Chapter 99

MILA

This was not how I wanted to go out. Either this soldier would kill me or assault me and then kill me and either way, it sounded pretty awful. But I was out of options, and at least I’d been able to save that poor woman.

I heard the man cry out in pain, and I opened my eyes. He now had a large, bloody gash on his head, courtesy of a large rock that was now lying beside me on the ground.

I tried to twist my head to see where the rock had come from, but before I could, someone swung at the man with the hilt of his own sword. He went down, cold, tumbling on top of me. I was pressed between his weight and the dusty ground below me.

My savior hauled his limp body off of mine and extended a hand. I reached out, and then froze in shock as I saw who it was.

Isabella stood there, in a loose blouse and leggings, her face streaked with dirt and sweat. For a moment, all I could do was catch my breath. Did she save me from my tormentor only to kill me herself? After all, she was on Charles’ side, and I knew she harbored poisonous feelings for me.

She looked at me for a beat before saying, “I’m here to help with the evacuation.”

That was quite possibly the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. My own jaw was agape.

She sighed and turned her eyes to the ground. “Where haven’t you gotten to yet? It seems like there aren’t that many people down by the river.”

I snapped my mouth shut. It seemed like she was truly here to help, and there was no point in rejecting her.

“I haven’t made it to the north end of town yet,” I finally said. “I imagine there are some people holed up there.”

She nodded.

“There will not be many survivors,” I choked out. “I haven’t been able to save many.”

Isabella’s face darkened. “You’ve done the best you can by yourself. Those soldiers are ruthless. Believe me.”

Something about her tone told me that I really did not want to know what horrors she had witnessed over the last few weeks.

“Let’s go to the north side, then,” she said. I pushed myself to my feet and pointed to the edge of the village.

“Stick to the shadows,” I said. “We’re harder to spot there.”

She followed me to the line of houses and we began to make our way north.

“Mila–” she started. I turned to face her. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry–”

I cut her off. “I don’t want to hear it. If you want to talk after we get these people to safety, then we can talk. But I’m not particularly interested in hearing an apology from you at this moment.”

She bit her lip but said nothing else.

Thankfully, there were not many civilians in the north part of the village. This was clearly the poorer part of town, as evidenced by the lack of looting and soldiers. I could sense people hiding in their houses, trying to wait out the storm.

I turned to Isabella. “Go door-to-door. Tell people to make their way to the docks on the east side of the village. The fleet should be arriving at any moment.”

Isabella took off running for the other side of the street, heading for the first house. I followed suit.

In the span of about fifteen minutes, we were able to spread the word to everyone on the north side. We were lucky Barlow was not any bigger, or we would’ve been in real trouble. Many of the villagers thanked me on their way out, clearly touched by the presence of the princess.

It was an odd thing, to spend my first day amongst the people in the middle of war, but I tried to be as gracious as possible to their compliments.

Isabella jogged over to me as I sent a family of five to the docks, encouraging them to pick up any weapons they could find along the way.

“Is that everyone?” she asked. I glanced around.

“I believe so,” I said. “Doesn’t look like there’s anyone left in these houses. We should make for the docks. I don’t know when the soldiers are coming back and that’s a bet I don’t want to make.”

Isabella’s eyes widened. “You want us to take the boats?”

I shrugged. “Our only other option at this point is a prisoner of war camp that Felix has set up.”

A faraway look crossed her face at the mention of the prisoner camp. Felix had mentioned it last night, and I was the only person outside of his generals who knew its location.

The shouts of approaching men interrupted our silence. I grabbed Isabella’s hand and tugged her behind me as we started to run.

We made it to the shores without much trouble. Thankfully, the thick smoke helped to cover us from sight. The fleet was taking off one by one as each boat was filled. We hurried over the last few yards to reach the riverside, my heart pounding with each footstep.

I was about to climb into the last boat when Isabella fell to her knees, hanging her head.

“I surrender,” she whispered. I stared at her.

“We don’t have time for this,” I said. “The boats need to get out of here.”

“You don’t understand.” She started to cry. “I’ve done such horrible things, Mila, to you and to Felix. I cannot turn back on what I’ve done. I need you to arrest me. You’re the princess now. You can do that.”

“Isabella, I do not need to arrest you at this very moment,” I said, slightly peeved. We could not delay on this evacuation. The timing was already so tight.

“Take me to the prisoner of war camp,” she begged. “Let me be taken in with the rest of the army.”

I knew there was suspicion written all over my face when she added, “This isn’t some sort of trick, Mila. Please. I do not deserve to be evacuated with the rest of these kind people.”

She started to weep now, groveling at my feet. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I believed she was telling the truth. She was not making an attempt to free any traitors, rather, she just wanted to face the consequences for her actions.

I hauled her to her feet. “Let’s go.”

As we made our way towards the forest, I turned to Isabella. Her face was stained with tears, but she had grown quiet.

“Thank you for saving me,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what I would have done without you there.”

Isabella sniffed. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Mila. I’m not asking for the chance to atone. I know I will never be able to make things up to you and Felix.”

I paused in our walk, looking her in the eyes. “Isabella. I can punish you for your actions and still forgive you.”

As soon as the words left my lips, the unthinkable happened. Lady Isabella started to cry.

I was debating giving her a comforting hug when a dragon fell from the sky.