I'm Not Going To Lose Him

My breathing falters when another wave of tremendous pain hits me. "I need to get to him. I need to help him," I say, gritting my teeth. I push myself with some trouble out of my throne and stumble. Siraye quickly steadies me. I give her a thankful smile and walk with a powerful stride past all the people gathered currently in the ballroom.

Some try to stop me, but I don't listen. My mate, husband, and the father of my six-week-old daughter is hurt. I have to save him. I can't lose him as well.

Before I know it, I find myself in the Royal Stables. "Get my horse ready," I order the first stable boy I lay my eyes on.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he says with a quick bow.

Not even a minute later, I sit on my black Friesian horse named Tarebuja — Tara for short — and race out of the stables through the gates separating the castle from Rolyra. I always hated being separated from my people by gates, so when I got crowned Queen, the first thing I did was open them. And I never closed them again.

Tara races over the stone roads of Karmina. We are going fast. So damn fast that I can barely make out my surroundings. I notice people jumping out of the way to make room for me. Tare wants to slow down for a market stall blocking the way. But I urge her to go on and make her jump it. We land safely on the other side, and I urge her to go even faster.

We have to go faster.

Before I know it, we find ourselves galloping over the grasslands' sand paths leading towards the Malsonee Mountains. I scream out when another wave of pain hits me. Tears stream freely down my face, and I have to wrap my arms tightly around Tara's neck to keep myself from falling out of her saddle. Tara seems to go only faster and faster. It's like my scream of pain and desperation for my husband's life is a motive for her to pick up her pace.

Once the pain ebbs away, I grab her reins again and focus on the enormous mountains, maybe fifteen kilometers away. The place where my husband is. The place where I got injured. A life-threatening injury, because I could feel his pain. Something soulmates can only do if the other gets injured so badly they are on the verge of death.

"I'm coming Therion. Please, hold on."

I gaze away from the growing mountains as the sound of more galloping horses fills my ears. I look over my shoulder to see four fully armed knights from Therion and my Royal Guard. They quickly ride beside me. I almost immediately recognize the four knights as the four highest in rank. The Captain of the Guard and my best friend Kayol came galloping on my right.

His dark skin glimmers with sweat from the scorching midday sun. His narrow, labradorite-colored eyes scan every part of my body, searching for any physical injuries. Injuries I don't have. His intense gaze finds mine again, and he nods at me. I nod back and glance forward again.

"We will assist and protect you, Your Majesty," Clarissa, the Undercaptain of the Guard says while riding at my left. I give her a quick smile, before urging Tarabuja to go as fast as she possibly can.

In no time, we arrive at the foot of the enormous mountains that separate the entire east side of Rolyra from the rest of it. I gasp, and his name leaves my lips in a desperate scream when my eye lands on him lying there between the corpses of the knights he brought with him on this stupid quest of him. Tears stream down my face. I jump off my horse and try to make my way over to my barely breathing husband.

Kayol grabs my arm and pulls me back. I trash around in his tight hold, trying to break free, but his grip on me only tightened.

I manage to spin myself around, so I am facing him. All with the intention of yelling straight into his face. But when I notice that his concentrated glare is scanning our surroundings, I keep quiet and stop struggling to break free. I take a few deep breaths and turn around again. This time taking Kayol as an example. As far as we know, the person responsible for the catastrophe in front of our eyes can still be around. Lurking in the shadows.

When Kayol convinces himself that I'm not going to do anything stupid, he lets go of my arm and takes a cautious step towards my husband, and the fallen knights spread around him. I gagged slightly from the horrendous wounds some of them had suffered. Lose limbs are scattered over the ground.

I take a shaking breath and sprint past Kayol, jumping over the corpses of the fallen ones to get to my husband. I throw myself on my knees beside him, fully crying now. I can't care less that I ruined my favorite dress with this action. The thick blood and other body fluids from my husband, and the six knights surrounding him absorb in the baby blue fabric.

A sob leaves my lips as I pull my unconscious mate onto my lap. His face is ashen and covered in blood. His nose is broken, his lip cut and a piece of his ear is missing. My gaze travels further down. Even more tears stream down my cheeks when my eye landed on the damage done to his torso. He has three long, thick, and deep cuts beginning at his right shoulder and ending at his left hip. The cuts almost look like claw marks. But they can't be. There is no creature big enough to cause all this damage.

I sniff my nose and quickly rip a big piece of my dress to bandage his torso to try and keep him from bleeding dry. I can't lose him. I need him with me. I can't do this without him. I need him. Elin needs her Dad. We can't lose him.

I'm not going to lose him.