"Halt! Drop your weapons, immediately!" An intimidating young man clad in silver armor emerged from the cluster of guards. After glancing at the red-stained pillow covering the queen, the captain gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the two figures. "Make one wrong move and your lives will be forfeit."
The leader of the assassins glared back at the captain before shifting his gaze to the startled, awoken princess. He figured he had to act promptly in order to get out of the situation unscathed. Thus—without much thought—he slid underneath the bed and sprung up from the opposite side, positioning his dagger adjacent to the princess's neck.
"On the contrary, drop your weapons, or the princess will meet the same fate as the queen," the dark-clothed man retorted, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
The guards tensed up, gripping their swords hard enough to turn their knuckles white. Sweat formed on their faces as they mulled over their current predicament. They knew they could not allow the two men to walk away freely, but could they risk putting another member of the royal family in harm's way?
"Actually," a voice piped up from one of the guards, "you couldn't hurt the crown princess even if you tried. Her fire magic will sear your flesh before you could lay a finger on her."
The captain nearly dropped his sword. Had he heard that correctly? Surely, the two intruders would see through such a blatant lie, especially since neither of them has seen the queen, not to mention the princess, use her powers. Unless...
The captain quickly scrutinized the assassins, noting that one of them refused to move his right arm, even in the slightest bit.
Well done, Olaf, the captain thought, smiling slightly despite the perilous situation. "My guard is correct. The crown princess's magic is involuntary and will protect her from all threats. Just ask your injured friend over there," the captain nodded towards the other assassin's direction.
The assassin leader furrowed his eyebrows at the remark, then turned towards his partner, noticing his seemingly undamaged, yet limp arm.
"It's true", the second assassin begrudgingly confessed. "I barely even touched her necklace, let alone the girl, and now my hand feels like it was burned in a furnace!". He tried moving his hand, but this only caused a shot of agonizing pain to spread through the man's arm.
The captain smiled in relief. Good, he's fallen for the bluff. Unbeknownst to him, Her Majesty, not the crown princess, must have burnt his hand.
Any bit of remaining confidence abandoned the leader of the two assassins as he removed his dagger from the redhead's neck, frantically trying to think of a way out of this dreadful situation. His mind seemed to have turned against him, failing to provide a viable solution—that is, until he remembered the contingency plan.
The words of His Grace echoed in his mind: "Should you encounter difficulties in exiting the castle, every room in the southern end of the castle—including the royal family's bedroom—has a frail window. Break through it and a line of bushes shall lie below, which should break your fall."
A rush of hope flowed through the assassin leader as he subtly glanced at the back of the room. This was his last chance; he couldn't let this opportunity slip away. After a few moments of futile searching, it dawned on him. There weren't any windows in the room, and the only way out was blocked by the guards. The dark-clothed man sighed, clearly vexed. He could not fathom how his superior could have relayed such atrociously false information. Not only was the room lacking a window, but also the assassin leader was reassured that the queen was the only royal with control over fire. The man threw a frustrated glance at the seemingly harmless, innocent redhead before staring the captain down—clenching his fists. It's as if His Majesty wanted us to die here, he thought bitterly.
"It's over, criminal. You have no leverage in this situation. I suggest you hand over the crown princess and perhaps His Majesty will decrease the severity of your punishment," the captain bluffed as he subtly gestured for a few of his guards to prepare their bows.
"Of course, I'm sure His Majesty wouldn't mind the death of his beloved queen that much, right?" the assassin leader chuckled dryly. Damn you, royals. If my death is going to be at the fault of one, I might as well try to take another royal down with me!
Hastily, the dark-clothed figure positioned his dagger in front of the redheaded child once more before thrusting the weapon towards the girl's chest. The act was so swift that none of the guards were able to respond in time.
As the point of the dagger honed in, mere centimeters away from the princess, the girl's scared, teal eyes changed to a fiery shade of orange. "No!" she shouted while a swirling inferno erupted from her glowing ruby pendant, disintegrating the dagger as it continued on its path towards its cold-hearted victim.
The leader's eyes shone with fear, illuminated by the massive, approaching fire. "Wha—" The inferno cut off his last words as he was slammed against the wall before becoming fully engulfed in the flames, dissolving along with the remaining embers.
The guards stood stock-still, shock evident on the faces of even the most stoic men. None of them could believe that their princess appeared to genuinely be a sorceress.
As the princess turned her head towards the remaining assassin, her eyes mimicking the colors of hell's fire, the assassin shook in absolute horror. "M-my apologies, Your Highness," the petrified man managed to voice out before he stabbed himself in his chest with his dagger.
Shortly after, the redhead's eyes flickered, changing back to its former teal color as the girl fell back onto the bed and slipped into unconsciousness.
"Your Highness!" the captain shouted while rushing over to the supine Princess. "Guards, take Her Majesty and Her Highness to the Infirmary, and find King Adgar!"
The guards nodded in response and hurried out of the room, grimly searching for the king. Various questions formed in their mind as they went about their task, too anxious to voice them aloud to one another. But one inquiry uniformly arose in all of their minds: Her Majesty couldn't be dead, could she?
/
By now all of the royal guards, as well as the servants inside the castle, knew about the attack. The details of the incident, however, remained undisclosed to those who had not witnessed it first-hand.
"Your Majesty, are you in here?" asked Olaf, a spritely guard. He continued this approach as he knocked on each and every door along the eastern wing of the castle. Just as he was turning away from the door to the King's study, the guard heard a muffled snore coming through the doorway. Slowly, Olaf opened the door.
"Your Majesty, are you okay?" the guard frantically yelled upon seeing Adgar face-down on his desk.
The king began to rise and rub his eyes, adjusting to the darkness of the room. "Olaf, is that you? Why are you shouting?"
"Oh, my apologies, King Adgar," the guard replied in relief. "I thought something was wrong. I guess I'm still a little on-edge after tonight's attack."
The king's eyes widened as his expression morphed into one of absolute fear. "What attack, Olaf? Are Idunn and Anna safe? Was anyone injured?"
"I'm afraid Queen Idunn sustained a severe knife injury, and she is currently residing in the Infirmary. The crown princess, on the other hand, appears to have not received any injuries, but she is still being checked in the Infirmary as well," Olaf informed grimly.
Promptly, the king rushed out of the room, heading towards the Infirmary as a plethora of thoughts raced through his mind. Idunn, please be okay… I don't know what I'd do without you. I should have been there to protect you and Anna.
Adgar's next thought nearly made the king fall over, his face turning ghostly pale.
Wait… why was I still in the Study?
A/N So, I know I said I was going to update bi-weekly, but I was just too excited to write this chapter! However, starting today I will update either weekly, bi-weekly, or something in between! I will almost always update only on Fridays or Saturdays. Also, please let me know if there's anything you like or don't like about the story, it helps me a lot! I plan for this story to be very long (at least 40 chapters). Also, big shout out to BlossomCharms and JYN044 for all their help and advice! Plus, they have insanely great fics you all should read! :)