Robert frowned as he disembarked from his horse. The incident at the border had once again been a cause of celebration to the army, and for good reason. After a brief but violent charge at the frontlines, the enemy soldiers had withdrawn almost completely, leaving a few to defend the outpost. And although it had seemed like a ruse to lull their vigilance at first, from the news they received, Ruthberk border itself was under attack by another of the queendom’s enemy, the kingdom of Undreil. Also known as the kingdom of thorns for the cunning and downright underhanded ways its king Undril employed. So, the withdrawal, at least at first glance, seemed to be a genuine one.

But even as he rode with a jubilant Corvin through the moonlit streets of Brigsar, Robert could not wipe the frown off his forehead. Something stank. Especially since the root of this whole affair laid upon Undril. The dirty, clingy stink of a scheme permeated it. Robert hated that man so much he refused to acknowledge his royalty. But there was no denying his power, nor his cunning and cruel methods. Could this really be a clever ruse by him? A carefully laid out trap? Or, as others said, he was just being paranoid. Nonetheless, he had left much of his soldiers to guard the border. After all, one could never be too careful when that man was involved.

“Welcome back, my lords.” His old trusty steward bowed as soon as their horses came to a halt inside the castle gate.

“Hubrik.” Corvin smiled as he disembarked. “Nice seeing you after so long.”

“Likewise, lord Corvin. I hope your journey has been pleasant.”

“As pleasant as riding a horse for a few hours could be,” Robert remarked. “More about that later. Has miss Singhar already embarked on her journey?”

“Yes, sire,” Hubrik replied. “They should be reaching the first farming village right now.”

Robert nodded. “Take me to my daughter. I wish to know what they conversed about.”

“Right now, sire?” Hubrik frowned. “Would it not be better to wait until you have freshened yourself? As you know, supper has been prepared. If you had a conversation with her over a meal, who knows, it might yield some pleasant results.”

Robert chuckled as they walked towards the keep. “As you say, Hubrik. It may indeed be better to do so, however, I also need to know if she had caused a blunder.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, my lord. Rick was there, I am sure he—”

“Sire, wait!” the disparate call from behind him halted their step. They turned around, watching the group of five or so horses gallop closer to the castle gate. Even in this darkness, they carried no torch as they charged forward. Beyond the sphere of the light the blazing brazier at the castle gate provided, their dark forms seemed so ominous and alarmed the guards at the drawbridge.

“Halt!” they shouted, readying their spears and weapons. But Robert stopped them and strode forward, waiting for them over at the drawbridge.

The horses came to a halt before him, revealing the figures of the riders to the castle’s light.

“Rick!” Robert frowned, his face darkening as he studied the condition of his young steward in learning and the knights he had sent as escorts, of the ten people he had arranged, only seven of them were here, most of them bearing heavy injuries. Rick being one with the lightest with only a gash below his right eye. Less than half an inch, though, and it might have been dangerous enough to blind him.

“Inform dame Nyra!” he said to Hubrik. The old steward bowed, taking a worried glance towards his grandson, and jogged towards the knight’s quarters.

“There is urgent news, sire,” Rick said as he hurriedly dismounted. “Grave danger approaches.”

Robert did need him to say those words. From their condition, it was already quite apparent to him. All that remained was the nature of the danger. Had his intuition been right? But most importantly…

His heart sank to an abyss as he thought of the girl. He should not have sent her home right now. Especially after he had received news of anomalies in the border just this morning. She was under his custody, and if something had happened to her...

“Where is lady Singhar? Is she safe?” he asked.

“Lady Singhar?” Rick asked, looking somewhat confused. But realization dawned on him the next instant. “Oh! Lady Laurania?” an awkward smile covered his injured lips. Not only him. The other knights, despite their injuries, had peculiar looks on their faces.

“She… nothing should have happened to her sire. I think she should still be as safe as she could be. In fact,” Rick looked towards the tower where the southern wing was located. “I think she should still be in the castle, sire.”

The first thing Robert noticed as he stepped into Sena’s chamber was the perceivable difference in temperature. The hearth, which had apparently been burning for hours, had now started smouldering, but the warmth it had provided the room was yet to dissipate. The corner of the floor his daughter occupied, no matter when he visited, was empty. What was not empty, however, was the bed near the fireplace.

“Wake her up,” Robert said, and the maidservant following behind him went forward to stand beside the bed.

“Lady Laurania!” she called the sleeping girl as she shook her shoulder. Laureen opened her groggy eyes, slightly confused at first, but as she took a gander of her surroundings, memories of her meeting with Sena popped up in her head. She sprang up from the bed and ran towards Robert.

“Sir Robert!” she bowed, her face painted with an image of grievance and anger as genuine as she could manage. “Lady Sena… she knocked me unconscious, sir. Why did she…” she bit her lips, must be to hold back tears, but somehow seeming like she was holding back laughter instead. “I have taken care of her for so long, yet why would she attack me like that?”

“Is that so? She knocked you out, did she?” Robert stared at her for a while before nodding his head appreciatively. “I’m glad she did.”

Laureen’s heart jumped. That was not the reaction she expected. Pretending it was not her fault was Sena’s suggestion to prevent Robert from blaming her. Did he see through her act?

“Where…” she fidgeted, “where is lady Sena, Lord Robert?”

“My daughter?” Robert sighed. “She has successfully run away from home.”

“I’m gla—” Laureen cut short the breath of relief that came from the depths of her heart and sighed instead “I mean, I’m sad to hear that. It is probably my fault for wishing to talk to her in private.”

“Do not blame yourself, Miss Singhar. What happened, happened, and probably for good.”

Laureen did not understand that remark. But since Robert did not seem very angry, she did not spend much effort to think about it. Besides, since Sena was free now, she could return to Arakan without worrying about anything.

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“Since you are safe,” Robert gestured towards the maidservant, “please follow her back to your quarters, as this room is not really suitable for guest use.”

Laureen nodded. “As you wish, sir Robert. Since all my preparations are ruined, I also have to prepare again for the journey.”

“The journey?” Robert’s grey eyes held a look of regret as he sighed and shook his head. “I cannot allow you to make the journey again, miss Singhar. Especially not now.”

Laureen’s heart skipped a beat as she tried to perceive the intention behind those words. Why could he not allow her to make the journey? Was it because she set Sena free? Was Robert going to imprison her, just like Sena?

“Why not, sir Robert?” she asked, her fake annoyance turning into a very real fear. “Is it something I did?”

Noticing her expression, Robert waved his hand. “Do not worry. I would not be so petty as to detain you for helping my daughter escape,” he said, pausing for a moment to observe the look of genuine surprise on Laureen’s face. “In fact, I am grateful it was her and not you.” He sighed, remembering some of the things Rick had said about the incident before he sent that boy to the healers. “She is capable of handling herself, but if something had happened to you, I would not be able to forgive myself.”

“What do you mean?” Laureen asked. A bad feeling rose in her heart. “Has something happened?”

“Something big,” Robert said as he looked at her. “We are at war.”

The castle seemed busy, Laureen noticed as she followed Robert, heading towards his study. A lot busier than she had ever seen. Servants and workers busied about everywhere, moving through the corridors or gathering in the halls in groups, discussing something. Soldiers she had seen garrisoned in the barracks also moved about inside the main keep. An air of tense anxiety permeated the whole place, making her heart beat faster and faster.

Right! War was imminent. And she was trapped right in the middle of it. Laureen rubbed her arms as a chill that had nothing to do with the cold stones of the castle spread through her veins. If she had been in that carriage instead of Sena, what would have happened to her then? What had happened to Sena? Where was she now?

Although Robert had assured her that Sena had successfully avoided the danger, her heart refused to calm down. She needed to know if the golden-haired girl she had spent so long taking care of was safe. She would not be able to rest easy in her room if she did not know what exactly happened, and the only way for her to know was Rick, who would be waiting to recount his tale in Robert’s study.

Sena looked out of the Carriage window, gazing at the familiar crags and ridges of the mountainous area outside. Her heart pumped stronger and stronger inside her chest, the call growing more powerful with each beat. It roared in her mind from an infinite distance away, trying to submerge all her rationality in a shadowy sea of impulses. It lit an irresistible urge inside her, an urge to shed her mask and let the beast inside take over. But she resisted still. Now was not the time. For now, she wished to enjoy the sights, wished to experience once again the journey through the land she had known for so long.

It had been the same a few months ago. She had sat on a carriage rolling down a mountain path, going on a journey, the queen’s quest that had been the beginning of everything. She had met him then. Erhan Raiser the druid. No, he hadn’t completed his training; he had said. Yet that man had rescued her so many times. Even from the grasp of death. But he wasn’t here now. She was alone, travelling towards the same destiny. Returning to that grasp of death on her own volition.

She sighed, looking at the sun settling on the western sky. The Briggs farming village near lake Briggs a few hours from the city of Brigsar was the first destination of the carriage. They would stop there for the night, and that was where she would part her ways with them. After that, whether they continued the journey without her or returned to the castle was none of her concern. Laureen too would be discovered when they delivered supper to the Southern wing tonight. And though she hoped Robert was not too harsh on the girl, it was really out of her hand. She closed her eyes, leaning back on her seat, enjoying the sound of horse hooves, the not so gentle sway of the carriage grinding on the gravelly road, and the feel of the mountain wind coming through the window, bringing in the smell of dust and water and… smoke?

Her eyes shot open as she abandoned her relaxed posture. Not only smoke and fire, but the wind also brought with it the scent of blood and burnt flesh! Her eyes turned to the window, but everything seemed normal outside. The carriage rolled on in its slow but steady speed; the knights bickered and chatted amongst themselves…

Did no one else notice it? Was she mistaken?

Her ears perked up at a rumbling sound coming from afar. Still faint, but it seemed like the sound of horse hooves. Gritting her teeth, she knocked on the front wall of the carriage, drawing the attention of Rick who sat on the driver’s seat. He turned, drawing open a small shutter behind him.

A small window the size of her head opened on the wall and Rick’s face appeared behind it. “Do you need something, lady Laurania?” he asked.

“Stop the carriage,” Sena said in a muffled voice as she drew the hood down to her face.

Rick frowned. Worry filled his voice as he asked, “Do you feel unwell, my lady?”

“No, I’m fine. But there is danger ahead.”

“Danger?” Rick asked doubtfully. “What do you mean by danger, my—”

“Halt!” a loud bark from the front of the carriage took his attention away. A moment later, he emerged again, his face sporting an expression that was noticeably grimmer.

“There is smoke, my lady. A lot of it,” he said, frowning. “Rising from the direction of the village.”

Sena took a deep breath. The voice inside her head was now close enough to be right next to her ears. She had to leave these people as soon as she could, but she could not just abandon them in times of danger. After all, the rumbling sound of horse hooves was getting nearer, too. “Turn the carriage around, right now! Leave this area and head for the castle immediately!”

Rick chuckled, amused by her sudden urgency. “Be at ease, lady Laurania. Leave this to us. Sir Morgan has gone to scout the situation. So we would be able to get some news of the situation pretty soon.”

“Damn!” Sena growled. “Why did you not wait for my orders!”

Rick raised his eyebrows. Wait for her orders? Who did she think she was? He and the others were respectively, the future steward and the knight of the house Moras and only obliged to answer to the nobility of that house. Not even the nobility of capital had the right to order them, not to mention some small farmer noble from a village.

“With all due respect, my lady,” he said, holding back a remark that some would consider quite disrespectful to someone of Laureen’s stature. “It must be some damned marauders stirring up trouble. If they have harmed the villagers, we as the knights of house Moras have a duty to hunt them down. But worry not. A few marauders would be no trouble for trained knights.” he turned his head at a noise, spotting a horse riding in from the road. “Sir Morgan is back already! I will talk to you after seeing what news he has, lady Laurania.”

Morgan’s horse came in at a full gallop, showing no sign of slowing down as it approached the carriage. The scarred knight barely held on to the reins with an immense effort of will. His desperate eyes landed on the faces of his companions, coloured with surprise.

“Slow down your horse, Morgan!” shouted Joevan, the old knight captain leading the escort, but the scout didn’t seem to hear him. His horse nearly crashed into the gathered knights, forcing them to disperse, before slowing down on its own volition. Morgan slid from his saddle and his body crashed into the ground face first. From the centre of his back stuck out the shaft of an arrow. A long projectile with red fletching, that was powerful enough to penetrate through his scaled steel armour.

Joevan and the other knights immediately unsheathed their weapons. Their eyes alert, scrutinising their surroundings with extreme caution. Even the most inexperienced of the knights recognized that fletching. Only the archers from the extremely combative kingdom of Ragha used them. But that was the only kingdom of the three that was the farthest from the queendom of Robera. In fact, they did not even share a border. So how can such a weapon arrive within its borders? Who shot it?

“Check him!” Joevan instructed a knight with shoulder-length brown hair, Talia. Dismounting, she approached Morgan and put her fingers against the pulse on his neck.

“Still alive, sir,” the knight nodded at him.

“Help him up. I wish to know what transpired.”

Jolted awake from the knights’ attempts to move him, the injured knight gripped their arms, finger tightening desperately.

“Do not worry,” Talia said to him. “You will be ok. We will save—.”

“The village… destroyed… army from all… three kingdoms… thousands! Hundreds… heading this way...” Morgan gasped and wheezed, paying no attention to her words. He looked at them with haze filled eyes that had already gone too far to save. “Run!”

The last of his breath left him, his body falling limp in the hands of his comrades. Frustration and grief coloured the faces of the knights, but a grim expression overcame them immediately.

“Mount your horses,” Joevan said to the knights. “We have to leave this place immediately.”

“We don’t even know what happened.” a young, blond knight said. “Don’t we need to gauge the situation better?”

“We know enough!” Joevan snapped at him. “It is not our duty to gauge the situation. It is to protect the lady and bring her back to safety. Now stop talking about useless things and get on!” He looked at Rick. “Turn the carriage around.”

As the young man followed the instruction, sitting inside, Sena sighed. It was already too late.

They were already surrounded.