[LUCA]
I clenched my jaw as the guard tightened the bandage around my shoulder.
"Sorry, Captain! Is it too tight?" he asked uneasily. He was the guard who had shot me in the back. To apologize, he insisted on treating my wound.
"No. Thank you." I stood up from the crate I was sitting on and hid a wince as I flexed and lifted my arm to try to get used to the sensation of swinging a sword despite the pain in my back.
It wasn't that bad. I'd been through worse. I could still fight.
I recalled Lena's worried face before I left her in the courtyard. We only talked briefly. I wanted to say more to her, but I had to keep my distance for now.
Fate had constantly pulled us back to the kingdom, and I finally realized that if we couldn't escape it, maybe we should stop fighting it. I wasn't planning on giving her up. Hell no.
But I would do my best to prove my worth to her father. Maybe, in time, he would learn to accept me.
