Revenge of the Duchess

Chapter 44

But it was too late to for Luke to think much more on the topic. They were approaching the throne room now. Luke slashed with his sword, making a gash against the leather outside of the royal knight's breastplate. Had the royal knight not worn his heavy armor, no doubt the knight would be dead instead of stumbling to the floor, still alive. Luke saw an opening between the knight's helmet and his shoulder armor, then stabbed downward.

Clang!

Another blade slammed into Luke's before he could dispatch the downed knight. The enemy blade turned furiously towards Luke in the backswing in a split second. Just in time, Luke blocked and then parried the blow. Had Luke not been well-trained, he would have surely been caught by the sword.

But the opposing knight was good, better than Luke had expected from any royal knight. He seemed to even match Luke's skills.

Luke scowled as he pushed harder, driving his attacks faster and faster. He aimed for all the vital weak spots of a knight, but the knight blocked them with ease. But Luke thought he could overpower the royal knight, as the enemy was merely blocking and not fighting.

They were now in the midst of the throne room, fighting right before the empty throne. Suddenly Luke realized that there were far more royal knights already in full battle armor in the throne room than he had originally thought would be fairly empty. There were about thirty royal knights surrounding his smaller cohort of twelve.

In the moment of distraction, Luke didn't realize that the royal knight's sword began charging with a strange humming and blue sparks. Both their swords clashed again, but as soon as Luke's sword met the blade of his enemy, a surge of energy rushed through Luke's sword and into his armor.

"Ahhhhh!"

Luke screamed as bolts of electrifying energy surged into him. Every one of his senses felt like it was being toasted alive.

Somehow, he managed to pull his sword away, stopping the surge of electricity from frying his body.

"You..." Luke gasped out as he stumbled away.

"Count Luke Castellan, you have committed treason of the highest order."

The knight's voice was female. Crown Princess Thalia stared down at Luke with cold blue eyes. Just behind her was Ethan Nakamura, outfitted in the armor of a royal knight.

"You traitor..." Luke gnashed his teeth.

"I'm afraid that the traitor to the nation of Cuora is you, Count Castellan." Crown Princess Thalia said. "What a joy it is to rid this kingdom of the filth that clogs it."

********************

As the arrow raced towards the bride, the bride suddenly whipped out a hidden dagger in her bouquet and managed to cut the arrow in half just in time. Out from the wedding hall poured a crowd of knights, fully dressed for battle. Their shields were held up in front of their faces and on the top of their heads, blocking the majority of the arrows that poured out from the forest.

"Ugh." The female knight complained as she easily ripped off the white wedding dress, revealing armor underneath.

The dress was really no more than a few pieces of white fabric held up by a few clothespins. Anyone close enough could see the awkward outline of armor underneath, but far away the dress was camouflaging enough to make anyone believe that the female was prepared to be married.

"And here I thought we would never see you in a wedding dress, Captain," the "groom" joked as he cheerfully ripped off his groom's outfit.

"Shut up, Wakefield," Captain Clarisse La Rue of the first battalion of the Black Knights Order scoffed. "You better stay alive at the end of this, you punk, and I'll make you run ten laps around the field afterwards. It'll be a hundred when you die and reach hell."

"Yes, Captain!" Sir Wakefield cheered. "Invite me to your wedding with Sir Chris Rodriguez though!"

Away in the forest, Marquis Ares frowned as he saw the warriors pour out of the wedding hall. It was then when he realized that his plans had somehow had been revealed. He cursed out loud. But they had to forge through. There could only be so many knights fitting in the wedding hall. The mercenaries he had bought and the soldiers sent from Colchis in the forest outnumbered the enemy knights.

"Not good, sir!"

Marquis Ares turned to see one of his scouts rushing from behind.

"They have men behind us! Ugh-"

Before the scout could finish his words, an arrow sprouted from his shoulder. The scout tumbled down, howling in pain.

There was more sounds of yelling now. Marquis Ares realized that it was a trap.

While he had the wedding hall surrounded, there were more soldiers hidden even deeper in the forests, sandwiching Marquis Ares' troops. And leading the enemy troops was...

Marquis Ares laughed in derision as he realized who the knight in the lead on a horse thundering towards him.

"I thought you'd be at your wedding right now, Duke Jackson," Marquis Ares mocked, drawing his sword.

"I was. Thanks to your 'gift', I had my wedding this morning." Duke Perseus sneered.

Marquis Ares narrowed his eyes. "Then you're sure to love my second gift. Where's your new wife? At the castle? Back at your mansion? Don't worry, I have soldiers sent to your residence as well."

Judging by the number of knights underneath Duke Perseus' command, the duke seemed to have brought all the knights of the Black Knight Order. His estate must have been left free of any knights, or at least the worst knights would be left to guard the mansion. Marquis Ares grounded himself and prepared to fight. Although, the surprise attack had failed, at least he had the satisfaction that the duke's new wife would soon be killed by the mercenaries sent to loot and kill each royal family's supporters.

With a roar, Marquis Ares lifted his blade and charged the duke.

********************

"There is fighting in the castle, Your Highness."

The head lady-in-waiting reported to Princess Medea.

"All the royal princesses are to remain in their quarters to be safe until they are resolved."

Medea laughed. "What fun. How dare the Cuoran family try to command me after they humiliated me?"

She touched her lower belly, reminded of the fact that her fertility had been poisoned. To this day, Medea still hadn't discovered how the fertility medicine had been placed in her food or drink, seeing that her attendants checked and taste-tested her food in the Cuoran royal palace every time. The only time that she hadn't been able to have her attendants do that was during her meals alone with Prince Jason.

Medea narrowed her eyes. Yes, it must have been then. In the time that Medea had been trying to slip aphrodisiacs into Jason's food, he had far more successfully poisoned her while the aphrodisiacs had not worked on him.

"It is time for you to pay, Prince Jason." Medea seethed.

She had no intention of following through with the orders to remain in her quarters. She rubbed the onyx ring on her hand. It was time to show the true extent of her powers.

Beside her, the mute maid lowered her gaze to the floor and hid her darkening expression as she watched Medea play with her onyx ring.