To Bewitch a Devil

“Neera, quickly!”, he said to her. Neera allowed him to help her mount the horse, and he jumped in after her. Behind them, the hooves drew even closer. The coachman took the other horse, and Axel edged on the horse with the reins, causing the horse to dart at a maddening speed.

Neera’s hair came loose, and with her good hand, she pulled it away from Axel’s face as she gritted her teeth, the pain from her hand becoming unbearable. Axel had good horsemanship, so he was able to swiftly move through people and houses as they entered the town. His coachman, who was by their side at first, was nowhere in sight anymore.

“By the order of the King, stop!” Neera heard from behind. They were close, and she only counted on luck to escape them now. She could hear the hooves of their horses, but just before Axel made the next turn, they overtook them. Axel’s horse, disoriented from the sudden interruption, threw its front legs in the air, causing Axel and Neera to slide off its back.

Neera screamed, but Axel didn’t let go of her, cushioning her fall to the ground. As she raised her head, she saw they were surrounded.

A crowd was gathering around them. One of the guards, the one that stopped them, leaped off his horse. Axel hid Neera behind him as he approached them.

“We have to ask you to follow us back to the castle, my Lord,” the guard said.

“The King has no use of both of us,” Axel shot at him. “Let us go, and I will take the girl to safety. Her life is the price if she is to remain in that castle.”

There was no use trying to reason with the King’s guards, Neera knew that firsthand. They only obeyed the King’s instructions and nothing more.

.....

A small crowd of people was already gathering around them. Neera looked down at her arm, and she could not tell if it was still bleeding. The formerly grey cloth had turned completely red. Just looking at the amount of blood she was losing made her feel dizzy, and Axel still had her protected behind his back.

“We are only following the King’s orders, my Lord.”, the guard said. He looked at his fellow guards, and with a single nod of his head, the other guards moved towards them. They pulled Axel away from Neera, and he struggled against their hold.

“Get your hands off of me,” Axel commanded.

Neera didn’t need to struggle. There was no point in doing so. She allowed the guard to mount her upon his horse, and Axel, after shoving one of the guards away, mounted his horse with a guard behind him. Neera wanted to apologize to Axel for putting him through so much already. He had tried so hard to get them away.

The ride back was fast but gentler. The horses arrived back in the castle, and when Neera was carried off the horse, her legs could barely carry her weight. She swayed as she clutched unto her arm, but weakness overpowered her and her legs gave way.

She waited for the impact with the ground; but she was supported by a strong pair of arms. Neera looked up, and she was met by the all too familiar golden eyes. She didn’t resist when he carried her, and Zavian, to his guard, said, “Get the doctor to my chambers. Now.”

Zavian turned to Axel, his rage multiplying at the sight of him. “And you. You are not leaving this castle grounds anytime soon. I swear if anything happens to her, you will wish you weren’t alive.”

“Your rage should be directed at your sister, not me, your Majesty,” Axel said. “All I did was try to take her away from a life in which she is in constant danger,” Axel spoke, fuming. He was this close to getting her away from here, away from this mess. Just looking at her helplessly in the arms of the king made his blood boil.

Zavian gritted his teeth at Axel’s words, but did not want to show his anger; so he retorted;

“And to your murderous sister?” Zavian asked him. He didn’t wait for a reply from Axel. He carried Neera all the way to his room, and with the fragility one would handle the most precious of gems, he laid her on his bed and took off the bloodied cloth on her arm.

“Axel saved me,” she said, her voice weak. “Don’t punish him, please.”

“I won’t,” Zavian said. “Don’t talk anymore. Let the doctor come and clean up your wounds. It is bad, Neera.”

Neera didn’t want to see how bad it was. Instead, she asked, “Why?”

“I couldn’t marry anyone else;” Zavian answered, knowing the question she was asking. “I just couldn’t.”

“It is impossible”, Neera said, tears pooling in her eyes and sliding down to the pillow on which she lay. “Impossible, your Majesty.”

...

The Doctor arrived just in the nick of time. He set to work immediately, muttering worrying concerns over the wounds. Zavian stepped out, allowing him to do his work.

His steps thundered with purpose, and whoever saw him knew better to step out of his way. He found the person of his target, Freya, in the throne room, and she was speaking with a guard and she paused at the sight of her brother.

“Out!”, Zavian ordered the guard. It took the King every ounce of self-control not to have his hand around his sister’s neck. Freya was unshaken and waited patiently for her brother to speak.

“You intended to kill her again, “, Zavian said in a low, dangerous voice. Freya raised her head, unrepentant.