Page 2 of A Valiant Prince

As I run toward the sound of her voice, I begin to make out her figure in the distance. There’s fire everywhere. Debris rains down from the ceiling, and I narrowly miss it. I’m momentarily confused as I approach her, she’s not looking in her father’s room, but inside my father’s room.

“Anna!” I call out as I close in on her.

She turns slowly, and just as she sees me, there’s a roar of fire, a cracking in the ceiling above her, and then I don’t see her.

“Anna!” I scream, sprinting as fast as I can, choking on the smoke that I inhale instead of oxygen.

There are so many flames. I fall to the ground and begin crawling. I can see a beam has fallen, and I jump over it. That’s when I see her. Her arm is under the beam, and she’s on the ground, pieces of ceiling around her, on her. I don’t even think as I start removing burning debris from on top of her. They say that people have superhuman strength when adrenaline pumps through their bodies in times of emergency. This is the only explanation of how I am able to push a giant wooden beam off Anna.

I pick her up in my arms and turn. Then I see my father. King Michael supports him and the two are stumbling toward the door.

“We have to go!” I yell to them. “This wing is going to collapse!”

“Go!” King Michael yells as his eyes focus on Anna. “Get her out of here.”

Anna stirs in my arms. “Lara,” she manages.

“What?” I ask, shaking her a bit as her eyes close again.

“Lara,” she says again and then promptly passes out in my arms.

“Where’s Lara?” I yell at King Michael.

“I don’t know!” he yells back. “Go!” he screams again. I take off running away from the fire with Anna in my arms. There are firemen, guards, and staff running everywhere. It is a scene of complete chaos.

I make it down the stairs and find firefighters coming toward us. One of them stops.

“Is she injured?” he says.

“Yes, a beam fell,” I say. “The kings are still up there.”

“Are you OK?” he asks. I nod.

The firefighter radios something and nods. “Get her out front. There are ambulances waiting,” he says and takes off running up the stairs.

I hurry past him. The air outside almost hurts to breathe as I make my way toward the ambulances in the drive. A medic meets me and helps me to get Anna on a stretcher.

“What happened?” he asks as he begins taking her vitals.

“A beam fell on her arm,” I say.

He looks at her arm. It’s bloody and bruised.

“I think she hit her head when she fell,” I say.

“OK, we need to get her to the hospital,” he says.

“I’m coming with you,” I reply.

“Are you family?” he asks.

“Yes,” I answer, not even giving it a thought.

I climb in beside her as he shuts the doors. Out of the back window, I can see Auggie, Chris, and Pete running toward the ambulance, their faces white, their eyes wide.

Anna only stirs briefly in the ambulance as a medic puts an oxygen mask on her face. It takes all my willpower not to hold her in my arms as the medic continues to work on her.

Once we arrive at the emergency room, a nurse escorts me to a private waiting area.

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