"It's been a whole hour since they said she'd be here."

"Travel takes time." The soldier replied begrudgingly and bit into the sandwich he was holding. The two men sat just apart from the rest of their group that was set up under the canopy of the trees in the part of the forest closest to the small Creatian town of Cennt.

"What if this is a trap?"

"Shut up and eat, Magnus. We may not get another chance to relax for a while," the other man said.

"Oh come on, Quinn. We're all thinking it."

Quinn lolled his head giving Magnus a tired look, "If this was a trap, the Rasmussen girl wouldn't have been standing up on that rise this whole time. She's frantic, just watch. I can see her twitching from here."

Niram Rasmussen was doing just that. Magnus looked up at her now. She could only be a year or two younger than he was, but he knew those daggers in her belt weren't just for show and he could tell that by the way she moved. You didn't have to be an experienced soldier to see that someone who walked like that, knew how to handle the weapons in her belt. And she was standing, facing into the distance where Florian was just visible on the skyline. But Quinn was older and Magnus thought that he had dismissed the Rasmussen girl as just another young rebel.

But Magnus had long since believed that age was no indicator of skill or cunning.

"There are great forgers in these lands," Magnus said quietly, "The letter from Imara could have been a fake."

"Imara travelled to Florian not long ago. We have no reason to believe that she isn't there." Quinn said and Magnus could hear his patience wearing thin, "And besides, the letter speaks of a rebellion. Wouldn't you like to see Conrad Allist fall and the Barderns shoved back into their country?"

"Well yes..."

"Then there's nothing more to say on the matter."

"Then why isn't Imara here?" Magnus persisted, "She would never leave us stranded."

Quinn scoffed, "Do you even know the child? She flirts with just about everything that moves. If something pretty has caught the girl's eye, she'll make us wait for their sake."

"Do you think that could be the Rasmussen girl?"

"She does seem to fit Imara's type, doesn't she," Quinn said, peering over and examining Niram Rasmussen, "But no. Imara would be here with her if she was."

"And what of our weapons?" Magnus asked, eyeing the covered wagon that was parked between the trees and once again feeling naked without the hilt of his sword to rest his hand on, "She made us put all our weapons in there. It seems almost like she's disarming us for an attack."

"Listen, Runt. That was to keep suspicion down as we crossed these lands. They aren't the same as they used to be. The Rasmussen girl was right when she told us to do that. And besides, the letter had the Kings-shunned Dalladune seal on it; I saw it myself."

"Oh yes, because those are so rare," Magnus muttered, sarcasticly, "One of her cousins could have signed it in her place. I've always had an off feeling about Artur Dalladune."

"The Dalladunes are the ones we serve. They put bread in front of us and give us a bed to sleep in. You're foolish to question them." Quinn said, gruffly.

"All I'm saying is have you ever heard the name Rasmussen?" Magnus argued, "I've lived in 'Jenca all my life and never once heard them mentioned."

"Kilvin says she fought in the Tournament for Creatian Heir," Quinn replied, "Did well too; lost in a close bout with Emerson Dalladune, himself. She'd have been checked out to compete."

"Fine. But since when does she know Imara?"

Quinn laughed loudly, "Runt, do you keep a list of all the people that Imara Dalladune knows? Or do you fancy the girl? My father always said that you never get involved with a woman who is in a position of power over you."

"Your father got hanged for crimes against women," Magnus snapped back, angrily.

But Quinn just laughed, "Too right there. He was the most despicable of men."

"And I don't fancy her," Magnus was annoyed now, "I just worry. Something feels off about all this and when I find out what it is, you're going to wish you'd listened to me."

"Calm down, Maggie," Quinn said, using the nickname that Magnus despised, "There's already too much talk amongst the men that the rebellion won't work. You don't need to fuel it."

"But if the legions are getting restless then surely that's a sign?"

"Men—especially soldiers—have the shortest of patience," Quinn said in a bad attempt to sound wise, "I won't sit here and listen to you continue to undermine Imara. She may act just like us, but her patience lasts a lot longer. I encourage the Kings to find trust for her in you."

"And if this does turn out to be a trap, what of your loyalty to her then?" Magnus asked, sourly.

"My loyalty has been earned. It'll take more than one bad day to change that."

Magnus huffed, "Fine. But Imara better turn up soon."

*****

"If I present you with the chance, don't hesitate. You run, okay? No hesitation."

That's what Leyah had said right before she and Ella had been yanked out of the cave and pulled along by ropes towards the palace carriage that was just coming into view, appearing between the trees. The words were pounding through Ella's head as her feet her pulled along and she was escorted on all sides by tribesmen warriors. But she wasn't sure if Leyah would be able to give them that chance to run. There were too many tribesmen and Ridley hadn't taken his eyes off them, as if knowing exactly how much they were willing to fight this.

They approached the carriage to find it surrounded by another five Bardern soldiers and Ella groaned inwardly. As a child, she used to watch when carriages or wagons entered Malandala and had always dreamed of riding in one of the luxurious Creatian ones. But now she would rather hit Kerrick over the head with a blunt sword than get in the carriage that stood before them.

Actually, she thought, that isn't a good metaphor. She'd hit Kerrick over the head with a blunt sword in a heartbeat, if presented with the situation. She'd rather have to restrain herself from hitting him. There, that was better.

"This is all the men he could spare?!" Ridley yelled as they approached, "Which commander sent you?"

"Captain Renwix authorised us," one of the soldiers muttered.

"Does the Captain not know who we are escorting?!" Ridley asked, outraged.

"It is rather insulting," Leyah added, looking the soldiers up and down and making Ridley's face screw up more.

"Next time you speak, I'll take one of your fingers," Ridley hissed at her, "You're no Princess here."

Leyah pursed her lips but said nothing. She seemed content to have pissed him off. She was ushered forward towards the carriage, Ella just behind them with Ridley still muttering about the intelligence of the Captain they had mentioned before. Ella tensed herself as they opened the door to the carriage, sure that Leyah was going to attempt something. But that was when she noticed that Ridley had pulled out his sword. In fact, all the other soldiers seemed to have tensed as well.

They were waiting for her to do something.

So Ella understood as Leyah was shoved into the carriage without complaint. Ella did the same, grinding her teeth as the hand of the Bardern soldier helping her in, roved a little more than necessary. Ella glanced back at him and he gave her a cruel, toothy grin. It took all she had not to snap then.

Ella stewed it all over as she was shoved in the carriage and Ridley and two other Barderns crowded in with them. She barely noticed the luscious interior of the carriage, focused solely on locating something sharp; anything within her reach that she might be able to get to Leyah. And as the carriage started to rumble away and Ridley had checked the bindings on their hands twice already, she was still so focused on it that it took Leyah a couple nudges for Ella to register.

She flicked her eyes to the Princess but didn't move her head. Leyah gave a long blink. Then another.

Ella was ready by the third.

Leyah lashed out, her feet coming up so quickly that the Bardern soldier opposite her had no time to react. Ridley yelled out but in the cramped space, he couldn't move fast enough to escape Leyah's other boot before it connected with his nose.

Ella heard the crunch and it spurred her into life. She bundled up a length of her robes into her hands and as the soldier next to her became the victim of Leyah's first attack, she wrapped the material around his neck and yanked hard. The man scrambled to yank it off but Ella held tight and slowly he slackened.

The carriage had skidded to a stop after Ridley's yell and Ella could hear shouts from outside. But Leyah had cut the bindings on her hands with the dagger in one of the Bardern soldiers' belt and she threw everything she had into kicking open the carriage door and throwing Ridley out through it.

"Get out the other one!" Leyah snapped and jumped out of the carriage, armed with only a dagger to meet the other soldiers.

Ella shoved the other door open and throwing herself through it. She crashed into one of the soldiers, falling onto him instead of the hard ground. It was the one with the groping hands and as Ella realised this, she wasted no time in curling her fingers into a fist, just like Micah had taught her, and pounding her knuckles into his nose. She felt the skin on them split but the crunch of cartilage beneath her knuckles was worth it as the man reeled. She jumped to her feet, looking up to see the city, and Ella started to run for it. She threw her head over her shoulder, expecting to see Leyah following her.

Leyah had jumped around to this side of the carriage, but she wasn't following. As Ella's feet slapped the ground, she kept her head over her shoulder, watching for Leyah to defeat the men already and follow her.

A couple Barderns turned to see Ella running and started to give chase.

"NO!" Ridley bellowed, stumbling around the side of the carriage with blood all down the front of his shirt, "SUBDUE THE PRINCESS! LET THE SPARE GO!"

Ella's running slowed, "Leyah!"

Leyah was whirling, slicing with the dagger. But the men had swords and she was pressed up against the carriage now.

"No hesitation, Ella!" Leyah cried but the yell cost her a second's worth of concentration and Ella could only watch as a long sword was swiped down across her shoulder, making Leyah scream in pain.

"LEYAH!" Ella screamed but even as she said this, the Princess was being scooped up and shoved back into the carriage by the Barderns.

Ella, with tears streaming down her face, saw no other choice but to turn and run.

It felt like hours, but the run back to the city took her bare minutes with how fast she was going. Ella hadn't slowed from a sprint and she wasn't stupid enough to take the main entrance. And to top it off, her brain was so clouded with fear and distress that she didn't take the short way to the southern entrance. The main entrance was on the western side and she could have to run past the northern and eastern points of the walled city to get safely to the southern entrance.

But Ella didn't have time to dwell on that. She was sobbing as she ran, the last sighting of the Princess carved into her brain with Quel-yanian steel. The slice of the sword. Then the hunch of her shoulders. Then the blossoming of red blood. Then the scream.

She past the most northerly point of the city wall, keeping to the trees to stay out of sight of the patrol. She ducked out of them, following the wall, her legs pumping and starting to ache. And then he appeared in front of her and she would later swear that she had never seen a man so frightened as Micah Baudille was then.

"Ella?"

"Micah!" She wailed and with that, her knees gave way and she crumpled to the ground. She heard his boots on the soil and then suddenly he was holding her up, his dark eyes bright with worry and she could almost see her own grief-stricken face in them as she cried, "They've taken 'er! The Tribesmen betrayed us an' they've taken 'er! They had me too but she told me not ta hesitate an' I ain't realise she meant she ain't comin' wit me. She wa' fightin' 'em wit a dagger an' they all had swords an' she told me ta run an' they cut 'er an'..."

Her words fell into the comfort of her native language as she tried to explain herself but Micah didn't need to understand anything else anyway. He pulled his cloak around her shoulders and helped her up as he recognised the signs of a person going into shock. He wasted no time; gave no thought to anything else in the world, before helping her slide down into the hidden entrance to the north-eastern tunnel into the city and he half-carried Ella all the way to Old Montague.

The lane was in sight when Micah finally realised that Ella had been shaking and just a quick glance to her legs and he could see that her knees were wobbling again, ready to give out. Micah didn't hesitate and bent down, scooping her up in one swift movement. And then he ran.

As he burst through the doors, having run so fast that not even Nisaba had been able to stop him, Kerrick froze in the middle of the hall, staring at Micah like he had gone mad. But once he took in Ella, his limbs began moving again and suddenly he was yelling out for help and running forward to help Micah. Felix and Elex burst out of Leyah's study and a couple of rebels sprinted up from the staircase.

Kerrick tried to lift Ella from him but Micah snapped away instinctively and he backed off. Ella was still crying and she had gone a sickly pale.

"Clear out one of the rooms!" Elex yelled as rebels scurried around, "Someone get Jasper or Pearl up here and tell them to bring a med kit!"

Micah shouldered his way into the room and placed Ella carefully down on the bed. He brushed the strands of lose hair out of her eyes and fixed her scarves so that it was covering her head again; the things having slipped off when he had picked her up.

"Okay, Ella. I know this is hard but I need to know what happened okay?" he said softly, "Who's taken her, who was it?"

Ella looked up at the dozen people now crowded into the room. Micah glanced over his shoulder and his face was carved into a snarl.

"Everyone out!"

He knew Felix, Kerrick and Elex had stayed but the rest of them were shunned out the door as Ella tried to slow her rapid breathing.

"It was Ridley," she said in an uneven voice, "'E's bin Allist's man from the start. He knocked Elex out in the square tha' day and he helped the Tribesmen call Bardern soldiers. Tribesmen had th' maidens. Then they took me an' Leyah and shoved us in a palace carriage but Leyah fought 'em and I got away. She was meant ta come with me."

She was shaking now but the tears had stopped. Micah could imagine her fear slowly being replaced with anger.

"Holy Kings," Elex swore.

Micah got to his feet, "Kerrick, stay here with Ella. Felix, send someone to take food, water and medical supplies to the maidens they had. Elex go get Lexie and Imara, we need to—"

"They've gone," Felix interrupted, "Micah, they left early to swing past the Tribesmen and check that everything was okay with Leyah."

"How could they know?" Ella croaked.

"Nell had a vision or something," Felix explained, panicking, "She said Leyah was hurt. They rode out straight away."

"Send someone out after them," Micah's own heart was racing, "The plans need to change. Call everyone in."

*****

Imara's back straightened up in her saddle as her legions came into view, hiding in the trees just outside the small town of Cennt. She saw Agnes and Otto, her two senior most soldiers get to their feet as they set eyes upon her. Agnes was a tall, older woman who had served her working years in the Delajencan army before being transferred into the Dalladune forces in her more mature age. She had the slick black Delajencan hair and the strong, muscled build of a warrior.

Her husband Otto was even bigger and more muscled. He was quieter though, always letting her talk first since he knew whatever he had to say would only need to be an add on to what she would. Their combined ages succeeded even Imara's grandfather's years which were bordering on ninety now.

And yet they addressed Imara, a woman of eighteen, with a respectful bow.

"Commander Imara," Agnes said, "You're late."

"Hello Agnes. That I am."

They were late because they had spent a bit of time in the forest, listening out and edging close to where the Lexie thought the Tribesmens camp was. But they hadn't heard or seen anything and had been forced to move on. Lexie hadn't spoken a word since they had left and Imara could feel her worry like a storm cloud hanging overhead.

"The Kings might have fought their battles twice over in the time it took you two to get here!" Niram called as she strode down the small rise from the trees where the rest of the soldiers were hiding.

"Apologises," Imara yelled back, "But we're here now."

Agnes's keen eyes suddenly peered over Imara's shoulder, pulling her gaze as well, "Who's that?" the older woman asked.

Dust was being kicked up high as a rider raced off the main trading road towards Cennt and up the hill towards them. The rider wore a long flying cape and was bigger than the average merchant.

Imara drew her bow and plucked an arrow out of her quiver. She had the weapon poised and her aim going true when suddenly Lexie clamped her hand down on her forearm.

"Stop," she breathed, "That's Gupta."

"Gupta?" Imara lowered the bow and peered down at the rider, "What is he..?"

"Something's wrong," Lexie said and she kicked her horse and rode down the rise to meet him.

*****

Conrad Allist was leaning over the balcony rail, looking down at the city below him. It infuriated him that the ones he sought were down there somewhere. He had all the soldiers he could spare out there looking for them. For the Quel-yanian Princess, the common girl named Ella, the Baudille Heir of Creatia and the baby.

The boy was smart at least. Creating his own heir meant that Allist's own job had become more complicated. But the Bardern Lord refused to look at it as a disadvantage. It was just another weapon that Allist could use to strike him down. And by the King would he—

"My Lord?" Allist's captain interrupted his thoughts and he whirled around about to shout at him when he looked upon Renwix's smiling face.

"What is it?" Allist asked, suspicious.

"I believe there's someone here to meet with you," Renwix said and turned to look inside the throne room to where a cluster of soldiers stood. Through the glass, Allist saw her and he could barely contain the excitement rising in his chest. But he forced himself to move slowly and with predatory ease.

"You've done well, Jonas," was all he said, eyes unmoving from his target as he passed Captain Renwix.

Kings, she was beautiful. An offspring of the High King Ottoman himself by the look of that golden hair. Even as she was held on the ground, sitting stiffly on her knees, with her hands and feet bound and one of the Bardern soldiers holding her still with a fistful of her hair. Her shirt was ripped and bloody and even as he approached, Allist could see that the crude bandage was doing nothing to keep her from becoming pale. Yet she showed no sign of pain.

Allist grinned, "It's most pleasing to finally make your acquaintance, Princess."

A/N

Remember to vote! <3

XXX

Ruby