Saved... but Lost

Danyel was kicked several times by the Lisdonian soldiers on the way. Those kicks did not hurt him a bit because the inner pain was already hurting him intolerably. Lisdonians mocked him and cursed him but Danyel did not understand what they said. He did not bother to listen to them.

His mind was preoccupied with Yasvie. Every memory that he shared with her began to show in front of his eyes, one by one. The girl that he loved with his whole heart had betrayed him for money. He still could not believe it.

When the men just reached an area that had a lot of tall trees, a Lisdonian soldier’s neck got hit by an arrow. Everyone looked in the direction in which the arrow came from. Two more men were killed the same way as the first soldier. Eswenth and the Lisdonians prepared their swords while Danyel checked around in wonder.

A group of masked people suddenly emerged from behind the trees. There were more of them than the Lisdonians and they seemed more skilled. They were cautious enough to kill all the Lisdonians and not hurt the disarmed person. Eswenth and the men did not even have a chance to defend their selves.

From the saviors’ fighting techniques, Danyel understood that they were clearly Hesmian soldiers. After untying Danyel, the leader of the masked men removed his black mask.

“Amell!” Danyel uttered in relief.

Amell had managed to escape with a huge amount of Hesmian soldiers. His plan was put into action.

“Your imperial highness, we must go to a safer place,” Amell said while helping Danyel to get up; who had fallen when the quick battle started.

Danyel nodded. Amell looked around and noticed that something was missing.

“Sire, where’s Gianna?”

“Ah, she’s in a healing house.” Upon hearing that, Amell panicked.

“What? Is she injured, sire? Where…where is the healing house?” He kept stuttering.

“She’ll be fine. Where are we going to go? I don’t think we can go to Sesiil. It only leaves Mekanquo and Nemphitre.” Danyel’s focus was on his safety. He had no idea about what happened to Gianna. He just assumed that she was fine.

“I suggest going to Nemphitre, your imperial highness. Nemphitish have many similarities with us, so it’ll be easy to blend in. But how can we get Gianna, sire?” Amell was still concerned about Gianna.

“That healing house is on the way to Nemphitre. We’ll get her. But she wanted to return to Werto. Not sure she’d come with us.” 

After an hour passed, Danyel and the men were still on the way to the healing house. When they reached the area where the hollow that witnessed his kiss with Gianna, Danyel could not help but turn his face away. When they just passed it, one of the Hesmian soldiers identified something.

“Oh, isn’t that a person over there? Excuse me, your imperial highness. Commander, do you see that?” The other soldiers began to observe what they saw from a distance. They only saw something maroon.

Amell took his sword out and slowly stepped to see who it was. He suspected that it might be a trap, so he signaled other soldiers not to follow. When he walked a little more, he just realized that it was Gianna’s maroon robe which she always wore with armor.

“GIANNA!” Amell shouted in horror.

Danyel instantly turned his head in wonder. With the recent incidents that he faced, he had forgotten that Gianna’s wound was that serious. He slowly walked towards her, but Amell was already doing the necessary. Amell put Gianna’s head on his lap and checked her pulse. Luckily, she was alive but her pulse rate was very low.

“Sire, where is that healing house? We need to take her there.” Amell spoke so fast that his words were almost unclear. He lifted Gianna with his muscular hands at once and walked to Danyel.

Danyel was a bit confused about the situation. Though Gianna confidently said that she could go, she had not left at all. Did she already know that she would not be able to go? Why did she lie to him? Wait… Danyel should have been the guy who was carrying her, right? But he was injured, so he let Amell do it.

They soon reached the healing house. Danyel ordered the soldiers to stay and guard the entrance and went in with Amell. Kvahiya was surprised to see Gianna unconscious again, but being carried by another guy.

“Master is not here. Let me take a look. How’d she get hurt?”

Amell glanced at Danyel. Yes, how did she get hurt? What did you do to her?

“Uh, she…um, well, we had to hide from some Lisdonians, and…we hid in a hollow. Things just messed up in there.” Danyel stuttered.

“Ugh! Those **@#* Lisdonian freaks!!” Amell mumbled.

Kvahiya cleared her throat. Yes, you cannot curse at them in their own land. Amell instantly realized his fault.

“Oh, sorry. No offense to the innocent ones.”

Then, Kvahiya asked Amell to put Gianna on the bed and leave the healing room. Danyel was already sitting on a wooden chair outside; thinking about his useless life. Amell went to him.

“Sire, you’re hurt too. Please get some treatment.”

“No, Amell. My wounds can’t be healed by them.” Danyel looked hopeless.

Amell glanced at the healing room and wondered what would have happened if he did not find the prince and Gianna. Even after seeing Gianna in that condition, Danyel did not seem like he was worried about her.

“I hope Gianna recovers soon,” Amell mumbled and studied Danyel’s expressions.

“Hmm.” Danyel did not want to get distracted.

“Sire, no matter how much you hate Gianna, don’t ignore her when she’s harmed, please!”

Danyel turned his head in wonder. What did Amell just say?

“What? I’m ignoring her? Amell, I don’t hate her, alright?” He was slightly angry. He already had too many problems to think about.

“I’m sorry if I was wrong, your imperial highness. But Gianna herself once told me that you hated her.” Amell uttered while keeping a straight face. He did not look at Danyel’s eyes.

“Things have changed. Amell, you tell me this. Why are you always calling her by the name and not me? We grew up together!”

“Sire, it ain’t the time for this. I… I address you that way because I respect you.”

“And Gianna?”

“She’s… more like a friend. Sire, please don’t get the wrong idea. I can never call the crown prince by the name.”  

Danyel stood up and stomped his foot. His eyes spread extreme fury.

“What the heck, Amell?! You’ve only known her for a few weeks and she’s already that close. Why is no one close to ME? I’m a human, not a title!” He complained and left the healing house.

Amell wondered whether he was the actual reason for Danyel’s strange behavior or something really bad had happened. As for Danyel, he was venting the anger on Amell which he got because of Yasvie. After a moment, Kvahiya came outside.

“How is she? Did she wake up?” Amell was impatient.

“She won’t die. The risk is over. But she’ll take time to wake up. Is it possible that she stays here for two or three nights?”

“Uh…I don’t think so. We have to go. I’ll carry her.”

Kvahiya disapproved of the idea but eventually agreed.

“You’re a Lisdonian. Doesn’t helping us make you a traitor?”

“No. I’m a human and a healer. I don’t consider race. I learnt it from my master. And don’t worry. We won’t tell the soldiers.”

Amell carried Gianna on his back and went across the waterfall to join Danyel and the soldiers. When Danyel saw Amell carrying Gianna, he slightly felt jealous. A part of him wanted to be the guy who carried her. But he quickly shushed away his feelings. He did not want to get closer to any woman ever again.

As the new moon rose, Danyel decided to stay in a safe place. It was not a good idea to travel at night because the smoke that emerged from their torches could easily help the enemies to find them. Amell’s men keenly observed the woods and found a huge-but-hidden cave that all of them could stay, as if the nature was helping them. Seven of the men guarded it for the first turn.

Amell laid Gianna and sat near her. He did not notice that Danyel was staring at him. He stood up after seeing the crown prince.

“Sire,”

“She has nothing to do with this. She’s not even a Hesmian.”

Danyel’s mood had changed. He was no longer angry at anyone.

“Sire, please sit here. She’ll need you when she wakes up.”

“No, Amell. I want to be alone. Don’t talk to me until I say.” Danyel went to the blind end of the huge cave.

*********************************************

Queen Maria- the queen consort of King Edgar, visited Artha. Artha was not bound but she was locked in.

“Your majesty, did you find anything about Ginger?”

“Emse Artha, just call me ‘Maria’. I’m sorry there’s no news about Gianna. To be honest, the king isn’t doing anything to find.”

Edgar and his men saved their lives from Remington’s invasion because they were late to attend the ceremony. When they were a few miles away from Hesmia, a Wertese spy brought the message that Hesmia was invaded. If Edgar was in Hesmia when the invasion happened, Remington would have killed him straight away because of his close relationship with Hesmia.

Though Gianna had gone to Hesmia to marry its crown prince, Edgar refused to release Artha. He kept saying that Gianna’s misfortune had caused the invasion and did not even pretend to find Gianna’s whereabouts.

Queen Maria was always kind to Artha and Gianna. She felt extremely guilty when Edgar deposed Artha because of Eddard’s birth. She wanted to keep Artha in Werto but did not have the strength to stand up against Edgar.

“This is my fault. Ginger warned me about this devil, but I brought her into this trap like a fool. I don’t even know if my daughter is alive or…” Artha began to cry. Queen Maria tried to comfort her.

After a while, Eddard entered the dungeon.

“Excuse me, mother Artha. Mother, I was looking for you.” The 13-year-old crown prince said.

“Any news about your sister?” Maria asked.

“I only heard that she’d gone to Lisdonia with the Hesmian crown prince. Mother Artha, I promise you I’ll try my best to find Emse Gianna.” Eddard uttered confidently.

“Thank you, son. You call me ‘mother’ and consider Ginger as your own sister. I’m glad that you ain’t a beast like Edgar. You’re an angel, just like your mother.” Artha rubbed Eddard’s head.