Royal Obligations

Chapter 20: Knight In Shining Armor

I heard the sound of steady beeping before I opened my eyes. It was hard to open them in the first place. Like they were glued together.

"Cordelia?" a soft voice says.

I take a small breath because it feels like I haven't taken one in forever. I glance over at the voice, and even though it's blurry I recognize his face.

"Hey there," I say, and my voice doesn't sound like it belongs to me. It's scratchy and hoarse.

Vulnerable.

Harlan stands up from his seat in the corner and takes a seat at the edge of my bed. He reaches up and tucks a piece of my blond hair behind my ear gently. "How are you feeling?" he asks with concern.

"Like I was just hit by a truck." I joke, but sadly it was true. I felt like shit.

"I was going to come get you," Harlan says in a pained voice. "I was going to come search for you."

What is it with him and Forrest throwing their lives around? They were the princes, they didn't need to be worrying about me.

They hardly even knew me.

"I'm glad you didn't." I say rather coldly and look away from him.

I feel Harlan tense at my side. "Cordelia? What are you talking about?"

"You shouldn't be risking your life for me." I say.

"Of course I should, Cordelia. You risk your life for the people you care about."

No. You risk your life for the people you love.

Which is the exact reason that statement worried me.

"Harlan, you need to worry about yourself." I look over at him and he stares down at me with his confused, but beautiful eyes. "You can't risk your life for a selected. You just can't. You have a country to run."

"That may be true, but I also have woman that are in my care to protect-"

I give him a sad laugh, even though it hurts like hell to do so. "You protect them because they have families counting on you. They have people who care about them counting on you. Harlan, I don't have anyone. No one would care if anything happened to me."

He gives me an incredulous look. "I would care. Illéa would sure as hell care. Cordelia, you aren't alone anymore."

"I've always been alone." I sigh. "I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be." Harlan adds with a kind of forcefulness to his tone. It makes me look over at him to see the determination in his eyes. "As long as you're here, you aren't alone. And I don't plan on you going anywhere anytime soon. "

I stare at him for a few moment, trying to detect a lie. But I couldn't find one. He was completely serious.

"Harlan..." I trail off. I honestly didn't know what to say. He made me feel weird things when he spoke like this. I'm not sure if I liked it or not.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." Harlan says with a protective glint in his eyes. "And next time, I'll be the one who rescues you. Not my damn brother."

"Are you going to be my knight in shining armor?" I smirk and Harlan opens his mouth to respond but doesn't have a chance to respond because the nurse rushes in with a cup of water and small paper cup.

"I apologize your highness, but you have to leave the room now." the nurse says shyly before Harlan stands up.

"Of course, I'll let you do your work. I'll um, if she needs me just call for a guard." Harlan says, scratching the back of his neck.