Scarlett (Second Edition) by Karima Saad Usman novel Chapter 218

Chapter 70 Chapter 70: I am here, Sire

Verbena

“Can you hear anything, Leaf?” I asked, my voice tight with anguish. Poppy paced from one end of the room to the other, her nails clicking against the floor.

“Nothing, my lady. The door will not open. The warrior lady qust have set some kind of protection.

“God have mercy,” I whispered.

The main table stood in the center of the antechamber, cleared and waiting. Everything was ready when they brought the prince.

Where were Doris and Moss?

It felt as though we were alone in the world.

Suddenly, Poppy barked sharply and urgently toward the window. I leaned forward and saw them.

They are coming, my lady!” Leaf cried.

I caught a glimpse of Nocturno, led by Briar, and a body wrapped in a dark cloak.

“No…no, it can’t be,” I breathed, trembling as the world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

“There are footsteps!” Leaf’s voice broke through my shock.

He could not be dead.

He couldn’t be.

Within minutes, my chamber door burst open and slammed against the wall with such force that it made me spin around. I rushed forward and found Briar in the doorway. Her cloak had slipped aside to reveal a drenched, heavy body hanging limp and unresisting in her arms.

“No… Sire…

He was bare-chested, and his skin was so pale that it resembled marble. Dark stains of blood marred his skin and continued to spread. Arrows protruded

conscious

cious effort. from his torso, side, and shoulder. His chest rose only faintly and erratically, as though each breath required a terrible and

I stood frozen, unable to breathe.

commanded, her voice trembling despite her efforts to remain composed.

aid us!

the healers rushed in behind her.

9:24 am P P P P

Chapter 70 Chapter 70: I am here. Sire

Thaos erupted: hands reached out, glass vials clinked, and cloaks swept the floor. They laid the young prince on the central table. As they did so, River released a low, nearly inaudible groan that pierced me like a blade.

“He’s freezing.”

“He’s lost too much blood.”

“What happened? Who did this to him?”

Briar clenched her jaw as she stared at the prince’s battered body. “I found him near the stream. He was unconscious. He must have fallen into the water after being struck. The current carried him and likely saved his life.”

I thought the water had brought him home, torn between relief and dread. It brought him here to die or to five, and I did not know which fate was more

likely.

I felt his pain seep into me as if an invisible thread bound our bodies together, tightening with each labored breath he took. He did not merely look

wounded; he looked like a man torn from the threshold of death and hurled back into the world without mercy.

The healers worked swiftly. They snapped the arrow shaft and pulled the head free with a controlled motion. Blood welled up at once, thick and dark.

“Stop the bleeding!”

“Apply pressure here.”

“More bandages!”

River arched suddenly, a ragged cry tearing from his throat. It was so raw with agony that my knees nearly gave way. His body convulsed violently, and for a terrible instant, I thought he would break apart on the table.

“Bring more water, Verbena!” Briar called.

I ran and returned at once. By then, they had stripped off his ruined, sodden trousers and wrapped him in a blanket. That was when I saw his feet. They were torn and blistered, as though he had run barefoot for miles. The horror of what he had endured in the forest was almost unbearable.

It was my fault. For saving me and mine. I wouldn’t survive. Nor Doris, Leaf, or Poppy.

“He will not keep still!” one healer shouted.

More footsteps approached. The prophet entered, his face stricken.

“Moss!” He threw himself forward to help restrain River, bracing him against the spasms with all his strength.

“Where were you?” Briar demanded, not looking away from the prince.

“Making inquiries,” he answered too quickly.

Doris slipped in behind him, her hair disheveled and her clothing askew. They did not meet each other’s eyes. Something was wrong with them, but I didn’t have the strength to figure it out.

Doris, fetch the maids, I need more water, every drop you can find. Send for an antidote, too,” Briar ordered.

9:24 am

PP

P

Chapter 70 Chapter 70: I am here. Sire

My cousin took in the scene for a moment before fleeing

River groaned again, low and fractured. I felt utterly helpless, as though I were watching a storm tear through the world, unable to stop it.

“My power can’t calm him,” Briar said in frustration. He doesn’t respond.”

Then, he began to move. His hand lifted clumsily and trembled as if searching through darkness. His lips parted with effort.

“Where is…?” he murmured in a broken voice. “Where is she…?”

I didn’t understand what was happening, only that my feet were carrying me toward him. As if guided by something stronger than myself, I reached for his hand. It was cold and grimy, streaked with dried blood and river water. When my fingers closed around his, I felt his body relax. He exhaled, and the tension began to ebb.

Briar stared at me in astonishment.

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