This love is like a curse (45)
As soon as the princess finished speaking, a quiet, hissing laugh escaped the prince’s lips.
“That’s how it is...” he drawled. “Bringing the body of this trash to the empress is also not bad.”
Just the thought of this sight seemed to give him a strange pleasure - his grin only intensified. He put his hand on Sir Siekan's shoulder and whispered ominously:
- Okay. Since you need it so much, I won’t interfere. Look for this girl, even rush through the mountains until the morning.
He slapped the knight hard on the shoulder, turned and walked away towards the chaotic camp. The princess followed her brother, briefly and discreetly saying to the groom:
— Тогда прошу, позаботьтесь о ней.
* * *
As soon as the members of the imperial family left, the group immediately moved north.
Edric clutched a torch in his hand, making his way through the darkness that covered the forest. The thought that the wyvern's traces could disappear in just a few minutes of altercation tormented him with serious anxiety.
- Be careful. Otherwise, you yourself will slide into the gorge,” whispered a knight of the highest rank, Sir Theorik Hart, who was walking nearby, with alarm in his voice.
Edric did not answer, only nodded silently, raising the torch to illuminate the uneven path. The dim light revealed straight pine trees, between which stood steep slopes and sharp rocks.
“Right here,” he pointed to the steep descent.
His commander, without saying a word, came closer, like a shadow. Edric stepped aside, giving him room to see. The longboat illuminated the bottom of the gorge for a moment, then pulled out a chain with a hook from his belt and, securing it in a crevice of the rock, jumped down an almost vertical slope.
Once he was sure that he had landed safely, Edric followed him, clutching the torch tightly in his hand.
Fortunately, the gorge was not too deep. Carefully walking along the stones protruding from the ground, Edric reached the bottom and, raising the torch, gave a signal to the rest of the knights. One by one they began to descend after him.
While the others slowly descended, Edric looked around.
It seems that the wyvern's impact on the cliff caused a strong collapse - stones and piles of earth were strewn everywhere. It will take a lot of time to comb through all the rubble.
Peering impatiently into the pitch darkness, he jumped over a large boulder and headed along the winding path. Soon his gaze caught on a black figure lying near a collapsed rock mass.
He brought the torchlight closer to her.
“...Looks like they found it.”
One of the monster's wings was charred, probably from a fire spell. The wyvern's body lay between the stones, upside down and immobilized.
Fearing that somewhere under this carcass the princess might be, Edric carefully examined the surroundings. And suddenly in the distance I noticed another black figure.
Bringing the torch closer, he saw that Longboat was standing by a large stone. Edric ran towards him:
- Commander! Did you find anything...?
He stopped mid-sentence, noticing a pale, exhausted female body at the commander’s feet.
The weak light of the torch flickered, illuminating her pale face and disheveled hair. Staring at her, Edric noticed the stones and cobblestones covering her body and sighed heavily.
He knew that there was almost no chance of finding her alive. There was hope - weak, almost illusory. But when he saw it with his own eyes, the blood in his veins froze.
Shuddering, he slowly came closer. The upper body looked almost intact, but the legs... were completely broken.
The left leg, crushed by a huge boulder, was twisted in an unnatural direction. Edric carefully moved one of the stones - and immediately a pile of stones collapsed.
He winced with annoyance and was about to call for help when he suddenly raised his head and went cold.
The longboat stood motionless, like a statue, and looked at the girl’s body with an empty, impassive face. Not the slightest emotion. This look seemed frighteningly inhuman.
Edric knew that there was a long-standing feud between him and the second princess. But they knew each other since childhood... How can he be so indifferent, looking at her now?
- What are you doing?! Help! - he shouted in despair.
However, Longboat never moved.
Edric, looking at him with a face twisted with indignation, jumped to his feet and decided to try to move the stones on his own. He placed both hands on the boulder that was crushing her legs and began to push it. And then a faint, hoarse sound came from below, as if from a small animal suffocating.
Edric leaned forward sharply.
Under the light of the torch, he noticed how the woman’s pale face was barely noticeably distorted. For a moment his legs gave way.
He exhaled forcefully from the rush of relief and shouted:
- She's alive! She's still breathing!
As if in response to his words, her thin eyelids fluttered, revealing dull, unfocused eyes beneath them. Even with the naked eye it was clear that she was in a semi-conscious state.
Edric hastily straightened up. It was necessary to immediately call a healer and cast a healing spell.
He reached for the torch he had previously left on the ground to call out to the knights who were combing the area. At that moment, he saw a vague semblance of a smile appear on the woman’s deathly white face.
Edric froze, unable to move. A barely audible whisper escaped from cracked lips covered in blood.
- Bar... cas...
He opened his eyes in surprise when he heard her lips pronounce this name with a plea. And at that same moment the man, who had previously stood like a stone statue, slowly bent over her.
Seeing his face, the woman moved weakly. A glimmer appeared in her blurred gaze - as if a ray of salvation had finally appeared in the abyss in front of her.
- I... knew... I knew that you would come... to save me...
As her eyelashes fluttered and her eyes narrowed slightly, tears slowly rolled down her pale cheek. They soaked her face, washing away dust and blood.
A fiery reflection danced on the man’s indifferent face, illuminating his empty, lifeless eyes. But despite this light, he still seemed shrouded in darkness, as if he was somewhere far away, in a deep, deep hole.
Edric, without knowing why, held his breath. He mechanically put his hand on Barkas's shoulder.
- Are you... Are you okay?
Longboat slowly raised his head and looked at him. His handsome brow furrowed slightly. The expression was as if he did not understand why he was being asked such a question.
Edric himself didn’t know why he asked this.
Почему ему показалось, что он не в порядке?
He continued to look at this always calm face, trying to catch even the slightest difference from the usual, when suddenly hurried steps were heard somewhere nearby.
Awakening from his confusion, Edric sharply raised the torch. Seeing his signal, several knights hurried towards them.