Kapitel 35: Chapter 33
Days pass by, and those turn into weeks, which turns into months. Training has progressively gotten better. I've made good friends with many of the men. Before I know it, my one year is almost up. It's hard to believe that this was just supposed to be a year to prove myself. Instead, it's turned out to be a whole lot more.
As of today, I have one more week left. Then I'm going to go home briefly before coming back to continue training.
"Iris! Iris!" I hear a voice calling to me.
I turn around and see Samuel running towards me. Recently, Samuel turned eleven. There was a large celebration and people from all over came to celebrate this young boy's birthday. After the celebration, Samuel, Ashton, and I spent time together just having a good time.
"How's my favorite little man?" I ask him as I tussle his hair.
"Good! Guess what?" He says bouncing up and down on his feet.
"What?" I respond, laughing.
"Ashton said that he would take me on a picnic, and that we could climb trees, and that we could ride horses, and-"
"Okay okay," I hear a different voice say.
My heart beats a little faster when I see Ashton walking towards us. Ashton and I have still been close, but a lot less intimately and often for fear of what the king would do. His eyes twinkle in amusement, and the corner of his mouth lifts up into a grin.
Samuel crosses his arms and huffs, "I was just trying to tell her what we're going to do."
"Actually, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind having Iris come along," the prince says.
Samuel's eyes light up. "Really? Iris will you come?"
"I don't know..." I joke, putting my hands on my hips.
"Please?"
"Of course I will!"
"Yes!"
"When do we go?" I ask turning towards the prince.
"Well, since you have today off, we can go right now if you want."
Samuel grabs my hand and runs out of the hallway. I follow laughing at the boy's enthusiasm.
When we reach the stables, we saddle up three horses and hop on. The prince had grabbed a basket of stuff for our picnic. We ride off into a large opening in the forest. The grass is soft, and the air is fresh. The only sounds around us are the birds chirping and a nearby stream. The prince lays out some of the food from the basket. Our small meal consists of bread, cheese, some fruit, and nuts.
"Come here Iris!" Samuel exclaims.
I sit down next to him and we all begin to eat. Once we've all had our share, Samuel grabs onto me and pulls me over to a tree.
"Will you help me climb this one?" He asks.
"Sure."
Carefully, Samuel and I scale our way halfway up the tall tree.
"Don't go any higher," I warn Samuel. "We don't want you to fall and get hurt."
He looks disappointed but agrees with me.
Once we're safely down again, Samuel runs and tries to catch frogs in the stream. Ashton and I stay back, watching the little boy play.
"Thanks for a great day," I tell Ashton.
He smiles at me. "Of course."
We lay back in the grass and close our eyes, listening to the swaying of the trees and Samuel's laughter.
All of a sudden, we hear hoof beats. Quickly, Ashton and I sit up. Approaching us is a guard. His horse makes an abrupt stop. The man jumps down and runs over to us.
"What is it?" Ashton asks with concern in his eyes.
"I-it's-" the man breathes. "Your father. H-he was attacked."
The prince's face immediately pales.
"Then a bunch of other men came out. Thankfully, we managed to defeat them with all of the extra men we have here right now. Unfortunate, the king was badly injured. I was told to come and get you."
"We need to go now," the prince says in a hushed tone. "Please take Samuel back safely and keep him away from anything that might not be appropriate for him to see. Iris, you'll come with me."
The guard bows and walks back to his horse.
By this time, Samuel has made his way over to us.
"What's going on?"
The prince kneels and grabs onto Samuel's arms. "Something happened back home. I need you to go with this man and do whatever he tells you to do. Promise me you can do that?"
Samuel frowns but says, "I promise."
With that, we part.
When we arrive back at the castle, Ashton leads me down hallways until we reach a part of the castle that I've never been in.
"This is my father's room," he explains once we stop outside a grand set of doors. "You should stay out here."
I nod.
After the prince has been in there for at least fifteen minutes, I begin to worry. Suddenly, he bursts out of the room with a broken expression on his face. He grabs onto, me and I feel his tears as he holds me close.
"What happened?" I whisper.
"I'm an orphan Iris. So is Samuel. He lost too much blood. Iris, I'm going to become king."
My head spins at his words. The king, dead? I can't believe. I hold Ashton as tight as I can. I tilt my face up to his and kiss him gently. He kisses me back, but only briefly. It breaks my heart to see him like this.
"We'll get through this together," I say.
He nods but doesn't let go of me.
That night, I'm laying in my bed. Earlier, we told Samuel the news. Ashton though it would be better if we told him sooner rather than later. Samuel was also heartbroken. I stayed with he two of them until I though that it was best to leave them alone.
Now here I am, unable to sleep. In fact, I'm not tired at all. I get up and wander around my room, looking at this and picking up that. When I pick up the ring from the queen, I can't help but feel a pang of sadness run through me. My hands move on to the necklace from Caleb. It broke on day as I was fighting. So many memories come rushing back to me as I look at each item.
All of a sudden, there's a knock on my door. I open it and to my surprise it's Zander.
"Hey," he says.
"Hi. Why are you here?"
"I though you might want someone to comfort you. I was there when everything happened."
I walk over to Zander and give him a big hug.
"Can I tell you something?" He asks me.
I look up in curiosity and nod.
"I really like you Iris. And before you say anything, I know that you don't like me like that. I know that you love the prince. You two are free to be in love now."
He's right. I never thought of that. Now that the king is gone, the prince can... Marry me. The thought makes my heart beat faster.
Zander and I talk for awhile. Finally, he leaves me. Sleep comes to me much quicker than before. Before I drift off to sleep, my mind wanders back to the possibility of me and Ashton. With those thoughts in mind, I fall asleep....
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein