The Purple Jade Palace: The Hummingbird's Plan

Field Battle

Ladet impatiently drummed his fingers over the side of the palace outer defence wall. Rodlet was standing beside him having been informed of what had occurred as soon as Lady Annalei had been returned to her living quarters.

They were waiting for the twenty guards Ladet had sent out over the palace, to come back from their search to determine if Teal was still in the palace grounds or not. They had covered many locations from the Purple Jade Palace again, to the Empress' quarters, and to the Blue Garden and the pathways underneath. The training grounds and even the Emperor's and Jale's living quarters had also been searched.

Ten men had returned so far. No one had seen Teal leave the palace grounds and from all accounts, the last time Teal had been seen, had been on his rounds earlier that afternoon.

Six more guards came back, all shaking their heads, and Ladet swore. The men were watching waiting patiently for his next command. Ladet turned and looked towards the Emperor's tower and where the Empress quarters sat. He was not going to bother her with this news just yet. It was as if Rodlet was reading his mind.

"We can't jump to conclusions," Rodlet told him. "We have no proof that Prince Yernal has done anything apart from a young girl's words."

"She has no reason to lie," Ladet responded.

"Still, we need more proof," Rodlet continued. "Let's send some scouts out. Prince Yernal's party left about three hours ago now. I have some men who will easily be able to catch up with them. We'll observe first and see what they come back with."

Ladet turned to face Rodlet, a man who was seven years his senior and much more experienced than himself in running the palace. "I'll go with them," Ladet said. "I need to see with my own eyes, and I've had contact with Prince Yernal if he spies us following him. We'll leave in half an hour."

Rodlet nodded in agreement.

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Princess Estina fought strong and hard. Everything Menelt and his men had taught her over the past two years, flowed through her body with confidence and strength. She wasn't foolish. The comparison of her size to the other soldiers was quite stark so she picked her battles, targeting men who were comparable in height and stature.

She had an upper hand. While the Keglan soldiers fought with a sword and a shield, Princess Estina fought with a sword in one hand and an axe in the other. When a Keglan soldier blocked her with a shield, she would swing down and hack into the soldier's leg with her axe. If a man approached who was formidable in size and strength, she used her own size to her advantage by rolling or diving away. Twice two of Menelt's men came to her defence but other than that, she held her own.

Out of the corner of her eye, Princess Estina could see the blur of energy that was tearing through Prince Yernal's men, ripping them to shreds, limbs flying through the air of those who came within its path. Whoever this prisoner was, they were formidable, and Princess Estina did not want to come across their path.

Amongst the fighting, she paused to search out Menelt. She didn't want the same fate to occur to the mountain men. Spying him a short distance away, she started to move in his direction, blocking and dodging past Prince Yernal's soldiers.

Before she could reach him however, her world came to an abrupt stop.

All of a sudden, the strangest creature stood before her. Blood covered his face, arms and heaving chest, but nothing could hide his vibrant black and silver hair and brilliant blue eyes. This was a person who she had read about in her studies of the land's ancient history chronicles. He was meant to be a legend, a myth and yet, there he was standing in front of her. Before he could attack, she held out her hands and dropped her weapons. Her head lowered to show submission, and Princess Estina sank to her knees.