Page 44 of Once Upon an Enchanted Kiss

She pushed away from him, sliding out of his lap and into the cool grass. She swiped her hand over her stinging cheek. The scratch must have been shallow for there was no more blood. She glanced down to see a grass stain on one elbow. Likely where she landed and skidded to halt her fall. The knees of her pants also had dark green grass stains. Meanwhile, her horse was happily grazing on the other side of the clearing.

“Let me help you up.” He wrapped a hand around her upper arm.

“I don’t your help,prince.”

She shoved him off and struggled to her feet. She wobbled a moment and realized one ankle throbbed with a sharp, burning pain. When she tried to take a step, she lost her balance. But Phillip was there to catch her and keep her from tumbling to the ground again.

“Unhand me,” she snapped.

“It’s your ankle, isn’t it?” Jeffrey asked. “Best get that boot off before it swells.”

“Jeffrey, where’s the nearest town or village?” Phillip asked.

“More than a day’s ride,” he said. “We won’t make it before nightfall.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her upright. As much as she wanted to shrug him off, she knew if she did, she would regret it. For now, she was able to put most of her weight on her good leg and lean into him.

Phillip glanced around the clearing. “We best make camp here tonight.”

“Here?” She balked at the idea of being in the open at night.

Though she was willing the night before, she wasn’t so fond of the idea now. Her ankle hurt, her elbow throbbed, and she was angry with Phillip for his continued deception. She wished they were at an inn and she had a room to herself so she could think.

“I don’t see any inns with featherbeds, your highness, so yes, here,” Jeffrey chided.

She shot him a glare as she frowned.

“That will be quite enough, Jeffrey,” Phillip said. “Make camp, will you? I’ll see to the princess.”

She hissed out a breath. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“Jeffrey is right. You need to get that boot off before your ankle swells and you can’t get it off. Come on. I’ll help you.” He walked her toward the clearing where there was a fallen log.

Despite her anger with him, she was grateful for the help. She doubted she was able to walk across the clearing of her own volition. Her ankledidthrob quite a bit.

“I don’t like you very much right now,” she muttered.

“I know.”

“I’m angry with you,” she said.

“I know that, too,” he replied. “And you have every right to be. You’re right. I should have told you straightaway who I was.”

At the log, he helped her lower to the ground. She whimpered as her ankle twinged. She stretched out her legs as she leaned against the roughened bark. He knelt at her feet and reached for her left boot, then paused. He looked up at her, his brows raised in question.

“May I?” he asked.

She huffed out a breath. “Despite my better judgment, yes.”

Phillip chuckled as he grasped her heel and gave a tug. She gasped as the pain lanced through her. She clenched her jaw tight to keep from crying out.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Try to relax.”

“I’ll try,” she said through gritted teeth.

He tugged once more, and once more, she involuntarily gasped and fought back tears, the agony threatening to overwhelm her. When the boot slipped off her foot, she blew out the breath. He placed it aside and then began to examine her. His deft fingers moved along her foot and around her ankle, probing with a gentle touch. When he got to the soft place below her anklebone, she winced.

“That hurts?” he asked.

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