Present time.
Rowan opened his eyes. He was resting while taking big breaths. His companions were also in distress. They tried to pull out the arrow, but the arrowhead was deep in the bone.
Henry, the sword wielder, was squatting beside Rowan, and Archer Hynek was on the lookout. Henry and Hynek were not only Rowan's childhood friends but also comrades in arms.
"Okay, let's go to the castle, it might have someone who can use herbs. We can go and heal there."
Rowan said he stood up with difficulty. Henry nodded his head and held Rowan's hand to support him, but Rowan shook his head with a smile, as he could still walk by himself.
"Your father is a horrible person."
Henry said he was walking beside Rowan now, Hynek was walking ahead to see if there was any danger.
"You think Father sent those mercenaries?"
Rowan asked, although his father abandoned him, it does not mean he can also send someone to hurt him.
"Of course, a mercenary with such heavy armor? Who else can commission them? If it were not for those armors, we could have easily won"
Hynek said from the front, they were suspecting Lord Alaric sent men after his son to finish him off, otherwise, his youngest son can never be a true leader and heir.
"You think too much. My father is, although angry at me, but he will never send mercenaries after me."
Rowan said he was not entertaining the thought that his father could even do that.
Soon they saw the castle. It had been abandoned for generations, only a path could be seen from afar, leading to the nearby village.
The castle was in the middle of dense vegetation, it was surrounded by tall pine and oak trees. Rowan smiled seeing it, he was not certain, though, he would make it past today.
The trio reached the castle by the end of the day. The sun was setting, and they reached the path created by people walking on it frequently. Rowan, with his trembling hand, gave the sealed order to Henry because he was too weak to even talk now.
Henry took the letter and walked ahead. There were makeshift houses in the courtyard, Rowan could guess it was the soldiers who were living here.
An old person came out of the house when Henry knocked on the door, he looked old and had the wrinkled face of a warrior.
Henry simply gave him the sealed letter after confirming he was the captain of the guard in the castle. The old man took the letter, and many people came out of their houses, they were looking at the trio with curiosity.
"This, he is the heir?"
The old man asked, he looked at the man who was barely standing on his two feet, Rowan's face was gorgeous compared to the peasants around the place, and he was a noble, old man could tell with a single glance.
"Yes, he was the heir, but he now owns this castle. We need a room for the lord immediately."
Henry said, his voice was urgent, Hynek was holding on to Rowan.
"Yes, my lord, the castle has not been used in ages, while my daughter Agnes cleans it up, feel free to use my room."
The old man said, seeing the young lord was too sick, Hynek, hearing the old man was giving up his room, didn't bother with courtesy, he went ahead with his young lord and placed him in the bed where Rowan fell unconscious on the bed.
Hynek and Henry came out of the house and bowed deeply to the captain of the guard, they were really grateful to the old man.
"We were ambushed on our way here, we lost our horses and supplies. By God's grace, we reached here. If you have any apothecary or herbalist, that would be great."
Henry said to the old captain, and the old captain nodded his head, he had also seen the arrow on Young Lord's back.
"In this castle live me, my wife, and seven soldiers to guard the village outside the forest. The herbalist woman is in the village, I will call for her immediately. Ulrich, come here, take Radek with you, and run to the herbalist. Our lord's life is hanging."
The old captain ordered his two men, the two of them who were ordered were tall and skinny, they nodded their heads, and one grabbed a rusty sword, another pulled a broken pike, and then they ran towards the village with a torch in hand.
"Hey, also tell Milada and Justina to come, they can clean the upper castle for the lord."
The old captain yelled, and the soldiers stopped for a second in acknowledgment and then ran along. The village was not that far from the castle, and they came with three women in tow.
There were also many men who followed them back, but they reported three women, two of them were young and one was old, and all three of them were wearing scarves around their heads.
"Milada and Justina, clean up the castle, especially Lord's chamber. Bozhena, come here."
Old captain said, then Hynek and Henry took Bozhena to see the Rowan. Rowan was unconscious now, so Bozhena looked through the wound carefully.
"Bring hot wine and bandages, we will need to grind marigold too."
Bozhena said she was worried this lord might not make it, the arrow is too deep and penetrated the bone. Rowan was brought to the castle upstairs the next day in his chamber.
It took time, and the whole village visited the castle several times after hearing the lord was here. They brought bread and cheese to see him.
Rowan was delirious with a severe fever for two fortnights. Today, after Bozhena checked on him in the evening and left, as usual, everyone fell asleep after dark. Hynek and Henry stayed in the castle, and the captain with the soldiers stayed in the outer bailey.
Rowan's back wound has almost healed, but he got a chest pain in his deliriousness, and while clutching his chest, he took a deep breath, and after that, no more breaths followed.
His chest stopped beating, and his hands slowly fell down. His eyes closed, but soon they opened wide with shock. Rowan, who couldn't even move properly, sat up with a jolt.
"I was in front of a truck."
"Where am I?"