Instant Princess

Storm the Castle

The sky was full of fire and screams. Richard and his knights fought there way towards the castle where King Tancred of Sicily hid. In his possession was Richards (fake) sister, Joan, who had been held captive since her husbands death. 

So now they were sacking the city, fighting their way to the top of the hill where the castle stood. 

I had asked Richard not to do it. What was the point of going back in time if you couldn't change things? Hundreds of innocent people would die if they attacked the city.

"Don't worry, Alix. I have a plan to get Tancred to surrender," was all he had to say on the matter before he left in full armour with his knights.

"That's it, we're going too." I announced to my posse. Audrianna lifted her head from her fine embroidery. Thayer had roped her into helping him make me a new dress. 

"Into the city?" She asked nervously.

I looked down at her scared face. Managing servants was harder than they let you think.

"Umm, well... you don't have to come, but I'm going."

Audrianna shook her head. "My place is with my lady."

"In that case, I'll come too." Thayer announced. 

I growled at both of them. "Never mind, I order you to stay here. It's dangerous out there."

"All the more reason for us to assist you." Thayer put in.

So we left the boat together (leaving Alima behind), with four armed guards. We made our way up the roads with out being attacked. It looked like the fight was mostly over anyways

In a few places we passed looters going through houses. It made me wish I had brought my bow so that I could give them a warning they would remember.

The castle gates had been forced open, and no one was guarding them anymore. We followed the sounds of crowds and fighting to a large hall in the castle.

Richard and a large man I assumed to be the King Tancred of Sicily were sitting down at a wooden table. I didn't understand what was going on at first. 

Liam walked over to where we stood with curious eyes. 

"I thought you were ordered to stay on the ship?" He asked.

I ignored his question, paying attention to the seated rulers.

"What's going on?"

"They have entered into negotiations in the interest of preventing more bloodshed. See, they have removed all of their weapons."

I did notice that Richard was missing his famous Lionheart sword. All around the table the two armies were standing back, giving the rulers privacy to discuss.

Suddenly King Tancred stood up and slapped his hand on the table.

"I will not do business with you!" He screamed. 

 "How about a contest to solve this dispute then?" Richard asked coolly. He stepped up from the table also, and servants came forward to carry it out of the hall. It seemed they no longer needed it. 

"All right. What shall it be?" The man asked.

"You're choice. I want to make sure you will be satisfied when we win," Richard smiled smugly.

King Tancred pushed his fingers together and bowed his head in thought. "Accuracy then. With bows. Best out of three. Choose your champion." Tancred waved forward a tall man with a bow from the crowd of soldiers around the King. He had a long scar running down his face and grey hair.

Robert stepped forward and murmured in to Richards ear. "Perhaps this is not a good idea, your highness. That is the Kings Champion. He is said to be the best bowman in all of Sicily."

"Then winning will be twice as sweet." Richard announced.

Tancred turned back to them. "Have you chosen a man yet? I want to finish this quickly."

"Who said anything about a man? My daughter, Lady Alix, will represent me in this matter." Robin said loudly for all in the hall to hear.

I let out the breath I had been holding. I had suspected I was part of Richards plan to take over the city peacefully. I just didn't think he was actually stupid enough to attempt it.

A few cries went up around the room as I walked forward to stand beside Richard.

"A female?" The Sicilian king asked, surprised.

"There are no rules against the gender of my champion." Richard stated.

I stood still, my hands clasped demurely in front of me, my eyes down cast. Truthfully I was just trying to hide the shaking of my hands.

"I don't have my bow," I told him.

"You can have mine, Princess." One of the older knights stepped forward and presented me with his bow. I tested the string. It was good, a little stiffer than I was used to. The arrows were very finely fletched. I gave him a smile of thanks. 

Servants began setting up a target at the other end of the hall. A wooden circle with three sections, the outside yellow, inside red, and the centre black. The black centre was about the size of my hand with my fingers splayed.

"May I practise first?" I asked nervously.

"No," The Tancred announced. "I want to finish this quickly. When my man wins, I want you off my island!"

Richard chuckled. "And when my daughter wins, you will yield to me and free my sister."

I wish he would share some of his confidence with me. What happened if I didn't win? I had been in something like a coma for nearly two months. He was putting a lot of pressure on my shoulder, pressure I didn't want at the moment.

The tall man stepped up to shoot first. He lined himself up behind the red ribbon one of the servants had put on the floor. He released his arrow and it struck just on the line between red and black. Polite applause came from the court as he stepped back.

I stepped up nervously. The bow was tighter than my old one, I tried to figure out in my head how much I would need to adjust my pull to compensate. I let go too soon and the arrow hit in the yellow section. A few groans were heard from the English soldiers.

King Tancred smiled broadly.

The tall archer stepped up again and shot a bit closer to the centre.

This time I was more sure with my bow. I hit in the black area, closer than the tall man had gotten.

King Tancred frowned. Now we were even.

The tall man glared at me before taking his final shot, hitting even closer this time. I tried to keep my nerves down as I stepped up for the final time.

I toed the red scarf on the ground. The distance was about 20 meters, my best. I could win this.

I squared my shoulders and kept the target in my eye. I could hear my trainers voice in my head, It's all about form, Alexa.

I released my arrow, squeezing my eyes closed immediately after.

"Nooooooo!" Tancred bellowed out.

I opened one eye a peek. My arrow had hit square and true in the exact centre of the bulls-eye. I smiled and turned around to face everyone else. Richard started clapping and the rest of the soldiers joined in.

Tancred used the distraction to pull a knife out of his belt and run towards Richard. He opened his eyes wide in shock and reached down to his belt, where his sword was supposed to be, had he not removed it for negotiations.

I pulled my bow up and used the last arrow to aim for the king. He dropped the knife on the stone floor with a cry. He held his hand to his chest, and on his white shirt a red stain appeared.

"My finger, you bitch!" English soldiers dragged him away, screaming from the room. The rest of the Sicilian soldiers surrendered and laid down their weapons. 

"Thank you, Alix," Richard said.

"You're welcome." I gave him my best curtsy.