As'rya sat in the tall grass, hugging her knees tightly, a knife grasped tightly in her hand. Her other arm was crusted in blood, the wound stinging, but she paid it no mind, just staring out at the clearing in front of her.

It was all her fault again. Just like before. Biting her lip, the princess stared at the unmoving body of the vigilante, his chest unnaturally still. The fight, the magic, the chaos, it reminded her all too much of the memory she strived to keep buried.

As'rya had been only ten when a seemingly normal day had turned her life upside down. Her and her older sister, Victoria, had been studying together in the library. Cozied up together with Victoria's book settled on both their laps, the warm scene turned to one of chaos in only moments.

A man had appeared, smashing through the glass window. The girls shrieked as sharp shards fell around them. A second later two others had followed, their faces covered and their eyes cold. They approached the princesses, grabbing As'rya and tossing her to the side like a doll. Falling hard on her arms, she had turned to see her sister. Two of the men had quickly begun to tie a wrap around her mouth while the third blocked off the library entrance. Victoria's eyes were wide with terror, arms jerking uselessly as she tried to break free. A singular tear rolling down her cheek as she desperately gazed at her younger sister.

"Run!" Victoria shouted out before her mouth was gagged.

As'rya couldn't run. How could she leave her sister? She knew what it meant for the crown princess to be kidnapped.

Rising to her feet unsteadily, As'rya felt her fear melt away as determination and certainty filled her. She could protect her sister. She WOULD protect her.

Raising her arm as though to slap the men, a flash of green light extended from the young girl's arm. Four pale lines cut diagonally across the air, like phantom claw marks, and everything seemed to stop for a moment; then the two men fell to the ground, screaming. Blood poured onto the floor, massive gashes splitting open their chests; it looked as though they had been gored by a beast. As'rya could only stare in fear and disbelief. The rest was a blur; guards charged in as the third man escaped, people poured into the usually silent library.

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But all As'rya could see was the horror in Victoria's eyes as she stared at her, looking more afraid than when she was about to be kidnapped.

Nothing had been the same after that.

*****

And just like last time, As'rya had messed up again. Why couldn't she have just let him do his job? Why did she have to try and help, try to be the hero? Every time she did, it only made things worse. Guilt burrowed into her heart as the little confidence she’d had at the beginning of the journey began to falter.

Burying her face in her knees, As'rya sighed forlornly. What was she going to do now? It had been quite a while since the assassins had left. After checking and praying to the gods that he would still be alive, she checked his pulse multiple times. The princess had eventually resigned herself to the truth and followed Dagger's last words to hide with the knife, hands trembling as they wiped the drying blood from it. As'rya hadn't felt that having a weapon would help her; if those men came back, she surely was as good as dead anyways. But it had been his last words and she felt obligated to listen.

That had been quite a while ago, long enough for her pounding heart and trembling hands subsiding into anxious boredom. Even though she didn’t really have a plan, she hated just sitting like this.

Legs cramping, As’rya debated how much longer she should wait. The sun was starting its slow descent down the sky, showing that at least a few hours had passed. She would have to get up eventually, at least to relieve herself and to get her pack.

Finally deciding that if they hadn't come back, they probably wouldn't at all, the princess stood, her muscles protesting after being still for so long. Wiping stray tears from her cheeks, she took a deep breath and straightened her back. Sitting here crying wouldn't do her any good; she needed to come up with a plan.

Glancing around at the remnants of the battle, As’rya tried to get her bearings. All of the assassins had disappeared after Dagger had been killed, shimmering like rippling water with some form of magic; the only evidence of the fight left behind was the ravaged clearing and the lone corpse lying in the grass. Her pack was off to the side, no worse for wear, simply dirty from being on the ground. Dagger's pack, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't on his person, nor anywhere in the grass. Unfortunately, it would be the pack with any sort of medicine or compass, so she kept up the futile search.

Poking around the edges of the clearing, As'rya saw something glinting in the grass a few steps away from where one of the assassins had fallen. Pushing ferns and leaves aside, her eyes widened as she realized it was a sword. The princess picked the weapon up, slightly surprised at the hefty weight. Turning the long blade carefully, As'rya examined the insignia on the hilt. It looked slightly familiar...

As'rya realized what the design was and her blood ran cold.

The intricate motif was a wolf, a knife clenched in its snarling maw. The gold embellishment stared at her, the animal’s eyes boring into hers. This design was the insignia of the secret unit of Queen Morella. A special group of trained knights hand picked to protect the Queen and carry out her orders.

Her mother had sent the assassins to kill them.