Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Cath - Chapter Thiry Five

That one managed to score a hit. I knew instinctively, that she'd run behind me, it took more than that to surprise me. Still, her body felt just as hard as her fists, and her legs were firmly on the ground too.

She wanted the Princess though, and that was my advantage. I swung my falchion, and she had to block it. I tried another kick, but she cleared the way. I thrust and swung then parried, but Elizabeth gained valuable time with every riposte even if I didn't land a blow.

The Elder attempted another magic attack, but it was still ineffective. In return I aimed for her shoulder, only missing it with a hair's breadth. As she extra carefully protected that area, it reminded me of what the orc witch said about wounding her there. Just swinging my sword in that direction made her focus on evasion. She was soon on the back foot, and I kept her in check as long as my miracle lasted. My brain worked overtime to figure out the next move.

Soon I had to return to the Princess and guide her towards my quarters. Before that, I had to make sure the Elder won't be able to follow us. The soldiers were no problem. Burdened by their heavy armor, they could not catch up with Her Majesty. I swung my sword once again and followed up with another kick. But this time, I reversed my swing at the last moment, and at risk of getting hit easily, I put all my strength into a thrust.

This finally found its way to the Elder and connected with her ribs. She was almost as tough as steel, I even heard a clang, but my sword still got through. I used the momentum to push her with my pauldron and rip out my blade, causing as much damage as possible. This did not stop her.

If anything, her attacks became even more ferocious. I was on the back foot again, forced to parry her. At least I managed to drag her even further away from the Princess. The soldiers almost the courtyard too, so I needed to move soon.

I feigned a bold attack towards her shoulder again.

This finally did it. She turned to block, and I quickly repeated my first prayer, rushing out the words. I launched one more strike, then dashed in the opposite direction. My illusion remained, dancing around her for a few more moments, and that was all I needed to sprint across the courtyard.

The Princess just about reached a junction. She slowed down, not knowing which way to go, and I caught up to her with the soldiers in hot pursuit. One was too close to my liking and tasted my blade.

His blood splattered everywhere, and he fell to the ground with a yell. The rest of them suddenly stopped. They couldn't seem to believe how easily I caught up. I grabbed Her Majesty's arm to drag her towards my place as fast as possible. The Elder's injuries barely slowed her down.

Regarding the guards, my calculations were correct. We had an unobstructed way to my quarters, and I yelled for the servants to prepare my horses, but the building seemed deserted. I hesitated for a second.

"Your Highness, please go to the stables, I'll join you immediately," I said and rushed up the stairs to my room. Nothing was locked, but nothing was missing either. It seemed they weren't interested in me.

But that meant my heritage was right where I left it. The ancient helmet worn by my father, and his father before him. Their accords kept changing, so I was unsure how many generations had it before them, but it originated before the Second Great Continental War.

It was an older style, open-faced helmet, the ornate decorations applied by the later wearers, and the red plume was inserted most recently. The first thing I did was to rip it off. As it seemed, the Inquisitorias was no more, and its former members hunted me. Their colors had no place on my family's helmet. I put it on next and quickly grabbed some of my belongings, just the ones in my arm's reach.

I didn't have time for more. I rushed downstairs and met the Princess in the stables. The horses remained, nibbling on the fodder left for them. I wasn't the greatest rider but as a high-ranking paladin, I owned a splendid warhorse and a cheap palfrey.

I haphazardly put a saddle on both and shoveled as much fodder into the Bag of Holding as it could fit. I almost discarded it when we entered the city, but now I was glad I didn't. The Princess looked confused.

"Why the fodder if we are to charge into the castle?" She asked out of breath. Her purple hair got stuck to her skin. The guards must have been rough with her. The clothes, she just put on were tattered, and she probably cried a lot too. I was sure she'd cry more after I told her my plan.

"We won't. It's hopeless, your Highness." I started while I prepared the horses. "There will be guards all over, our best bet is to escape the city towards the sea. They won't be expecting us there. It will be lightly guarded, we can make it through if we hurry."

I led both horses to the street and jumped onto the palfrey's back. I pulled up the Princess into the saddle as well.

"But... Papa." She protested. "He could stop this madness."

"I'm afraid he could not," I noted calmly. "Even if we got through him, we would just endanger his life too. Right now, he is part of the Elder's plan, but she did not seem to be afraid to take anyone's life."

I gently nudged the palfrey's side, and he kicked into a gallop. The warhorse followed us with an empty saddle. My heart was about to break, preparing for my next miracle, but it was the obvious choice.

The northern gate was lightly guarded as I expected, but they only needed a single soldier to lock us in. I put my hand over Elizabeth's mouth to muffle her cries and activated the spell as we emerged from the side road. I used the same miracle for the third time today.

The expensive warhorse ran across the northern street directly towards the castle, with the two of us in his saddle. The guards were alerted of our presence and gave us a chase on foot to ensure we wouldn't suddenly turn around. Maybe they wanted to drive us into a roadblock up ahead, but it didn't matter, my plan already worked.

They all ignored the cheap palfrey as it aimlessly galloped, cut loose by accident. The remaining guards were too focused on observing the foot chase to consider stopping the horse.

It looked happy to run away now that it got rid of his burden and galloped casually towards the open gate. By the time the illusion wore off, we made it through. I just wish I could have seen their faces when they realized, they chased the wrong horse while letting us pass...