Shades of pink, reds, and oranges graced the sky as the sun rose over the horizon. The dark shadows of the trees, turned into dark browns with light and dark green tops. The lusious canopy that laced over our heads, did little to hide the beautiful morning sun rise. With the rise of the sun, came the stirring of critters big and large. The forest was now coming to life. Small creatures scampered across the forest floor looking for food. Large herbivores moved slow and casual as they stamped their hooves looking for food. The three of us, slumped forward in our saddles, restless and tired.
Despite the glorious morning, and the energy that it gave off, we where utterly and hopelessly drained. The night had been long. The lingering possible threat of an ambush had kept us alert and on edge. The mere thought that our comrades where in danger was another issue looming over our heads like a nasty storm. I co
Inside the village, it was a little crowded. Lots of homes sat close together, standing tall and well cared for. Kids scurried around, screaming as they playfully chased after each other. Women crowded in a small area, talking amongst themselves as they watched the children play. There was a project in each of their hands. Some where knitting, others mending clothes, or some where even washing as they talked. With how open these people seemed to be, it looked as if they where a close knit community. While the men worked, the women here tended to the chores and to the children. But they seemed happy, almost carefree. The loud chatter resonated off the close buildings as we reached the center of the town where everyone was gathered. The center was basically a large area with a single well erected in the middle. A few benches where placed about for sitting, and maybe a few vendors sc
He brought us into a small office in the top of his home. It was quaint and well kept. Not even a spot of dust speckled the air as we walked in. The room mostly just consisted of a small desk with a lamp, bookshelves aligned against the wall, and worn out chair. The room seemed fairly simple with its one tall window and door leading out to the balcony. But despite having mulitple openings, old yellow smoke stains appeared all along the wall. The stench was thick and heavy as well, deaming he had just smoked not to long ago. With a wave of his hand, the few guards that escorted us left the room. Marquise, Michael, and I where standing before the Chief, watching him saunter slowly to his seat. It was like watching a really old turtle find his way through slick sand. One careful step at a time. Not once did he utter a word, and my patience was thinning with every step. I had to keep my coo
Despite having felt like a solid rock as I went to bed last night, a quick bath this morning had me thriving with energy. With the fragrance of roses wafting through the air mixed with the cleanliness I felt, I was ready to meet the day head on. That was until there was a heavy pounding on my door. It was rapid, demanding my attention as I finished sliding my undershirt over my head. Before I could answer the door, Michael came bursting through, his face red and dripping with sweat. I paused, stunned that he would just burst through without waiting for my reply. Thankfully I was now at least dressed enough where nothing was showing visibly, but I was still not fully clothed enough to be considered publicly dressed. Upon seeing my frozen form, he glanced up and down once, surprise, and then embaresment encompassed his face. He quickly coughed once, bowed, and then turned sl
The air was now tense as we arrived in the middle of town. A large group of soliders sat huddled in the center. Right where the woman were gathered yesterday. There had to at least been three dozen men standing about, shoulder to shoulder. Their heads where close together as they idly chat, a loud murmur filling the air. I could feel the silent wave of anger welling to the surface as I passed my gaze over each absent-minded face. There was absolutely no need for this many men here. "Why are there so many men here General?" I asked bitterly. I stood before my men, and one by one they fell silent. Their attention turned towards Nicklos, the General, and myself. I was surprised to see that Seria was amongst the throng of men as well. There was a shiney glow in her eye, the sign of an eager solider ready to get her hands dirty.
It had been a few hours since we departed. The horses where galloping like crazy through the forest as he pushed ourselves and the horses, to their limits. I gritted my teeth, trying to quell the anxiety that was racing through my every nerve. Counting down the days to the ball, it was four days. Four days to get Jeremiah and Nathanial home safely, and four days to stop the attack on the day of the ball. That was another thing we still hadn't figured out. The chemicals that our researchers where analyzing, was still an unsolved mystery. If I was lucky, maybe I could get all of my answers in one place. I could save my people, find the person in charge of the mercenaries, and then stop the mystery attack from happening. It was strange though, how deep the treason went within our walls. I told the General that when he sent the soliders back to the castle, to keep an eye on all of them. Ever
"What? When?" I had never been told about any attack on Nicklos's kingdom. My father never said anything to me. If he had, I would have sent over every man I could to aide him. Why was I never told about the issue with Nicklos? I suddenly started to feel very guilty about how I treated him. I was only ever cold and suspicious about his actions. I always wanted him to justify why he didn't keep in touch with me, but never really though about how this could possibly impact him. "I asked your father not to say anything. I knew that if your father had said anything to you, you wouldn't have hesitated to come to my aide. The whole situation was a surprise from the start, and almost caused a war between my Kingdom and the West. With you having enough on your plate, I didn't want to add any further stress, and your father agreed. With my brother still being young and not even havin
We had finally arrived to the outskirts of Stratheom by night fall. Nicklos had taken over in navigating as he had been here numerous times. He knew exactly where the abandoned mill was and took us on shortcuts through the forest to get there. It was in an over grown hey field. A single barn looking ready to fall apart with its worn out red faded wood and crumbling walls. The ceiling was caved in, only a few boards dangled dangerously towards the grown. All the windows had been smashed in or broken away from heavy weather. Some of the walls had gaping holes in them, the wood rotting around the edges from years of decay. A lone wooden wind mill sat erect next to it. The blades had long fallen off and sat scattered at the base of the hexagon body. The wood on it's body was in greater shape than the barn, but it was still just as faded. It was very sad to look at, and the moon light
"Well I be, I guess even as your beauty grows, so doesn't your brains. Such a shame you had to pick being a Knight over a proper Princess. I sure would have enjoyed you." I shivered in disgust. It's good to know his arrogant and cocky attitude hasn't changed. I could possibly use that against him if I can find the right things to say. The goal right now, was to get their attention on me. If I can get them to let their guards down, Marquise and Nicklos could easily disarm them. If I remember correctly. Uriah wasn't exactly skilled as a Knight and barely made it through the exit exam. "You haven't changed a bit. How fortunate." I mumbled unstaking my sword from the ground and letting it dangle limply in my hand. Nicklos wrapped a protective hand around my waist, trying to gently tug me behind him, but I stopped him with a side glance. What ever it was they where after, we would face
I will skip the boring bits and just tell you what happened next. Things actually went more smoothly than what I had expected. Illia was tossed in the dungeons as soon as I arrived per my request. She did her obviously tidbits of flailing and screaming how unjust I was for arresting her without a reason. Of course, my father tried swooping in and saving the day. But with the evidence in hand about her treason to the kingdom, she was soon after locked away. I couldn't explain to you how good it felt knowing that I was uprooting the problem. That and she was a terrible human being to begin with. Uriah's father had been in tow of my father, and was then given the evidence of all of my father's wrong doings. After scanning through the documents, he went through a trial that lasted well over a year. In that year, Laylia was caught trying to sneak into the border of my kingdom and was arr
The air between all of my soldiers was heavy with silence. Almost like an invisible weight bad been placed on everyone of our shoulders. Grief hung above their heads, having lost one of our own, and learning that their was a traitor amongst us. Even as they sat on their horses, baccks straight and reigns loose in their hands, they still hung their heads. General Bregus was probably the most quiet out of all of us. He uttered not one word since we told him what had gone down the last few days. There was a strangled grunt from his lips, but he uttered no more since then. As he rode by my side, I was able to gauge his reactions. But it was hard to read him as he stared blankly into the distance. His eyes where on the horizon, but his mind had wandered into his own thoughts. It would almost seem like he had even paled a little, grieving in the silence of his own mind. I know that Micha
The breeze brushed through my hair with gentle fingers. It caressed my face and body with its cold embrace, making me shiver. Goose bumps formed on my arms, making my skin tingle against the leather I had dawned on earlier this morning. We were finally free. No longer mingling with criminals, no more stuck behind the many walls of the city, we were free. Instead of the pounding laughter of loud and drunk people, the air was filled with the thunder of horse hooves frantically trying to put distance between us and the city of criminal. The trees where giant blurs of dark and light greens as we raced through the tightly knit forest. Twigs and leaves laid snapped and torn apart under the heavy beats of our horses hooves. In our desperation to get back home, we neglected to actually hide our trail. All our hope was on them being so distracted they wouldn't know where to start l
Just as expected, the streets where lined with criminals. Their pace was slow as they crawled through the streets like timid cockroaches. I watched as the sea of people flucuated, a gentle tide coming in and evading back into the ocean. The murmurs that rose above the steady beat of feet across the stone pathway, was like a mother hushing her child back to sleep. But it came with a dark whisper of warning as they passed by. The gentle whisper of death caressed their lips as the words escaped their lips. Like a gentle chant, all I could hear was 'Laylia wants their heads.' Who else would she be talking about other than us. We single handedly walked through her walls, the comfort of her own walls, her territory. Her privacy was disrupted, and the quiet comfort of the suprise she had been building for so long was now in disarray. No longer was she able to have the upper hand in her plot to over throw my h
Whilst rubbing sleep from my eyes, I wobbled down the stairs like an infant toddler. I hadn't completely woken up yet and I don't think I was fully recovered from yesterday's endeavor. Honestly, from looking at the rest of the crew, I don't think they would agree either. On the couches laid an exhausted looking Micheal. His head was lulled to one side, mouth slightly popped open with a small sliver of drool coming out. It oozed out in a small stream of clear liquid spittle. He had somehow managed to fall asleep with his arms crossed over his chest. One of the very few men that I have met that doesn't snore like a loud fog horn. Seria had two big black and saggy bags under her eyes as she laid passed out on Micheal's lap. Her arms where crossed over each other upon his lap, making a makeshift pillow out of her own muscle and flesh. Her body was a straight as a board until you came u
When the room had finally grown silent, I decided to dare a glance over my shoulder. I could see a clear line of sight straight to Maxwell's cell. The guards instructed to watch over him, where not in my line of sight. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to see us, I moved away from Seria. She sat frozen in place, hands clenched into tight fists as she stared into space. I waved a hand in her face, trying to coax her out of her deep thoughts. But she continued to stand as still as a statue. "Seria, I'm sorry I put you in an uncomfortable spot, but your dress would have given us away. I have no intentions of harming you if that was what you where worried about." She didn't say anything as she continued to stare off into space. My frustrations where starting to grow as I tried to stir her from her thoughts, but nothing I did was working.
"I am not going to help you, so you might as well kill me already you stupid woman." Maxwell groaned angrily. You could sense the defeat in his tone as he spoke, like a man who was ready to just give up. I gingerly approached the gate door, kneeling down to his level and hoping he would recognize me. I wrapped my fingers around the cold wrought iron and giggled it slightly, testing the weakness of the gate. Unfortunately it didn't budge. "Maxwell, it's Michael. The Princess sent out a small team to rescue you. It hasn't been an easy journey, but we are here now so don't worry." I said jiggling the door once more. There was a dark and weak chuckle that radiated from Maxwell. "Don't bother Michael, I am far to weak to be escorted out safely. You would be killed because of me. Laylia that bitch has been to
How can a woman dressed in bright green clothes disappear so quickly? There was no way she could just up and vanish without a single warning. With her attire, any man would love to shove their greedy and grim covered hands all over her. Especially in this establishment. I don't know what infuriated me more, her vanishing and not telling me what she had planned, or that someone would even dare pray on her. I had to find her fast before someone else decided to grab a hold of her. How did I casually hunt for someone while my heart was racing and my panic was starting to spike. I had no doubt she could handle herself if things went sideways, but I would still rather be at her side if things did turn sour. I knew I made her mad when I vented my frustrations on her, but not enough to abandon me in a crowd full of horney men and lustful women. Soon I would be seen without
Six months I have been training for field work. I was barely even close to graduating, and now here I am. Sitting in the enemy territory with little experience on sneaking around. I wasn't the best for remaining unseen. Anytime I snuck out of the Kingdom, father would always catch me. I was even caught on the last excursion to find the bandits. It was the first time I had ever met her Majesty. I thought she would give me a verbal whipping for sneaking out on to missions before my graduation, but to my surprise she remained docile. When I offered to go along in my father's stead, I didn't think that this journey would be this perilous. I mostly just wanted to get back at Emmanuel for hurting my father. But it turned into more than that. My best friend is dead, my other friend is a traitorous, and my future Queen has her family's secret history to shoulder. Princess Alliah has become quite tired w