconscious.

"We are so close. Be strong for me." he said. I had a feeling I was going to die.

"Hurts..." I breathed out, my eyes still closed.

"I know it hurts. I'm sorry." I hated the sense of panic in his voice, but I didn't have enough energy in me to fight.

Hood was surely behind this attack. I was certain. With all the secrets he had been hiding from me, I knew he was plotting something. I should have expected such a move from him. He wanted to kill Zain no matter what the cost was.

The two of us had different interests now and our interests could never work together, because simply, I loved Zain and what happened today was enough to prove to me before anyone else what I was willing to do for him.

I was aware that I was Hood's enemy now, but his intentions were to kill Zain, not me. Part of me believed that he still needed me alive.

"I love you," I whispered, not sure if he could hear me or not. I could feel myself slipping away and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to wake up from this or not. Whatever the outcome was, I just needed him to be sure that I loved him with everything in me. Before him, I didn't know how to love, but he taught me how to do it. However, part of me still believed that love could only be shown in certain ways and today, I showed Zain how much I loved him in my own special way.

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Do you like Nuriya? What would you do if you were in her shoes?
Published on September 4th, 2022
Sara