The weight of the crown

Chapter 16

I was riding as fast as I could toward the palace as I tried not to fall behind the slippery earth.

During the ride, I almost bumped into trees or thorny bushes, maybe I could ride, but I was bad at navigating, especially in the dark when only the moon lit the road.

When I saw the palace I increased my speed until I reached the point where the guards stood. They hurried toward us and the moment they saw William, they helped me get him off the horse.

They led him to the clinic while I ran to the nurses' rooms and woke up a few of them to help me. When I tried to explain what had happened, I didn't really succeed, because I said a sequence of incomprehensible sentences.

We arrived to William and I saw him lying on one of the hospital beds beside a table with all sorts of strange bandages or liquids.

"I'll go and call your father," I told him.

He looked so pale, I was not at all sure if he was conscious and the color of the blood made me feel a little sick. I felt the palm of his hand clutching my arm in order to stop me.

Despite his condition, he held my arm tightly, as if he were holding on to me with his last strength.

"Don't do that," he said quietly as I saw one of the nurses smear a yellow liquid on a piece of cloth.

"Why? He must know, and also my parents," I insisted, but he didn't leave my arm. He looked at me with tired but determined eyes.

"If you tell my father, he will want to start a war against Scotland, it will create chaos between the two countries," he began to explain as they sterilized the incision on his stomach. He bit his lips and held my arm harder.

"You must try to rest ,your majesty," said one of the nurses as she laid a wet cloth on his forehead.

"Alexandra" I heard him say, and I was surprised to find out how much I loved the way he said my name, "Promise me you won't say anything"

"William, this isn't a good idea. Someone needs to take care of you. Your father needs to know what happened to you." I insisted when I saw how slowly he closed his eyes.

"You take care of me" he whispered softly so I could barely hear what he said, While two nurses handle the cut, one of them wraps his stomach in cloth to stop the bleeding, while the other throws the dirty cloth to the side.

Another nurse made sure to disinfect the cuts on his neck and face.

It seems that despite the efforts of the nurses, his condition did not improve, the incision was still deep and he didn't stop bleeding.

Suddenly I saw the door open and Thomas came into the room, when you could clearly see that he had just awakened, his blond hair was messy, and his blue eyes scanned the room with pressure and speed until he noticed me and William.

"Ally, what happened?" He asked when he saw me sitting while the nurses worked nonstop. I couldn't answer, just shook my head, felt as if I could not move.

"Come on," he said quietly, helping me up.

"I don't want to leave him alone, I have to stay," I whispered quietly but Thomas pulled me slowly out of the room,

"And you'll be with him, but they have to take care of him now," he continued as I tried to look into the room, but the door was already closed.

"Thomas, you don't understand, it's my fault, it's all my fault," I said, and I felt tears slowly falling down my cheeks. Thomas sighed and came over to hug me and bring me closer to him.

"No matter what happened, it's not your fault," he said, trying to console me, but I shook my head.

"I did something foolish, I thought I could stand up against Scotland, but I could not, and because of me William is wounded," I whispered quietly.

If I stayed in the palace, if I were to think about things again, if...

"Ally, please talk more clearly, what did you do?" He asked as he continued to stroke my back slowly.

"The Scots threatened me , to hurt my loved ones, so I went to their camp. I thought I could stand up to the Prince of Scotland, but he tried to hurt me, and instead of hurting me, William was wounded, I should have known my plan would fail." I muttered the last sentence quietly and played with my fingers.

"I can't believe you did it," Thomas muttered quietly after a few minutes.

"I know, it was stupid and irresponsible," I went on, putting my hand on my forehead, feeling all the adrenaline in my body just disappear, leaving me exhausted.

"I admit that this is one of the most reckless things you have done," he said, and I kept looking at my fingers, unable to look at his face, he must be judging me now, he would run to tell Father what had happened to think about what to do with me.

"But also one of the most courageous things you did," he continued, and I looked up at him in amazement, what did he say now?

"Yes, it was a stupid thing, but you acted out of your instincts and as a future king, I tell you that you have to know how to trust yourself, even if your decision does not make sense to others"

"But William .."

"Everything will be all right," Thomas replied calmly, hoping he was right, but there was nothing I could do but wait now.

I waited outside the room while each of the other nurses joined the room. Thomas assured me that he would not tell what had happened to anyone, and so did the nurses and the guards.

I didn't believe I was willing to lie about this, but I knew within myself that William was right, war was the last thing England needed at the moment.

It was several hours before I kept pacing back and forth outside the room until one of the nurses left the room.

Her hair was pulled up and there were stains of blood on her clothes. Her eyes looked at me with tenderness and tolerance.

"You can enter your majesty," she said quietly, waiting for me to enter the little room.

The room was more orderly now, the window was open and I could see from it the sky, which I figured would soon be sunrise.

Most of the nurses left the room, while one was left to arrange the fabrics in the closet, and then she left the room carrying bandages.

I moved toward William, saw that his stomach was wrapped in clean white cloth. On his forehead was a wet cloth that was apparently meant to lower his body temperature. Several pillows lay under his head and a blanket covered his body.

I sat down beside his bed and watched him slowly open his eyes and look at me.

"Why did you do that, William? Why did you come after me?" I asked quietly and felt another tear go down my cheek.

"I was on my way to my room, but then I ran into the French ambassador, who told me he saw you in the stables, that you went out with your horse," He said and looked at me.

"I was curious to know where you were going, especially at such a late hour, so I followed the horse's tracks until I finally reached the area where all the Scots were staying. "He went on and I looked at him intently, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"I thought that you might be there, but I did not really know why, I hit the two guards and before I went in I heard voices and a moment later, You went out, fought against the Prince "

"It's all my fault, because of me you got hurt like that," I said as guilt filled me again. He put his hand on mine and I looked up at him.

"Don't say that, I'm fine now, you're okay now, and that's the most important thing"

"I didn't go there because the prince threatened me, and now he's probably thinking about a new plan, he won't stop until he hurts me and England"

"I won't let it happen, he will not hurt you," William said, but I took my hand away from him.

"I can't let you endanger yourself like that, especially not for me," I said, feeling the tears continue to fall one after the other. "You have to stay away from me," I said.

"You need much more than a little cut to keep me away," he said when a small smile appeared on his face.

" You think it's funny?" I asked earnestly, wiping away the tears that continued down my cheeks.

"Why did you not run away when you could? Why didn't you let me fight alone?" I continued to ask and saw that the smile had fallen from his face.

"You think you could handle the prince alone?" He asked and I looked at him hurt.

"You think I'm too weak to face him?"

"Alexandra, it's not what I meant-" he began, but the sound of a door opening made the two of us turn. Laura walked into the room and hurried toward her brother and hugged him quickly. Her fair hair looked almost glamorous and her pink dress flattered her skin.

"I came as soon as I heard, why did not you tell me you went walking alone at night, it's dangerous," she said as she hugged William.

"Yes, I really don't know what I was thinking," I replied quietly, and before any of them could say another word, I left the room and slammed the door behind me.