The Ambush

             The carriage bounced and jostled down the dirt road towards us. It was a slick black carriage led by a team of Clydesdale horses. They where elegant creatures with long legs, thick glossy bodies, and well maintained and groom manes. There ears flicked and tails swished about as they pulled the carriage behind them. They where so beautiful that I could not pull my eyes away from them. It was such a shame that they belonged to the Phoenix family. I begrudgingly pulled my horse towards the carriage and held up my hand for the man driver to stop. At first, he was hesitant, but seeing the other guards around me, he slowed his pace and stopped beside me.

              “What can I do for you ma’am?” He asked warily as he eyed our men. I put on my best fake smile I could muster. I felt a little insulted because I knew this driver well. Wilfred was the personal driver of Nicklos. When we where younger, he would drive us around at night and take us to all the tourist parts of Celestia. Nicklos often used it as an excuse to get to know the Kingdom better, but really, he just wanted to spend time with me.

              “Wilfred, I am wounded. Have I changed so much you cannot recognize me?” His eyes narrowed as he further inspected me and then sputtered in surprise. His eyes went wide as he stood from his bench and bowed. I chuckled at his overwhelming number of apologies. I waved them off and brought my horse to the side of the carriage.

              “Ah don’t fret. It has been quite a long time since I have seen you. Unfortunately, I wish I were able to greet you under better circumstances. Bandits have been roaming around these parts and attacking our merchants’ charts. So, under strict precautions, I have been ordered to escort all High Nobles to the Palace. If at any point we are under attack, I ask that you are to keep going until you get to the Palace. Do you understand Wilfred?” I said carefully instructing him on what to do. Wilfred timidly grabbed the reins up and gave a small flick of his wrists. The horses slowly started to walk again, and he nodded his head.

             

              “Of course, your Majesty.” He beamed down at me. I could not help the small smile that formed on my lips. I motioned for my other men to fall in around the carriage. In our tight form, no one would be able to get past unless we had all be slain, and for us that was physically impossible. The General pulled up beside me, his black stallion flicking its head around at the rough jerky movements. I eyed him warily, knowing that he only brought his horse over to talk about Nicklos. I was not in the mood to chat, but that still didn’t stop him from trying.

              “I heard about your conversation this morning with his Majesty. Will you have time to try and find a suitor with all your responsibilities my Lady.” I heard the teasing in his tone, and I glared at him. I knew what he was trying to do, and I wasn’t having any of it. He knew about how close Nicklos and I had been back then, but he also knew about how he stopped writing. I wasn’t about to entertain this old soldier with long lost love issues that didn’t have anything to do with him.

              “General, you are stepping on thin ice. Do not bring this subject up again. I have an obligation as the Crowned Princess, and to my people. I will do ask my father asks so don’t worry about me. I haven’t let him down before, and I don’t plan to start now. So please, refrain from bringing this up again.” I said bitterly while giving him a side glare. He chuckled in response while dragging his hand through his salt and pepper hair. Despite having gray hairs atop his head, he still looked significantly young. Taught jawline with a well sculpted chin. Dark Gray eyes that gleamed at me with humor in them. He wore the usual colors that represented our Kingdom. White shirt and pants with golden trim. Two golden cuffs sat on each of his shoulder with a rope that held his cloak around his neck. Just like myself, he was decorated with many achievements.

              “You should put your differences aside and at least talk to him you know. I am sure there was a reason for his silence for the past year.” I sighed with annoyance and once again, gave my best ‘please shut up’ looks. That earned another chuckle from him. Before I could make a reply, one of the horses started to freak out before falling dead to the ground. The rider was slammed to the ground and had fallen unconscious from the impact.

              “Wilfred get them out of her- “I gasped as my horse started prancing around. Finding the dead horse on the ground made it nervous. I tried to rein it in with a gentle tug on, but it was too worked up. Instead, it bucked in the air, knocking me off the saddle and to the ground. I grunted as the air rushed out of me. With little room for error, I rolled out of the way of its falling hooves just as it made contact with the ground. The area had broken out into utter chaos now. Grunting in annoyance, I pulled myself from the ground and staggered over to the General who had dismounted and was ordering the others around.

              “Wilfred what are you doing just sitting there, get out of here now!” I shouted pulling my sword from its sheath. The movement caused my chest to shriek in pain. I gasped in pain and held myside trying to comfort myself. I saw the curtain of the Carriage open, but it was too dark to see inside. Wilfred stared dazed as a group of men came pounding into the clearing that we had occupied. They where all gruff looking in there tattered- shirts and pants. They screamed out their war cries as they came in swinging. I brought up my good arm and parried off an oncoming attack. Just as I swiftly blocked the blow, I brought my blade down and stabbed it into the chest of the attacker.

              The clearing had stared to fill with the screams of horses and the sound of clashing metal. Grunts and battle cries filled my ears as I defended the carriage, trying to figure out why Wilfred wasn’t moving. The General sat close to me, fighting with a bandit.

              “General, I am going to find out what why he isn’t moving. Cover me.” I said grunting as another sword clashed with mine. I kicked the man in the chest before bringing my sword up over my head and bringing it down towards his chest. I impaled him in the heart before tearing off towards the front of the carriage. I weaved between my men and the bandits as I finally made it to Wilfred. He was slumped forward against the carriage, the reins just barely dangling in his hands. I felt my heart drop in my stomach as I climbed the stairs and pushed him against the arm rest. An arrow protruding from his abdomen. His breathing was labored as he stared up at me, pain etched across his face. I grimaced down at him and shoved my shoulder under his arm.

              “We have an archer! Keep your eyes peeled!” I hollered at my occupied men. I wasn’t sure if they heard me, but once I get Wilfred situated, I had every intention to find him. “Wilfred, I need your help, do you think you can walk down the steps. I just need you to get into the carriage with the Prince’s.” I hurriedly tried to explain to him, and he just grunted in response. He gently pushed me away and I watched as his legs shook underneath him. I carefully pushed him aside and climbed down the steps before him, so I could catch him if he fell. Thankfully for me, Wilfred was a very scrawny man and weighed almost nothing.

              I motioned for him to climb down the steps, sheathing my sword just in case he fell. With shaky knees, he descended the stairs. When he got to the last stair, he tripped and fell, falling face first towards the ground. I braced myself for his impact and caught him roughly with my shoulder. He coughed against my ear and I did everything I could not to flinch from it. It was wet and warm against the side of my head. I didn’t have to look at it to know that it was blood. So, with all the strength I could muster, I held guide him over the carriage door and pulled it open. Just as I opened it, a sword came out and swung towards my head. Taking a step back, I dodged the incoming blade and hissed in annoyance.

              “Your Majesties it’s just me. Quick pull him in. I have someone replacing Wilfred that can get you to the Palace safely.” A pair of muscled arms protruded out from the carriage and snagged Wilfred under his arms and lifted him into the carriage.

             

              “Alliah is that you?” The voice was deep and soft. A sweet reminiscent voice of the man I once called mine. I cursed at myself before slamming the door to the carriage. I pulled a nearby guard to the side and forced him to the top of the carriage and demanded that they bring them safely to the Palace. He nervously nodded and quickly flicked the reins, making the horses set off into a rough gallop across the terrain. I just prayed that they made it safely to the Palace without our protection.

              Now that they where out of danger, I could focus solely on the men that dared attack us. The numbers had thankfully lessened in my absence. I scanned the throng of the battle until I found the General, who was busy defending one of our fallen soldiers. Quickly I ran to his side and while the bandit was distracted, stabbed him clean through his back and out his chest. He fell with a sickening thud and laid still. I pulled the blade from his back and glared at the trees.

             

              “The driver was injured and not able to drive so we are down a man. He was shot by an archer, so we need to be wary.” The General grunted in annoyance and scanned the canopy of trees as well. It was frustrating when an archer was involved because they where always hard to pinpoint. I shouldn’t have let the General distract me earlier, it wouldn’t have come to this. A loud cry came from the throng and another bandit fell. Then numbers were starting to dwindle, and our men were overwhelming the enemy. It was starting to look up in our favor until another arrow was launched.

              I didn’t have enough time to react as it went through my shoulder, blood spurting in every direction as it made impact. I lost my balance on impact and staggered. I groaned from the that flashed through my shoulder and down my arm. The General screamed out commands and pointed towards the direction of where the arrow came from. The two archers that we had left, aimed towards the trees and launched numerous arrows until a body dropped from the cover of trees. Angrily I snapped the end of the arrow so that it wouldn’t get in the way as we fended off the rest of the bandits.

              But to my surprise, they started to retreat. Upon the death of their backup, they fled back into the forest. Only three out of the 10 that attacked us lived to see another day. If we didn’t already have so many wounded, I would have been happy to hunt those bastards down. But we had at least two dead, one unconscious, and two injured. The General started barking out more commands again as I clutched at my chest, pain swarming me and my vision slightly blurring at the edges. I failed to keep the carriage safe, and I am sure I would get the blunt end of the stick when I arrived back at the castle. I just hoped that the others had arrived safely.