Royal On The Run (unedited)

Chapter Nineteen

Natalie

The forest behind the palace was supposed to be an easy path away from members of the Red Guard. It wasn't. Brooklyn and I had barely made it a day into the trees before I ushered her behind a thick trunk, holding my sword out at a noise I'd heard. It was no animal sound either, it rightfully belonged to a human. Most likely a traitor looking for Naomi and Deacon.

They weren't about to get them on my watch.

I heard the first one coming from my left. My sword thrusted to the side, slicing the oncoming attacker right across the stomach. He didn't scream, only stared down in horror at the sight of his blood and intestines dropping down to the ground. His hands tried to press against the wound, tried to keep his insides from the outside world, but the darkness blinded him, along with the loss of blood and the slowing down of his heart. He landed in his own blood a second later.

Brooklyn wanted to scream, and she did a little bit kept it quiet enough behind her hands. She was getting better at this.

There were more footsteps coming. Another assailant. That made two of them for now, if more came, I didn't know how that'd turn out for either side. There was only so much I could do to a legion of guards. Especially guards that I had trained with over the years.

The note for Sebastian rested in my pocket. At this point, I don't think he needed it. We hadn't had radio contact since, he'd probably lost the radio. It wasn't a promising sign. The last I'd heard was static, and the sound of guards screaming about losing an entire squadron at the bunker. They hadn't mentioned anyone dying besides their own which meant Sebastian had kept the siblings alive. And he was also on the move with them. They were on the run again.

Brooklyn had been worried for her friend. I didn't blame her. She was also worried about Amara. The guards hadn't mentioned her whenever we'd come across one. They were everywhere.

I'd thought at first, they'd stick to the castle, but oh no, they were on a hunt and they weren't taking chances of them getting past. Sebastian was clever, he'd keep them safe while kicking ass when he needed too. It was one of the things people admired about him, I think it's a main reason as to why Naomi fell so hard for him over the years. I couldn't blame her; he was beautiful to look at.

The second guard came up short as he saw his fallen comrade with his guts strewn about him. He glanced up at the sword hovering above his friend that was currently dripping with his blood, further up his eyes traveled until they landed upon my face.

I cracked a grin.

He snarled.

"Are you going to scream? He was rather quiet." I frowned towards the dead man before returning my attention to the snarling one in front of me. "I like them loud, don't you?"

There was a certain thrill of taunting my enemies before killing them. Granted, this past couple of weeks had been the first time I'd ever had to kill another person, but hey, everyone finds something they find amusing at some point in their lives no matter how wicked it may be.

The man didn't move. He only glared and snarled. He was boring. But there was something about him that did interest me. It was the crest above his heart on his traitorous uniform. A snake eating an eagle. Bile rose up in my throat.

The man spit on the ground, amused at my reaction to the crest. "Fun right? If you'd moved with the rest of the guards who'd seen the truth, you could've had one of your own over your heart instead of the shitty one you currently have."

It was my turn to snarl.

The man went on. "Natalie, you don't remember me, do you?"

If I had, I would've addressed the traitorous bastard.