Forced to Love Another (Prince Arthur Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

I could hear someone talking from somewhere in the room, but I couldn't move, 'nor could I open my eyes. All I remembered was dancing, and then something happened, but I don't remember what, everything was blurry, and how did I get from the hall where the reception was held, to the bed that I could feel myself lying in.

I recognised the voice as Gaius's, so I listened to what he had to say about all of this. "The arrow protruded right next to her heart, she has hours, Sire, there's nothing I can do other than make her comfortable and without pain. The bleeding will eventually reach her lungs no matter what I do." Gaius said. That's what made me remember the arrow, I had been struck by it trying to save Alex's life. I do hope he was okay.

"Well, do better Gaius!" I heard my father yell, causing me to flinch internally. I heard a door open and close and the room that I was in plummeted into silence, other than sobbing that I could hear to my right. I so desperately wanted to open my eyes, to see everyone and talk to them before I died. There was no point trying to deny what Gaius had said, I was going to die, and nothing he could do would stop it.

There was a period of silence, and I could hear some people talking quietly amongst themselves, but they were too far away or talking too quietly for me to make out anything they were saying.

Soon enough another door opened and a voice spoke out. "Sire, we caught the man that committed this crime." Someone said, I presumed a knight or guard. "Who are they, and why did they do this?" Father asked, and I listened as closely as I could, not that I had much else to do. "It was a sorcerer sire, he states that he wanted revenge for his family by killing yours. He's down in the dungeon, we can execute him immediately if you wish." The person said, and I could almost feel father's anger radiating through the room.

"Yes, execute him now!" Father yelled, and I began to grow nervous. Father had always been wary of those who had used magic, but now that I had been killed in the name of magic I feared that everything would go out of scale. I hoped that father didn't scour the land for magic, there were some who used it peacefully, like the Druids.

There was another period of silence, before Gaius, who had entered the room not that long ago, spoke up. "Sire, I believe that I have found a way to wake her up, if you wish to talk to her, she will be in very little pain, just uncomfortable." The physician said, and soon enough I smelt something under my nose, causing my eyes to spring open. I took a few deep breaths and let my eyes adjust to my surroundings.

I recognised that I was in Arthur's chambers, and I was lying on his bed, his red sheets covering me. Gaius was standing at the foot of my bed with Father next to him, they were both looking at me with worried faces. I turned my head slightly to the right and saw that Morgana was sitting on a chair next to the bed, red rims circling her eyes, indicating that she had been crying. Alice and Gwen were behind her, also with evidence that the two had been crying.

I then turned to look to my left and saw that Alex was standing by the edge of the bed, a relieved but sad look on his face, and I could see that his hair had been messed up as though he had been constantly running his hands through it. Then there was Arthur, who sat on the bed next to me. His hand was placed over mine and there were a few tears on his face.

"Lizzie." He said in a whisper, sounding so heartbroken that it made me feel guilty for what had happened to me. "Arthur." Was all I managed to get out, before feeling pain erupt in my chest from the effort it took me to talk. So instead I squeezed his hand lightly.

"Why did you push me out of the way?" Alexander questioned me, causing me to look up at him. "I couldn't just let you die." I managed to push out, before taking a few deep breaths, trying to expel the pain from my chest. "My dear, I don't know how conscious you were, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to save you. You'll have to say goodbye." Gaius said, his voice breaking slightly as he spoke to me.