Queensmen

Chapter 56

It took her half an hour to make it into the other hallway, and the moment she did a guard was thrown into the spot on the wall beside her.

He groaned and rushed back into battle without noticing Oris but more than five pairs of eyes were on her because of him.

She stared back at them, her mind working overtime, trying to find a way to save herself. Then in the midst of scanning the hallway, her eyes found someone familiar.

She ignored the armed prisoners as they stalked closer, and watched Mikeal run an assassin through with his sword while blocking the attack of another with his shield.

If she had had any doubts regarding his identity before, now it was clarified by what was happening right before her eyes. There was no doubt that Mikeal was a knight—and one very high up the ranks.

Beside him was a man whose hair was a color between red and blonde, and was almost a light shade of pink in the dim lighting.

He wore tight-fitting, black clothes—just like the assassins—and had a quiver strapped to his back. In his hands was a crossbow that he never stopped firing into the men that attempted to attack Mikeal while he had his back turned.

Either of them could save her, seeing that they both had weapons while she didn't, so without a moment of hesitation, she shouted Mikeal's name as loud as she could.

The battle seemed to pause as all attention was centered on her, then a bolt flew across the hallway and pierced the chest of the man in front of her. He gurgled on his blood then spat out a mouthful before falling to the ground and dying.

The other prisoners scrambled away from Oris immediately, suddenly remembering the fact that this was a battle and they could die.

She paid no mind to them and ran to the dead man. With one hard tug, she pulled the sword out of his grip and tested its weight.

It was double-edged with a straight blade and light enough to be wielded with one hand.

Perfect. It felt nice to finally hold a weapon after all this time. Oris might not be some swordmaster's protégé but she had been taught the basic stances as a child. If anyone else got near her, she wouldn't not hesitate to swing the sword at their head.

And that was just what she did when she heard the sound of someone approaching.

"Easy, Princess." Mikeal held up his and took a step back. "I'm one of the good guys, remember?"

Oris kept her sword pointed at him. She could only imagine how she looked, barely clothed, splashed with blood and waving a sword around. She must have seemed crazy to him.

"That's Mother to you, Son."

"We're in the middle of a battle, is this really the time—"

"You didn't even visit me once, Mikeal." She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you didn't just save me, you wouldn't hear the end of it."

"Sorry Mother, I apologize," he said at last. "Now can I get you somewhere safe?"

She let her arm fall to her side. All she had wanted was to see what his intentions were. The worst thing that could happen to her right now was if Mikeal was on orders to capture her and take her back to the dungeons.

Wouldn't he just be taking her to the beginning of all this madness if he did? That was something Oris wouldn't tolerate, and if she needed to stab him to get away, she would.

Mikeal took off his cape and draped it over her shoulders. "You can drop the sword now."

She tightened her grip on the hilt and held the covering tightly over her exposed skin. She accepted his gesture as an olive branch and decided that he could be trusted. "What's happening?"