“If you don’t mind, young prince, I would like to accompany you to the stables,” Gonzalo requested.  

“Well--”  

Our conversation was cut short when my door suddenly bolted open, my page entered, panting. “Your Highness,” he quickly bowed, “My deepest apologies for barging in like this but there’s a situation regarding the young princess.”  

Elizabeth?!  

“What do you mean? What happened to my sister?” I asked without hesitation.  

“She’s currently in the garden but an unknown man entered and he’s been harassing her,” my page said. “They said she tried to have a decent conversation with him to make him leave but he is now resulting into violence.”  

“Doesn’t she have any guards with her?!” I exploded, grabbing my coat. “Where is she right now?! Why would you allow for this to happen?!” I continued my rant as I started sprinting to the garden, my page, and Gonzalo right behind me. The two guards by my door followed us as well.  

“There were guards with her but the man put a petrifying spell on them. She’s now left to her own devices,” my page continued to report.  

“Why didn’t she use her magic against him? She’s the daughter of the ruling monarchs!” 

“The man put some kind of hex on her so she won’t be able to use her magic. She’s now holding a sword against the man and the man is doing the same.”  

Without any sort of thinking of a plan to save her, I started running through the halls to the garden.  

No one puts a sword on my sister’s face without facing me.  

♔♔♔  

“I’m warning you, if you don’t leave me alone, I will not hesitate to put this sword into your chest!” I heard Elizabeth screaming as I got closer to where she was.  

“I don’t care, let’s fight to the death!” the man screamed.  

Using my magic, I transported from the nearest hall where I’m currently am to right in front of Elizabeth. I drew my sword as soon as I arrived in front of her.  

“The young prince!” the man exclaimed. He suddenly drew a spell on me but I immediately blocked it with a shield that could protect me and my sister from any kind of hex. The spell bounced back and hit him, putting the hex on him.  

He tried conjuring another spell… but nothing came out of him. After trying too many times, he looked at his hands in horror.  

“What did you do to me?!” he shouted at me.  

As the man continued to struggle with his powers, shouting and screaming in horror, I took the time to turn to Elizabeth, asking in a panic, “Are you hurt?” I began examining her being.  

“I’m all right, brother. My magic is simply… blocked,” she said, trying to calm herself. “He cast some kind of spell on me and I can’t use my powers.”  

I took one step back and put my hands together, closing my eyes. And as I gestured my hands into a way of opening two doors, I was able to remove the spell that was put on her. “Now, you can use them again. But I would like for you to go to where Gonzalo is,” I pointed using my eyes.  

She turned and saw Gonzalo with my page and some of the castle guards, waiting by the nearest hall. She looked back at me and asked, “What about you?”  

“I’ll be fine. I have to take care of this matter before anything happens to you.”  

“Robert,” she held me in place. “You are still unwell. Using too much magic may cause your wound to open.”  

“You will pay for this!” the man shouted as he began charging towards us.  

I put my hand in a stop formation, casting a spell that immediately threw him back to where he was, causing him to fall to the ground, back first. “I can take care of myself. You, on the other hand, need to get out of this situation right now,” I returned my attention to her as the man continued to groan. “Go now,” I repeated, gritting my teeth.  

She nodded, disappearing in smoke. After a quick second, I saw her standing beside Gonzalo. I gave Gonzalo a look to remove Elizabeth from the scene.  

Receiving a nod of understanding, Gonzalo turned to the guards and in no time, they walked away with Elizabeth. I turned back to the man, still groaning as he stood up.  

“Meddling wretch,” he remarked.  

“I wasn’t supposed to interfere if you treated my sister with respect,” I snarled, keeping my hand near my sword.  

“Sister?” his face, mixed reaction of shock and horror.  

I sighed; my hand landed on my face. “Please don’t tell me you only realized that now.”  

“You,” he pointed at me with his sword. “You’re Prince Robert.”  

“Listen, I don’t have time for introductions. I need to be somewhere else right now,” I interrupted. “If you would be kind enough to leave the premises, that would be very helpful.”  

“I’m not leaving until Elizabeth returns here,” he protested. “We have unfinished business to talk about.”  

“As I heard, my sister said you were harassing her. I came here to remove her from a situation she didn’t want to be in, a situation where she’s clearly in danger,” I explained.  

“She deserved that kind of treatment because she didn’t want to agree with what I want,” he stomped his foot on the ground, acting like a child.  

“What exactly do you want?”  

“I want her to agree to marry me,” he said, getting a snicker out of me. “I’m the son of one of the lords of the court and I longed to be her husband.”

“Mm-hm,” I nodded, my hand, curled into a fist, in front of my mouth as I tried to suppress my laughter.  

“I already asked His Majesty for her hand but he refused, saying Elizabeth’s hand is reserved for a prestigious marriage,” he continued his complaint. “The only way now to marry her is to get her to request that to the king.”  

“If you know my sister very well, you can tell she’s not interested in such a marriage,” I replied in amusement.  

“That’s why I came here to persuade her,” he insisted.  

“You thought harassing her would change her mind?” I added, stifling back a laugh. “If I were you, I’d just give up and leave.”  

“I’m not leaving. I won’t be ordered around by some prince who doesn’t have his powers,” he snarled.  

“You have two options,” I started, putting my hands behind my back. “Either you can leave peacefully or I send you to the dungeon. I would love to take your life but seeing you’re of noble birth, judgment would be up to the king,” I continued.  

“If you think your puny threats make me quiver, you’re mistaken,” he answered.  

I took a deep breath in as I’m starting to lose patience. “Again, those are your two options. Kindly choose now because you’re wasting my time.”  

“How about you shut--” he flew far back as I cast a spell of wind. As he landed on the grass, I removed the shield around me. I warned him but he didn’t listen. I turned to Gonzalo, giving him a nod to come with the guards. As they all arrived at the scene, the guards didn’t waste any more time and arrested the man.  

“Your Highness, are you all right?” Gonzalo asked as he arrived by my side with my page. 

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I put my hand on Gonzalo’s arm, clung to him as I coughed out blood.

“Your Highness!” Gonzalo shouted in horror, holding me on my side.  

“One of you, fetch for the Medicine King!” my page panicked.  

“No!” I was able to stop them as I let it all out of my body.  

“But, young prince, you’re coughing out blood,” Gonzalo objected.  

I groaned as I stood back up, covering my mouth. “I am all right, gentlemen. I’m just… a bit… in shock,” I took deep breaths in. “I must have overused my body with magic.”  

“Why don’t we return to your room so you could have some rest?” Gonzalo offered.  

“I can manage, Gonzalo,” I smiled, clearing my throat. I turned to the guards. “Make sure this man is sent to the dungeons. Once His Majesty returns, tell him what happened.”  

“Yes, Your Highness,” they nodded in unison, dragging the man away after.  

“Gonzalo,” I turned back to him, “Make sure he’s all secured but not to the point of being mistreated,” I instructed.  

“As you wish, young prince,” he bowed.  

“And please make sure that my sister is well taken care of,” I then turned to my page.  

“Yes, Your Highness,” he bowed.  

I nodded in response. “I’ll leave you all to it. I have other matters to take care of.”  

“Your Highness,” they bowed together.  

I proceeded to the stables as quickly as possible. I already took a long time with this situation.