Princess Alice is realizing who she wants to become. After her castle is attacked by the neighboring evil kingdom, she decides she wants to become a knight, but the King Queen won't allow it. Princess Alice decides to train in secret with the Royal...
Princess Alice sat on her favorite stone bench in the Royal Gardens in front of the fountain. She sat in her own misery, dying to find out if Captain Riley would be able to live. "Alice?" She turned and sighed. "How are you feeling?" King Bard asked.
"It's all my fault! If I hadn't chased those guys into battle and followed them into the castle, none of this would've happened," Alice blamed herself. Her father put an arm around her shoulders.
"My dear daughter, it is not your fault. You were following your duty and doing what you knew was right. Just think of all the damage those Aldans would have caused if you hadn't followed them," he pointed out.
"But Derek paid the price! It should've been me," the princess burst out.
"I have a feeling something else happened, am I right?" her father questioned.
"I-I killed him," Alice said slowly, looking at her father, "I killed Prince Rorick."
"You did that?" the King asked surprised.
"Father, I had no choice! He was going to kill Derek or me or someone else and I couldn't let him do that," the princess explained.
"It is quite alright. You did what you had to do to protect yourself and the people you love," he reassured her. Princess Alice put her head on her father's shoulder.
"I only hope we aren't attacked again any time soon." King Bard never answered because he was unsure about that himself, but he did not want to worry his daughter anymore than what she already was.
"King Bard, you are needed again," Sam said cautiously once he was in ear shot. The King nodded and followed Sam back inside. Alice sighed again and stood up. She was tired of waiting and needed to get some news. The princess briskly walked to the infirmary and was disappointed when the doctor hadn't come out of the room yet. Alice didn't feel like sitting again, so she began pacing instead. Thomas soon joined the princess, taking a seat on the bench.
"Any news?" he asked. Alice shook her head. Thomas sighed and slouched into the side of bench. A few more moments went by and within that time, Lydia, Jacob, and Hue joined in on the tiresome wait. After what felt like hours, Larry, Sam, and King Bard filed out. Alice stopped and took in the look on their faces.
"How, how is he?" the princess asked. Larry and Sam looked at each other, Larry clapping her shoulder as he walked by. "Sam?" Alice was worried. Sam's eyes were filling with tears and he had to walk away to hide his tears from the others. "Father, please tell me something, anything," she begged. King Bard sighed, clasping both of his daughter's shoulders.
"Be brave and be strong," he hugged her. Alice's brows scrunched together, not understanding her father's words, and hugged him back unsurely.
"I can't do this. I'm sorry, I just...I just can't," Thomas cried. Lydia cried, engulfing him in a hug, them leading him away. Jacob stood up and swallowed the beginning of his tears away.
"Come on Alice, let's see what is going on," Jacob said softly opening the door for her. The two walked in and the princess hugged herself, looking at the doctor concerned. Jacob walked to the bedside of his Captain and put a hand on his neck. Alice's eyes wandered to Jacob when he pulled the blanket up to see the wound. He made a face and gently placed the blanket back down. He squeezed his hand, shared a concerned look with Alice, and walked out. The princess looked back to Derek with worry in her eyes.
"How is he?" she slowly asked the doctor.
"He is in bad condition and lost a lot of blood. His wound is not infected thank goodness, but if the weather warms up too much, then we might have a problem. Right now, he just needs rest and can't move around too much or his wound will break open again. The sword cut deeply, so the wound is going to take a few weeks, possibly a month, to completely heal up," the doctor explained.
"But Derek is going to be alright, yes?" the princess asked concerned.
"I certainly hope so. Relax princess, Captain Riley is a very strong, healthy man and should make a full recovery," the doctor reassured her. Alice nodded and let out an unsteady relieved breath. "He loves you you know," the doctor added while he packed up his tools, "He asked about you right before we patched him up." Alice gave a small smile.
"When will he wake up?" she asked.
"It is hard to say. He could wake up within the hour or it could take until morning."
"Then I will stay by his side until he wakes up," the princess concluded. She pulled a chair up beside his bed, sat down, and took his hand in hers. She wasn't expecting it to be so cold and quickly pulled the blankets up to his chin. Alice held his hand between hers to warm it up.
A little while later, she felt a tap on her shoulder. The princess slowly sat up and opened her eyes confused, realizing she was in the infirmary. Alice saw that it was now night time. "What time is it?" she asked through her yawn.
"After supper. I figured you would be starving since you skipped lunch," Queen Rosalind offered her daughter a bowl of soup. Alice smiled and pushed the bowl back to her mother.
"Thank you, but I'm not very hungry," she said truthfully. Queen Rosalind set the bowl aside as she joined her daughter by Derek's bedside.
"Will he be alright?" the Queen asked.
"I have faith that he will be," Alice answered, running a hand carelessly through his hair.
"Is Derek alright? I heard he was hurt," a little voice said. The princess turned and smiled.
"He is sleeping Ryan, but yes, he will be fine."
"Jacob said I should watch over him so you can get some sleep and I promise I'll take really really really good care of him," Ryan promised. Queen Rosalind smiled sweetly at the little boy's eagerness to look after the Captain for the night.
"Alright, but let me know if Derek wakes up," Princess Alice planted a kiss on the Captain's forehead and allowed her mother to lead her away.
"Eat, please," her mother insisted.
"I can't, not when I'm so worried about Derek," Alice said. The Queen sighed.
"What are we to do about your coronation?"
"What?" Alice asked incredulously.
"Your coronation is to take place in five days. What would you like to do?" Alice thought about this for a moment and looked behind her to steal a glance at Derek.
"Put off my coronation until after Derek has healed enough to join me on the stand," Princess Alice decided.
"Does it really matter if he is there or not?" Queen Rosalind asked rudely.
"Yes mother, it does matter to me," Alice answered angrily, "I love that man and if he can't be a part of my coronation because of his injuries, then I don't want to become Queen without him by my side. So yes mother, it is important for me that the man I love is there."
"Why must you always be so stubborn?" Queen Rosalind commented under her breath as her daughter stormed away.
(Below is Queen Rosalind's angry mood face)
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