Dueling Kingdoms - Part 5

If you haven’t read the first four parts of this story, then please follow the links below in order to get proper context before reading part five.

Part 1, written by Rowan Finley:

Part 2, written by Sibley Shamra:

Part 3, written by Rowan Finley:

Part 4, written by Sibley Shamra:

Part 5, below:

A small band of renegades lurked in the woods. They were not necessarily loyal to the kingdom of Queen Grundel or the kingdom of King Murphin. One of the renegades was an archer. Seeing Prince Coy and Kris walking back to the castle, he pulled his arrow to his cheek and released the arrow with a zing. The arrow was meant to hit Prince Coy but instead it hit Kris, piercing her shoulder. Startled, Coy and Kris spun around with their swords drawn, ready for battle. The band of renegades had already disappeared deep into the forest after the arrow had already done its damage.

Kris started to pull the arrow out of her shoulder but Coy yelled.

“Don’t!”

It was too late. Kris had already yanked the arrow from her limp, blood-stained shoulder. She gritted her teeth with a sharp pained expression.

“I’ll be alright. Let’s go track those cowards down!”

In the next moment, several guards and soldiers stormed into the woods in pursuit of the renegades that did whatever they pleased.

Coy held Kris for a moment. She took a deep breath, but then crumpled to the ground, blacking out from the intense pain and quick blood loss.

Limp on the grown, she felt her body rise as she was being carried inside. Hours later, she woke up in a panic, sweaty. The bed she was resting in was different than the room she’d been sleeping in previously. Her arm and shoulder was wrapped in cloth bandages.

“Here, drink this… it will ease the pain…”

Prince Coy sat on the edge of the bed and offered her a goblet of wine. Her throat felt as if it was as dry as a desert. Swallowing the wine in large gulps, she winced and laid back down on the pillow behind her head.

“I don’t understand. Who shot the arrow?”

“It was the renegades in the woods. I assure you though, my men will scour the land until every last one of them are strung up like hogs and are dead!”

He paused and smiled at her.

“Your life is most important.”

It seemed as if he had other things on his mind though. His eyes glimmered with a darkness for just but a half-second in the candlelight.

“Here have some more. It will help you sleep and ease the pain…”

He handed her more wine. It tasted very strong but she did enjoy the flavor tremendously. She became intoxicated and delirious. Falling back asleep, she dreamt of Roy.

In the dream, Roy was embracing her passionately. Then her dreams would morph into the arrow piercing her shoulder and Coy carrying her to the castle.

When she woke up, it was morning. Her body felt completely empty and numb. She gently touched her shoulder. Grimacing at the sunlight pouring through a window, she looked over to the small wooden table. The table was empty though. Taking a heavy breath, she said aloud,

“My head is killing me! How much wine did I have last night?”

The room was eerily quiet. She shivered but it wasn’t because she was cold. Feeling unusually vulnerable, there was a soreness in her body.

In that moment, she remembered her duty to train the knights in the castle barracks. She got up, dressed and picked up her sword.

“At least my left shoulder is the weak side and not my dominant side…”

She said aloud, smiling.

When she got to the barracks, it was mostly empty except for one knight.

“Where are the rest? We need to train.”

“They are gathered for the jousting tournament. Have you not heard?”

“No… A joust between whom?”

“Prince Roy from the Kingdom of Grundel has come and proposed a knights joust against Prince Coy.”

“For what purpose and aim? We are supposed to be at peace, which is why I followed the order of the Queen to come here in the first place! Why does he propose a joust?”

“Prince Roy proposed the joust because if he wins, then he gets to bring you back to the Kingdom of Grundel! But if Prince Coy wins, then you must stay here!”

The knight beamed with amusement at her bewilderment. She stormed out of the barracks. Just as she got outside, she squinted, annoyed by the sharp sunlight. Sure enough, the jousting area was set up with the tilt and the knights armor glinted majestically. Kris couldn’t believe her eyes and wished it was all just another dream.

“What if Roy dies?”

The idea made her heart sink. Roy was already suited up and sitting on a black steed. Prince Coy smiled a devious grin and closed his barbute helmet. The princes both gripped their lances with pride, braced themselves, and the joust was on! Kris felt tremendous annoyance because this was not what she had expected in the least. All control felt as if it had been ripped from her entirely. How could they have not consulted her first? It was difficult to determine who she was more agitated with, Prince Roy for coming to challenge his brother unexpectedly, or Prince Coy, for not bothering to tell her what was going on. Kris barged through the crowd of spectators and found Nathaniel.

“Let me guess… Queen Grundel doesn’t know anything about this?”

She asked Nathaniel. He chuckled and nodded at her, while looking at her shoulder bandage.

“You don’t look so good. Are you alright? It is good to see you… Yes, Roy has to exhibit his leadership somehow…”

Nathaniel elbowed her good side.

The brothers clashed their lances into one another and Roy teetered on his steed but didn’t fall. He regained his balance quickly.

“Coy is a brick in more ways than one! He’s bound to be much heavier than Roy!”

Kris looked away. With every round and cash of armor, she felt sick to her stomach. It was odd for her to feel this way because she’d seen plenty of jousts before. This was very different. Suddenly, she experienced a flashback from the night before, when Coy had handed her the goblet of wine. She heard the echos of his words…

“It will help ease the pain… ease the pain… the pain… pain…”

She shook her head, trying to focus on the present moment. Just then, Roy’s lance clashed into Coy’s helmet, making the helmet fly off. Coy tried to swing his lance, a quick second time in defense, but it missed, knocking himself off balance. He fell to the ground. A ring of dust lifted around him and his horse circled back around and snorted down at him. Roy had won the joust tournament against his brother! He raised his arm in a victorious gesture.

Beaming with enthusiasm, and plastered with sweat, Roy looked at Nathaniel. He smiled bigger, as he realized Kris had witnessed his heroic performance.

King Murphin shook his head in disbelief and disgust over the defeat that Coy and his kingdom had just suffered. He turned away and signaled for several servants to go tend to Prince Coy, but he shook them off and away.

Kris shook her head at Roy, as he’d gotten off his steed and walked over to her and Nathaniel.

“You’re full of surprises, Prince, bloody knuckles.”

She was referring to when they had been practicing their sword fighting in the woods, less than a week ago and she’d accidentally sliced his knuckles and had offered part of her dress as a bandage for him.

“I see you’ve shed some blood too…”

Roy eyed her bandaged shoulder with compassion in his eyes.

“Can we please get out of here?”

Nathaniel asked. He sidestepped them, while looking around at the crowd that was dispersing slowly back to their daily business.

Kris walked back to get her things. In the hallway, Coy caught her for a moment.

“I may have lost the joust tournament, but please know that I have always desired you!”

She shrugged him off with distaste. Her stomach felt like it was in knots.

“You don’t even know me!”

She rushed back to Roy and Nathaniel and they started their journey together back to the kingdom of Grundel. The three of them missed what they knew to be home. They journeyed in silence, as they were processing all the recent events.

When they made it home, the courtyard was full of people to welcome them home. Roy knew his mother would have some harsh words with him but he felt proud of his decision to win Kris back to the kingdom of Grundel where she belonged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two months slipped by. Kris’s shoulder had recovered quickly, though she still felt some weakness in it. Things felt as if they were getting back to normal. Roy and Kris had gone on several walks in the woods but hadn’t sparred quite as much as they used to.

One morning, Kris woke up vomiting. She felt horrible. She took a drink of water but threw up immediately. All the sudden she had a flashback. She was intoxicated in the flashback and Coy very close to her. The flashback ended. All of the sudden, she stated aloud to herself,

“I’ve not had a flewsa in two months…”

She felt her lower stomach.

“This can’t be… he… Coy… how? How could he? That beast! Mongrel!”

She balled her fists up and hit the wall. Throwing the cup of water on the floor, she curled up, her body in fetal position. She cried and cried like a baby. There was no one to hear her miserable sobs. After hours of disbelief and sad realization, she sat up and thought of what she could possibly tell Roy.

Drying her tears, she found Roy, and asked to go on another walk around the castle walls.

“Roy, I have been thinking… I know we are both knights and warriors but I have feelings for you. I truly love you. We’ve grown up together since childhood. I want to be yours!”

“Are you proposing matrimony to me, Kris? Isn’t this supposed to go the other way around?”

Roy laughed. He was full of joy. Deep in his heart, he was surprised by her raw emotional vulnerability. It was unlike her to display such inner transparency but he felt very alive in the moment.

She smiled.

“How soon can we marry then?”

She didn’t wait for him to answer.

“Also, I don’t like I came from a peasant family as I always thought I did, I think I am of a royal family line…”

Roy’s face was full of shock and surprise.

“What makes you say this?”

Subtly, she held her lower abdomen. There was no way that she could tell him that she was with child…

~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

To read part 6, written by Sibley Shamra, follow the link below: