“Well, the good news is that it isn’t broken,” the doctor said as he had examined Evangeline’s, now casted, ankle. She had endured multiple tests, and some hurt more than other. The ankle was a lot less swollen than the night before, but it still was not up to par with how it normally was

“And the bad news?”

“Well,” the doctor pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and let out a gentle sigh. He then looked at Evangeline and gave a little, yet sad, smile, “you have pushed the tendons in your ankle to its maximum. The fact that none of them snapped it beyond amazing to me. You’re going to be in a cast for at least two months.”

“Two months?” Evangeline exclaimed, her hands bawled into fists as she slammed them down on the chain she sat in. She ‘tsk’d’ and glared at her ankle, “how am I supposed to protect Princess Anastasia if I can’t walk properly? Or do anything, for a matter of fact?”

Evangeline’s words were made of pure venom, and the doctor seemed to be uncomfortable as he took the verbal assault. She knew that he was not responsible for her spraining her ankle, yet she was too distraught to apologize. 

“I am sure she will be under supervision considering her recent engagement to Prince Philip.”

Evangeline scowled at the mention of the engagement. Her eyebrows knitted together and any light in her eyes seemed to dampen with rage; she still was beyond perplexed at how the king could not alert to Anastasia of the arrangement before the ball. 

“Gods, I am practically useless! What will I even do now while waiting for this ankle to heal?”

“Well, I am sure you can read a few books and perhaps help mentor some of the younger guards,” the doctor suggested which led to Evangeline nodding her head, albeit hesitantly. She supposed that those ideas were not farfetched and far out of reach, but they still didn’t sit well in her stomach. She was angry at herself. If only she didn’t let herself drink to an excess or let her guard down, she wouldn’t be in this situation. 

“Now, I will get you some crutches so you’ll be able to walk. I would highly recommend not put—” 

“Let me in, I said!” A voice screeched as there seemed to be a commotion going on outside the office. “I demand you let me see Evangeline, now! I don’t care about your stupid protection order!”

Within mere seconds of the shouting, the door to the doctor’s office slammed wide open, and there appeared a frazzled Anastasia with two guards standing behind her. Stray strands of hair surrounded her face, and her eyes were widened with frustration, her lips curved into an angered frown as she appeared to be, perhaps, in a worst mood than even Evangeline.

“Gods, Evangeline.” Anastasia said rushing over, pinching the bridge of her nose in agitation. She then huffed, ”you have left me under the guard of two absolute buffoons! How did this even happen? Is your ankle okay? Will you be able to stand again? What if you’re paralyzed, oh its all my fault.” 

Anastasia grabbed Evangeline’s left hand with urgency as a worried look echoed against her face. Her grip was tight yet gentle, attempting to provide support, “you’re going to be okay, right? I can’t imagine not having my personal knight by my side.”

“Well, the doctor just relayed to me that it is just a sprain —”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!”

Evangeline hesitated slightly before shaking her head, “but I will be in a cast and unable to walk on my ankle for at least two months. Meaning you are stuck with you,” she released Anastasia’s hand and put up air quotations with her fingers, “baboons.” 

“Wait, no! You can’t do this to me, Eva! I feel so trapped with them, and they’re even stricter now because of this damned engagement to a guy I don’t even know!” 

Evangeline let out a pain-filled smile, attempting to put on a positive facade. Yet, on the inside she was quite troubled. She wanted nothing more than to protect Anastasia and continue to improve her sparring skills, yet, here she was nothing short of being a useless cripple. 

“We will figure this out, I promise.”

“Well, actually,” Anastasia said, the gears in her mind spinning as her pupils dilated, giving away that she had a possibly good idea. “You can be with me for my lessons with Valantis now!”

“Woah, I did not agree to this,” Evangeline hesitated, crossing her arms and giving a slight pout to Anastasia’s suggestion.

“No, this is absolutely perfect! I don’t have to sit, bored and alone in that library for gods know how long!” 

“Please, gods if you hear me, don’t make me do this.”

“La la la, they can’t hear you,” Anastasia said, letting out a bright smile as she jumped gleefully in place. 

Evangeline attempted to not let out a groan; she put both her hands to her temples and started to massage them. This, in itself, seemed to be the absolute most boring, tedious suggestion that Anastasia could have possibly suggested. And what’s worst? There was absolutely no way Evangeline could slip out of it; what the princess said, in a time like this, was practically cemented into Evangeline’s new, injured, life.

“Now, now, Princess Anastasia,” the doctor said, to Evangeline’s relief he was finally intervening. This quickly made the excitement fizzle out, “Evangeline, here, will need to rest to ensure her body heals properly. However,”

The doctor took hold of his glasses and lent them forward slightly, showcasing the intrigued look in his hazel eyes. To Evangeline they appeared to be old, yet beyond wise and saturated with knowledge, 

“I think having Evangeline perhaps dive deeper into the history of Collosicus and Aagara might be a great thing. Perhaps it might be able to set free a few of those trapped memories.”

“Yes!” Anastasia said, jumping up slightly in joy. Evangeline rolled her eyes so far that they, perhaps, could have rolled to the back of her head. She clenched her hands into fists so tightly that her nails were digging into her skin. This was, perhaps, the absolute worst case scenario. First, she was trapped in this daft boot, and now she is being forced to study history? Why would she need to concern herself with history when she was a knight for gods sake? 

“You have got to be kidding me, why can’t I just help with the other knights? Why must I read books?” 

“Because, they’ll make you smarter,” Anastasia said, sticking her tongue out. “And even more ladylike, perhaps.”

“Why would books make me ladylike?”

“Because you need to be an educated young woman,” Anastasia said, mocking Evangeline for the words she spoke a few weeks ago. Evangeline, once again, rolled her eyes and shook her head with despair.

“I don’t have much a choice, do I?”

“No, none at all.” Anastasia said, giving a wicked smile in the process. She had won the battle, perhaps, but Evangeline knew she was going to win the war against boredom. 

-

No one mentioned to Evangeline how difficult it would be to navigate the castle and sparring grounds with crutches. It felt like every time she made progress, there was another set of stairs or another hill to overcome. Not to mention, she found crutches to be incredibly difficult to navigate with. Her underarms were beyond sore, and every time she unconsciously wanted to walk, she would be gifted with a blaring pain echoing throughout her foot.

Evangeline made her way around the castle, attempting to head to the training grounds to break the bad news to Fletcher; she was unsure if her lessons would continue due to the injury. She had come to enjoy the lessons with Fletcher over the past two weeks; she found her mind to be clearer, and she thought she was making good progress with her overall ability to fight. 

“Well that doesn’t look to be comfortable,” a voice spoke out to Evangeline and she nearly jumped forward, almost letting a crutch fall away from her. She turned her head angrily, trying to catch a glimpse of who was behind her. She pivoted herself on the crutches and found it to be the dashing knight from the evening before, Vance. He wore a casual sparring outfit, a white, thin sleeved linen tunic with dark brown slacks. He had a belt on with a scabbard, a sword pocketed within it. 

“You really have to sneak up on me like that? How cruel of you, Vance.”

“So you remembered my name even after being,” he paused for a moment and smirked, “a bit on the drunker side of things.”

Evangeline groaned and gave Vance an irritated glare. She knew she had not presented  herself to be the proper young lady that she was supposed to be, but it was one time. One bloody time that was out of character.

“Are you simply here to scare and insult me?” 

“No, not at all. I was simply making my way to the sparring grounds; I figure I best not lose my touch while visiting. I saw you walking, well, hobbling there, and thought I’d say hi.”

“I suppose that is a reasonable thing to do,” Evangeline sighed as she and Vance started to make their way towards the sparring grounds. It seemed that Vance slowed his walking and shortened his strides to keep pace with Evangeline’s attempts to maintain a decent movement speed. 

“I can’t imagine how uncomfortable those things are.”

“Oh you have no bloody idea; I feel like I am going to lose my mind. And get this,” Evangeline let out a humorless laugh and shook her head, still, in disbelief, “in stead of helping Chief with training, I am being forced to study with Anastasia. Like I have any idea on what to study.”

“That certainly sounds less than joyous,” Vance commented as the two stepped outside, exiting one of the Castle’s large entrances into the sparring grounds. Evangeline was immediately hit by the cool winds, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. If she weren’t going to spar, then she was going to freeze!

Evangeline shivered and tried to move quicker on her crutches while staying along the concrete path in front of her. It seemed to be mostly steady besides a few stray rocks that occasionally fell onto the path. 

She nearly lost her balance a few times, but she managed to keep upright, albeit with a bit of strong language to accommodate her near falls. 

“How long did the doctor say it would take you to be back to full health?”

“Around eight weeks minimum; I pray that elves have some sort of magical healing powers that can make that time shorten. However, that is in most other creatures besides elves and humans.”

“That it is,” Vance laughed, his eyes twinkled slightly. Yet, Evangeline felt something stir within her. She turned her head and the two finally arrived at the sparring grounds where it appeared some of the young knights were practicing on wooden dummies. It seemed that Fletcher was making them do a drill where they were to strike a certain way for a minute or two before switching places with someone behind them and wait their turn to do it again. 

He was critiquing quite harshly, his voice screaming into the air and hand signs being thrown. It appeared to Evangeline that a vein in his forehead was bulging with utter anger and despair. Yet, this was how Fletcher typically instructed, with fierceness and authority. Despite him being as frightening as he was, he truly wanted the best for all of the knights. 

As Evangeline and Vance made their way closer, Fletcher’s eyes whisked over to the two of them, and he instructed the young knights to rest for a second. He walked over to the two experienced knights and greeted both of them with a nod. However, his nod turned into a saddened frown.

“That does not look good. What happened, Evangeline?” 

“Well,” she and Vance looked at each other before she turned back to Fletcher with a nervous smile, “I fell down on my way back to my room after Anastasia’s fiasco. Doctor said it didn’t look to great.”

“Well that’s a damn shame. I am sure we can figure out a way to keep you engaged while stuck in that boot.”

Fletcher gave Evangeline a little pat on the shoulder before turning to Vance and looking him up and down with intrigue in his eyes. 

“I assume you’re Vance.”

“I am, pleasure to meet you, Chief,” Vance held out his hand, and Fletcher shook it firmly. The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation between them that Evangeline couldn’t quite decipher. 

“You have quite a good reputation within a few states. Fierce in battle and as loyal as a dog.”

“I certainly appreciate it, Chief. I have heard some of your tales as well.”

Fletcher nodded his head, a ghost of a smirk making its way onto his face. Ambrose had always been a competitor, and now that they were suddenly allies, there were tensions bound to rise. However, to Evangeline, it looked to be more of a tense respect than anything, like the two of them were challenging each other. 

“I suppose we should get started. Evangeline, you can stay as you wish, maybe help out with the younger knights.”

“Well, actually,” Evangeline gave a leer, her two dimples showing. She nearly fell while being lost in thought before regaining her balance, “I thought I could see a bit of Vance fighting, maybe seeing if the stories match his skill.”

“That’s not a bad idea. How about,” Fletcher glanced around the battle field, judging and calculating every knight that was present. Yet, when none caught his attention, an idea seemed to pop into his head, “me. How about me?”

“My oh my, I am flattered.” Vance said, putting a hand to hit chin where a bit of stubble was present. Evangeline looked closely into Vance’s eyes were it seemed like cogs in a clock tower. When his eyes looked up again, a decision was made, “let’s do it. Now, here. How about a little wager in it too? Just for the thrill of it.”

“Well you have me interested,” Fletcher said, Evangeline noticed him put his weight on his back leg, folding his arms in the process. Yet, when the two were thinking of a prize to put on the line, neither of them could seem to come up with anything. 

Evangeline started to ponder what a good thing would be, as well. And, after a few moments, Evangeline’s face lit up with an idea. 

“I have an idea,” she voiced, letting out a smirk and attempting to keep balance on her crutches. She nearly tumbled, due to her limbs getting nearly frozen from the cold setting in. “How about a night out at the Sunset tavern? Loser pays for all.” 

The three seemed to exchange eye contact, and a little smile appeared on Vance’s face, “as long as I don’t get as drunk as —” 

“You can just say yes or no, Vance.” Evangeline hissed, narrowing her eyes at Vance and staring holes into his head. His eyes widened as Evangeline intended to strike the fear of Odin into him. Vance backed a step backwards before Fletcher cleared his throat,

“Yes, that should suffice. Does that sound good, Vance?”

Vance gave a smile and nodded his head, “make it a deal.”

The gentlemen shook hands, and there was a silent spark made. Some of excitement others of ferocity; it was sure to be a battle, and whoever won was going to have more than bragging rights. It wasn’t just a simple spar among talented fights, it was a test of which kingdom, Collossicus or Ambrose, was better. 

It wasn’t a fight. It was a full on, silent, fatal, war.