Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Forty-Seven

Lyra's POV

I can't seem to find the strength to move. As the world rushes past in a flurry of panic, I stay where I am, staring at Sage in a near catatonic state of mind. I had been caught so off guard that I wouldn't have been able to protect myself. Without Kaladin, I would have died in a pool of my own blood, right here on this marble floor.

Kaladin crouches on the ground in front of me, his weapon at the ready. "Lyra?" He glances around him before leaning in closer to whisper, "Damn it, girl. What the hell happened to you? You idiot, I've never seen you so oblivious to anything before! Are you ill? Did you wake daft this morning?" His tone holds something angry beneath it, but not threatening. He seems frustrated.

There are people rushing to and fro, trying to find out what is going on, their voices hushed but still filled with alarm as they converse.

"Has the King and Queen been notified?"

"Tell them at once!"

"Is the Princess hurt? She looks ill."

"Where are the rest of her men?"

All that I see is their feet as they pause to look at me, their abnormally strong Princess sitting helplessly on the ground as a Guard speaks to her in a soft way. Little do they know the words truly being spoken.

Sage growls softly at Kaladin's words, almost as if she understands the offensive meaning they hold. I reach out to pat her head and she quiets at my side.

Kaladin sighs in frustration at my silence. "Well, at least God finds you favorable enough to have placed that animal here at this time. She stopped the would-be-assassin from attacking you head on. He threw the sword towards you when she attacked him, and that is when I intervened."

I didn't take Kaladin for the religious type.

I don't say anything as Sage slides down to her belly at my side, resting her enormous head in my lap. The wet substance on her nose smears red onto my breeches, and I realize that she has the Duke's blood on her face. Odd as it is, I feel no fear towards her despite what I now know. Call me a fool, but I feel strongly that she would never turn against me now that we have a bond. I continue to stroke her head mutely while I try to sort the jumbling thoughts that crowd around my brain.

One, Sage is a Chimera, a fabled creature that I thought only existed in children stories.

Two, Danák Staph tried to murder me in a public place.

Three, the King will hang the Staph's and their sons, so I have to find out why Danák attempted to kill me before hand. I give him three days if he is lucky.

Four, Kaladin saved my life.

A set of running footsteps catches my attention, making me glance up to look down the hallway. Tears involuntarily brim in my eyes when I see my brother shoving past everyone in his way, looking frantically from side to side. When his eyes travel further up the hallway to see me leaning against a wall his expression softens and people move out of his way as he begins to barrel towards me.

Kaladin puts a hand out to stay Lance's proximity, but I shove the barrier away and leap into my brother's arms as soon as he is close enough to touch, startling Sage out of my lap. His embrace is like a trigger to my haze, immediately dissipating it from my mind and giving the world clarity.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He starts, out of breath. "I heard the shouts and the mention that you had been attacked- I wasn't close enough to protect you. Are you hurt?" He rambles as we cling to each other, me because I feel like I will drown if I let go, and him because he was afraid he almost lost me. And he did.