The Tale of a Princess and Her Journey to Love

Chapter Seventeen

Hurrying along side-by-side Aurora and Theodosius were determined to find King Markus and reveal to him all that they knew. They remained grim and silent as they strode through the empty corridors. However, just as they turned a corner, Aurora had a building sense of unease in her gut, as most of the candles were blown out along both sides of the wall. It was most peculiar and she never seen anything like it before. There were maids employed solely for the purpose of making sure they were always producing light! Aurora shared a look of panic with Theo, but before they could act on their sense of trepidation, it was too late.

Suddenly men leaked out from the shadows and they were quickly surrounded.

"Who are you? What is going on? I command you to step back." Theo growled as he pulled Aurora in close to him and unsheathed his sword.

"I am sorry your Highnesses, but I am afraid we cannot let you through." A cocky, almost sympathetic voice called out from behind them.

Aurora turned around and gasped, not believing that he could be in on this treachery.

"Dusty? What are you doing? Who are these men? It is imperative that I speak with my father!" Aurora exclaimed as she held onto Theo frightfully, hating the sinister victorious looks on all eight of the men's faces.

"I am sorry Princess, but I cannot let you do that. You are coming with us." Dusty determined.

Aurora felt rather weak and sick as she realised that her sweet, gentleman of a guard Dusty was a traitor.

"Over my dead body." Theo snapped, keeping an ironclad grip on his Princess.

"Dusty why? Why would you do such a thing? You are employed to protect me." Aurora poured out emotionally.

This betrayal hurt so much more then Evangeline's.

"Sorry Princess, Prince Korian is much more generous with his pay, and soon Alluvia is going to have a new King; I just want to make sure I am on the right side." Dusty shrugged.

"Please Dusty; you do not have to do this. Where is your honour?" Aurora tried again, feeling increasingly panicked as the men started to close in on them.

Theo courageously waved his sword around, warning them back but there were simply too many.

"Alright this is taking too long, we need to leave now. Get the Princess." Sychelles ordered, making ice-cold fear race through Aurora.

All at once, the fighting began, and Theo valiantly tried to fend them off, but there was nothing he could do when he was suddenly bashed over the head with a sword. Aurora screamed as Theo fell to his knees then face planted the floor, but she was quickly silenced when a sweaty hand was clamped over her mouth. She struggled against the men, continuously screaming and squirming, desperate to get to Theo to make sure he was okay. Tears poured from her eyes at the severity of the situation, and she kicked out as she felt herself being dragged away. She heard someone snap 'shut her up', and although she knew she had no real chance of escaping, she continued to fight in case a miracle occurred. Momentarily the hand disappeared from her mouth making her cough and splutter as she wept and struggled, but then a cloth was plastered against her lips instead which made her gag as it smelt like strong chemicals.

What felt like a cloud billowed into her mind, dulling her thoughts and making her feel weak. She tried to hold her breath but the damage had already been done, and she felt her arms enfeeble and her legs give out from beneath her as her vision blurred into darkness. Her last thoughts were of Theo and her family, wondering if she would ever see them again.

One hour later...

Theo woke up to a white room and thumping, dull mind. What had happened? He struggled to remember. With a groan, he shifted and opened his eyes, unprepared for blurry vision. He heard voices above him, dull and misty, and saw shadowy figures rushing around the room. A glass of cold water was pressed against his dry lips and he greedily gulped the liquid down. He knew someone was calling him but the voice was far away so he laid back down and closed his eyes. He had a terrible headache.

But then an ocean of icy water was chucked into his face causing him to sit up, spluttering in an uproar. As he coughed, he rubbed at his eyes and he felt his head clear a little.

"Prince Theodosius can you hear me?" A deep masculine voice called out.

"Theo please answer!" A softer but incredibly worried voice pleaded as a small hand squeezed his own.

With a groan Theo looked around, feeling incredibly confused as King Markus and Queen Genevieve of Alluvia were there, and he appeared to be in an infirmary.

"W-What happened?" He moaned as he winced under the bright lights.

"Prince Theodosius! Oh, I am glad you are awake son. Do you not remember what happened? You were found passed out in the hallway by a terrified maid, and Aurora has disappeared! Have you seen her?" The King asked with a worried frown.

Theo's brain was foggy and echoed strangely, but suddenly memories of arriving in Alluvia, finding out Korian's treacherous plot and being surrounded by Korian's men burst into his brain.

"No... No, no, no!" He panicked as he started to get up, ignoring the doctors and nurses who were telling him to lay back down.

"What is it? What is wrong? Where is my child?" The Queen fretted.

"Oh Aurora... she has been taken... again." Theo revealed angrily causing the Queen to gasp and collapse with a sob.

As her maids rushed to attend to her, the King stepped forward to Theo, asking what on Earth he meant. Theo slowly stood up; ignoring the pain he was in and told the King all that he knew, which Aurora had confided in him.

"I am sorry your highness, but Prince Korian has not been truthful or good to you. Aurora caught him stealing treasure and Rosilabeth overheard him saying that he is planning to overtake Alluvia. Aurora and I were on our way to tell you when his guards surrounded us. Do you know his location?" Theo asked urgently as he pulled his exuberant tunic on and tied his scabbard containing his honed instrument of destruction securely around his waist.

"Oh my... No, you must be wrong... Prince Korian is here to renew our peace treaty, not cause a war!" The King exclaimed.

"I assure you that is not the case. He has taken your daughter and is working on taking your Kingdom. Now where is he?"

Suddenly they heard a kerfuffle outside the door, and then an Alluvian guard burst in after knocking lightly.

"Forgive me for the intrusion your Highnesses, but we have a problem. We just received word from the harbour that Prince Korian is trying to leave the country and has not been given clearance. He has left his sister behind." The guard revealed after he bowed respectfully.

King Markus shared a worried look with Theodosius before jumping into action.

"Stop that boat, do not let it leave! He has taken Princess Aurora!" The King commanded and the guard immediately jumped into action, backing out of the room and could be heard calling out to his fellow guards in a panic.

The Queen continued to weep for her 'baby' on the cold stone floor, as her husband and Prince Theodosius hurried after the guards, both of them incredibly anxious for Aurora. If the boat managed to leave there was a slim chance they would be able to get her back.

"Do not worry my dear; I will get our daughter back." The King promised his Queen as they left the infirmary with a legion of guards ahead of them. "You really should stay and rest Theodosius. You took a nasty blow to the head." The King frowned disapprovingly.

"I am sorry King Markus but there is no way I will be doing that. I have to save her." Theo proclaimed with a determined look in his dark-chestnut eyes.

He was going to bring Aurora home to safety where she belonged, and make those who had dared to touch a single perfect hair on her head pay dearly.

Edited