Work Text:
The road the carriage took was a long one, meant to take them straight from Cloister to the neighboring kingdom of Ashbury. It was not too long of a journey, and none of them, the king included, minded such a journey to reach their allies in Ashbury.
Jack sat next to Isabelle, with the king and Elmont sitting across from them, deep in discussion about something akin to politics or battle strategy.
“You’re quiet,” Isabelle said to him.
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s new.” She said, with a small smile, so she could tell she was joking.
“Very funny,” Jack muttered, reaching out for her hand and once finding it holding it tightly.
The carriage rolled on.
For a few moments after, there was only the sound of wheels against stone.
Then, suddenly, an explosion of sound arose from outside the carriage.
What must’ve been at least two dozen bandits came riding in from both sides of the carriage, coming around a mountain that was previously hidden from their view.
“Ambush!” Elmont barked.
The carriage jerked to a halt, violently enough that Jack nearly slammed into the door. The guards from the carriage behind them began pouring out, ready to fight the bandits.
Elmont quickly leapt out of the carriage, closing it behind him as the king grabbed his sword, ready for a fight.
Jack glanced down at Isabelle’s hand and back up to her face before squeezing tightly and letting go, following Elmont out of the carriage and into the chaos outside it.
Jack barely had time to draw his sword before a bandit came at him. He blocked with precision, happy with the sword lessons Elmont had previously been teaching him.
Across the chaos, he saw Elmont, fighting his own attackers.
It seemed like everything was going well, until he heard a shout to his right and saw a bandit with an arrow drawn, aiming straight at Elmont.
“Elmont!” Jack shouted. But the noise of battle swallowed the warning.
The arrow flew.
Time slowed in a strange, awful way as Jack, without thinking, raced across the field and threw himself forward, slamming into Elmont with enough force to knock them both into the ground.
The arrow struck, not where it had been meant to.
Pain exploded through Jack’s shoulder, hot and immediate.
All he could feel was pain.
“Elmont…” he managed weakly.
Elmont was already moving, faster than Jack had ever seen him. He dragged Jack back, blade slashing as he cut down the next attacker who got too close.
“Fall back!” Elmont roared to the guards.
Something in his voice changed the battle. The soldiers rallied, forming a tighter defense. The bandits, thrown off by the sudden shift, began to falter.
Jack barely registered it, as everything seemed to go slower and the sound dulled in his ears.
Once the last of them ran away, Elmont kneeled beside Jack, checking the wound.
“That arrow was meant for me,” Elmont said quietly.
Jack’s vision blurred at the edges.
“Hey,” Isabelle’s voice broke through, suddenly there, hands pressing against his side. Which is odd because he didn’t recall her leaving the carriage. “Jack, stay with me.”
“I’m here,” he said, though it felt like he was very far away.
“Don’t you dare pass out again,” she said, her voice tight.
“No promises…”
Elmont was already working—fast, efficient. He snapped orders to the guards, tore fabric, pressed it against the wound.
Jack hissed. “That… hurts.”
“That means you’re alive,” Elmont replied.
His hands were steady, but his voice wasn’t, quite.
“Why?” Elmont said suddenly, low enough that only Jack could hear. “Why would you do that?”
Jack blinked slowly, trying to focus on him.
“Because… that’s what you’d do,” he said. “Save people.”
Elmont frowned. “That’s my duty.”
Jack shook his head faintly. “No… it’s who you are.”
“Hold still,” Elmont said, his voice quieter now. “This will be worse before it gets better.”
The pain came again as they worked, stitching, then bandaging. But as they worked he slowly felt consciousness slip away until all that was left was darkness.
Elmont sat beside him, watching as he slowly passed out, whether from the pain of the stitches or the blood loss, he wasn’t sure.
Elmont looked up and saw Isabelle crouching down next to Jack, holding his hand tightly and the king standing behind her, watching.
“He‘ll be okay?” Isabelle asked as she glanced up from Jack to Elmont.
“Yes, he should be fine. He’s a strong boy. But we should turn around and go back to the palace, it’s much closer than Ashbury.”
Elmont looked up at the king for approval, and the king nodded his agreement.
“Just as long as he’ll be okay”
At Elmont’s signal the guards helped him lift Jack up and into the carriage, laying him down on the seat, with Isabelle sitting on the other end holding his head in her lap.
The carriage moved again, the king still spoke, but in low, clipped tones with Elmont at the front of the carriage, issuing orders for scouts and a tighter escort.
But inside, everything had narrowed to Jack’s breathing.
Isabelle didn’t let go of his hand.
Jack slowly felt consciousness slowly drift back to him as he saw Isabelle above him.
“Is it bad?” he asked.
Isabelle hesitated before answering.
“No,” she said quickly. “No, it’s not, Elmont fixed it.“
Jack’s eyes drifted shut.
Immediately, Isabelle squeezed his hand harder.
“No,” she said, sharper now. “No, Jack, look at me.”
He forced his eyes open again.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“That’s better,” she said.
Elmont climbed into view through the carriage opening, ducking inside as his eyes went immediately to Jack’s shoulder.
“Talk to me,” Elmont said.
“I am talking,” Jack replied faintly.
Elmont reached out, checking the bandage without fully reopening it.
“It’ll be fine.”
Jack tried to respond, but the words dissolved before they formed and yet again he felt the darkness take over.
- - - -
Jack came back to himself in pieces again.
He became aware of pain before anything else.
Somewhere nearby, fire crackled softly.
Jack’s eyes opened.
The ceiling above him was carved stone, pale and high, supported by arches that made the room feel larger than it needed to be. Light came from wall sconces instead of daylight, flickering gently across clean linens and polished wood.
The infirmary.
He tried to inhale more deeply and immediately regretted it as pain pulled tight through his shoulder.
“Don’t move.” Elmont’s voice.
Jack turned his head slightly, careful this time.
“You’re in the palace infirmary,” Elmont said. “We returned two days ago.”
Jack’s gaze drifted, searching the room without fully meaning to.
“Isabelle?”
“I’m right here.”
She came into view immediately, and there was exhaustion in her face that made him worry for her.
“You’re awake,” she said with a small smile.
Jack’s eyes drifted down toward the bandages wrapped around his shoulder.
“Elmont did it himself,” Isabelle said, as if answering a question he hadn’t fully formed yet.
“You scared me,” she said again, softer than she had meant.
Jack looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply.
Isabelle shook her head immediately.
“No,” she said. “Don’t do that. Don’t Make it sound like it was a choice you regret,” she said. Her voice wavered slightly. “Because I know you don’t. I know you’d do it again.”
“I would.” he said and smiled at her, knowing that together, they would be a great prince and princess, and soon, king and queen.