"Lexi, if it hurts you that much, than drop the spell," said JC concerned. "I guess you're right." She sat up and began to slowly recite the breaking spell. She finished and the pain flushed into her ankle and she almost screamed. She bit her lip so hard that blood appeared.
"Alex!" said JC as he saw the pain in her eyes. He looked around, wondering how he was going to get her out without all of these people noticing. "What happened?" asked Dei and Arianna as they rushed up to them. "It's her ankle," explained JC. "She had a spell on it and she just took it off, I guess somehow it got worse." They looked at her and she slumped forward, her head resting on JC's shoulder. "We have to get her out of here."
"We have to create a diversion," said Ana as she came up, overhearing their conversation. "I can distract mother and father, but what about the rest of the court?"
"Um, what if the guys did something for entertainment?" suggested Arianna. "Then they would pay attention to them."
"What about a duel?" asked Dei. "Not one in all seriousness, but one to have fun with."
"That could work." An evil grin came across Ana's face. "Let's have Justin and Chris fight. That would be certainly be entertainment!"
"Good idea!" They quickly found them and told them about the situation. They nodded and quickly talked about how they were going to do this. Meanwhile, Alex started crying as she buried her face in JC's shoulder.
He rubbed her back soothingly. "Just another minute and then we'll get out of here." Chris suddenly jumped onto a table and shouted, "Prince Justin doesn't believe that I could take him!"
Justin said just as loudly, "I didn't say that, I just said that you wouldn't win."
"Well, than let's have a match. Right here, right now."
"That is perfectly fine by me." They drew their swords and got into position as many vied for a good view. As they began to make passes at each other, JC quickly picked up Alex and slid out of the room.
He jogged down the hall and Dei and Lance appeared. JC brought Alex to the medical wing and Markus immediately started on her ankle. JC held her hand as Markus worked. "Well, somehow, her ankle got worse. It's broken in two places and she has a ripped tendon. This will take a while to heal unless we get one of the sorcerers to perform a healing spell. I'm going to go talk to His Majesty." He turned and walked out of the room.
"This isn't good," said Dei.
"No kidding," replied Lance. Dei sighed and Lance put his arm around her. She looked up at him thankfully and rested her head on his shoulder. JC just sat on the bed, still holding her hand.
"Lexi," he whispered. She didn't open her eyes. She had fallen unconscious due to the pain. He sighed and sat down on the floor with his back to the bed and closed his eyes. "We....should....stop....soon," gasped Chris. He and Justin had continued to fight in their mock duel. "Not....until....I...win," he replied. Both continued to jab and parry, swing and block with their swords. Eventually they came body to body with one another, both blades locked together. "Truce?" asked Chris. "Truce," replied Justin. They broke away and saluted one another with their swords.
"Very good!" shouted Roald. Everyone returned to their activities as Markus came to talk to the king. The guys watched curiously as he paled. "Uh oh," they muttered. Roald burst into the room, startling JC out of his light doze and making him jump up. "Alex!" he shouted. When she didn't move, the color flushed from his face. "Your Majesty, she is fine," explained JC. "She just passed out from the pain. She should be awake later on."
"You're sure about this?" Roald questioned, starring at his daughter. JC nodded. "Okay then. I have to get back. I'm trusting you to watch her Joshua." He nodded as the king left the room.
JC sighed again and sat back down. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. Then he tried to fall asleep one more time, her hand tightly clasped within his own.
Alex woke up with a throbbing pain in her ankle, though it was less than before. She sighed and tried to reach up with her hands to rub her eyes. When she couldn't move one of her hands, she looked down to see that it was tightly held within JC's hand. She smiled. Carefully, unclasping her hand, she pushed herself up until she was sitting. She closed her eyes and reached down, running her fingers through JC's hair. Justin was about to walk into the room, when he saw them. He smiled and quietly walked back down the corridor where Char was talking with Arianna.
"I thought you were going to go see Alex and JC," she said.
"I was, but I wasn't going to disturb them."
"Disturb them?" asked Arianna. She turned and walked down the hall toward the room and peeked inside. A broad grin spread across her face as she turned back to them. She chuckled and said, "Let's get back." They nodded and walked back down the hall. JC woke up and yawned. He turned his head to look up at Alex and found her looking at him. "Nice nap?" she questioned, smiling. He chuckled. "You can say that. Your father stormed in here at one point and almost lost it. By the way, your ankle is broken in two places and you ripped a tendon."
"Geez, think I can do anymore damage?" she asked.
"I don't think so. But I think Markus said he was going to get one of the sorcerers to try and heal you, otherwise you're going to be off your feet for a while."
"Yippee," she muttered sarcastically. "I should just tell him I can do it myself."
"And blow your cover? Do you know how mad your parents would be if they found out that you aren't the perfect princess that they always thought you were?"
"Oh, I can't even imagine how mad they would be." A thoughtful look came over her face. "You know, now that we know where your family is, we should go and visit them."
JC looked at her astonished. "See...see my family?" Alex nodded. "You could finally meet them. I mean, you might even have brothers and sisters."
JC's mind began working overtime. He could. He could see his family. "That would be great." Alex smiled. "Then I'll go talk to father about it."
"Not until you're healed," said Markus walking into the room with the chief healer Edmund behind him. "Edmund will place a healing spell on your ankle, so that it will be mended shortly." Alex groaned and rolled her eyes. "JC, why don't you go and get some rest in an actual bed." He sighed. "Sure, I'll stop in later Lexi." She nodded at him and he walked out of the room, running his hands over his face. "This is just way too much to take in," he muttered. "You'll get used to it," said Dei as she came up next to him. "You always do."
"In case you haven't noticed Deianira, this is a bit different."
"Oh, but I have noticed Joshua." She slapped his shoulder. "Just think of all that could happen now. You'll do fine, so stop worrying."
"I don't think that's ever going to happen." Dei laughed. "Well, if it bothers you that much than go talk to Chris and Justin. I'm sure they'll have some words of wisdom to offer you. Well, maybe not of wisdom, but they can offer you something."
JC laughed. "Thanks Dei. I'll see you later." They both went their separate ways, leaving each other to they're own thoughts. JC awoke with a start as the door to his room slammed against the wall and two people rushed in. "Don't you guys know how to knock?" he asked.
"What?" asked Justin and Chris at the same time. They shrugged. "Dei said we should come talk to you."
"Remind me to have a word with her later," mumbled JC.
"Come on," said Chris. "So what do you want to talk about?"
JC shrugged. "I don't know. I don't care. What do you want to talk about? You were the ones who came into my room in the first place." "Don't you want to know about being a Prince or something?" asked Justin. JC shrugged again. "I don't know. I think I know the basics from watching the other Princes and listening to Alex." "You're just taking all of the fun out of this," pouted Chris. "We were hoping for a full makeover here."
"Well, sorry to disappoint you. However, now that I'm up, I might as well go and check on Lexi." The guys watched as he got up and pulled a new shirt on over his head. "Okay, see you need a new wardrobe," commented Justin. "What's wrong with this?" asked JC confused. "I'm not going anywhere." Chris sighed. "Fine, you can get away with it for now, but later on you're getting a whole new wardrobe."
"Fine, I'll talk to you guys later on okay?" JC walked out of the room leaving Justin and Chris there. They shook their heads and followed him.
Ten