Kris - Part Eight

Back To The Present; Stay With Me.

With your head feeling a bit lightheaded, you could vaguely hear whispers of your name being called out. Your eyes shot open from that familiar voice but you were still blinded by the black cloth stealing your vision away.

It was Kris.

Your heart confirmed it was him – it was definitely him.

Your eyes opened wider as you tried to move but you failed, you were still tied up.

“K-Kris…?” Your voice strained and tired as you tried your best to whisper. His head nodded once as he stood outside the bars that were caging you in. His heart ached from the sight as your white dress was dirtied until it was slightly brown – he could tell they possibly drenched you with water based on how you were shivering. He could see under the vague lighting that you were shivering, how cold you were feeling as your lips were pale along with your skin. He could see the rough bruises on your skin, how badly they’ve treated you.

They were going to pay, his mind cursed. It’s been two days since you were left here but they have already tortured you so much?

“Can you try your best to come towards me?” Kris asked quietly, his eyes roaming around the dungeon where he was sure there was no one down here considering out in the front, his men were distracting the rest already with backup on the way. He had taken the leap to come down here on his own without any men – he was so confident to get you on his own.

He was so confident to get the love of his life back.

And he knew that if he failed, he won’t.

His love for you, and your love for him was driving him to where he was now.

“I… I don’t know where I am, Kris…” You mumbled, trying to sit up and he noticed how your legs were also tied up. He hissed quietly, trying to search for the key in the slightly dim room. His eyes then brightened as he figured something out. He could see how breakable the metal bars were – how malleable they were. His eyes roamed around the room as he stood up, pacing over to the side where he reached for a large piece of wood lying there. He saw a patch of blood and he inwardly prayed that it wasn’t your blood. He nearly got the shock of his life when he could hear voices but those were just his men. Two of them had come down to aid him, trying to bend the metals just so they could get you out.

“I’ll be fine here with her, get the rest of the men to clear the way. We’ll be on our way out very soon. Hurry, we don’t have much time.” Kris ordered quickly as he got into the cell with you. With a soft agreement, the two men had hurriedly left with Kris staying here with you. “Mei li…” He whispered, pulling you to him as he winced when you did. You flinched at his touch but softened when he started to untie your hands and legs. You tried your best not to shiver but you were failing miserably – it has been days since you were here without much food and water, without warmth, without Kris.

Every second felt like hell, every minute was agonizing, every hour was suffering, every day left you hoping he’d come.

And he was finally here.

“I’m here now.” He whispered, pulling off your blindfold where he could see you were so close to crying again. “Don’t cry, please don’t cry.” He rasped, pulling you into his arms where he could feel how weak you were – how much weight you’ve lost as he pulled you up carefully to help you stand up. He could see how you were limping but you were trying your very best not to fall with his help, “Just hold on, mei li. We’re going home.”

He knew you had questions to ask, there were so many running through your mind but the main thing now is to get you out of here, safely. That was the only thing in his mind right now.

You nodded once, trying to hold in the pain, “A-Alright.”

He frowned, brushing your hair away from your face, “Can you walk?”

You bit your lower lip, glancing down at your bruised ankles, “I… I think I can.”

He hissed quietly, shaking his head where he hoisted you in his arms. He would never want to risk anything of you getting more injured than how you were now. “Stay quiet.” He whispered as he carried you in his arms. With a small nod, you held onto him as he quickly found his way out from the dungeon, pacing up the stairs where he had told exactly where his men should be. As he walked down the hallways, he could hear roars of men shouting at his direction. Your head looked over your shoulder only to gasp when roughly five men with swords were dashing behind the two of you. You clutched onto Kris’s shoulders, “K-Kris, they’re behind us!”

When he heard how fearful you were, he shot his head over his shoulder and cursed, trying to run faster but as he faced forward, he could see how there were a few guards in front of him. This was all a trap.

And the only choice he has is fighting against them.

He placed you down quickly, his eyes looking around for his men but they were still far away from where you two were – where the bloody hell was the backup?!

“Darn it.” He cursed under his breath, his hand pulling out his sword with his other arm pushing you back to stand behind him. He gritted his teeth with his eyes flushing with anger, “Stay behind me.” He mumbled loud enough for you to hear, causing you to nod as you turned around to press your back against him as hurriedly your hand reached for something – at least something!

You managed to hold onto a piece of rod that was lying on the ground as you held it in front of your face. You’ve never fought before in your life but this was the day you’d do your best to fight for your life, and Kris’s life.

It was all happening so quickly that you two were surrounded by men as Kris was fighting against the most of them before help arrived. A man lunged forward towards you, making you gasp as you lured him away from Kris where you stepped away to the side. He had tried to stab you with his sword but you swiped it away with the rod you were holding with all your might. Your wrists were weak but your soul was so strong that it numbed all the pain you were feeling – you were fighting for your life, for Kris.

Kris looked over his shoulder after kicking away the man he was fighting against, only to let a few profanities slip past his lips when he could see you weren’t behind him anymore – you were trying to fight as the man you were against had tried played dirty, crouching down where he kicked your ankle just to make you let out a muffled scream before you fell onto the ground because of the immense pain that stung your nerves.

That only made Kris infuriate with anger as he rushed towards your direction where he pierced his sword through the man’s body that had harmed you before successfully kicking his body away from you. As you were on the ground, you had tried to get up but it seems like you couldn’t – you were badly injured from the fall. Kris stood in front of you, his back was the only thing you could see as he swung his sword once, “Don’t you dare touch her.”

“My my, little prince is here to protect his princess?” One of them cooed out, causing Kris to clench his other hand.

“I’m taking you out first.”

His voice contained such anger yet you could feel how much he would fight just to protect you. You had tried to get up, but you only winced in pain – you were trying so hard. Kris glanced back at you, “Stay down.” He muttered under his breath before he faced forward, taking a sharp intake of air before he continued to fight. He is not going down without a fight – he is not letting them come to you unless it was over his dead body. Your heart was pounding so fast, the possibilities of him getting injured had flashed in your mind that it only made you pray faster in your heart; you wanted him to be safe, you wanted to be safe, you wanted everything to be alright.

Silently, your prayers have been answered when Kris’s men had come to help – finally!

They rushed towards Kris’s side, battling off the few men that were remaining. One of them had come down to you, “M-maiden, are you alright?”

You nodded your head, ushering him away, “I’m fine! Help the others!”

With a determined nod, he got up with his sword flashing out to dash towards one of the few men attacking Kris at once. You noticed how there were men also coming after you – just one of them as he tried to grip onto you but you were crawling further and further away, your voice telling him to go get lost. Kris gasped upon hearing your cries, his head shot over his shoulder where he spotted you being harassed by an enemy. He faced forward with a hiss, slashing off the man he was against before he tried to come to you. Although you were injured, you managed to get up with the help of the pillar behind you, pulling yourself up with your hands speedily reaching over for a piece of wood leaning against the pillar where you swung it in front of you to keep the man away, “S-Stay away!”

Your eyes, however, were glued at Kris as he fought against two men on his own as there were only a few of Kris’s men that managed to come this far into the enemy’s castle. Kris was fighting against one man while another man behind Kris earlier who had fallen down, tried to get up with a dagger in his hands. Your eyes widened as you tried to call out for Kris but he couldn’t hear you – you were too soft and everything else around him was too loud. You trusted your guts, your hands throwing the wooden plank at the man earlier with your eyes on Kris’s figure as you felt the adrenaline rushing through your veins, giving you the energy to boost yourself up where you threw yourself at Kris, hugging him tight from the back.

As you hugged him tight, you could feel that aching feeling at your lower back as your chin rested on Kris’s shoulder.

You took the stab instead of Kris.

But all you had in your mind was, “Kris is safe, Kris is safe, Kris… is safe.”

That stab had turned more than just a stab when the man had dragged it down on your lower back just before one of Kris’s men noticed this and managed to get rid of the man that had tried to harm Kris but it was much too late.

You knew that you would have been no match for the man if you were to stop him – you would’ve been too slow and too weak to even stop that man. And if you were to try to battle off the two men earlier who had tried to take you away, it would’ve been hopeless as well. So instead… this was the best thing you could’ve done.

Kris noticed how you suddenly clung onto him, how your wince entered his ears – you sounded so hurt. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to make up what was going on with how you came so close all of a sudden. As soon as he kicked off the man he killed, he looked over his shoulder only to widen his eyes when you couldn’t hold onto Kris any longer, falling to the side on your stomach with the dagger still pierced in your lower back. Kris’s heart stopped the moment he saw a patch of blood seeping through your clothes as you lied down on the ground – he couldn’t take it anymore that he dropped to his knees, letting go of his sword that clinked to the ground just like his heart.

No.

This wasn’t supposed to happen!

You weren’t supposed to get in the way!

Tao and a few men had finally arrived with bigger reinforcements as they came towards Kris’s side. Tao noticed how Kris gaped at the sight, his body looking so weak as he stared at your figure. Tao was quick to take over things whilst he had told Kris, “Sir! We’ll take care of the condition here! There’s a carriage out in the back – take her and go!”

Kris managed to process the information quick, picking up his sword as he placed it back by his waist before his arms reached for your body to carry you in his arms.

“A few of you, follow me!” Kris ordered, his arms gripping onto your body as he tried to carry you as proper and secure as possible – you were at the state of losing blood based on how it wasn’t a stab – it was a slash. It was an open wound that allowed your blood to drip as Kris ran with all his might towards the carriage Tao had informed him about.

Kris took note of your state as he held onto you, “Just hang on, mei li! You’ll be fine!”

Your eyes were heavy just looking at Kris – he was alright, though.

The way he looked so panicked made your heart flinch as your hand weakly reached over to place it on his cheek as he ran – you could tell how fast he was running based on how he couldn’t look at you properly. “Kris…” You managed to mumble in a quiet voice, causing him to shake his head with his eyes not being able to look at yours as he was searching high and low for the carriage the moment he stepped out of the castle walls. He glanced at you worriedly, his heart banging in his ribcage as he was this close to breaking down – he doesn’t want to lose you.

“Don’t close your eyes! Keep them opened!” He shook you in his arms as his men opened the carriage door just for him to enter quickly with him carrying you in. He had placed you on his lap, his arms still cradling you in to make sure the knife at your lower back doesn’t move much as it would result to more pain and he was no doctor to even pull out the dagger.

It was so tensed in the carriage as it began its journey back to the castle – it was moving so fast but it wasn’t fast enough, considering you were getting weaker and weaker by the second. You managed to keep your hand at his cheek, making him look down at you where he was so worried, his face was getting pale just looking at you slowly losing your life as you were losing so much blood. His eyes glanced behind your back, where your blood started to seep to his clothes as well – his heart was clenching painfully.

He was feeling the pain you felt.

He felt his heart breaking when you were still here, caring for him despite your state.

“You look tired…” Your strained voice echoed in his ears, making him hush you as he shook his head.

“Mei li, please hang on. W-We’re on the way there!”

You gave him a faint smile, one that made his heart clench even tighter, “I’m fine, I’ll be fine…”

He shook his head, his other hand reaching up to grip onto yours securely, “You will be, you better be! I have so many things left to tell you! We planned so much ahead of us, mei li! You can’t leave me.”

Your breathing got shallower just looking at him, suddenly breathing became something so hard to do as you blinked at him slowly, your grip on his hand started to loosen as the seconds went by, “I’ll be fine… I said I wou-…” Your voice trailed off into a mere whisper, your head lulling back and forth before your head rested against the crook of his neck where it was as if your soul had left your body.

Kris’s eyes widened, his heart not being able to take it as he raised his voice, “Please hurry up! She’s losing a lot of blood here!”

His eyes locked on yours, his hand at your cheek while the other rested on your waist, shaking you a little, “Mei li, please open your eyes! Don’t you want to hear me apologize?!”

The moment he sniffed, the guards in the carriage with him couldn’t help but keep silent as they watched – their strong, bold Prince was falling apart at the sight of you being motionless.

“I can’t lose you.” His voice was soft, but it echoed in the carriage as it picked up the pace. His arms moved to hug you tight, still trying not to harm you but he had already let it sink in him that you were out due to the loss of blood – he could still feel your blood seeping through the fabric. His face buried in your neck, where he murmured on your skin after a few tear drops escaped his eyes, “Please, mei li. Stay strong for me.”

“Please.”