He watched her chest rise and flow as she took each breath, hoping in the next second she would flicker her eyes open and call out his na. He would give anything in the universe for her to wake imdiately.
Rembering the events that transpired in the ballroom, Alistair tried as best he could to piece together what had happened. As soon as the assassins burst through the windows, Alistair only had one thing on his mind. He needed to get Sierra to safety.
It did not take long for it to beco painfully clear that the assassins were there for him. Because of him, everyone else was in danger, especially Sierra. When he finally found her, he first saw her instructing people to leave the ballroom.
While he fought off the assassins coming at him with their swords, he saw her draw her twin swords. Unlike the others who all ran out of the ballroom in terror, she was one of the few who chose to co to his aid.
The royal guards joined in the battle shortly after. He was in the middle of fighting one of the assassins when he heard a distinct conversation.
"Princess Sierra! We’re here on your orders!"
"What did you just say?"
"We’re here on your orders! To assassinate the King!"
That was when their eyes t. He could see the look of horror and dread in her eyes, mixed with another that he had too. Confusion. Sierra didn’t know what was going on. She could not have been the mastermind behind the assassination as the assassin was saying.
mories of all the tis they had shared in the past breezed through his mind at that mont. He searched for potential signs, signs that everything they had experienced together so far was a lie.
No. There was nothing to see as there was none. He trusted his gut. Deep down, he knew the truth. Sierra could not have had anything to do with this. He trusted her. She was innocent. Soone was trying to set her up.
But who?
Even towards the end, she was attempting to get answers out of the assassin. Would a mastermind of an assassination attempt do such a thing?
"It’s a setup, it has to be," he muttered to himself clasping both hands around Sierra’s right hand tightly.
"But Your Majesty, that could’ve been just a misdirect. To draw attention away from her."
"Your Majesty, the evidence again her is mounting."
"King Alistair, you must consider and weigh your options. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgnt!"
In the hour that followed the assassination attempt, after Sierra escaped into the night, Alistair was bombarded by his ministers and the nobles. Each and every one of them wanted him to call for Sierra’s execution for her cris.
He refused every single one of them. When he consulted with Roxine, she agreed with him. Though they had not known her for very long, they were certain Sierra would not have done sothing like this.
It was impossible.
"That’s not her."
Even Princess Myra, despite the advice of her parents, vouched for Sierra’s innocence. She was willing to put her life on the line to guarantee that Sierra could not have been involved.
He wanted to speak to Sierra as soon as possible. He wanted to wrap her in his embrace and take her away, knowing the world would want to call her a king slayer. Even if she took the opportunity to stab him then, he would have loved her the sa.
He would have gladly taken the risk.
But she escaped into the night. He heaved a sigh of relief when he found out they were still unable to find her. But knowing of the wound she had suffered made him worry. He knew she could not have gotten far.
He sent his shadow guards out imdiately to gather any and all information they could find on where she was. They were not to approach her, only deliver the information straight to him.
Through them, he found out that she t with General Leon before he continued on his way back to Cair. The contents of their dialogue were not of a failed assassination, but of a tear-filled goodbye.
The shadow guard who heard everything swore on oath before Alistair that what he said he heard was the truth.
"You made your way back to ," he could hardly believe it.
As soon as word ca through the shadow guards that Sierra seed to be sneaking back into the castle grounds, Alistair left the King’s quarters through the secret passageway. He scoured the grounds himself in secret for any sign of her.
He wanted to use the hounds to track her, to get to her first before the others did but he knew it would only raise too many alarms. Eventually, luck was on his side as he noticed a trail of blood and steps leading to the warehouse.
But he didn’t dare go in. What was he going to say when he saw her then? He knew full well what could happen should they be caught together. It would only be worse for her.
So, Alistair went to Ida instead.
The maid was stunned to see the King in disguise, coming to et her in the middle of the night. She had been interrogated on the matter extensively. The maid was so distraught, she had forgotten all the decorum.
Ida was on her knees and in tears, "Please, Your Majesty! You have to believe . You have to believe in Princess Sierra! She would never do anything to harm you. She loves you! Why would she want to kill you?"
When he told her where Sierra was and what he wanted her to do, she leaped into action imdiately.
At that point, he returned to his quarters. If Sierra was back in the castle, he knew what her next steps might be. If she was to go to trial and fight it out, she would need proof of her innocence.
Of which he had none. Hence he called for an urgent secret eting with a pair of visitors from a distant land who was visiting his Kingdom. That was why he asked Vyrena and Dygo Blackfire for a favor.
Never in a million years did he expect to see Sierra coming through the secret passageway that led straight to his quarters. It did not take long for him to realize she did not have her swords with him and just how bad her injury had gotten over the hours since the incident.
The mont their eyes t, he had forgotten everything else. He only had eyes for her. Alistair was so deep in his thoughts that night that he did not even recall falling asleep.
For the next few days, Alistair refused to et with anyone. He confined himself to his room and made sure Sierra was hidden, just in case soone attempted to enter unexpectedly.
He watched over her day and night.
In the late hours of the third night, Sierra slowly opened her eyes. She could feel an ache spread across her entire body as if she had been hit on every surface of her skin. She was sore and she could barely move.
As her eyes readjusted to her surroundings, she quickly realized she was in a well-lit and decorated room that seed oddly familiar.
’Where am I...’ she wondered to herself as she tried to look around.
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