The man marched through the forest with Nalsy hung across his shoulder. After a while, Nalsy noticed the change in the sound of his steps, and instead of crunching the leaves and branches now, she saw the clicking of his shoes on the pavement. She tried to lift her head to look around but being upside down for so long made her dizzy, and she couldn't focus on anything around her.
They were out of the forest now, but she couldn't recognise the houses. The architectural style was nothing like what she had seen in her hometown. They were smaller, almost like cottages, and somehow very charming.
"Where are we?" Nalsy asked. The man sighed with annoyance and ignored her question, which only agitated Nalsy. "Where are we going? What is this place? Where are you taking me?!" Nalsy kept asking questions, repeatedly raising her voice.
Some curious shadows appeared in the windows of the houses they were passing.
"Can you shut up?" He asked abruptly, but he already knew the answer.
He kept walking until he reached a blocky grey building. He entered it and continued through a long hallway lit up with bright white lightning.
Nalsy realised that it must be a hospital of sorts meaning that the man told her the truth earlier. Nalsy felt a glimpse of hope.
He walked onto the ward and placed Nalsy on the bed.
Nalsy once again could see the man's face. But it was hard to see his facial features behind the swelling, dry blood, and a very crooked broken nose.
But Nalsy still caught the man's icy cold glaze as his blue eyes were piercing through her for a split of a second before he turned around and left. As he was leaving, Nalsy noticed a surprising number of scratches on his body. First, she felt proud of herself, but then she felt a pang of guilt. After all, the man didn't have bad intentions towards her. Nalsy couldn't stop wondering why didn't he tell her his plan straight away.
Few doctors showed up and started cleaning her wounds, which were already treated and bandaged correctly. Nalsy was dosed with painkillers, and to her dismay, she ended up having stitches on her eyebrow where she hit her head earlier; her right hand was put in the cast. In addition, her left hand and left ankle were bandaged and placed in braces.
Nalsy fell asleep as soon as doctors left her alone, and she slept through the rest of the day and the following night.
In the nearby building, which was towering over the city in a breath-taking way, the man who earlier saved Nalsy walked into the office where there was already a well-dressed man in the exquisite navy suit with golden trim and a woman in a floor-length yet simple emerald gown. From a single glance, you could tell that they were aristocrats.
"Your highness." Nalsy's saviour lightly bowed towards the majestic woman who was too preoccupied with the map in front of her to look up at him. However, the gentleman squirmed when seeing the awful state of the newcomer. Like many times before, Edmund ignored the man's judgmental and curious gaze and continued talking to the woman, "I've just returned from the mission that you have assigned me." The woman looked up at him, and her face went gloomy.
"Was the mission unsuccessful?" she asked worriedly.
"We've detained three of the men. We believe that we've got everyone present at the scene." Edmund said stoically. "Two of the targets were murdered before we arrived. One was injured." The woman noticed a grimace flash through Edmund's face, which was unusual for him as he never showed any emotion on duty. "My squad cleaned the scene and provided appropriate burial arrangements."
"I'm guessing The Darks got you." The woman said with worry as she looked at Edmund's face.
"No, your highness, I was able to detain the three men without issues."
"I do apologise for my bluntness, Edmund, but what happened to you?" The woman blurted out with furrowed brows.
"She wasn't thrilled to be brought here," Edmund answered with slight anger in his tone. Two others looked surprised. Edmund was renowned for his strength, and, in the past, he came back from a battlefield with fewer injuries. It was challenging for them to believe that a single person could injure him like this, and as he stood there with a ripped piece of his t-shirt left, exposing all of the scratches, it almost seemed as if a wild animal attacked him.
"Where is she now?" Queen decided to not enquire about Edmund's injuries any further. He was too proud to explain what happened, and asking any more questions would only agitate him as he didn't like showing his weaknesses. Edmund was the youngest General in the kingdom, and he worked hard to build up his reputation. He wasn't going to admit openly that a girl was able to cause this amount of damage to him.
"She's in a hospital. She was injured."
"Do we know who she is?" Asked a gentleman who was listening attentively but remained silent until now.
"No, I didn't have a chance to investigate or interrogate her", Edmund responded with slight irritation.
"Caspian, I think it'll be wise to wait until she has been treated before we ask her any questions. Then, hopefully, she'll be able to tell us why the Darks were after her." Queen said thoughtfully with a slight sigh.
"Of course, your majesty" Caspian nodded in agreement.
"Meet me here tomorrow," the woman commanded both men. "Edmund, get some medical attention," she added, looking at the numerous blood stains and swelling on his face. Both men bowed and left the room, going in separate directions without another word.