Page 110 of Rise of a Fallen Man

The fucking sleeping potion. It’d been two days since they shot me in the back with the crossbow bolt laced with the potion during my arrest on the forest path. But once it’d entered my bloodstream, the aftereffects had been taking forever to wear off.

Another guard pointed a crossbow at my head.

“I said stay back.” Ari lunged forward and slashed at the woman’s arm, drawing blood.

My mouth fell open in shock.

Was it the same princess who had so adamantly claimed she had no aptitude for weapons?

The guard groaned. Her injured arm jerked to the side. Her weakened fingers released the bolt. It missed my head and embedded into the shoulder of another guard. Both guards then stomped on their feet unsteadily before crashing down to the floor.

“Is there a sleeping potion on your dagger too, Princess?” I staggered to my feet.

She shrugged a shoulder, looking focused and tense. “Beat them at their own game.”

Sleeping potion was a nasty thing. They tried to give me some with tea that morning. Once I’d realized what it was, I damped it out when no one was looking. I was glad I didn’t drink it, finally finding my footing now.

When two other guards trained their weapons on Ari, a hot bolt of anger shot through me. They could do whatever they wished to me, but how dared they put her in danger?

“Not the princess!” the queen shouted.

The councilors gasped.

I grabbed the arm of a guard so hard, she spun, sending her crossbow bolt up into the ceiling. Wrapping my other arm around the second guard, I pressed her hands to her torso and bent her over, her bolt hitting one of the marble petals of the rose on the floor.

“Guards!” The Head Councilor yelled at the top of her lungs.

The doors to the throne room swung open, and an entire army of guards poured in. Most women had crossbows, but seemed confused where to shoot.

“Ari!” the queen screamed in panic, running across the floor to her daughter, but the guards separated her from us. “Don’t shoot the princess!” she yelled at the guards.

“Get away from him!” Ari held out the dagger, protecting me. “This is not a trial. It’s a joke. You just can’t wait to be rid of him. But he’s not an inconvenience to be swept away and forgotten. He’s a person. You can’t erase him. I won’t let you.”

Her hand trembled slightly. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but her voice came loud and firm.

The guards formed a semicircle in front of us, their potion-laced weapons aimed to kill.

Lady Wal craned her neck, peeking over the shoulders of the guards.

“Your Highness, it’s such a foolish notion on your part. He isn’t worth all this aggravation.”

“He’s worth everything,” Ari replied adamantly.

I gently moved her behind me. The two of us retreated to the left, toward the frame shrouded in black velvet on the wall. There was nowhere to retreat any further.

Hugging my waist with one arm, Ari held the dagger in her other hand. She was ready to fight for me. She’d already attacked a guard. But if she actually killed someone, I feared, even the queen could not protect her from the consequences.

“I’ll take it, sweetheart.” I freed the blade from her trembling fingers.

I’d fight my own battle. Ari had already given me more than anyone could. She made my life worth fighting for.

“Salas...” She wrapped her arms around me. Her body was shaking. Her eyes were open wide in horror. Tears streamed down her face.

“You’ll be alright,” I promised.

She’d be safe, even if that was the last thing I did in this world. My crimes were mine to answer for. She was innocent.

“Do you trust me?” she asked unexpectedly.

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