You Are The Reason ( Prince x Reader )

Chapter 46: Win or Lose

You opened your eyes slowly, and your vision was still blurry. The ground was charred in front of you, and the fire was licking the ground around you. Soot covered your cheeks, and the ashes on the ground coated the side of your body that lay on the ground. Your head was pounding, and your ankle hurt when you sat up. You looked around and saw a few bodies lying on the ground. People were still fighting but ignored the person rising from the ashes. You stood up from the ground and leaned against a destroyed building. You put your hands on your elbows and looked around, feeling dazed. You felt something crusty on the side of your head and raised your hand to touch where your skin felt dry and raw. You pulled your hand back in front of you and saw speckles of dried blood.

   ' Where is Sam? '

You looked around to see if you could see him, but his horse was gone. You continued to walk, looking for any signs of your friend, but you didn't see anyone in sight. You limped a bit as you went towards a building and leaned against it.

   ' My ankle feels like it's on fire. I need to find Sam, and quickly. '

You continued to walk around the buildings and hid inside the damaged buildings when palace guards ran in your direction. In one of the buildings, you saw the body of a dead palace guard, and you took his sword. You used it as a cane to walk around. You hid in the building, wondering what happened while you were unconscious. You sat on the ground and leaned against the wall. Your calve felt like it was being stabbed, and you had to rest for a bit before you continued to walk. Your breathing was uneven, and you had sweat dripping from your head.

   " Y/n. . ."

   " Y/n, where are you? "

You leaned up, looked over the broken wall, and saw Sam crouching by a building. His eyes were concerned, and he was light on his feet as he ran towards the once-in-time alley where the house you resided in sat, demolished. 

   " Sam, I'm here. " You whispered.

Sam heard your voice, looked over the wall, and saw you lying on the ground. He jumped over the wall and kneeled, taking your face in his hands.

   " Where are you injured? "

   " My head was bleeding, and my ankle, I think it's sprained. "

   " Okay. "

Sam's hands left your cheeks and moved towards your ankle. He checked the damage before returning to your side, sitting beside you, hip to hip.

   " What happened? Everything is burning, and. . ."

You took in Sam's appearance, feeling your heart painfully beat. Sam's hair was messy, and soot, wood chips, and other debris were in his hair. His armor had dents, but he had no significant injuries. The most notable damage was on his left cheek. There was a cut in the center of his cheek, and blood dripped from the cut.

   " They had given a surprise attack and shot boulders into the town. After you were knocked out, I led the palace guard away, and finished him, off. I was going to return to you after that until the guards started to use fire arrows. They shot them everywhere, setting the town on fire, and burning everything. When I returned to the area I left you, you weren't there. I got worried and started looking for you. "

   " What's happening now? "

   " Prosa is fighting back with the rebellion. Sarah gave the maps to the war general who is gathering people to charge into the castle through some of the secret passageways. "

   " What do we do? "

   " We get back to the tavern. "

   " But, there are people who need help. Citizens are still here in town, and they need to get out. "

   " I know, but there's a chance we won't find anyone at all. We need to get back to the tavern, especially with your ankle sprain. "

   " Sam, I can fight. "

   " You are injured enough. I don't want to see you hurt any more than you already are. "

   " Sam, we have to help the others fight. I'm not that injured! "

   " I don't want you to fight because I care for your wellbeing. My lady you are already injured, and you are sweating buckets. Your head is still bleeding for goodness sake. "

   " And Jin lost an eye but he still fights. "

Sam glared at you, and you held eye contact. His ice-blue eyes stared into your soul, but you kept eye contact. Finally, Sam sighed and shook his head, freeing some of the wood chips and pebbles from his light brown hair.

   " Fine, but stay beside me. "

You nodded, and, with Sam's help, you stood up and left the damaged building. You took the sword you once used for a cane with you and walked through the city, defending Sam's back as the war continued. You killed a few palace guards from behind as Sam defended your back. You used the techniques that Sam and Jin taught you. Your skill was good, but it wasn't similar to Sam's swordsmanship. He could maneuver around a person and strike their back as quickly as lightning. He would even raise his arm, using his armor to defend himself. 

   " So, what's the plan, Sam? "

   " For now, keep fighting. We have to hold the palace guards off, until Sarah and the war general defeat the king. Now that they have accurate blueprints, they can take him down. "

You raised your sword and slashed a guard's side, and he fell to the ground. Then, you turned to Sam, who had killed two guards. After that, there were no more palace guards around, just you and Sam.

   " Let's try and make our way, towards the castle. Maybe if we can get out of the town, we can watch for the war general's signal of defeat or victory. "

   " Alright. "

You followed Sam with your sword raised, ready to fight anyone that crossed your path. You stumbled your way out of the town and looked towards the castle. There were spots in the field that was toasted, and the tents you stood in hours ago were now gone. Sam helped you sit down, and you rested your back against a building that remained intact. Sam sat beside you, and you kept your eyes on the castle.

   " How do we know if we won or lost? "

   " It was agreed that someone will hang a white flag, meaning Quintin died, or a blue flag signifying that we won. "

   " Quintin's at the front? "

   " Of course. The captain goes down with his ship. Quintin plans to die for the rebellion, to fight against the king. But if he dies, then we've lost our leader and the war. It shouldn't be much longer now. "

You watched the castle and waited to see if a white or blue flag appeared. When the flag did appear, tears pricked your eyes at the color. Finally, your body relaxed, and you closed your eyes, letting your tears fall.

   " It's over. "

The flag was the color of the blue sky that was now tarnished in grey.