Princess in Trouble (complete)

12 - Shock

One man close to Vondra, a captain, turned his face upwards and shouted, "Captain! Choose a team to stay on duty up there. The rest of you must assemble promptly, in the field with their captains, and we will reassign duties for the wall-watch. It must be done before sunset! Altores will be here soon."

Men were hurrying down the steps from the wall and those up there with Vondra began to follow. 

Vondra, passing the bow and quiver to the man who had given them to her, asked, "Who is Altores?"

"You don't know?" He felt he should repeat this question, asking, "You really don't know?"

The shake of her head caused him to blurt, "You must be new here... are you?" Frowning at her, he waited for her to reply.  

"Yes, I arrived in the entrance facility this morning."

"So, who are you other than an elite member of the Clan of Xerxes, the Amazon division?"

"I'm sure that others will explain who I am but please tell me about Altores."

"He's the King of Tutela and our Chief Commander; our Supreme Leader here. After your brave actions up here he will surely want to meet you and reward you.— Look," he pointed toward the East, he'ss crossing the field now— see his standard?" He shouted, "Altores is here!"

Vondra backed away from him, one hand on the closest crenelation. Turning, she sought to find a space below the wall where she could land safely. The men were moving away and she crouched, wishing them to make space for her. Standing and looking to view the flag, she saw it was much closer now.

Following men across the wall walk towards the steps, Vondra kept her eyes on the ground beneath the wall.

A clear space in the grass opened up and she launched herself from the wall, forcing her body to relax and treat the ground as a friendly place to 'make a wave'.

Her grandfather had taught her this and over the four years since his death, she had practiced it at least once every two weeks so that the technique would not be lost to her. Never had she been locked in at her father's palace, due to this amazing technique. There was not one wall there that she could not jump from and 'make a wave' to roll unhurt at the bottom. 

"The rock cannot harm a wave when it rolls over it," her grandfather had told her, and now, as the toes of her slippers touched the ground, she made a wave and sprang up, safe and sound, from the relaxed roll of her body.

Cheers sounded from the wall and a voice called, "Altores is here! Altores! Altores! Altores!" — the usual greeting for their supreme leader began and soon every voice joined in, except Altores and his personal guard and of course, Vondra. As a group, the soldiers and guards on the wall and beneath it, bent a knee in obeisance to him.

Wanting only to escape from Tutela, Vondra turned to view the man they called Altores. To Vondra, he did not appear to be young, but not old. 

Dismounting from his horse about twelve feet from her right side, his gloved hands on his hips, he frowned, drew off his gloves and folded his arms. Raising one hand, he clenched his fist; the sign he always gave to summon silence.

The chanting faded and all was quiet. With a sign from Altores, the men stood up like a rising wave of the sea. Together, they saluted and called, "God save Altor! God save Tutela!"

It was Vondra's turn to frown, her gaze fastened on the man's face as he stepped towards her.

The tumult of emotions that flooded her mind, her reasoning and her heart overwhelmed her. The ground she had so skillfully rolled on seemed to rise and crush her as she involuntarily dropped to her knees instead of fleeing as she had planned.

Her eyes had not left his face but now she absorbed the fact that this man wore a crown-like helmet made of a burnished metal that shone like gold and a vest to match it. Tears filled her eyes and confusion blocked her mind.

The man, the king, the Chief Commander hailed as Altores, strode across to her. 

She knew him, but he did not fully recognize her. Bending to rest on one knee, he untied the ribbons on her head scarf and removed it.

Not a word of exclamation sounded from the crowds of captains, guards, or soldiers, all of them were too astonished to summon any words to describe the sight of their king, their leader, Altor, kneeling to this unknown young woman who wore the clothes of a palace servant-girl. 

No one else knew who this girl-warrior was, but he knew her. Her eyes were the color of her mother's, eggshell blue; her hair the same as her father's, ebony-brown; but how she had grown... was it three years or was it now four?

Before she could say the name she knew belonged to this man, the name she loved, he pressed the fingers of one of his hands on her lips, commanding, "Do not speak but come with me."

Taking her by both hands and lifting her to stand, he turned, commanding, "Bring my horse now and remove the saddle."

Calling to the crowds of guards and soldiers, he ordered, "Follow the instructions of your captains. I will return here soon."

Without a word, he lifted Vonda to sit on the huge horse and mounted behind her. As he guided the horse through the parting men, she whispered in his ear, "Grandfather... how can it be?"

"Hush," he warned. "Be patient and I will explain it all." 

Shocked into silence by the realization that he truly had recognized her but was not about to talk about it here, she could only bear to think that she was here, this must be for real but the past had no meaning anymore because of this unexpected twist in the discovery that her grandfather was not dead but alive.