章 17: Chapter 15
I keep falling and then suddenly crash into a river. The water is so cold that it shocks the breathe out of me. I'm alive though. I push myself past my limits and fight the current up to the surface. I gasp for air and fall under again. Eventually, I manage to get to the edge and pull myself out. Exhausted, I pass out in the grass.
When I wake up, I can't see anyone at the top of the cliff and I've got a pounding headache. My teeth are also chattering from the extreme cold that I'm suffering. I take off my top layers so that they can dry. Now there's nothing to do but wait. Suddenly, I hear the sound of hooves and I see three horses in the distance.
As they get closer I realize that it's my friends. I sit there because I don't know if I have the strength to stand.
"Iris!" The prince says hopping off his horse. "Are you okay?"
I weakly nod my head. I try to stand but immediately stumble and begin coughing. The prince catches me and says, "You're ice cold. Get her some fresh clothes. We lost your stuff and horse to two of the bandits that got away."
"How did you get here so fast?" I ask.
"What do you mean? It took us a whole day to get down here."
I guess I was passed out for a while.
They start a fire and wrap me in blankets once I'm dressed. After about an hour of warming up the prince stands.
"I hate to say it, but we really need to keep moving. Iris you'll have to ride with me."
I hop up onto the horse after he does and wrap my arms around him. After riding for some time, I begin shivering again and my cough starts back up.
The prince slows us all down and turns his head.
"Are you okay?" He asks, concern filling his voice and eyes.
I just nod weakly and lay my head against his back. He continues on and I end up falling asleep.
When I wake up again, I'm shivering but I'm not on the horse anymore. I'm laying under a roof of blankets and on top of one, too. I sit up but immediately fall back again from the spinning in my head.
The prince notices that I'm awake and walks over to me.
"What's going on?" I ask weakly.
"We've stopped for the night," he says in a soft voice.
Gently he touches my forehead as I shiver.
"You've got a fever," he remarks. Then he lays his coat over me.
Pushing it away I say, "You need it more than I do."
He just lays it back on me. "Get some more rest."
"Where are the rest of you going to sleep?" I say looking around at the small space.
"Zander and I each created our own spaces of sleep in. We figured that you two ladies would be more comfortable with each other than with one of us."
I'm relieved to hear that I don't have to sleep with one of the men.
"Are you hungry?"
Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten anything in a day or two.
"I guess I kind of am."
Then I try to get up but the prince protests. "You can't get up in your condition."
"I can do it," I argue. "Will you help me?"
As I get up, he helps support me as I walk over to the fire. When we get out of our little space, I see Zander and Juliana sitting up against each other, laughing. It makes me sad as I remember the good times Caleb and I used to have. Thinking about this just makes me homesick and immediately my appetite is gone.
"I changed my mind. I'm not that hungry," I say to the prince.
The prince doesn't question me, sensing that something is wrong. I lay back down and blink back tears. I turn over onto my side and the prince leaves.
I wake up the next morning to Juliana stirring next to me. She sits up and stretches. I then attempt to get up, but I'm still weak. Slowly, I start to inch my way up.
"Do you need help?" She asks.
Grateful, I accept her out held hand and she lets me lean on her as we exit the small space. When we get out, we see the prince and Zander already ready to leave.
"We need to get going," the prince starts. "We all overslept and we're getting farther behind them."
Then I say something that even I didn't think would ever come out of my mind.
"You should leave me behind."
"What? No. I'm not leaving you behind."
"But think about how much quicker you could go."
"I don't care. My mother could already be dead because we've taken longer than expected, and I won't loose another person that matters to me."
I let his words sink in and when he realizes what he said, he laughs softly, embarrassed. "Um... That just came out."
I wave him off and say, "That's okay. We should get going."
"Yeah..."
I may have acted like it didn't matter, but inside my feelings are confused. Am I really falling for this man? This thought makes me scared. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.
We leave, me on the back of the prince's horse again. This time, I hold him as loosely as possible. He notices so when we stop, he asks me, "Did I do something?"
I shake my head.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm just confused by some stuff."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
He doesn't push me any further and we keep going.
"Wait!" The prince says and suddenly stops.
"What is it?" Zander asks.
"Fresh tracks."
"Maybe something happened to them, too," Juliana comments.
"Whatever happened we know that we're getting close."
"What if they're the tracks of someone else?" Juliana adds, doubtful.
"We have to hope that they're not," the prince says.
I silently agree with the prince because I have a feeling that we're getting close. Suddenly, I break into a fit of coughing.
Everyone looks at me with concern.
"I'm... Okay," I say between coughs.
"Maybe we should leave her here," Juliana suddenly blurts out.
"Why would you even say that?" The prince asks angrily.
"She's slowing us down. Even you have to admit."
I'm not going to lie. That stings a lot.
"Ashton's right," Zander adds in.
"Fine. But don't blame me if your mother ends up dying because of her."
Then I can't take it anymore. I hop off the horse and begin walking away.
"Iris wait!" The prince yells out.
I just walk as quickly as I can in my weak state. I'm not very fast.
"Iris! I command you to stop!"
I stop but don't turn around. He grabs my arms and gently turns me around to face him. I can't look into his eyes as he says, "Iris. It's not your fault. It never was. Don't ever believe that for one second. If you ask me, the only reason Juliana said that is because she's jealous of Zander's affection for you."
Now I look up, startled. "What?"
"You haven't noticed? That man is in love with you."
"I thought he liked Juliana!"
The more I think about, the more I realize that I haven't paid any attention to Zander recently.
"You should notice the way he looks at you."
Now my head is completely confused. I just try not to think about any of it.
"We should probably get going," the prince says softly.
I nod and he helps me back up onto my horse. I can't help but notice how Juliana is glaring at me.
"Just ignore her," the prince whispers when he feels me tense up.
We ride for miles, following the hoof prints until I fall asleep against the prince's back.
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