Royally F**cked

XXIII: Vīgintī trēs

"Delvin?" Was the first thing she said. "What's going on?". She smelled burning ash, a strong heat over her back and an ice cold wind kissing her cheeks. The touch of gravel on her face, and something damp coating her clothes.

The man in question, led by her side, toppled onto the concrete below them.His disguise now completely gone. One hand outstretched towards her, his fingers just brushing her face. Ice was coating his arms, falling off in pieces of crystal, melting onto the floor below him. His eyes were exhausted. Delvin wasn't really looking at her, so much as he was looking through her.

"Delvin?" She muttered again, making to sit up but wincing in pain. It felt like the skin on her back was stretched ten times too thin for her own body. Throbbing in electric like pain. "Delvin? Wake up." Her voice wobbled at the end, a lump forming in her throat.

Lavinia reached out, grabbing the tips of his fingers and squeezing tightly. That seemed to do it. Recognition lighting up his eyes. He blinked once, then twice. "Lavi..?" He slurred, looking around. Behind him, villagers stood, gawking at the glaciers covering the broken buildings and then in turn, gawping at them.

The prince groaned, looking down at his frosted arms. The cloak he had been wearing to disguise himself had long since been torn to shreds. The people around them clearly knew exactly who he was. Lavinia bit down a curse. Just what had this man done when she was unconscious.

"I'm tired," He grumbled, swaying slightly as he sat up. "Im really tired.." His voice dropped off at the end, as he grasped onto his head. It looked like he was drunk and hungover at the same time. Even though the man hadn't so much as looked at a drink while they had been out.

Biting her lip to stifle her pain, she sat up next to him. He tilted to the side slightly, looking like he would completely topple over before she propped him up on her shoulder.

"What did you do?" Lavinia whispered, watching as he rested his head in the crook of her neck, his white eyelashes brushing against her skin. She didn't think he'd catch what she'd said. But of course, Delvin being Delvin, never missed a thing. Even when he was covered in ice and exhausted beyond comparison. That being said, she had no clue how it had gotten there.

"I think." He said, muffled slightly by her neck. "I think I did something good for once." Her heart jumped at his words. It was almost heartbreaking, how vulnerable he sounded right now. Like he couldn't actually believe that someone like himself could ever be anything other than cruel.

She reached her hand through his platinum hair, gently holding him to her. Taking another glance around her surroundings, it was clear then what Delvin had done. He'd used his magic to contain the explosion. But at the time, Lavinia had no clue just to what extent he had contained it. And just how bad the damage really was.

"Delvin?" Lavinia shook him a little, noticing the Prince was falling asleep where he sat. "We need to go,". People were beginning to get close to them. Delvin made no indication that he was going to be getting up anytime soon.

An older woman wobbled over to the two, her clothing was covered in ashes, but overall in comparison to them, she looked relatively fine. "Sweetie," The lady intoned, grasping a wrinkled hand onto her free shoulder.

"We need to get you help. I owe your partner a lot." Lavinia blinked, looking up in confusion.

"What? What do you mean? I don't, i don't-" Rising panic stole her words, clutching Delvin to her side just a little too tightly. The old woman smiled at her gently, like she saw through her every thought.

"He's the Prince right?" Even though it was a question it was clear everyone already knew the answer. Lavinia couldn't answer.

"He helped. So now we help you," she explained, gesturing for some of the other civilians to get closer. Lavinia finally got a good look at them. Although most of them were coated in a mix of ashes, and melted ice. Most looked actually okay. Considering how the explosion knocked her off her feet, and blew holes in buildings, it was a miracle that this many people were uninjured.

A spindly man with pepper coloured hair, came to kneel down in front of her. Eyes clearly seeing something she hadn't. His features were on the gaunt side, thick eyebrows narrowed, and lips drawn into a tight frown he reached out a hand to her. Circle wired glasses were slipping down his nose, one of the lenses slightly cracked.

"Kid, I'm gonna put it bluntly for you. Your back is covered in burns, and your clothing has melted into your skin. We need to get you help. Preferably soon. Before infection starts to spread." he said very matter of factly, jiggling his hand in front of her face as if to get her to move faster.

It seemed like none of this was real to Lavinia, her thoughts were spinning around her head like a carousel. The only thing she could pin down was the fact that Delvins identity had been figured out, and they needed to leave. Her breath began to become shorter and faster, her eyes darting about. Lavinia had no idea where to look, what to do, who to be, where they were.

Nothing

"I don't, I don't know. It doesn't feel that bad?" She stated, but it came out as more like a question. The older man tutted, using a finger to push back up his glasses. With a jut of his head, two other younger men came to stand besides him.

"Of course it doesn't feel that bad, you're going into shock." He admonished, sounding more like he was telling off a child than talking to a full grown woman. With a sigh the man stood back up from where he'd been kneeling in front of her and began to move closer. Instinctively, she held Delvin closer to her, flinching backwards.

"I'm not going to kidnap you. I'm not going to steal his majesty away from you," He rolled his eyes, the two men hoovering anxiously by his shoulders. Peering over and waiting on his orders they made a bit of an odd bunch. The old lady had left now, leaving her with these strangers.

"I'm a doctor. I need to take you both to my surgery. It's only down the road," He said, with a gesture of his hand. "My name is Dr Reinair," And with that, he began to separate her from Delvin. She struggled at first, but it was futile. There wasn't much she could do in this condition against three grown men.

Lavinia helplessly watched as the two strangers heaved Delvin's lifeless body away from her. "Please," She begged, a last, defenceless plea. "Please,". Reinairs brown eyes softened only just, as he gripped onto her shoulders to keep her upright.

Succumbing to her fate, she only asked for one more thing. "Promise me you wont take him away," The 'from me', was left unsaid but it was entirely heard. For the first time, Reinair's frown flipped into a soft smile.

"I promise, kid." He oathed, with a solemn nod. The doctor positioned one of her hands over his shoulders, kneeling down just a bit. "Now, up we go,". He said, joyfully. With that, he heaved her over his right shoulder, as if she weighed nothing more than a paper clip. The sudden movement made her nauseous.

As if reading her mind he intonted. "Don't puke on my shoulder." For all his gruffness, Lavinia noticed that not once did he touch the burns on her back. 

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Authors Note:

Hey guys!! I hope you liked this chapter, id love to hear what you thought about it! Thank you so much for reading. Im going to be changing the cover again soon, i'm just not kinda sure what vibe i want to go with. I know i can do better with it too. Im just a bit busy rn lol

Lots of love, 

Sam.E