Violet stood at the tall window in her room. The view of the mountains in the distance, with the thick forests of Katolis laying at its base. A view she hated with all of her heart, for the memories that she carried within burned images into her mind.

She closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. "Misty eye of the mountain below, keep careful watch of my brother's soul." She looked back up and her gaze looked out towards the land before drifting down to walls of the castle. "And should the skies be filled with fire and smoke, keep watching over the knight I love."

Clem turned to one of the Knights at her side. "Commander David!?"

He stepped forward and bowed slightly, though he didn't seem that happy to be taking orders from someone younger than him. "General."

She gestured to a guard who walked forward holding the bridal of a gray-colored stallion with a black mane. The horse also covered in its own form of armor, sporting the symbol of the kingdom. "You are to take your ranks and set up a blockade two miles to the north." Then she turned to gesture to another man at her side. "If they surpass you, Commander Luke's forces will stand about a mile back, and another rank just beyond the front gates."

Another horse was brought forward, this one chestnut-colored with a tan mane. Both knights mounted their horses and Clem addressed them one last time. "Send word at the first sign of the approaching enemy."

Luke gave her a salute, but David fought back against her words. "And if they flank us from the side? Delta is a formidable threat, surely their plan is not simply to rush us from the front."

Clem folded her arms behind her back. "You will do as your told Commander. If you intend to think that I have sent you on a fools erand you are sadly mistaken." She said sternly. "I will not leave this castle defenseless and must they come from over the mountains and surpass these walls I will fight till my last breath. As I would expect from any knight who carries this symbol. Is that understood?"

David didn't like being talked down to and Clem understood his concern. He may be one of her most experienced knights, but it was his job to hold his tongue and to follow orders. So he nodded in a sign of respect. "Yes, Captain."

Clem nodded her sign of approval. "Good. Now move out!"

Both commanders turned their horses towards the entrance of the front gate where their forces waited for them and she watched them ride off past the hills and into the forests towards the north. The blue flags with their kingdom's symbols held high and blowing in the wind. Her knights disappeared in the distance.

She went to distribute commands to her remaining forces, but her attention was grabbed by figures in the distance. Her line of sight turned towards the hills once more as she saw her knights running back. They halted halfway between the edge of the forest and the iron gate at the front entrance. Someone ran back all the way to greet her and skidded his horse to an abrupt halt a few feet from her. Dust flying up in his hasty actions. "General! They're here! The Delta is here!"

A loud rumble echoed across the hills as shouts could be heard. A warrior's cry that sounded the beginning of any battle. Figures of red poured down the hillsides, accompanied by the same foreign colored flags that sported the Delta's own symbol.

Clementine wasted no time as the knight in her took full force. "Close the gates! Archers at the ready! They scale the walls, shoot on sight!" She gestured to the remaining knights present in the courtyard. "We hold them strong, we hold them fast!" Then lastly she gave a signal for six other people to follower her. "Royals, with me!"

Clem took off at a run with the six knights following her. They wore the same uniform as her but the slight difference being the lack of the gold trimming that outlined the plates of armor on Clem's suit that declared her as Captain.

She raced down the stone corridors until the hallway opened up into a large room. The cobblestone turning from the bland pattern that repeated down the castle's halls to a much more extravagant design splayed out across the floor of the throne room. Large marble pillars lifted to the high ceiling in rows on both sides of the room. A large stone staircase was off to the left, to which Clem knew led up into the halls to where the queen's quarters resided.

She came to a halt and turned to face the entrance that they had just come from. Her knights falling into place beside her till they built the formation of the queen's personal royal guard with the thrones reserved for the king and queen at their backs. Six specialty-trained knights plus the captain of the guard herself sworn to protect the queen with their lives.

She gestured with her hand, directing three of her knights to different places. "Louis, the stairs. Mitch, the window. Sophie, with me."

Clem pulled her sword once more and the blade gleamed in the sunlight the filtered in through the glass windows. "We make our stance here! For besides two other guards, we are the last thing that stands between them and the queen!"

Yells could be heard down the hall, as commotion from the courtyard reached their ears. A loud voice shouting, "There storming the castle, archers take aim!"

Clem's heart hammered in her chest, but fear was not an emotion she was taught to show. For it was not the promise of death that kept her up at night. She would take a stab to the heart from a steel blade with honor and pride, a willing sacrifice for her kingdom and a small price to pay for the life of her queen. But the thought of losing the one she fought so hard to protect got to her in the long hours of the night.

Though it was a thought that she could not show existed. No one knew of the fire that burned in her heart. A fuel that strived her to be better than she already was for it was not just the queen that she sought to protect, but her flower as well.

There was a loud bang at the front doors as wood was continuously rammed in hopes that the wooden barricade would give and be reduced to splinters. But the thundering of the castles main doors was not what was alarming. For windows shattered when bricks were thrown through their transparent forms. Glass raining down and falling to the floor in cutting shards. Seconds later Delta soldiers were climbing through the windows. Steel blades of their own gripped in hand. Their plated armor in a deep faded red compared to the blue of Katolis.

Mitch being the closest managed to kick the first raider back through the window and send them falling to the ground. But ten more knights rushed through and both sides were held in a standoff for a second before, Clem made the first move. She rushed the first raider closest to her, and bringing back her sword swung it forward. Steel screeched in a shower of sparks as the blades collided and her opponent's sword was thrown from their hand from the sheer force.

That's when the doors were pried open with exertion and ten more men poured into the throne room.

Violet paced back in forth in her room with glances up at the portrait that clung to her wall above the mantel of the fireplace. She could hear the shrill yells and constant hammering of metal on metal. She was no idiot and knew Delt's knights had stormed their front gates, but she hadn't expected it so soon.

She knew they faced an enemy that would not stop until the very walls of her fortress crumbled beneath them and each thundering blow to the doors downstairs caused panic to surge through her as thoughts of her knight clouded her mind.

She looked over at the map that crowded her table and the red and blue pieces that covered the board bothered her with their presence. Maybe if she'd made a decision earlier on, things wouldn't have come to this. If she'd sent her forces out to meet the oncoming threat before they'd managed to gather at the gates, then maybe they wouldn't be in this position now. But she'd let fear and uncertainty corrupt her for the terrors of her past fought with a vengeance because she'd been faced with a problem exactly like this before.

She looked up at the painting once more. Back then war had never been a trouble to plague her mind, but the moment things had taken a turn for the worse, the one she loved most had been ripped from her life. A young man stood next to her in that portrait with his bright red hair being the thing that declared him an outcast compared to the rest of them. Her brother, or half-brother if you will, the one to uphold the right as Captain of the Royal Guard before her knight now. Jackson.

Violet had always taken great interest in his role as a knight. She'd wanted to be one herself if not for the title she was born into. Even though he was older, Jackson could not inherit the right to the throne for he was not the true heir of Violet's father, the king. For they shared the same mother, but Jackson's real father landed him the title of step-prince, placing him as Captain of the guard and Violet as the future ruler of Katolis.

But Violet hated her role as leader of Katolis, a role which had been thrust into her hands at an early age. Her brother had died in a fierce battle when she was ten, saving both her and her parents from assassins. Fire raged onto the lands of Katolis that night and heavily wounded, Jackson had ultimately died in the flames.

His sacrifice had not gone unnoticed, and his shield had been scavenged from the ruins of destruction. The swords colliding on the front that had been painted on had from then on become the symbol of their kingdom. A reminder of their most formidable swordsman. A symbol that Violet took great pride in.

But nine years later, her parents suffered the same fate as her brother. A trip gone wrong as they traveled across the land for an annual meeting with the other four kingdoms to discuss changes and maintain peace between the realms.

Spring brought along dangerous slopes in the mountains for the warming temperatures caused the excess snow and ice to melt. An incoming storm had made the journey home even more perilous when a mudslide occurred. Neither of her parents survived making her queen at the young age of nineteen, a role she despised. Violet hated making decisions at the expense of the lives of her people, especially one life in particular.

But if she was being honest, her parent's departure in her life had not created as big of a hole in her heart as the loss of her brother had. Both the former king and queen had always been too busy to pay her much mind, and when they did it wasn't always brought with kindness. Jackson being the only one who really cared and treated her like a normal person. So once she became queen she changed the kingdom's name from Ericsson's to Katolis, not wanting the name that her parents had ruled over.

She remembered how Jackson had even taught her how to fight. Sunny afternoons spent in the courtyard where he'd spar with her, using wooden swords. A value her parents looked down upon, but to Violet, she found it essential that she knew how to defend herself. She was nowhere close to being as good as the Captain, but it gave her the advantage if she was ever placed in danger, much like right now. Which is why she often kept a dagger at her side.

Assassins were a common thing when you were looked at as unfit to rule. Taking up the crown at a young age brought that consequence, yet she had never fallen victim to that of a blade. But sometimes it was not the physical threats that you had to be watchful of, for a gentle tongue could break bones just as easily.

Which is why Violet loved having Clementine in her life. Clem knew how to not let things get to her. She could remove all of the self-doubts and make decisions for what was best for the people around her. Something Violet lacked, for confidence in her abilities were not her strong suit. She couldn't bear the thought of having blood on her hands from a decision she had made, especially if that blood was spilled from her own knight.

Violet's eyes drifted to the rolled parchment that laid motionless in her desk. The blue seal staring back at her with the symbol of Katolis imprinted on it. She was terrified yet burning inside at the mystery of what it's pages contained.

She knew what it meant if she were to break the waxy bond that held the contents of the letter from showing its face. She didn't want to seal her knight's fate before the outcome of a battle was determined. Opening it meant admitting the bitter end, and she did not want to assume that this day would be her knight's last.

Clementine was the most skilled swordsman that she had ever encountered. Surpassing everyone in her rank at the mere age of sixteen and becoming Captain at twenty-one, she was the youngest to take up the leader of the guard and hold the title of general in her army.

In every sparing practice, every drill, that Violet had caught glimpse of from the castle's windows, she had never once seen her Knight's weapon fall from her hand. It always ended with her opponent's sword in the ground and a victim on their back at the mercy of her blade.

But Violet knew that she was still just one person. Clem would fight the whole of Delta's army if she had to, god knows she'd try for Violet. And there wasn't a thing she could do to convince the knight otherwise. But that was what scared her. Clem would rather die than so much as let someone lay a hand on the young queen.

So with the loud crash that echoed through the castle's interior, signaling the fall of the structure's front doors, she picked up the piece of parchment. If everything went downhill from here, this might be her only shot to read her knight's letter. So without another moment's hesitation, she broke the wax seal.

Her heart pounded as she unrolled the scroll and read it's contents.

"When I thought that I fought this war alone you were there with me, by my side on the front lines. We fought to believe the impossible, and we were one with our destinies entwined.

You've always given me a reason to fight. For no matter what, it was my job to risk everything for you because you are the queen. But my fire burns brighter than before because it is not a knight's honor that makes me strive to be better, but you, my queen.

So with the enemy surging onto our home, I know what this has come to. But there's a price to pay as a knight. Because with no-one wearing their real face, it's a whiteout of emotion and I've only got my brittle bones to break the fall.

When the love in letters fades, it's like moving in slow motion and we're already too late if we arrive at all. And then we're caught up in the arms race, an involuntary addiction. And we're shedding every value that we were taught.

So as my last request, will you please show me your real face, draw a line in the horizon. Because I only need your name to count the reasons why I fought.

So whether we die today or a hundred moons from now, you will always have my heart...

My queen, my light, my flower."

Violet brought a hand to cover her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes. She knew Clem's disciplined upbringing made her bury her emotions, and sometimes it was hard for her to express her true feelings. She couldn't imagine how long it had taken the brunette to write through all of this, but what she had displayed in ink spoke volumes that no one but Violet could understand.

Violet's eyes widened as she realized, "I never told her."

She looked at the door, was it worth it? Had Delta's armies really marched across the entire nation to come and kill her, to kill both of them? If this were to be there last day, she had to tell her. She stood from her chair, but a noise caused her to freeze. It was faint, but the light tap on the roof gave it away. Violet slipped a small knife into her hand from her sleeve.

A rock smashed through the window and the shattering sound of glass was heard. Violet whipped around and the knife flew from her hand. It spun through the air and the blade impaled the wall right next to the head of a red-haired girl who stood at the window she had just broken. She pulled the knife from the wall with her hand and spun it around in her fingers. "Well, well, looks like we have a queen who can fight."

Violet pulled her long dagger from its sheath at her side. "Damn, right. I'm not going down without a fight."

The ginger smirked at her remark. "Finally, someone who likes to have a little fun." She threw the knife behind her and out the window then pulled out her sword.

Violet knew she was at a disadvantage, for a sword was much longer than the elongated knife that she carried. But she would not submit to defeat without a fight. She let the intruder make the first move and when she rushed her Violet raised her dagger to block the incoming blow. But the blades slipped against each other and she jumped back as the sword slipped down and made contact with the floor.

Violet's heart pounded, but her attacker found great amusement in their struggle, treating it as if it was a game. But assassins often took pleasure in the lives they stole and the redhead smirked at her tenacity. "Not too bad, princess." She looked at the table in front of her taking notice of its position compared to her target. "But we're not here to play games." She kicked over the table and sent it across the floor, the red and blue chips falling to the ground in a clatter of plastic pieces.

The table collided with the blonde before she could move out of the way. It sent her to the floor and her weapon fell from her hand as she was thrown backward with the force of the table.

Out in the hall, a different story had played out with the two knights who stood watch at the door. The sharp noise of glass shattering coming from the opposite side of the door before an unfamiliar voice sounded.

"The queen, she's in trouble! We have to go help!" The knight on the left stated in panic.

She went to reach for the door when the glint of a blade stopped her. "I'm sorry Brody, but I'm afraid I can't let you pass." Her partner moved in front of the door.

She looked up at him in shock. "But Marlon...what do you..." A loud crash was heard inside the room, but he made no action to move.

Brody glared at him. "If you won't help her then I will."

She went to move around him, but he blocked her path with his sword. "You don't understand, we have to let them take her."

"What do you..." Her eyes narrowed at him. "You knew this would happen?"

"Brody please, let me explain..."

"Traitor!" She produced her sword and didn't hesitate to swing.

Marlon went to block it and the two went back and forth as steel swords collided. But the blonde had not wanted a fight between the two and his form was sloppy in his movements to block the girl's strikes. His hands shook as he fought to maintain a grip on his weapon. Brody found her opening and with a strong thrust up knocked his sword from his hand. She brought her foot up and kicked him back, sending him to the floor. She kicked his sword to the side and putting her foot on his chest pointed the sword at his face. "Make any sudden moves and I'll end you." She threatened.

Brody stepped off of him and gestured for him to stand. Marlon obeyed and raised his hands in surrender. Brody kept her eyes on him as she moved to pry open the wooden door to the queen's quarters.

Clem pulled her blade from another one of Delta's fighters, the end slick with blood. But she barely had time to slip her weapon free before it was swung to meet the steel of an opposing sword. Giving no leeway, the knight in red raised their weapon once more but it was blocked by the brunette's shield and before they had time for a counter-attack, another knight in blue came up from behind the Captain and plunged their blade into the flesh of the enemy.

Clem watched her opponent crumble at the sharpness of Sophie's blade. Clem panted hard as she took a split second to stare around, the number of fallen Delta soldiers rising. But it was as if all of a sudden the fighting had stopped, and now the Royal guard stood among the motionless bodies of the defeated raiders. The knight's of red had stopped coming. She looked out the window and could see smoke rise in the west. Without a second to lose, Clem rushed to the window and peered out. There was smoke in the distance, as it curled around the wind and into the air from a fire that she could not see.

It drifted upward and out, black against the blue of the clear skies. But for its purpose of being there, she could not understand. If Delta had wanted to burn them to the ground, flames would already be lapping at the thick forests that surrounded them. The flames climbing higher into the mountainside until the entire land was ablaze. But the mysterious smoke was all there was to see.

Shouts pulled her attention away as her knights cheered. And she could see Delta's red flags disappear into the distance. They were retreating? Her remaining knights of the queen's personal guard saw this too and Louis gave a cheer at having driven the enemy off. "We did it!"

But Clem pulled herself away from the window lost in thought. Something didn't add up, that fight was a bit...too easy. Delta was a formidable force to be reckoned with, and even though they had surpassed the walls there couldn't have been more than twenty soldiers at her feet.

Lost in thought she looked up when she heard a grunt of discomfort come from the stairs. She looked up and saw Brody shove Marlon in the back and he dropped to his knees once they reached the bottom of the stone stairwell. "He's a traitor! The queen, she's gone!"

"What!" About five voices all shouted at the same time. But Clem's was the loudest out of everyones. "No!"

Not even caring about anyone else in the room she pushed past Brody and raced up the stairs. She followed the red carpeting and ran down the hall to a room she was all too familiar with. The door already flung open she stopped at the doorway. The first thing catching her attention was the jagged outline of the window where the glass used to reside in its full form. Clem's eyes scanned the room. Papers littered the floor, along with some books that had been knocked from their homes on the bookshelf. She saw that the table she had stood at not even two hours ago had been flipped and the maps gameboard appearance had been destroyed now that the pieces were scattered across the floor.

It looked more like someone had ransacked the place looking for something rather than an assassination attempt. But that was another thing. The color red did not litter the floor, for there had been no bloodshed. But the queen was nowhere to be found. The room lay empty of the person it was once used to protect. Clem looked down at the floor and leaned down to pick up the letter she had given the blonde. She shook her head in denial as she looked over the words written in her hand.

There was no blood, the queen was nowhere to be found, and it was a battle that had been over before it had even started. This was planned. Delta had known what they were doing, for this was not an assassination attempt but a kidnapping. Anger boiled throughout Clem's blood and her fist clenched tightly. Then brody's words repeated in her head. "He's a traitor!"

Clem repocketed the papers and left the room. She stormed down the corridor and rushed down the steps, a new fire lit and anger clear in her steps. Marlon still resided on his knees in the middle of the floor with the rest of the guard surrounding him. Kights on both sides of him holding him in place.

Louis tried to intervene in wanting answers. "Is it true? Is she really gone?"

But Clem only shoved past him not caring to answer. She pulled her sword from its scabbard as she marched up to the blonde knight. She raised it back and swung. Marlon closed his eyes not wanting to see the end, but when he opened them the Captain's sword was mere centimeters from his neck. "Speak fast, for they may very well be the last words you ever say."

Marlon didn't reply and she pushed the edge of her blade to his neck, the metal bit into the skin causing the slightest drop of blood to appear. She could hear Marlon's breath hitch before he went to respond. "The attack was a setup. Delta wanted to keep everyone from the queen so they could send in assassins to kidnap her."

"Where are they taking her!? What do they want with her?" Clem demanded as she put slightly more pressure against the blade on his throat.

"Up north, to one of their camps! I don't know what they wanted with her. I swear! They threatened to kill me if I didn't let them take her!." Marlon cried out in a panic.

Clem removed her blade and glared at him. "You're a fucking coward." She pointed the end of her sword at the X that resided on his shoulder. "You don't deserve to wear this symbol. You dishonor everything it stands for! You suck at protection!"

She returned her sword to its place at her side then addressed the knights who had him by the arms. "Put him in the dungeon. No food or water, three days." She straightened her back and looked him over one last time. "Will see if her majesty has as much mercy as I do once I'm done with you."

She turned to Louis and Sophie who stood at her other side but kept her eyes on their traitorous friend. "Mount up. Where leaving."

Louis's face changed to one of shock. "Leaving? But...where are we going?"

She sent him a look that said "Are you an idiot?" But responded without missing a beat. "After them of course. We're bringing my...the queen back. I swear on my li..." She stopped. She couldn't make a promise like that. She could swear on her life, but as a knight, she was already expected to uphold that promise. But being from Katolis there was only one thing she could promise that was worth more than her life and she was not afraid to make that type of commitment. For there was no higher price than that of her queen. "Mark my words, because... I Swear By The Sword!"

Everyone's eyes widened at her words and gasps could be heard as they echoed off the walls in the spacious room. They all knew what it meant to take up a promise like that. For it was a promise made in honor of their kingdom's sacred symbol. This wasn't 'bring back the queen or die trying'. No, if Clem failed at her task she would be forcefully killed. For failing a promise ti the sword was considered high treason.

She didn't give anyone the chance to respond as she walked away, clear agitation and anger written on her face and present in every move she made. She went to walk out of the battlefield that was once the throne room, now it's floors dripped in blood from fallen knights. Fools who sacrificed themselves in a suicide mission, and to achieve what?

But Marlon's voice trailed after her in anger wanting to get back at her. Now feeling brave that he no longer had a sword pointed at his neck."You think this changes anything!? You think I couldn't hear you back there!? I know what you said! You love her! You're in love with the queen."

Clem didn't hesitate as a dagger was slipped into her hand. She turned halfway around and with the flick of her hand sent the knife across the room where the blade pierced deep into his skin and slit his throat. Blood ran down Marlon's neck, silencing him and staining his skin red. The knights restraining him letting go and his body dropped to the floor motionless.

Everyone stood shocked, not daring to say a word for fear they'd be next. Clem paid them no mind however and continued her march down the hall, final words falling from her lips.

"No mercy."