The tears came unbidden, unstoppable, unexpected. She could not control her emotions anymore. What good was a title if she did not deserve it? Now she was sitting in a cold dark cell, scared out of her mind.
A hand shot out to comfort her but she moved away from it. No matter what anyone said, it was her fault. She could not take one right decision, let alone rule a country. The bandits had come, and before they could defend themselves, they were already in shackles, led away into the darkness. She should have expected it, taken another route, waited for the soldiers to find her. Anything! Now she and her companions were bound, with no hope for freedom.
She looked around and saw where she had been the past few days. They were inside a dungeon, somewhere underground, in a small dirty cell with no light coming in. She didn't even know what time of day it was. She was thankful that Myra and Kira were put into the same cell as her and she wasn't alone yet. A bitter feeling seeped in. She was raised as a Princess, and even now, she sought one of the lifelong comforts provided to her, her companions.
She looked at them. Myra was softly whimpering in a corner. She was scared of the dark and for days she had seen nothing but the dark. Kira was vigilant, sitting near the iron gates looking outside, restless as ever.
Both the girls looked very much like her, one of the reasons they were chosen. If they were caught, they would sacrifice themselves in a heartbeat by declaring themselves the Princess. She often wondered, being so similar how their fates were so different. She destined for royalty, and they for subservience.
She could hear some noises outside. Another bandit must be coming to serve them rock hard inedible bread and water- their once-in-a-day meal, which meant it must be around mid morning. The first day they were brought here, back when she still had a track of time, she had marked the meal time and what she called, the dreaded culling time.
The bandits would come in twice a day, once at mid day to serve a meal and once in the deep of the night to take a few people from the cells. She didn't know what happened to them, she did not want to. She just prayed everytime, with every fibre of her being that it wasn't their turn. She knew she was being naive, because it would be their turn some day or the other.
The noises outside got louder, she could hear the beginning of a scuffle. Every day someone would attempt to run away or become violent with the same exact result- death. These bandits, or whatever they were, were absolutely ruthless and showed no mercy. She could not imagine trying to escape here. The tears flowed anew, this time with anxious cries that tore out of her despite herself.
Myra looked at her, her face filled with trepidation.
' They're coming for us next, aren't they?' She asked in a whisper, her voice choked.
Kira glared at her, ' Don't you dare! We'll get out of here. We must!'
Myra just went back to snifling quietly in a corner.
Suddenly there was a rush of activity outside the cells, and she could hear rapid footsteps. Kira stuck her entire face out of the small opening of the cell gate in an attempt to understand what was happening.
'Your Hi....I mean Katia! Look, I think someone must have come to free us!' She exclaimed with wild excitement.
Peony's heart raced, but she refused to get excited. She got up weakly and made her way towards the gate. Kira moved aside so she could see. She could see people fighting, not the usual prisoners from inside the gate but rather the sound of metal clanging against metal.
It couldn't be, could it? Was Kira right?
Maybe the soldiers had found her in this hell hole. She would make sure they were all promoted to prestigious positions when she got to her rightful place.
**************************************
Prince Raven watched the scene unfold as he stood in the shadows, his keen eyes looking around for the man in charge. It was a full moon night, not the best for a stealth attack. He trusted that his men were more than capable of handling the guards, who were strong but not very skilled. He knew that word must have spread through their ranks and more support was coming. He wanted to get the prisoners free before that.
Lucius came riding up to him.
'Sire, I believe the leader has gotten word already and fled, leaving his men to die. What a coward!' He spat out.
Raven was afraid of this. He had hoped to catch the leader alive enough to interrogate. If he didn't, it would not take long for the trading operations to renew again, and the next time he might not be able to catch them at all. He signalled Lucius to follow him and rode into the forest.
'The bastard couldn't have gone far. We must catch him today, before he slips through our fingers.'
'Yes sire!' Lucius led the way for his Prince, as passionate about catching the slave traders as his Prince. They could have only gone one way.
They rode about ten minutes towards the sea, till they caught sign of a small group of riders, going faster than the winds.
Raven could see the one who rode in the front, wearing a turban on his head. He was the leader. Surrounding him were about three more lads, all well built. He slowed down till he stopped.
'Lucius! Keep chasing behind them and make them think there are more accompanying you so they keep heading straight towards the seas.'
'Yes sire!'
Raven led his horse towards another direction and disappeared into the foliage. Lucius wasn't worried. There was nobody in the world who knew these forests as well as Prince Raven.
Lucius kicked his horse in the shin, and picked up his pace. Taking out his sword he started clanking them against the metal part of the straddle which immediately alarmed the party in the front to his presence.
'Giddy up! Now we've got them lads! I can see them!' He shouted loud enough for them to hear. He could hear a flutter of activity, and voices rising. They were definitely scared.
As he kept racing them towards the seas, where he knew their boats awaited, he hoped whatever plan Raven had would work. He knew once they reached their boats and set off, they would be out of their reach.
Just as they reached a clearing in the forest, there was a loud neighing noise and the Prince's beautiful black horse burst out from the surrounding shroud of trees, and came directly infront of them. This startled the men enough that they lost their tempo and stopped very suddenly, causing them to crash into one another. Only the leader was still stably sitting on his horse, but he too was disoriented and looking around.
Before the leader could do anything, a dark figure swung towards him from a tree vine with his drawn sword glinting in the moonlight. Lucius knew this was the kind of sight you had to see to believe. Raven's sword came down and embedded into the leader's shoulder blade. He gasped in pain and fell off his horse, clutching his shoulders.
The Prince landed on his feet and was ducking from the blows of the scabbards of the other men. Lucius drew out his spare sword and threw it at the Prince, which he caught effortlessly.
Then he came off his horse and fell right into the middle of the fighting with a grin. It had been sometime since he and the Prince has fought side by side. These men were about to get a real taste of the Ruar kingdom.
***************************************
Peony could hardly believe it. They were free. She looked up and actually saw the night sky, with a large orb of light in the middle, instead of the dirty spider infested roof of the cell. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the forest soil, the wind in her face and the feeling of being outside again.
Myra was still clutching her and sniffling. She hoped to God, that poor girl would stop crying. Maybe it hadn't sunk in yet. They were free. Kira, ever the practical one had gone ahead to talk to the soldiers. They were not hers, but rather some other foreign ones. She didn't particularly recognise the symbols on their uniforms. If she had to guess, they were from one of the small kingdoms around this region. Maybe beautiful Palatia, or the weaver kingdom of Breon. Or maybe Ruar, pea sized Ruar, she blushed as she thought.
She looked around trying to gauge where they were. They were blind folded when they were brought here. There wasn't much to establishment other than the entrance to the dungeon and a small hut which she presumed the bandits lived in. Were they even bandits? In her knowledge, bandits stole your belongings or even killed you. She hadn't heard of ones who took you captive.
Kira came bounding towards her, just in time to clear her confusion.
' Katia, you will not believe it! We were caught by slave traders! They were going to sell us off to the highest bidder. Can you believe that?' She explained with a mad light burning in her eyes. As distressed as she appeared, Peony knew somewhere deep down she was also enjoying it. Kira was the adventurous soul, her heart was always too wild to be confined within the walls of the Palace.
She had dreams. Dreams of going on mad adventures, adventures she could tell her grandchildren about. Peony had always found it rather odd, but had indulgently encouraged her crazy babbling all the same. She knew she could never afford to have any adventures, being a Princess after all. However, who could fault her for getting lost in her friend's stories, hoping they could be her own some day.
You know what they say, be careful what you wish for, because it seemed to Peony she had had the adventures of a lifetime already. She hoped they were now over. This was enough to get any future grandchildren excited.
Peony caught Kira's flailing hands as she explained the whole back story, wishing she could hug her without being awkward, and smiled.
'We're safe. That's all that matters.'
Kira smiled back.
'You're safe. That's all that matters.'
Myra's soft sniffles turned into a full blown breakdown.
'I th- thought w..e're going to d-die. I thought we f-failed you. I could never show my f-face to m..my m-m- mother.'
Kira did what she could never, and took Myra in her arms.
Her heart broke for these girls. They hadn't let her down. She had let them down. To think, Myra was scared of dying because she could not face her mother in the afterlife, because she had been unable to save her Princess let her know how loyal and dedicated she was.
She gingerly placed her hand on Myra's back and patted her.
'Please don't cry so. It upsets me, Myra.'
Promptly Myra stopped sniffling and tried to wipe her tears with her dirt stained hands.
Peony looked away, stifling her own tears from flowing.
Just then, she heard the sound of riders approaching. Two men clothed in armour stepped down from their horses, their black manes so shiny, they reflected the moonlight. She could see one of them was dragging down an unconscious and bleeding prisoner whose hands were bound, from his horse. The prisoner wore a turban and had a nasty wound on his shoulder. He looked like he wouldn't last the night. She was so distracted by the prisoner, she didn't see the other man looking directly at her.
When finally her eyes were off the prisoner, they met another pair of eyes so beautiful, her heart stopped.
Grey.
They were such a ethereal shade of grey, they could not belong to this world. They looked straight at her. In all the confusion and excitement she hadn't realised her hood was off and she was completely exposed. She lowered her eyes and her hood, before turning her back.
Grey is your future. Grey is your destiny.
Something clicked into place. Somehow she felt the adventure of a lifetime, was not over as she had hoped. It was just beginning.