James's PoV
We had been fighting long and hard. The battle was overall going good. We hadn't lost that many men, and we were pushing them back. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something that caught my attention. There was a man who was slaughtering one after another of my men. He was easily identifiable as a high ranking general. Pulling my sword from its sheath, I lunged at him. Expertly, he blocked my attack without even looking and turned to face me. My jaw dropped as I recognized the man in front of me, General Adams. "Adams, what are you doing? Why are you attacking our men?" The General sneered at me, "You still haven't figured it out? Don't you see, I'm not your General anymore." He gestured toward Victor's army. "He gave me a guaranteed spot as the one and only General of his entire army. All the power I could ever wish for" We circled each other, our swords drawn and ready to use. "You traitor, I will have your head for this treason. How long have you been working with Victor?" He swung his sword at me, and I easily maneuvered out of the way. "We ran right into Victor's army as we tried to escape and they took Eliza, I'm so sorry." He said in a mocking tone. "You... So you're the reason Elizabeth was taken from me. I should've figured." Our blades met with a loud clink sound as we continued to attack each other. In between swings he grunted, "It was too easy. You all trusted me so much and never expected betrayal. It was easy enough sending my men to kill her guards in the tunnel. Getting her to follow me? Easy as can be. I led her right into the middle of the army as planned. They knocked her out and took her straight to Lord Victor's castle. Of course I had to be.. Wounded so that it would be believable. Everything worked out better than Lord Victor had ever hoped." I felt my rage boiling, taking over my swings. Each attack with my sword was quicker and stronger than the last. I could sense Adams having troubles keeping up with me. Suddenly I felt a quick pain and glanced down at my arm. He had managed to give me a nasty gash but I ignored it. I put all the swordsmanship lessons my father gave to great use. With the force of my blows Adams had fallen to the ground, and I kicked his sword away. Lifting my sword up to his throat I gave him one last glare. "This is for your betrayal. May you be judged accordingly in the afterlife. Raising my sword high above my head, I brought it down straight through a weak spot in his armor. Adams let out a cry, as I twisted the blade. His chest rose and fell quickly, and then altogether stopped. Pulling out my sword I closed his eyes with my fingers.
I turned back towards the battle, seeing that we had the upper hand now. We had caused them to retreat into the castle and all the men let out victory cries. I raised my sword high in the air. "Now, we march upon the castle!" Then the soldiers cheered, racing for the doors. I split them up into smaller groups and had them go into different sections of the castle, only taking a small group of elite guards with me. We were headed right for the throne room. Alec had been inside for awhile, so it slightly worried me. Hopefully he could hang on until we managed to get to his side. We took the path we thought would lead to the throne room, and were met with large double doors. "Well... Here we go." I spoke as they opened them and we stepped inside. The sight that we were met with stunned me. Eliza was kneeling down sobbing as blood soaked her dress. Alec was lying on the ground with his head in her lap. All she was saying was "Oh god no Alec please..." I started to run forward to hold her again, when a clear voice rang out. "Stop right there, or she dies." My eyes met with who I only assumed to be Victor. He gave me a cold stare as he lowered his sword to her neck, her looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "James..." I took another daring step forward, knowing he was bluffing. "You wouldn't kill her, you need her."
"You're right, I do need her. But..." Suddenly he kicked Eliza over, her landing on her back with an oomph that sounded from her. He raised his sword pointing it straight at her stomach. I hadn't noticed before, but she was very noticeably pregnant. "I don't need that, thing growing in side of her though. You don't know how long I've wanted to kill it." Eliza had even more tears form in her eyes. "Please... James, don't let him hurt our baby." My hands were tied, I had no choice. "Lower your weapons." I spoke to my guards, and they did just that. Slowly I lowered my sword onto the ground and kicked it away from me. "Guards, seize them." Victor's voice hollered. A few guards ran into the room, restraining my men and myself. "I'm quite glad you made it when you did, I was afraid you were going to miss the show." He pulled Eliza up off the ground and threw her toward Alec's unmoving body. She stopped herself from falling on him, angry tears filling her eyes.
Eliza's PoV
My body was draped over Alec's as new tears of anger filled my eyes. "Why are you doing this... Why did you have to kill Alec?" Victor grinned maliciously at me. "Who said Alec was dead? You never really checked yourself, did you?" I glanced down at Alec using my shaky fingers to find his pulse. Thump Thump... Thump Thump. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding, feeling relieved. "You need to get help, a doctor.. SOMEONE! Please..." Victor sighed at me, pacing around me as he studied me. "You're the only one that can save him now, Eliza. Find it... Deep within yourself." His words confused me. What was he talking about? "I.. Don't know what you mean..." Victor got angry and slapped me, grabbing my hands. James's cry of outrage filled the room as he put them directly on Alec's stab wound. "You need to TRY Eliza. Do you want Alec to die? If you don't do something he will be dead in a matter of minutes." Fear gripped me with the reality of what was going on. Alec's life rested in my hands and I didn't even know what to do. Closing my eyes, I concentrated as much as I could. My hands moved by themselves and went over his stab wound where he was still bleeding from. My hands started to tingle, and I opened my eyes and gasped. My hands were glowing a soft green color,as they automatically moved over the wound. Slowly the wound started to close up until it was no longer existent. The room was very quiet for a few seconds, until Victor laughed. "I told you, don't you see now? Elizabeth is special, and she'll be a wonderful tool to me." James struggled against the guards hold. "What was that? How did she do that?"
For the next few minutes Victor explained everything to everyone in the room. I just sat there the whole time stroking Alec's face, repeatedly checking his pulse. His breathing was back to normal but he was still unconscious. "With Eliza by my side, we will rule the world together. We'll just train her healing ability more and my army will be unstoppable." James let out a grunt. "Oh please, like Eliza would ever help you." Victor walked over to him and spat on him. "She won't have a choice. Not when your lives rely on her cooperation. Take them away." The guards grabbed James and his guards, pulling them out of the room. "No!" I screamed, running toward James. He looked back at me and fought against the guards. "Eliza!" Victor caught me around the waist, pulling me back against him. "If you want them to live Elizabeth, I suggest you behave yourself." I stopped struggling, giving in. He had me right where he wanted me. Some guards came in and picked up Alec's unconscious form, carrying him toward the door. "Please... Don't take Alec I want to keep an eye on him. To make sure he's okay." Victor looked toward Alec and sighed. "Fine, I will have him taken to your room, but he will not be free to roam." Victor turned me so I was facing him and looked into my eyes. Before I could react he pressed his mouth against mine, kissing me fiercely. Pounding against his chest, I managed to free myself from his grip. "Don't. Touch. Me." I warned venomously. He frowned at me, "I will be touching you all I want soon enough, my future Queen." He turned away from me, walking to sit on his throne. "You may leave now." Shooing me from the room. I hurried out, immediately heading toward my room to see Alec. Walking in, I noticed Alec was chained to the wall in the corner, void of armor. Running over, I sat beside him checking his pulse again. His pulse was a lot stronger than before, and it wouldn't be long before he awoke. Sitting next to him I pulled my knees against myself, laying my head down on my knees.
Some time later, Alec emitted a soft groan as he stirred. When he opened his eyes, they landed upon my face. "Elizabeth... What happened? Where are we?" Shushing him softly, I checked his side. "You were stabbed by Victor..." He looked at his side with me. There was a lot of dried blood, but no wound. "What do you mean? There's nothing there. He couldn't have stabbed me." Looking at him I whispered softly. "Don't you remember? You came to find me.. But when your back was turned he stabbed you... You almost died." Alec was silent for a few moments, thinking. "I.. I remember. How did my wound close up though? Shouldn't I be dead?" Over the next minute or two I explained everything that had happened. How James had shown up, and how I had somehow healed him. By the time I was done, Alec had a deep thoughtful look on his face. "I see. So you have this power because of Aceso?" I nodded at him. "That's what Victor said although he hadn't made much sense." Alec pulled at the chains that held him. "What happened to James? Where did he go?" I sighed sadly. "I'm not really sure.. I think he was taken to the dungeon. We need to get out of here Alec, before Victor uses me even more." We sat in silence for awhile, thinking of ways to escape. "I'll find out everything I can, including James's whereabouts." I stood up quickly, turning to head towards the door. Alec grabbed my arm quickly, stopping me. "No you can't, what if Victor finds out? I won't let him hurt you.. Or the baby Elizabeth." Tears threatened to form in my eyes. I wouldn't cry again, let him see me weak. "I'm not going to do nothing and let Victor rule. Do you think we could possibly make a distraction? Maybe get a message to the rest of the army to attack?"
Alec seemed pleased with the idea. "Yes.. That could work. We just need to find someone around here we could trust to deliver a message. Any ideas?" Thinking for a moment, a particular servant popped into my head. "There is this one girl, she is treated very poorly by Victor. I'm sure if we promised her freedom she would help us." Alec nodded at me, "Go find her and bring her back here." Quickly I left the room and searched the many hallways and rooms, finally spotting her in the kitchen crying. Walking up, I hugged her quickly. "What's wrong?" She sniffled loudly, turning to face me. I gasped as I saw her face. "Lord Victor got angry and... Slashed me with a knife." She had a long cut across her face, it was still bleeding slightly. "Come with me I think I can help." Pulling her along and bring her back to the room, she glanced at Alec. I sat her down on the bed, trying to use my healing power. Touching the gash lightly my hands started to glow green again, and it quickly vanished. "How.. How did you do that miss?" Alec chimed in, "We can explain everything later, but right now we have something to ask of you." We explained the whole situation to the girl, promising her and the other servants freedom. She quickly agreed, and said she was going to go sneak out of the castle.
As she left I followed, asking if she could show me the way to the dungeons. She did so quickly, and pointed me toward winding stairs that went down. "Thank you, and good luck." We hugged, and she vanished around the corner. Looking down the stairs, I began my descent. Upon arriving at the bottom, I saw a guard blocking the door. He eyed me suspiciously. "You shouldn't be down here. Lord Victor will be furious when he hears about this." Feigning anger, I spoke hastily. "How DARE you question me. Lord Victor specifically sent me down here. With instructions to question some of the prisoners." He seemed taken aback by my hostility. "Uh well.. Okay but I still need to check and make sure it's okay." I let out a cry of frustration. " Do you REALLY want to be the one to tell Victor you made me wait? He won't be very forgiving." The guard seemed nervous, and opened the door and allowed me to enter. "I'm very sorry my lady, please go on in. Knock on the door when you want to be let back out." He shut the door behind me. I hadn't been down here for awhile, and it looked.. Eerier than I remembered. There were about 20 different doors, 10 on each side. Walking down the corridor slowly, I peeked inside each one. Most were empty, but some of them had forms lying in the corners, moaning in pain. I got toward the last four sets of doors, 3 of them had the guards. My heart beated faster as I peeked into the last door. James sat on the cold floor, staring at the wall. "James." I cried. Turning his head his eyes met mine and he grinned. Pulling against his restraints I made a guard open the door, running into the room. I kneeled by his side and he smiled touching my face. "You're okay." He croaked. We kissed passionately, making me smile. "Of course I'm okay.. I was just worried about you." James whispered softly so that the guard by the door wouldn't hear. "What happened to Alec? Is he alright? Where is he?"
I touched his face affectionately. "He's fine, he finally woke up. Victor has him chained up in my room so that I can keep an eye on him. We have a plan, to get everyone out of here." I explained the plan to him, talking about the girl delivering a message to Alec's father and what they needed to do. "A distraction, what a perfect idea. While all that is going on, we can get out of here. There's just one problem, there's only one set of shackle keys. The guard keeps them in his pocket." Humming thoughtfully, an idea hit me. "What if I waited until he was asleep, and snuck down here. I can probably find a similar shaped object to switch them out with somewhere around the castle. He wouldn't even know the difference, since he wouldn't have a reason to go into your cells. That key might even open the shackles that are holding Alec." James had a worried look on his face. "I don't know, what if you're caught? What if they hurt you?" I grabbed his hands, rubbing them reassuringly. "I won't let you rot in a cell while Victor rules our Kingdoms.I have to be brave and do this, for everyone in the Kingdom." He nodded at me and kissed me again. The guards voice sounded from the hallway. "What's taking so long in there? Hurry it up already." James and I exchanged glances. "I probably won't be able to see you again until it's time to break out. It'll likely take a few days, so until then be safe. I'll come down here with Alec and the shackle keys once the army starts attacking." We reluctantly parted, and I walked back to the door and knocked. The guard opened it up, letting me out. "Do you ever get to sleep? Are you always the one in charge of the dungeon?" The guard looked a me, suspicious. "Yes I am, but I get all the sleep I need. I think it would be good if you left now."I did as he said and left the dungeon, heading back up to the room and informing Alec of everything. "James is aware of the plan, now all that's left is for me to find some object somewhere, and to switch them out. It'll have to wait until later tonight when everyone is asleep."
Nighttime finally came, and I peeked out the door looking for guards. Nodding at Alec I silently slipped out the door, softly shutting it behind me. I crept down the hallways, searching rooms and coming up empty. Finally heading into the library. It was thankfully empty, and I searched the room from top to bottom looking for something to use. I finally spotted one of similar shape and size, and quickly grabbed it and pocketed it. Making my way back to the dungeon, I quietly walked down the stairs very slowly. I was lucky to not have run into anyone yet. While descending I hear snoring and knew the guard was asleep. I crept up to him, reaching into his pocket. Carefully I switched the two. Lucky for me they felt the exact same. When I was about to back up from him, his hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. Panicking, I looked at his face but saw his eyes were still closed. I stood there a few moments, and then his hand dropped back to his side. Letting out a breath of relief, I walked back up the stairs and snuck back into my room. Alec looked at me when I walked in and I grinned while holding up the shackle key. "We just need to hope the guard doesn't look in his pocket for any reason and we'll be good." Walking over to Alec, I tried the shackle key and his arm shackle unlocked with a soft clank. He rubbed his wrist happily. "At least we know it works, but until then we do need to lock you back up." Alec nodded sadly. "Alright." I reluctantly put his wrist back in the shackle and went to lay in the bed, throwing him down a blanket. "Goodnight Alec." Alec yawned and muttered, "Sleep well." Before quickly staring to snore. My eyes soon grew heavy as sleep overtook me. My last thoughts were of what was to come.
One week later
It took longer than expected for Alec's father to finally get our message. Victor had been training me pretty much to heal on command. He would just.. Hurt Alec and then I would have to heal him. Then he started having me heal people I didn't have any real connection to. Those who were injured during the battle. It took me awhile to do that at first, but I was finally able to. Victor and I were in the throne room while he trained me further as he sliced his hand, offering it to me. "Now it's time to see if you can heal someone.. You care for as much as me." Cared for.. Yeah right, more like despised. Grabbing his hand reluctantly, I focused all my energy and pulled my hands away. Revealing no wound. "Good, you've been doing very well. I can't wait to use you in battle." The doors suddenly burst open as a guard ran in, out of breath. "Sir, we're under attack. Their army is at our gates." Victor let out a chuckle. "Good good.. Now we can show them exactly what we're made out of. Bring Elizabeth to her room and have her change into something more.. Freeing. So that she may move around easier." A guard seized my arm and drug me upstairs, pushing me into my room and telling me to hurry. I realized the plan wasn't going exactly the way we were hoping. Initially we thought that Victor would want me safe locked away in my room, but we were wrong. Realizing there was no other way, I handed Alec the shackle key. "Once you hear the battle outside, you need to free yourself. Free yourself and head down to the dungeon and free the others."
"What about you?" Alec questioned. "Victor he.. He decided that I'm going out onto the battlefield. I want you to get the others and get out while you still can, okay?" Alec grabbed my hand, shaking. "I'm not leaving without you. James won't leave without you." Alec murmured softly, staring at me. "I will find a way to escape, don't worry about me Alec." The guard banged on the door impatiently. "Let's go, Victor is waiting for you." Changing quickly out of Alec's sight, and quickly tucking a dagger I stole into my dress. I gave Alec one last look, and left the room. The guard mumbled, "It's about time." Pulling me down the hallways, we took turn after turn. All I could hear was the sounds of shouting and a battle going on outside. Eventually we came to the courtyard where Victor was waiting. "It's about time, we need to get her into the battle quickly." Victor pulled me along, exiting to where the battle was taking place. I gasped, seeing men fall one after the other. Victor pointed out which men were his and shoved me toward them. Motioning to the guard to follow me, "Don't let her get too far and keep watch on her. If any problems arise report back to me immediately." I walked slowly into the battle, men falling at my feet. I saw some of Victor's men fall, but didn't move to help them. Knowing that James and Alec were safe now. "What are you doing?!" The guard bellowed, taking his sword out and aiming at my stomach. "You better start helping people, or I'll kill the both of you." I gulped, knowing that he wasn't lying and made my way to Victor's wounded men.
James's PoV
Sounds of the battle could be heard from the dungeon, it sounded horrible. I hoped Elizabeth was okay, and that she and Alec would be down here soon. I heard loud footsteps and the sound of the guard yelling. Some grunting and then the door to our cells creaked open. Alec walked in with the shackle keys in hand and freed me. "We need to get your other men and get out of here." He said while unshackling the guards. "Where's Elizabeth? Why isn't she down here with you?" I questioned, worried. "Victor decided that Elizabeth would be helping his men on the battlefield. We need to get out there as quickly as possible and find her." After freeing all the men, we all hurried upstairs and out the castle doors to where the battle was taking place. Victor's men were quickly gaining the upper hand, they had injured or killed quite a lot of our men. "They're gaining the upper hand so quickly, where is Eliza?" Alec pointed in front of me, and I followed his gaze. Eliza had a guard pretty much pointing a sword at her back as she ran around. If any of Victor's men were even slightly injured, she healed them quickly. Our army tried to kill them, and not injure but it was hard. If they were about to kill one man, other's would attack and stop them. Giving time for Eliza to run over and get them back up on their feet. "If we don't save Eliza, this battle will be over quickly." Glancing around, I tried to spot Victor and I saw him watching from the very back with a smug grin on his face.
"Men you go and help our own, and free Eliza while Alec and I go stop Victor." The guards following us nodded, and took off. Alec and I ran toward Victor, dodging blow after blow. Right in front of us though, we suddenly saw Alec's father Bill being attacked and losing. Alec seemed to waver, wondering what he should do. "Go help your father Alec, I'll handle Victor." Alec nodded at me thankfully, and ran to help his father. As I approached Victor, he noticed me and smiled. Once I was closer, he spoke clearly. "Ah, hello my Prince. To what do I owe the pleasure?" I drew my sword, pointing it at him. "You will pay for your crimes, Victor." Victor pulled out his sword as well, watching me carefully. "Isn't it a wonderful sight? Your men losing as my secret weapon turns the tables." I swung at him, catching him off guard and sliced his arm. "Well well, I guess it's play time." We fought quickly, neither of us gaining the upper hand. It went that way for a short time and then Victor seemed to lose his attention for a moment, and I struck. I had managed to wound his leg, and he glared at me. Something grabbed his attention and made him smile though. Turning to see what it was, I saw Eliza finally free of that guard who was controlling her. She was now running around healing our own men. In the blink of an eye he took off, going right for her. I chased after him, trying to stop him before it was too late. I saw Alec, kneeling over the broken body of his father and yelled his name. "Alec, he's going for Eliza!" That quickly got his attention, and he put aside his feelings in order to help Elizabeth. We both ran for her, but were too late. When she wasn't looking, his arm hooked around her throat, pulling her against him and he turned to face us. Sword pointing straight at me.
Eliza's PoV
An arm closed around my throat, pulling me up against a hard body. It caught me off guard and I gasped. The mans arm was pointing a sword right ahead of him, and I saw Alec and James walking up slowly. "You two cannot best me, in fact, I think I'd like to even the odds a little. Nodding toward one of his men, the man suddenly had Alec in his grip. Holding a sword tight against his neck. James glared, "Let them go, and maybe I'll spare your life." Victor let out a laugh, "I hardly think you're in a position to make demands. This battle is over, and I win." Victor and James circled each other and a ring of Victor's guards surrounded us, making sure no one interfered. Victor kept throwing blows, but James couldn't. Not unless he wanted to injure me as well. Every time Victor lunged he managed to hurt James slightly. "Let Eliza go, this isn't a very fair fight." Victor ignored him, continuing to use me as a human shield. When Victor let his guard down for a second, James lunged forward and stabbed through his shoulder, narrowly missing me. Grunting in pain, Victor tightened his grip on my neck, and whispered in my ear. "If you don't want your unborn child to die, I suggest you heal me." Gulping I shakily reached my hand up and touched his shoulder, healing it. James narrowed his eyes, knowing there wasn't a whole lot he could do unless he separated us. The fight continued for awhile, with Victor slowly gaining the upper hand. In one swift movement, Victor threw me from his grip and lunged at James. As I rolled onto the ground, James was caught off guard as Victor kicked his feet out from under him.
Looking up after coming to a still on the ground, I saw Victor standing over James. Sword pointed at his throat he let out a bellowing laugh. "Well, Prince James.. I guess this is goodbye. It'll be real nice ruling your Kingdom, and having the girl..." Right when he was about to plunge the sword through James's heart, I got up and charged him. Slipping the dagger out of my dress. We tumbled over each other onto the hard ground. We landed next to each other and Victor turned his head to stare at me, shock on his face. "How dare you... Insolent girl!" He was about to stand up, when he crumpled back to the ground weakly. Looking at his stomach I saw my dagger sticking out, blood pouring out around it. He growled and started crawling toward me, climbing on top of me and wrapping his hands around my throat. "Stupid...Girl... You'll pay.." He squeezed tightly, cutting off my air supply. My eyes startled bulging as my body struggled to get oxygen. I started seeing dots, and then suddenly Victor was thrown off of me. I gasped, sucking in as much air as I could and turning to my side. Looking at Victor right when he was stabbed through the heart. His eyes widened, and then he stopped moving completely. His eyes were still open, staring off into nothingness. A hand appeared in my vision, and I looked up to see James looking at me. He helped me to my feet and then pulled me close to him. Hugging me tightly. "You saved my life Elizabeth, I owe you." We separated, and then realized we still had a problem. All of Victor's men were surrounding us staring warily and unsure what to do.
We thought we were as good as dead, when suddenly one laid down his weapons. That started a chain reaction and all of them laid them down almost at once. One corner of them parted, and made way for Alec as he walked toward us. Once he reached us, he brought us both in for a group hug. "We did it, Victor is defeated and the Kingdom is safe." James nodded enthusiastically and then smiled at me. "Eliza's the real hero though, without her I would be dead." I felt my face flush, looking away. Suddenly James entwined my hand and his, and then raised it above my head. "Three cheers for Princess Elizabeth!" A chorus of my name being chanted filled the air. "Eliza! Eliza! Eliza!" My face flushing even more, as I looked at my true friend Alec. Then my eyes met with James as he pulled me in close and kissed me passionately. I knew we had much more to do, and I was glad to do it alongside Alec and James.
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Well, this is almost the end
One more chapter to go, and then our story is finally over
I hope everyone enjoyed (: