The Prince and the Slave: Book Three

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

As William opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he was blind, or at least partially. The very air around him was dark and swirling, the occasional burst of blurring light flashing in his peripheral vision. After a few moment's he noticed that he wasn't blind, the swirling darkness caused by the evening sky, and the swirling caused by hazy, indistinct figures moving around him.

He slowly blinked his eyes, the action taking a surprising amount of effort, but helping to clear his foggy vision, the hazy shapes soon taking on solid form.

He tried to sit up, but as soon he even tensed his muscles a pain worse than anything he had ever experienced sliced through his body, causing him wince sharply.

"William! You're awake! Thank god!"

William felt the wind knocked out of him as Abey flung herself onto him, her arms wrapping around her neck and her head burying into his shoulder. He tried to laugh but only managed a gasp before he winced again, the pain from his side refusing to be ignored.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" Abey whispered in horror, flying back and covering her mouth with her hands.

William didn't say anything, but smiled, reaching out and taking on of her hands, bringing it to his lips before lacing his fingers with hers and laying it on his chest, sighing happily.

He turned to look at her properly, now that his vision was properly restored, taking in her face with a mixture of terror and awe.

Shadows played across her face as she was illuminated by the crackling fire behind her, but it did little to disguise the huge purple mark covering her right temple, the dark bruise reaching across to her eye, which luckily was no longer swelled and puffy, but still showed the telltale signs. Her chin was also badly bruised where she had been kicked, and her lips were still slightly swollen, a cut obvious on the bottom half.

William lifted up his spare hand and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, ignoring the painful complaints of his body. He looked at her in wonder, despite everything she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, grinning at him as she leant her cheek into his hand, her eyes full of love as they bored into his own.

"Abey, I-"

"Oh, so I see he's awake then." The brisk voice of a woman cut through his words, and he lay back down to look up at the figure now stood next to Abey, who was kneeling next to him.

"Just now." She said, looking up at the woman, who nodded and smiled.

"Ah, sleeping beauty has arisen it seems." Another female voice interjected, as a young woman came and sat next to Abey, cocking her head to the side to study him better.

"How long...?" William began, frowning, his mind foggy and confused.

"Two days now." The older woman said, "Never left you're side had this one." She added with a smile, placing a hand on Abey's shoulders.

"But where...where am I?" He frowned deeper, only just taking in his surroundings properly. He was lying on a bench or log of some kind, next to a huge campfire, surrounded by people he didn't know.

He struggled to fight through his foggy mind, trying to find the last things he remembered. 'A fight...the arrow...Abey...Jameson...'

"Jameson!" He suddenly cried, wincing again as he tried to shoot up, Abey gently pushing him back down.

"It's alright, he's gone." She reassured him, his eyes still full of panic. "Those arrows that were being shot at us? Turns out it was Bandits. They'd already told him to leave the forest and they scared him off. He went running with his tail between his legs." She explained breathlessly, a huge smile on her face.