A horse came to a halt next to the prince, and Theodore jumped off, a hint of panic in his voice as he approached his brother. “Cedar?”


    Cedar forced himself to sit up despite feeling like he had been stabbed a dozen times. He showed his brother a blinding smile after letting out a deep breath. “That...was...planned. The archer?” Talking was a little more exhausting than it should have been. It felt like he was barely able to push air into his lungs.


    Theodore seemingly hadn''t seen the thing sticking out of his brother''s back since he didn''t focus on that. “He is dead. Are you-”


    Cedar cut him off immediately. “And the second one? The one that...hit me.” He turned his body just enough to show Theodore his back. “This is a little...painful.” That arrow had wrenched itself in between some very sensitive parts. Moving his arm hurt quite a bit. And the worst part was that this was his right arm, which he couldn''t use now. Surely, he could wield a sword with his left hand, but he wouldn''t nearly be as good as usual then. That was just what he needed while they were in danger.


    Theodore''s expression darkened when he saw the injury and the blood that was slowly dripping out. “Damn it. Hold still. We need to bandage it.”


    Normally, Cedar would agree, but treatment would take away time, which was the one thing they didn''t have. “No, no. It''s fine. I can hold on until we reach the venue. Take care of our surroundings first. This could be a trap. Keep an eye on you-know-who.” He glanced at the royal guards that had surrounded them before announcing the rest. “I''m fine. I''ll survive this little scratch. We need to move.”


    Theodore didn''t seem too happy about that, but he understood. “Alright. But at least wrap some cloth around it. We need to leave the arrow inside.”


    Cedar accepted that with a nod. He didn''t point out that he couldn''t tie anything behind his back while not being able to use one arm. Apparently, that wasn''t necessary either. One of the royal guards pulled out a bandage from somewhere and tightly wrapped it around the arrow before moving it around the prince''s arm. Like this, the arrow should be held in place to avoid further injuries, and the pressure should hold back most of the blood.


    After that, everything went by quickly. Theodore helped Cedar get back on the horse, and they hurried to continue their journey.


    Cedar had to admit that the arrow was rather painful. His muscles around that area were burning, and he felt as if his nerves were tingling. It was a horrible feeling, but he didn''t complain even once. He was much too tense and tried to help look around while they moved. He thought about Lucille and how he had to tell her that she deserved another apology since she had caught such a painful arrow for him before, but he didn''t allow himself to be distracted for long. He had to focus on the dangers at hand first. Unfortunately, those threats were closer than he would have liked.


    Not even five minutes had passed when Cedar noticed that he had begun to blink more often. He hadn''t thought much about it, but then he realized that his mind was a bit hazy. At first, he hoped that this was just his body''s reaction to the wound, but he was pretty sure that that wasn''t it. His assumption was only confirmed when he tried to speak and realized that his tongue didn''t work like it was supposed to. “I...think this...arrow was poisonous.” He slurred his words a little, and he was much quieter than normal too.


    Theodore heard him anyway. He abruptly turned to his brother. He was silent for a few seconds, but his expression already betrayed what he was thinking. “How do you feel?”


    Cedar tried to focus on the trees in front of him and was rather thankful that he at least managed to see them clearly when he wasn''t blinking. “I''m dizzy, and this is not just because of the blood loss.” He hadn''t lost enough blood for it to be this bad yet.


    Theodore muttered a few curse words before he stopped his horse. He jumped off and walked over to his brother while gesturing to his personal guard, whom he instructed for a moment. Most likely, Owen was supposed to keep an eye on the royal guards around them to keep them safe. It was a bit stupid for Theodore to turn his back on those men, but at least he had made sure to have someone else protect him in the meantime. He inspected Cedar''s wound for a moment before coming to the obvious conclusion. “We have to take the arrow out.”


    That was the only logical reaction, but one of the guards seemed to be skeptical. He scanned the wound from afar and spoke up with a slight hint of worry in his voice. “But he will lose a lot of blood if we-”


    Theodore lifted his hand to stop the other man. “If he noticed that it''s poisoned already, it will only get worse with time. I don''t want to know what kind of poison that woman uses. I will get it out immediately.” For just a moment, he had positioned his fingers rather strangely while speaking.


    If Cedar had to guess, he would say that this had been a signal for the guards that actually belonged to the emperor''s side and knew what it meant. Hopefully, this was it. It would make sense for the knights to tense then. Cedar would have liked to focus on everyone''s expressions to find out who the traitor might be if there was one, but his sight was a little blurred now. He could see the people around him well, but as soon as he tried to focus on specific details, his eyes refused to work with him. Damn it. He needed to get this arrow out, but if he was unlucky, that wouldn''t help him at all. The poison was already in his veins.


    He could only rely on the fact that his mother wanted him to become emperor. She wouldn''t allow any assassin to kill him, right? Or did she seriously hope to frame Theodore for this? If so, it might already be too late to avoid this trap. Cedar could just pray that he would be as resistant as he always was. It would be pathetic to die here like this after he had promised Lucille that he would come back to her.


    The emperor slowly helped his brother off the horse, and Cedar had to rely more on him than he would have liked. The prince noticed that his footing was quite unsteady, which led to him cursing in his mind a few more times.


    Theodore worked quickly after that. He was careful while he made Cedar sit down and then crouched down behind him. “Owen will make sure that no one can approach us now, so I have enough time to pull this out now. Please try to endure the pain and relax a little. Do you want something to-”


    Cedar cut him off there. “No. Do it as quickly as possible.” It would be painful even if he had something to hold between his teeth. They had no pain medicine here, and that was the only thing that could have made this more endurable. Without it, Cedar would just have to hold on like he always did. He was used to pain, so he would survive if the blood loss didn''t kill him. “Make sure to...press something onto the wound quickly.”


    Theodore let out a small grunt in affirmation, but he was already focused on the wound. He grasped the arrow and seemingly tried to move it a little bit.


    Immediately, a wave of pain crashed over Cedar. This was worse than being hit by the arrow had been. If they weren''t in danger, he would have asked Theodore to knock him out before doing this. But at the moment, they didn''t have time for this. They needed to hurry. Unfortunately, it seemed like that might make this a hundred times more painful than it had to be. Doing this without a doctor was reckless. Cedar would freely ask for pain medicine and swallow his pride if he had the chance now, but sadly he didn''t have it. And it got even worse.


    Theodore carefully pulled the arrow back, and Cedar inwardly cringed at the feeling of the tip digging into his flesh. But then the arrow refused to budge. Theodore would need to use more force. Yet, he seemed a bit reluctant. “It''s...really deep and-”


    Cedar could feel how deeply the arrow had pierced his flesh. He didn''t need narrations about that, he needed this damned thing to get away from him. “Theodore, just do it quickly.” He forced himself to relax the muscles in his shoulder, but that alone was painful enough to make him want to flinch. He barely managed to keep himself still.


    Theodore behind him drew in a sharp breath before he finally obeyed and used more force.


    By the gods. This felt like a nightmare.


    The wound pulsated while Cedar''s muscles burned, and the warm liquid that came out only seemed to make the pain worse. He gritted his teeth and tried not to think about how horrible it felt when the arrow was pulled out. It was like the flesh around it had already swollen in an attempt to keep the blood inside, and now the wound had gotten wider again. Great. He once again would have to thank his mother for one of the most painful wounds in his life. He tried to calm down by reminding himself of the fact that being burned with the iron skewer had hurt more, but that only made him more upset. At the moment, he was close to telling his mother that he was sick of her presence in his life, and this time, he wouldn''t regret it afterward.


    Theodore didn''t seem to like how the wound looked. He froze in place for a moment before he dared to speak. “Cedar-”


    “It''s fine. Just...cover it up quickly.” They would need to clean this wound later. That would be painful, Cedar knew it already. He didn''t want to think about that now. He already needed to distract himself to avoid noticing how lightheaded he was getting.


    Theodore finally hurried after that comment. He pressed some piece of cloth onto the wound before wrapping a bandage around his brother''s shoulder as tightly as he could. After a few seconds, he had to admit something though. “The blood isn''t...flowing out as much as it normally would.”


    Cedar could guess why. The area around the wound felt really strange, as if the flesh there was a bit more firm than normal. Maybe this had been a safety measure that Camille had taken to ensure that her son wouldn''t escape from her grasp in a lethal way. “Mother doesn''t want to kill me. She just...” For a moment, he got a bit too dizzy and needed to stop before he managed to continue the sentence. “She doesn''t want me to fight. This is probably supposed to keep me from dying.” He let out a barely audible chuckle and already regretted it when his muscles complained about the movement. He forced himself to hold still for a few seconds before he added the rest. “How thoughtful of her.” He didn''t have the strength to veil his sarcasm today.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Theodore watched the wound for a moment longer. It seemed like he didn''t trust it completely, but he had to give in after a few seconds. “This poison also made the area around the wound swell, so you aren''t losing as much blood. In our case, that''s helpful, so I won''t complain.” He stood up again and walked around his brother before carefully helping him stand. “We''ll get you home in just a few minutes. If this isn''t supposed to kill you, we don''t have to worry at all since you will just fall asleep in the worst case. So, it would be best for you to just relax and hold still.” He said that as if he was confident, but the slight tremble in his voice proved that he wasn''t as composed as he should be.


    Cedar tried to calm him down a bit by smiling at him. He was well enough to act like nothing was wrong, so he was fully conscious, which proved that this poison here wasn''t too potent. He wasn''t happy about needing to lean onto Theodore to stand, but he had been through worse. “See it in a positive light. My side...wasn''t slit open this time.” But maybe he shouldn''t say that when the fight wasn''t completely over yet.


    Theodore didn''t seem to like this joke very much either. He looked at Cedar with narrowed eyes before he helped him get onto the horse again. “Try not to move around too much. We can''t risk opening-” He cut himself off when he saw that his brother already grabbed the reigns and did his best to ignore the wound to go without needing help. “Cedar. Don''t overdo it.” He didn''t need to worry about that.


    Cedar could barely move without wishing to faint. Normally, arrows weren''t this painful. At least he was pretty sure of that. Had his mother asked someone to dowse the arrow in acid? If so, that wouldn''t be surprising. Maybe Camille wanted to teach him a lesson like this. “I''m fine. Let''s hurry.”


    Theodore nodded before he rushed to his horse. He climbed on top before lifting his hand to signal the guards, who could now abandon their defense position, that they would move again. Theodore instructed the people around them while scanning every person''s face, most likely to detect any possible traitor. “We are taking a detour. We will move as fast as possible, but be careful while checking the surroundings. The last time I rushed away after something like this, our enemy had already waited for us and had positioned mercenaries there. So, we can''t use the direct route. We''re steering toward the southern part of the forest first.” That was a good idea.


    Cedar remembered how satisfied his mother had been when her plan eight years ago had worked out. Back then, Theodore had retreated with Althea in a carriage after the first assassination attempt, only to be attacked again. Now this wouldn''t happen once more. At least Cedar hoped that, but he couldn''t be sure. After all, he was barely able to think clearly at the moment. His brain worked well, but he got more tired with each minute that they moved. He did his best to keep his head upright and forced his eyes open, but it still got worse.


    Theodore noticed that much too early. Barely five minutes had passed, and he already whispered to his brother. “How are you feeling?”


    Cedar was miserable. “I''m uncertain.” His wound was puckering, and it felt like the blood that seeped out of the injury was warm enough to burn into his skin. Hopefully, none of his muscles had seriously gotten hurt, or he might not be able to fight as he could before. He didn''t dare to address that worry now though. “I would say that I''m much...more upset than normal. If you talk to Mother after this, can you tell her that I''m angry with her? And that I''m charging her for treason this time too?” His pronunciation was much more sloppy now. Wonderful.


    Theodore looked like he was rather concerned, but upon hearing about Camille, his rage came back. “She''ll lose her head for this. I''m done with her.” So, he had thrown his last bit of reluctance away now. That was good. It would be much safer after this. Now they only needed to return without being killed.


    Cedar tried not to think about what could go wrong, and he also didn''t allow himself to think about Lucille, who had to be waiting for him in panic. He had to come back for her. He had promised that he would stay safe, and he refused to lie to her. So, he needed to reach their destination without fainting. He told himself that it would be fine a couple of times. His silence caused Theodore to add something else though.


    “I should have expected that witch to try something today.” The emperor sounded almost bitter while saying that. “I thought that it would be fine if we prepared since none of my spies noticed her planning anything. Reeve didn''t tell us anything either.”


    Cedar had a bad premonition, but it was even worse than what Theodore feared. “He is too cowardly to lie to your face. If Reeve didn''t tell you, he really doesn''t know. I presume that Mother organized this before we hired him. That was about two years ago, so I''m a bit worried.” Camille normally was a very impulsive person. If she had planned an attack so far in the future, it proved that she was much more composed than Cedar had ever believed her to be.


    “We knew that she might have planned it before, but...she did this two years in advance? I almost can''t believe it.”


    This would mean that Camille had plotted this attack while Cedar had begun writing letters to bring them out of confinement for the first time. Before Cedar had even thought about the victim and villain plot that he had worked on a few months after that. How come she had already thought about killing Theodore during this specific hunt today? That was truly concerning.


    A few seconds passed in silence before Theodore spoke again. “Cedar? Did you not hear me?”


    The prince was pretty sure that his brother hadn''t said anything after the comment about Camille. That was unfavorable. “Could you please repeat that? I''m getting a bit drowsy, so I might not have been-” A wave of dizziness overcame him. Cedar swayed a bit and had to close his eyes for a moment. When he dared to resume, his brother was already looking at him with concern. “I might not have listened.”


    Theodore scanned the other man''s face with care before he replied. “Don''t fall asleep, alright? We''re giving you an antidote as soon as we get back.”


    “That would be good.” Cedar was pretty sure that he needed some kind of antidote, or he would faint in a few minutes. The world was spinning around him already, and staying upright got harder than it should have been because of the blood loss. Camille had chosen a poison that would make it impossible for him to fight. He would have to thank her for that later. And maybe he would have to ask whether she had actually planned for him to be hit by a poison arrow two years ago. If so, that would be even more nauseating than this poison itself.


    The longer they needed to move at this somewhat slow pace, the more exhausted Cedar got. He needed to fight the urge to close his eyes and sleep regularly, and he hated every second of it. The fact that he was losing his balance was worse though. He feared falling off his horse at this point, and he didn''t need to do that for the third time today. He tried to hide it to avoid slowing down the group even more, but that was useless.


    Theodore kept a close eye on his brother and soon noticed that something was wrong. He stopped immediately. He walked over to his brother and held onto the reigns so that the horse couldn''t move away and whispered. “This won''t do, Cedar. You''re about to fall and break your bones. You have to let Owen help you.” That was a horrible idea.


    Cedar''s mind wasn''t in the best state, but even he noticed that. “He''s your...personal guard and the...best fighter.” His speech was even more unclear than before. “He can''t be forced to carry...an injured person. He has to be...prepared to...” By the gods.


    He was about to throw up. What sort of potion had the assassin mixed this time? This was awful.


    Cedar could barely stop himself from doubling over because he knew that moving like that would be much too painful. He definitely couldn''t move much on his own anymore. Pure adrenaline was the only thing that kept him going, and even that didn''t keep him from realizing that his limbs felt numb and barely responded to him.


    Theodore gritted his teeth as he watched how his brother swayed. “But you can''t sit alone. Having you close to me is too risky in case of an attack, and I don''t trust anyone but Owen. If Leon was here, it would be easy, but he is in the palace. He will come in a few minutes if our two guards reached the venue by now, but we can''t wait for that.”


    Cedar would have liked to argue a bit more, but his foggy mind didn''t grant him any arguments. He had to admit defeat here. He didn''t know anyone but Owen, so he couldn''t be sure of who else was on their side. “Alright.” He was swayed much too easily, which only proved that he was miserable, and his balance underlined that.


    Cedar had barely leaned to the side to climb off his horse when it felt like the ground below him was moving toward him. He wasn''t able to stabilize himself in time and almost fell. He vaguely realized that Theodore caught him and heard his brother say something, but he could barely register what was happening around him. The only thing he heard right now was the deafening rushing of blood in his ears and the slow but very loud beating of his heart. This wasn''t good at all. He couldn''t lose consciousness like this. Cedar brought a hand to his head and tried to massage his forehead, but his coordination was awful. His hand was completely blurred even though he held it directly in front of his face too. Damn it.


    A voice called out to him, but it sounded like a faint noise more than anything else. Theodore''s mouth moved, so he probably said something, but Cedar didn''t recognize more.


    The prince was getting really tired now. Reminding himself of why he couldn''t sleep got harder with each second. He forced himself to imagine Lucille in front of his inner eye. He had to stay awake because he had promised that he would come back for her. That thought didn''t magically give him energy, but at least he managed to open his eyes fully again. He focused on Theodore, and with some effort, he could actually read his brother''s expression.


    Theodore looked like he was close to being terrified. He said something, but the prince only heard bits and pieces. Most likely, he told his brother to stay awake.


    But Cedar didn''t even try to listen to that. Something else had caught his eye.


    A few royal guards were missing, he was sure of it. And for some reason, two or three men as well as Owen were turned away as if they expected an attack from there.


    The most concerning part though was that one of the knights had put his hand onto the handle of his sword and was slowly moving closer to the emperor. The man was on his way to stab Theodore from behind. It was another one of the most dirty tricks in the history of assassinations.


    Cedar wouldn''t allow anyone to use him as a distraction though. He could barely move, but he could rely on one thing that he had learned over the years. His reflexes normally allowed him to strike even when he could barely stand. And, frankly, that fake guard was much too close for the prince to think about whether this would work.


    Cedar was much slower than he would usually be, but his reflexes took over. He managed to push Theodore aside by using the other''s surprise while drawing his sword with the other hand.


    Inwardly, he couldn''t help but sigh at the irony. It was the same again, wasn''t it? A person wanted to attack Theodore, and someone else jumped in the way to protect him.


    But Cedar wasn''t as weak as Althea had been. He noticed that his movements weren''t clean since he used his left hand to guide the sword and his stance was unstable, but he managed to move in time. And more importantly, he managed to catch the assassin by surprise and stabbed him first before that man, who hadn''t expected backlash at all, could react. Seemingly, Cedar had done that without getting injured himself, for which he was rather grateful. The urge to throw up was bad enough as it was, and another wound was the last thing he needed now. He already tumbled backward, having lost his sword, just because he had to stand on his own.


    After that, it suddenly got much worse.


    Cedar could barely breathe, and it felt like his lungs refused to accept air. Was the poison worse than he had thought? Or had he lost too much blood? In either case, he was too stubborn to die here just like this. He glared at the man lying on the dirt in front of him and tried to focus on that anger to keep him awake. A surprise attack like that was really the worst. How cowardly Camille was. “You''re...pathetic...” He should have said that to his mother''s face at some point. Maybe he was telling her this now. And maybe he was just telling it to himself too. After all, it was truly pathetic for his body to give up because of this now. His legs gave in beneath him. He crashed down to the floor and vaguely realized that someone tried to catch him.


    “Cedar!” Why was Theodore yelling so loudly? That made no sense.


    Surely, Cedar was losing consciousness, but this poison wasn''t deadly. Probably. Cedar would just sleep for a little while, and the wound on his shoulder would heal with some patience as well. Hopefully. Cedar just told himself that he was too furious and stubborn to die now. He still had so much to do. He needed to tell his mother that he hated her. He had to apologize for Althea''s death properly. And most importantly, he had to tell Lucille that he loved her. He wouldn''t let a stupid poison stop him.


    But the warm liquid that dripped out of his stomach didn''t feel like it had been caused by the poison. Had someone slit open his torso for the second time this year? Or had the wound from his shoulder opened more than before?


    Cedar would have liked to confirm which was the case, but he didn''t stay awake for long enough. The world around him faded to black within a few seconds just as a horn sounded from afar.