Even though about a dozen spears were pointed at their necks, Etoile showed no sign of fear. Or surrender...
"Don't come any closer. You don't have anything to happen to him, do you?!" He said. While the guards paled, Zofia put a hand on Etoile's shoulder. He looked at her, and she thought he understood what she was saying. There's no where else to go. It's time to surrender.
"Looks like this is it." He said, and it looked like she'd gotten the message across.
"Surrender yourself. There's no need for both of you to die needlessly." The prince said.
Etoile gasped for air. He's stopped running for a second, and they were trapped. But, by the look on his face, Zofia thought, what is he thinking?
"Trust me." He whispered.
He jumped off the wall, grabbing her and the prince as they fell from the castle's wall, and into the river below.
And though they were going to die from the impact of their land, Zofia could help but think, the sunset...I haven't seen it in ages...it's wonderful...and the wind feels so nice on my face...
Wait. The wind?
It was a slight chance, but she'd eaten earlier, so there might a little bit of magic energy left. At least enough to break their fall..
She grabbed Etoile's foot and the prince's hand midair as they were falling. She'd never focused so hard on anything. Please please please.
When she felt herself crash into the water, Zofia thought they'd all died and it was her fault. But when she opened her eyes, she found herself, Etoile and the prince in one big air-bubble in the water. "What the- what is happening?" Etoile said as fish swam past them.
"Wow..." the prince breathed. They both seemed amazed, then all eyes turned to her.
She shrugged, making it seem like no big deal, but her energy was running out quick. The bubble floated up, and popped when they reached the reached the surface, soaking them.
Etoile shook his head to dry his blonde hair, while the prince called out to the man with black hair, telling him that he was okay. The three of them swam to shore, with civilians helping them out of the water.
"You fell from up there?" A woman asked, lifting up Etoile first.
"Are you alright?"
"There's two more in the water!"
"Come on, up we go." They said, lifting the prince out. "There."
As they tried to lift Zofia out, she looked into Etoile's eyes. "Run..." she mumbled. It was a small word, which was hard enough to say with the muzzle on. The civilians wondered what she was talking about, but Etoile knew what she meant.
With one last look, he jumped on a hay bale and mounted a horse.
"Hey! Horse thief!"
He used his sword to cut the rope and free the horse, and he ran off to the sunset, shouting back at her. "I'LL COME BACK! JUST WAIT!"
Just when she thought it was finally over, she saw the prince hurriedly running after him. Is he okay? There's no way he could catch up to Etoile on foot.
"Daryun, wait!!" He shouted. Zofia looked up to see the man with black hair, trying to shoot him down.
Not on my watch.
As the arrow flew, Zofia took a deep breath in, and when she breathed out, the winds slightly changed -it was all she could manage- and the arrow swayed slightly to the left, barely avoiding Etoile and the horse.
The prince breathed in relief, and so did Zofia. She dropped to her knees in exhaustion. She could've rested there forever. But she felt two people lift her up by her arms and she was confused.
Until she saw the guards holding her up.
Zofia started to panic. She looked and acted like a fish out of water, trying to get away from their grip.
Let me go! She wanted to scream.
"There she is! Its the escaped prisoner!" A man said. He was one of the slave traders she saw when she was in the cage. "The witch likely used her magic to help the Lusitanian brat escape!"
Zofia shook her head, but the trader did not care. "Take her away and out of my sight. She needs to be back in a cage, where she belongs."
As the guards pulled her away, she sent one last pleading look towards the prince. Please help.
He saw her. It was a miracle. Time seemed to slow down as their eyes locked. "Wait! Where you you taking her?" He said, breaking free from the Knight in Black's grasp.
"Your highness! You shouldn't worry about this wench. She is nothing but trouble!"
"I beg to differ. Please, release her."
"W-what? My prince, if you require a slave, I'd be happy to gift you someone less dangerous-"
"She saved me from the fall. Please, let her go."
The slave trader looked like he was about to snap, his expression turning sour, but you could not refuse a direct request from the Prince. The trader huffed and issued the guards to release her, but spoke to the knight in black armor.
She stood before the prince, drenched to the bone, like he was. "Are you alright?" He asked her. She nodded back.
"Prince Arslan." The knight said. "We should head back to the palace. Your mother and father are waiting. And we shall have to bring back..."
"Oh, that's right. We don't know your name, miss..?"
Zofia tapped her muzzle twice. The knight in black called out to the trader. "Sir! You don't happen to have the key to this do you?"
"Hah! I threw it down a well. It's safer that way, so she can't mutter any spells."
The trader left them, still chuckling to himself. Oh, how cruel people could be, Zofia thought.
"I'm sorry about that. We'll find a way to get it off, I promise." Prince Arslan said. She shrugged in response.
———
The journey to the castle felt like a dream to Zofia. Though she felt bad for Arslan (regarding the dead Lusitanian slaves he wanted to meet), she felt even worse for Etoile. As if he hasn't been through enough...now his fellow soldiers were dead. Poor guy.
It was always a childhood dream of hers to go to the palace, but now that she was here, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be here. Soldiers eyed her wearily as she walked by, and she didn't like all the attention out on herself.
The knight in black -who she now knew as Marzban Daryun- guided them around the palace, where she meet another Marzban named Kharlan.
He looked at her like she was roadkill in the middle of the street.
He cleared his throat, before announcing, "His and Her Majesty wished to see the person who 'saved his highness'. The handmaidens here will dress you appropriately for the court."
This time, when she looked at Arslan for help, he only laughed airily when the two handmaiden's ushered her into the nearest dressing room, dressing to enter a court with the King and Queen of Pars as her audience. What could go wrong..?