Edrick shouted toward them.
“Her Highness is injured! She needs healing magic immediately!”
Hearing that, Sir Hart ordered one of the knights following behind them to bring a mage.
A short while later, a young imperial mage came running over.
While he examined the Imperial Princess’s condition, Edrick and the other knights began clearing away the rocks.
When they lifted the boulder crushing her knee, the torn skirt revealed a leg that had been completely shattered from the knee down.
Several fragments of bone protruded through the skin.
Edrick swallowed a groan.
Even with healing magic, an injury of this severity could leave her crippled for life.
“If we close the wounds ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ in this condition, the entire structure of the leg will heal improperly.”
The mage inspected her injuries with a grave expression.
“We need to transport her back to camp and set the bones first.”
Edrick looked at him darkly.
“Will she survive until then?”
“I’ve already cast restorative magic. She should be stable for now.”
The mage rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.
“Still, we should splint the leg to prevent the injury from worsening further. Is there anything suitable we can use?”
“Will this do?”
Sir Hart removed the scabbard from his belt and held it out.
The mage accepted it, testing its weight with a few gentle swings before nodding.
“That will work. I’ll secure the leg. Please support it from underneath.”
Edrick immediately obeyed.
Carefully, he slid his hands beneath her grotesquely swollen calf.
The instant he lifted it, a terrible scream burst from the woman’s lips.
Startled, Edrick lost his grip.
The mangled leg, with bone protruding from it, dropped back to the ground.
Dark red blood sprayed across the dirt.
As he froze in horror, unsure what to do, Varkas—who had been silently watching from a short distance away—stepped forward and wrapped both arms around the Imperial Princess’s upper body, holding her firmly.
“Stop the bleeding. Now!”
Edrick snapped back to his senses.
He immediately grabbed hold of her leg.
Meanwhile, the mage tore strips from his cloak and compressed the long wound that ran from her thigh to her knee.
With her face buried against Varkas’s chest, the Imperial Princess let out animal-like groans.
Her blood-darkened fingernails raked furiously across the back of his neck.
“It’s done! Secure the splint now!”
At the mage’s urgent command, the knights bent down and fixed her leg against the long scabbard.
At last, the emergency treatment was complete.
Sir Siorcan lifted her into his arms.
Edrick immediately reached toward him.
“I’ll carry her. Commander, your injuries—”
Before his hand could touch her, Varkas pulled her closer against himself.
The possessive, defensive motion made Edrick pause.
Frowning as though annoyed, Varkas jerked his chin.
“Forget it. Lead the way. We don’t have time to waste.”
“M-My apologies.”
Without meaning to, Edrick found himself apologizing.
He hurried ahead with the torch.
There was no way they could take the Imperial Princess up the steep cliff in her condition. To reach the camp, they would need to circle around the rocky wall.
As he illuminated the dark forest path, Edrick glanced back at Varkas.
The torchlight carried by the knights faintly illuminated one side of the man’s face.
Cold.
So cold that it almost looked weary.
Edrick stared at him for a moment before facing forward again.
Now was not the time to wonder what was going through that man’s mind.
Forcing the distracting thoughts from his head, Edrick quickened his pace and led them out of the densely wooded forest.
* * *
It felt as though her leg was on fire.
Groaning from the sensation of her flesh boiling, Talia forced her heavy eyelids open.
The ceiling above her wavered in the glow of torchlight.
Confusion briefly crossed her face.
Then pain stabbed through her bones.
Talia twisted violently and released a piercing scream.
“Hold her down! Don’t let her move!”
Drawn by the unfamiliar voice, she lowered her gaze.
A broad-shouldered, middle-aged man was bent over her leg.
One hand pressed against her thigh while the other worked at her blood-soaked knee with something that looked like a pair of forceps.
Talia stared at the sight with horrified eyes.
Then she tried to flee.
The moment she twisted away, someone standing beside the bed slammed a hand onto her shoulder.
“Your Highness! Please calm yourself!”
Talia gasped for breath and looked up at the dark figure looming above her.
The exhausted face seemed vaguely familiar.
Only after several seconds did she recognize her as one of the maids Senevier had assigned to her.
But the recognition brought no comfort whatsoever.
Her pupils dilated.
Her gaze darted between the maid’s hardened face and the man probing her knee.
Then she lashed out.
Her nails raked across the woman’s face.
The maid cried out and instinctively withdrew her hands.
Talia seized the opportunity.
She immediately began crawling across the bed.
Before she could escape, a strong hand shot out from somewhere and pinned her wrist to the mattress.
Like an animal trapped in a snare, she thrashed violently.
“Let me go! I said let me go!”
“Please calm down! We’re treating your injuries! You can’t move like this!”
A desperate voice shouted as armored weight pressed down on her upper body.
Talia struggled even harder.
The agony felt as though it were tearing her entire body apart.
Yet the terror urging her to escape overwhelmed every other sensation.
“No! Don’t touch me!”
“Bring the sleeping draught immediately!”
The man shouted.
Talia stared up at the rough face cast in deep shadows.
Her personal knight.
The knight who usually looked perpetually absent-minded.
Now his face was hard and frightening as he restrained her.
A familiar sense of helplessness and fear wrapped around her throat.
She reached toward his face.
“Stay away! Leave me alone!”
The words came out like a scream.
A short curse escaped the man.
Talia twisted even more desperately.
Then he gathered both her wrists into one hand and brought a cold glass vial to her lips.
“Drink this. When you wake up, everything will be over.”
Talia pressed her lips tightly together.
But he refused to give up.
Pressing the mouth of the vial against her lower lip, he pleaded,
“It isn’t poison. It’s medicine that will prevent you from feeling pain while we treat you. So please...”
Despite the knight’s desperate appeal, Talia only clenched her teeth harder.
She could trust no one.
None of them.
They were waiting for her to become helpless.
Waiting for the opportunity to do something horrible.
She knocked the vial away with her elbow and forced herself upright.
Then she kicked and struggled with her blood-soaked leg, trying to escape the beasts holding her captive.
That was when a tall, slender shadow entered the tent.
The moment Talia saw his face, her entire body went rigid.
The scent of heavy rain arrived with him.
Varkas.
His arm looped around her upper body like a snare.
She did not even have time to flee.
Settling behind her, Varkas secured her firmly against him with one arm and nodded toward the knight.
“Bring the medicine.”
The knight obeyed instantly.
Receiving a fresh vial, Varkas pulled out the cork with his teeth and raised the bottle to her lips.
Talia stared at it with trembling eyes.
Then her gaze slowly rose to his expressionless face.
In a low voice, Varkas urged,
“Drink.”
