Chương 18: Chapter 18

"Princess, calm down before you go in there to see your father," Cyrus said when he caught up to Amelia. She wasn't too far away from the throne room which was a good thing. There was still a chance to convince her to not go there.

"You should go see a doctor before you get an infection and die. Trust me, I am very calm," she replied before stopping causing Cyrus to almost crash into her. "How do I look? Don't think about my bare feet though."

Cyrus quietly examined her appearance which wasn't bad considering she just came from riding a horse but her hair was out of place. "You look fine, princess," he concluded.

"You really are dense Cyrus. Don't you know when a woman asks you how she looks you should have the answer quickly? No wonder your love life sucks."

"No offense princess but a bad love life is better than a nonexistent one. You watch your crush from afar. My bad," he bowed his head after he saw her taken aback.

"I do not watch him from afar," Amelia denied the claim.

"Princess! Princess! I brought your shoes!" Gina yelled, running with a pair of shoes in her hands.

"Why does she remind me so much of a chicken when its head is cut off?" Amelia wondered out loud. It was always comical to see Gina running when she was panicking. "Slow down Gina."

"S-Sorry," Gina hunched over, panting as she tried to steady her breathing. "You can't go to your father looking like that. Let me fix you up first and Cyrus, you're just bringing more attention to Amelia with your bloody mess," she pointed at this shoulder.

"I will take a look at it when Amelia retires to her room." He could feel his wounds had already healed but the bloodstains were becoming a nuisance because of the attention they attracted.

"People are going to look at him regardless of if he's bleeding or not. Did you deliver my message to the high priest Gina? Ow," Amelia hissed when Gina poked her with a pin in her hair. "Did you do that because you didn't complete what I requested?"

"I did do it but the high priest wishes to have a word with you when you have time. Both you and Cyrus. He didn't say what he wanted but since you asked him for a favor, you can't ignore him wanting to meet with you," said Gina.

"Great. I have to give up two hours of my life to hear one of his lectures. Hopefully, he keeps it short and sweet but since Cyrus has to come along I feel it will be more than two hours. Thank you," Amelia thanked Gina after her appearance was fixed up. "Don't follow me. I'm not going to drag either of you into my mess with my father."

"I'm serious Cyrus," she pointed her finger at him. "Don't follow me and go treat your wounds. Gina, do you mind grabbing something for us to eat again? I went through a rough start of the day without eating."

"On my way," Gina went in another direction to get food for the second time of the day for both Amelia and Cyrus.

"Stop following me," Amelia said to Cyrus. His feet might be light but she didn't have to turn around to guess that he was still behind her. "Don't come with me. You are from the north and I do not want him to set his eyes on you. He might torture you. It doesn't matter if you had nothing to do today so please go."

"Scream if you need me," he stopped as she ordered him to.

"You only listened because we are outside the throne room doors. What am I going to do with you, Cyrus? Do the two of you want a repeat of what happened this morning or will you let me in to speak with my father? Instead of telling him to knock you out, I might tell him to make you sleep permanently," Aurora warned the same guards who were there earlier this morning.

She was surprised her father hadn't thrown them out after failing to fight against Cyrus.

"Your father told us to open the door for you when you return, princess," said the guard on the right.

Amelia scoffed, finding the day to become more laughable by the second. "Open the door when I return? He's truly lost his mind," she muttered entering the room.

"We should let our children marry each other."

Amelia rolled her eyes at the nonsense they were speaking to each other about when Killian was in their kingdom and attacked their princess.

"Are you satisfied?" She asked out loud to catch the attention of everyone in the room. "None of you have the common sense to even set up a trap right. As much as you may dislike me, isn't using me as bait too much?"

"A-Amelia," king Richard hiccuped seeing his daughter alive and well. He handed his cup over to the nearest person beside him. "See, I had no reason to worry. You came back in one piece. Tell me, what happened?"

"Of all those men you sent to fight Killian in an ambush none of them have returned. It is only by some miracle that I and Cyrus are back here and not having our bodies eaten by a wild animal. You have done many stupid things before but this one is on a whole other level. Do you think because you have another child on the way you can get rid of the other one?"

"Will you ever stop trying to nag me? I am the king for fuck's sake," Richard took back his cup to throw it at a wall. "I was having a good time until you showed up."

"Drinking away while you just lost a fight sounds like a bright idea. My mistake," Amelia sarcastically replied looking at the men beside her father who weren't correcting his behavior. The reason they were given the jobs was to help her father not encourage this behavior.

"Lost a fight? Have you ever heard you lose some you win some? We won a fight today Amelia. Thanks for being a good distraction."