The sound of the banging on the door didn't stop. It just made Richard sweat even more. He knew who was behind the door, and he sure did know what their intentions were. The only variable here was him. His actions will pave the incoming scenarios from now on.
Ok, Keep it gentle now, they will sweep the area then leave, don't overdo it and don't lose your daughter...
"Coming !" His voice trailed in response, trying to hide the intensity of his anxiety.
He opened the door halfway. Revealing 4 strong men with their horses. However, not in the slightest did he anticipate the identity of the 5th knight...
The captain himself.
A quick look at those equipped swords and full armours of iron, made him think twice before crossing the gang at his doorstep.
"Greetings, sir!" The captain smiled with a nice face, bowing slightly above his horse while his brown eyes scanned the protector.
"Greetings" Richard smiled back. "How may I be of assistance, captain?"
"Well, you know the tradition. I heard that you had a pretty daughter, Mind if I checked if what I heard was true?"
At first impression, he didn't know what or how he should answer. How did he know he had a daughter in the first place? Did someone snitched him over to the soldiers?
Richard gathered all the confidence he had before answering. "I-I am sorry, captain. I truly want to help you, but The one you are looking for is long gone dead"
He forced his eyes to his receiver's eyes to fully cook his plot. Hardly trying to hide the sweat cluttering over his bloc.
"Oh. Was it the Black Death?"
"N-No, sir. It was...a lone wolf attack. It attacked us while we were on our way to our neighbors, in the next village, I-I managed to kill it, but not before it took her soul with 'em. Sh...She died in my arms, sir"
The captain blinked. His smile faded instantly. He lost the glimmer inside his eyes.
"Sorry...for your loss," he said, bluntly and blankly. It was an awkward attempt to share the unreal grief.
"But sadly I can't take your words for granted, even if you are telling the truth"
He motioned his head to his men. "Search the house". He commanded with full seriousness.
The soldiers disembarked their horses and were heading towards the door, only to find Richard blocking the entrance.
"But I already told you!" He protested evidently.
"And I believe you! It is just a routine search. Besides, why are you so nervous if you don't have anything to hide?" He narrowed his eyes.
"B...B...Because you people will turn the house upside down and I just cleaned it!". His plea was beyond sarcasm. It was miserable.
The captain blinked. Hardly trying to mute his laughter. "Oh, come on. Don't make a fuss of it. We are searching for a girl, not a rat".
One of the men approached Richard dangerously close. "Move. Before. I.Slice. You. To. Two Halves" he said with a hostile face, while his fat fingers slowly sought for his sword hilt.
Swallowing his pride, Richard stepped aside, allowing the men to pass.
Submitted by his threat. The soldier smirked "pussy" to Richard's face and the other grinned mockingly at him. He couldn't do anything except watch them enter his house as if the owner was dead already.
Trying to hold his fumes, the protector blew air hard from his nose, in denial of this oppression. His fear was dramatically changing to anger. It was a good thing in a way to hide his true scheme.
"Please, excuse their manners. We were marching for 5 straight hours in dark routes". The captain said, speaking for his men's unpure entrance.
Richard gave a glancing smile, teased with how the captain was too calm and chilly, regardless of how his men were so arrogant and scummy type.
"Hey". He gestured with his head before disembarking from his horse, as his iron armour parts clung towards each other, as he took some a few steps towards Richard.
"How about we start this properly, shall we? What's your name protector?"
"Richard"
"Pleased to meet you. Name's Liam. I am a 100-man captain, listed under his majesty's 103rd battalion, but you probably don't care about that, haha right?".
Richard answered with a cringy blank face, giving no expression.
"Yyyyyyeaa, I know I am bad with jokes. I know! How about a walk? I want to stretch my legs anyway, would you care to join me?"
"And your men leave afterwards?". A grim face was handed to the captain.
Despite that. The captain sighed in complete tolerance. "Yeah yeah, but only If my soldiers came clean. That's a promise. Now shall we?" He extended his inviting arm.
Like I care about your promises, he mumbled.
The two men began to walk parallel to each other. Still, unknowingly playing along while each of 'em had a hidden intention.
The gloom of the atmosphere itself didn't help. The Town was still in chaos. Random screams and shouts could still be heard from the neighbours, echoing through the alleys and streets.
The night was still on...
To try to mask it, the captain put his arm on Richard's back and gave him a slight push. He gestured for him to stop looking back, as it wouldn't make much difference either way.
"So tell me more about her"
"Who?"
"Why your daughter, of course. Describe her to me, will you?"
"Eh, well. She roughly reached the height of my shoulder. Not that Chubby type...em...brown eyes...um..." his mind was working on the double to find an elusive description for the captain, but it was not that easy when Diana's real figure was flashing at the back of his head every minute.
Why on earth is he asking for a physical description of a deceased person? He thought
"Not chubby, you say? That's Great, So where did you bury her?"
Son of ***, he is testing me! From here on, I need to be careful with my answers! he thought.
"This way" he led the way towards the targeted spot of land. Praying that his next little play won't be blown up.
The two kept walking, till Richard realized how the two were closely passing right next to the cart.
He swallowed hard. He hoped for his daughter to preserve her stillness a little more. Despite knowing him how she was in a tight spot, lacking air and comfort. But she had to endure. Just a little more...
For the danger had never become closer.
"Here" Richard pointed towards a tombstone that was made up for an old grave.
The captain took some steps towards the Grave-stone. He bent his knee to the ground to look closer to see the engraved writing.
Wanda onakran
"Lovely name" the captain smiled back to Richard.
Richard smiled contently.
"Say, Have you mentioned your daughter's age?"
Come on, isn't that enough, you weasel!! He internally protested.
Richard tried to keep cool nonetheless.
"No, she was 17, sir". He answered under his clicked tongue.
"Hmm, Strange. Don't you think that that grave is too big for a teen girl, Protector?"
"Your point?" Richard crossed his arm, he became serious again.
Before he got an answer, the back door was opened and the 4 men got out.
"Sir, The house is clean. She is nowhere to be found" one of them reported.
The captain's eyes didn't leave Richard's. He sighed as he put his hand over his hips.
"You know, Protector. I travelled to a lot of villages and towns. I met so many protectors. Ones with strange hobbies! I once met a protector who acts like a clown in a theatre and I met another who was capable of playing the most beautiful music your ears ever heard. Can you believe that?!" He said with a giggle.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Richard didn't pay any attention to the captain. He was worried more about the 4 men under his command who were encircling him slowly. All eyes were focusing on him.
Like a group of hyenas, they encircled their prey. Waiting for a gesture to strike.
"But you Richard! Ho Ho! You amaze me even more with your acting skills!" he said with his suffocating smile.
"Do I look like I am in a mood to act for you!?" Richard raised a brow over his lion eye, Abandoning his cautiousness in speaking.
"No..."
Suddenly the captain's smile vanished and so his sword left its sheath...
Cutting through the air fast...
Too fast for the eye to catch...
Too powerful for a shield to counter...
Too sturdy for a sword to parry...
The captain's sword stopped diving two inches from Richard's neck. Flooring the protector with how enormous was the captain's precision and skills in using his blade.
"...You protector, are one hell of a filthy Liar"
Richard's heart dropped.
He failed. Just like that, he was about to lose his neck. A stunning reminder of how the king's soldiers were inclined to spill blood cheaply for the slightest mistakes. Lying was just a sample.
"B-But how?!" Richard's brain didn't comprehend.
"I saw you running with a girl just the same age some time ago while I was talking to the old chief. So At the beginning of the search, I ordered one of my men to follow you back to your house and report back.
He looked at his men.
"She is in that cart. Grab her," he said to them
Then he faced Richard again. "Both of us know this will turn ugly, but know very well that you have chosen this method when you began twisting with words, Protector"
The men gathered, and approached the cart from all directions, while each one sought to bring up his sword.
Richard's heart was thumping,
"Hey! No weapons! We don't want to scare the child". Liam delivered his specific order.
The soldiers looked at each other ponderously. Trying to figure out how they would succeed without using their blades.
Richard on the other hand was freaking out. He had already run out of options. He was standing there helplessly. Seeing how the men were closing in on the cart, inches away from his daughter.
Think Think Think!
His mind tried to anticipate all scenarios and how to deal with them. None were including a treaty. He was outnumbered and outmatched by skills and equipment.
But.....
There was that last option. The last hope is that by which maybe, just maybe, his daughter can slip away. A choice of a selfless act and a noble sacrifice.
"Use it!!"
He shouted, pushing out all the air in his lungs, as the last breach to break her free.
Then...and Out of nowhere, the girl jumped from the hay, causing a hurricane of flying yellow pieces everywhere, blinding them for breathtaking moments, ensuring a cover to run for it.
In her panic, she slashed one of the soldiers in his chest, with the same thing that her father had trained her to use for many years since she was 10.
Her dagger.
The soldier leapt back, opening a small window for the girl to begin her escape.
"STOP THAT GIRL!" One of them shouted and the pursuit began.
Diana ran with her fast long feet through her town streets. Eyes filled with fright and tears. Trying to ignore how she left her father behind. Suppressing the thought that he would face the harsh consequences of her action.
He vowed to protect her and he would see his duty to the end. Even if that ending matched with ending his life.
All of this considered she had little knowledge of her surroundings. She didn't realize that there wasn't anywhere safe. The soldiers were plaguing the Town. There were at least Five soldiers on each street.
She ran to alleys, streets, and even through some houses. There were soldiers everywhere!
With each wrong turn, her pursuers' number increased, till she finally took her one last sharp right.
To a dead end.
Her hand slapped the wall. Swearing hard. She looked back above her shoulder with desperate eyes for a way out. There wasn't any. Except one...
The same way she got herself into this trap. The same route that was stuffed with 20 armoured boots blocking it. A summation of 10 angry pair of eyes.
The soldier who was hit by Diana took the lead.
"Ok, that's it with you! Everyone, weapons free!" He shouted with clenched teeth and in response to him, all the soldiers pulled their swords off their sheaths up high.
"By the law, any aggression to the king's soldiers should be only met with the same brute reaction!" The soldier reminded the girl.
Unknowingly, He was telling her the reason for what would happen to her in the next few minutes.
She could only imagine what they would do to her by only looking at their shady, hideous smiling faces. If one slash to an armoured soldier enraged him that much, imagine the same amount of hatred multiplied by ten.
Like a fire surrounding a lonely rose.
A dagger vs 10 swords.
Widely unfavoured, the girl raised her shaky hands pointing her small dagger tip. Hoping that her languid courage would make her stand her ground in front of those stainless swords.
Trying to keep hold of her strained nerves. The tears began to group in her eyes. There was no way out and she was cornered there with her back towards the cold wall.
She could hear their loud furious breaths suffocating her chest already. The more she resists and cries, the more the sadistic soldiers will enjoy.
She closed her eyes causing water to fall down her cheeks as her body shook hard from sobbing. Making peace with what could turn out to be a raping at any moment. The question was would she survive all of them?!!
"Hold it right there!!" A voice echoed behind the attackers. Putting a halt to their tracks, They looked back in confusion.
Diana opened her eyes and saw a far dark figure. One remarkable male person with a red cape wavering behind.
"Sir!" The men saluted their captain.
"What is the meaning of this?! What kind of deaf ears do you have, ha?!" He scolded them."I said NO WEAPONS!"
"But ...but...captain, she broke the law! She attacked me!"
"Attacked you!?? She barely scratched your armour, chickenhead!" he said furiously.
"And what about my law?! that very specific order that you are breaking right now! I can order my men to arrest that mob of yours and you on top of them, right now! Charged by violating a direct ruling from your head captain, how about that?" The man was threatening with a confidence outmatched only by his domaining voice.
The girl watched surprisingly while the aggressors became victims of their actions as they looked at each other. Feared the fact they could be enlisted in the next martial court.
"W-we are sorry, cap-"
"SORRY!? DO I LOOK LIKE I AM YOUR MOTHER!" He yelled with a fearsome expression. "I will show you how sorry I am once we get back to the camp, now out of my sight!" He waved his arm away.
As the wind blows away the intention, the soldiers- one by one- are left with ashamed heads. They were only thinking of what punishment would await them back at the camp.
The captain stood alone for a bit, making sure his men obeyed his orders for good this time.
He looked back towards the frightened Diana. She was barely keeping her legs together, tears were all over her cheeks. Her confused small blue eye was fixed on the captain.
"Did any of them lay a hand on you?" He said with a firm tone. Diana took some moments to realize he was talking to her.
She moved her head weakly, indicating negativity.
The captain sighed with relief mixed with slight exhaustion while grabbing the bridge of his nose. "You know, none of this bloody mess would have started if your father just cooperated"
The word 'father' punched Diana back into existence, giving her some energy to speak.
"D-Did you k-kill him..." she asked with glimmering eyes. Afraid of the answer.
"The protector? Nah, as far as that man pissed me off with his crooked mouth, No. I just dropped him unconscious next to the same cart you have last seen him. The worst thing he would have when he wakes up is a crappy headache and maybe a small crack in his skull"
The captain's comforted answer was like rain that vanquished the flames in Diana's mind and heart. That is to say, She was filled with consolation.
The dagger slipped from the girl's finger, falling to the ground. While she crashed on her butt. Wrapping her arms around her head, she sunk between her knees. Covering her swollen eyes with darkness again, Bursting into loud crying
She knew that she was already far gone to be recovered...and the fate of her Dad was already sealed the moment she sprinted away from the scene.
She could hear his boots coming closer. His shadow climbed over her weak presence till he was a foot away. She felt his eyes scanning her.
He kneeled over his knee. Putting his hands on her soft skin fingers, trying to keep her calm
"I didn't know your name yet, Can I know the identity of the young warrior in front of me?" He asked quietly.
She slowly lifted her chin to face him in the eyes.
"D...Diana" she was barely heard.
The captain blinked with excitement upon taking a closer glance at her face.
He was taken aback by how angelic and pretty her face was. Even when she was in mid crying her strawberry cheeks and her round dark blue eyes couldn't be easily unlooked, along with her courageous stand moment that hid a bold character beneath her female body.
She was perfect in all ways.
He smiled happily. "Prideful name, indeed" he extended his hand, offering peace. A thing that Diana yearned so much to seek.
She looked with watering eyes at him.
Skeptical.
"Why are being nice to me, don't you have your cursed orders?"
The extended hand was pulled out, instead, the captain humbled himself to take a seat in front of her on the street.
"Maybe, maybe you are right, dear. But when they gave me those orders they didn't mention how they want these orders to be completed. Violence is not always the best way to get things done"
"EXCUSE ME ?! YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE, SIR!" She burst like a bubble. "I saw your weapon on my father's neck when I jumped off the cart!" She backed her words, knowing what was the sword's function in that moment.
"Yet, he still keeps it as we speak. I just threatened him to get it to you. None of this chaos would have happened if he had been straight with me from the beginning!"
"Oh, so He is guilty now!?"
"In a way, yes. But I know how he feels. Trying to protect a treasure like you. Believe me, as a father I would back him with every speck of my soul. As a captain, however, I have no such luxury"
Her weakened Eyes from crying swooped away, trying not to think of the inevitable.
Liam stood up, offering the same hand again.
The girl stopped for a second to think of the choices she had, if she refused, they would probably kill her father for real and take her by force, and if she agreed to come with them, she probably would never see her father, her friends or Endora again, but they will live long enough to miss her.
"If I came with you, would you promise me not to hurt my father or my town?"
The captain smiled: "I wasn't aiming to do that from the very start. but I can promise you this. None of my men would ever annoy your family in any way ever again, is that good enough?"
She nodded with a fair smile.
"Come on, let's leave this place". He said
She took his hands doubtfully, she didn't fully trust him. Although that won't make any difference in her situation.
The girl took her dagger back to her dusty clothes. Liam didn't mind her carrying it with her as long it stayed in his hide and was not used again.
He wrapped his arm around the girl and was escorted under his personal protection to the square, where there was already 20 other girls taken from their families.
During her walk, Diana saw her father. He got up from his coma with the help of other protectors, staring at her with sadness and haze, he didn't believe that his daughter was taken away in front of him and he was sitting there, without enough energy watching her depart forever.
"Captain, could you spare me some minutes with my dad?" She asked dearly.
The captain was shocked by that question, he would never wish any of this for anyone, yet he was a mere tool in the hands of those above him, he had no choice.
The captain nodded "Fine, but please hurry. We run on a schedule here"
The girl ran to her father with more tears. Only to be met by the arms of a shattered man...
She hugged him with force. They squeezed each other's bodies, grabbing each other tightly for 2 long minutes. Busting in immersive sorrow.
Suddenly the girl sensed her father's fingers, inserting something onto her pockets.
"D-Dad, what is that?" She hushed him in his ears.
"Whenever you feel alone or sad, look at it and r...r...re...remember me-" he paused to sob, seeing the soldiers approaching him and Diana.
...a-and beware, never give up to..."
then before he finishes his last words to her. She was powerfully retracted from between his arms.
It was horrible scenery. The citizens barely held the devastated man together, from collapsing. All while Diana was being put in the large carriage along with the others in that carriage like some cattle as she saw the big door with iron bars closing behind her.
Liam looked at the father with the edge of his eyes.
"I am sorry," he said. Only God knew whether he really meant what he was saying or not.
He rolled back with every soldier under his command and with the large carriage full of 21 girls as they marched from the grieving Town.
Diana, along with many girls, grabbed the iron bars of the door to see her father one last time. Not sure if she ever will be able to see him again.
*************