The Battle for Theiodith

Untitled Part 1

Chapter 1

Adelaine glanced over her shoulder at the castle guards who were in pursuit close behind her. Branches snapped at her face, stinging her skin as she rode the stolen castle horse through the forest.

Adelaine continued on with a sliver of hope for evading the guards when suddenly, she heard a popping sound. She looked back to see Alderen, the captain of the guards, slinging his bow back over his shoulder.

All thought of escaping left Adelaine's mind as she realized what had happened. Her purloined horse fell to the ground with a thunk and Adelaine went with it. As she regained her feet, the guards surrounded her, holding out their swords as a threat. She scanned her small confine of horses and men, looking for an escape route.

"Come back to Castle Theiodith, by order of King Ithric!" commanded Alderen, his deep blue eyes boring a hole in her head with their serious stare.

"Do I have a choice?" Adelaine asked, re-braiding her long, wavy dark-brown hair down to her waist.

"You already know the answer to that," said Piersen, the short, stocky guard with short jet black hair and ice blue eyes.

Adelaine looked at David, a guard with medium brown hair and green eyes, who was applying a purplish liquid from a vial to the stolen horse's injured leg. The arrow had already been removed. She watched as David closed the vial and then put his hand over the injury. He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and muttered some words to himself and removed his hand. The wound was healed.

"Ready to leave, sir!" David informed his superior, Alderen.

"Good work, David," Alderen said as Matt, a blond-haired, blue-eyed guard, lifted Adelaine onto the formerly injured horse, who was now fit as a fiddle.

"I'm not a child. I know how to mount a horse. I am fifteen years old, after all," said Adelaine, a hint of attitude in her voice.

"You may not be a child, but you are a lady, even if you don't act like one," answered Alderen, saying the last part under his breath so Adelaine wouldn't hear him. He wasn't supposed to insult her, even though they were rather good friends.

Adelaine took no offense from Alderen's comment. She never acted like a lady, and never intended to. She would take a life of adventure over a life of manners and household duties in a heartbeat.

They began to ride back in the direction of King Ithric and Queen Emeline's castle. Nobody had looked back to check on Adelaine, who was riding behind the guards. She was grateful for the guards' ignorance, though. It would give her time to escape.

Adelaine quietly switched her position so she was riding sidesaddle. As noiselessly as she could manage, Adelaine slid off her horse and onto the ground. All the guards heard her hit the ground though, and they all turned around. As soon as they saw what Adelaine had done, they quickly dismounted their horses and grabbed Adelaine's arms.

"Trying to be tricky?" said Alderen. "That won't be hard to fix." He nodded to David, who promptly grabbed some rope from his horse's pack. Alderen grabbed the rope from David and frogmarched Adelaine to the horse she had been riding.

"Get on the horse,"Alderen said, his voice patient and level.

"And why should I listen to you?" said Adelaine defiantly.

"Okay, listen. We have tried being nice. You need to go back to Theiodith. King Ithric and Queen Emeline are very worried about you."

"Okay, fine. I'll come." Adelaine mounted the horse. Alderen gently grabbed her hands and bound them together in a tight, complicated knot in front of her with the rope. He then proceeded to tie the rope to the horse's saddle.

"I'm sorry, Adelaine. But, the king gave specific orders to get you back to the castle. Now, don't get any more ideas," Alderen said professionally.

"Why did you run off, Adelaine?" asked David as they through the thick forest back to the castle.

"Obviously because Castle Theiodith, is so extremely boring. I would rather spend my time exploring the forest and battling fierce enemies than being indoors all day learning manners and becoming a... lady." Adelaine said the last word with disgust in her voice as they trampled on through the kingdom of Theiodith.

"Adelaine, Lady of the Court is a very prestigious position. Every maiden of the land dreams of even training to be one, as you are supposed to be doing right now," Piersen lectured. Then, for quite a while, there was a long, awkward pause in conversation. They rode along in silence.

As soon as they approached the castle, Alderen loosed Adelaine's bonds. "Now, go along to your lessons," he told her. Adelaine looked up at Alderen and then to all the other guards with a pleading look on her face and immediately regretted it. Alderen was staring at her with a look that could kill, and after seeing that, mounted the castle horse and rode it to the gates. Since the horse belonged to the castle, she could ride it anywhere on the premises, given it is not inside any buildings and it is not breaking or ruining anything.

As Adelaine approached the gates, the expressionless and stock-still guards asked for her name and business.

"Princess Adelaine of Theiodith, returning to my home, good sirs," which was the proper response for a lady of the kingdom. She didn't dare answer any other way because disrespecting the knights that guard the castle is a major offense.