Royal Blood

Chapter Four

Lucia woke up before sunrise, she quickly got ready, she saw that Oliver was not there she just thought that he went out to get something for his father, she grabbed her scabbard that had her sword in it and wrapped the scabbard belt around her waist, once she left Oliver's house, she ran down the stone path, she ran to the knight station, but she realized that nobody was there. "Aristotle! I'm here!" She called out, she went to try the door, it was locked. "Huh... That's odd..." She said to herself, she walked away from the knight station and looked around the area. She saw no one, just trees, plants, the stone path, etc. She was starting to get a little worried, where was Aristotle? "This isn't funny!" Lucia shouted, someone snuck up behind her. "You're finally here." A familiar voice said, Lucia turned and looked at who it was, it was Tace. "What are you doing here." Lucia said, "Oh nothing, but if you want your precious friend back, you should head to Rozevia. Unlock the hidden secrets of your family's past." Tace said, "WHAT DID YOU DO!" Lucia shouted, Tace started running towards two horses, Tace jumped and got onto one of the horses, she grabbed the lead, she whipped the lead, causing the horse to run towards the gate, Lucia ran after Tace, doing the same thing Tace did, getting her horse to chase after Tace's horse. Tace's horse ran towards the Kingdom of Rozevia, Lucia's horse followed Tace's horse. After a while, they both finally arrived at the broken wall of Rozevia, Tace halted her horse to a stop, so did Lucia, they both got off their horses, Lucia ran up to Tace, pushing her up against a nearby tree, Lucia putting her forearm against Tace's neck, Tace was startled by it. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OLIVER!" Lucia demanded, "Shut up or they'll hear you!" Tace said, pointing at the creatures that somehow got to the top of the broken wall of Rozevia, Lucia looked where Tace was pointing. Lucia looked at Tace, "Why did you say that, about coming here to see Oliver again, unlocking the hidden secrets of my family's past!" Lucia whispered, "The guy with the black hair told me to repeat it to you when I saw you. He told me to lead you here." Tace explained, "Goddammit Aristotle!" Lucia said, Lucia pulled her forearm from Tace's neck, Tace was silent for a moment. "They have my Oliver in there!" Tace said, Lucia gave her a very scary glare. "We need to save him, stay behind me, or be my shield, up to you." Lucia said, Tace stared at Lucia, "I think behind you would be just fine..." Tace said, Lucia started walking up to the broken wall of Rozevia, Tace followed her. Lucia looked around the area inside of the wall, "Why would he make us come here..." Tace whispered, "To unlock the hidden secrets of my family's past... And to save Oliver.... Like you said, idiot." Lucia whispered, Tace looked offended, "We don't have anything to get past those creatures though!" Tace whispered, Lucia ignored her and scouted the area for any spots that could cover Tace and herself.

Lucia grabbed Tace's wrist and quickly ran to a blind spot with her, Tace was startled by the sudden wrist grabbing and running. Lucia let go of Tace's wrist, Lucia thought to herself for a moment, why would this happen the day after Aristotle talks about her training her capabilities? Lucia looked at Tace, "This, all of this, it's my training." Lucia said, Tace was confused, "Training? With those creatures?" Tace asked, Lucia shrugged, Lucia quickly ran to an alleyway, Tace quickly ran after her, "So, we just leave the poor baker's daughter behind now?" Tace asked, "No, you'll just slow me down. I wish you stayed with the horses." Lucia bluntly said, Tace rolled her eyes. Lucia looked at some crates that were broken, Lucia walked over to them and started stepping up them, Tace watched her, "Those are broken, you'll fall!" Tace said, "I don't think you care if I fall or not." Lucia said, she grabbed onto a part of the roof of one of the buildings they were between, Lucia climbed onto the roof, Tace went silent, Tace secretly wanted Lucia to fall. Tace walked over to where Lucia had climbed up, Tace tried climbing on the broken crates but she fell, Lucia watched her, "Oh look how embarrassing that is." Lucia said, "Shut up!" Tace said, "I'm just getting warmed up!" She continued, "Uh huh." Lucia replied, Lucia scouted out the area. "There's no more blind spots, we will have to just run towards the castle." Lucia said, Tace kept trying to climb up the broken crates, she had no luck whatsoever. Lucia looked at Tace, "Do you want help?" Lucia asked, Tace shook her head, "I'll just meet you around the corner!" Tace said, out of breath, Lucia did not mind that idea at all, Lucia walked to the other side of the roof and hopped down from it as Tace came running around the corner, "We're so lucky we haven't been caught yet." Tace said, Lucia nodded, Lucia made a break for it to the castle, it took Tace a second to realize what was happening, when she realized, she quickly chased after Lucia. It took them both awhile to get to the castle since they ran into a few creatures, but Lucia took care of the creatures quickly. As Lucia and Tace walked into the castle, they saw that the stairs were broken, the floor had huge holes in it, as if something with great power smashed something into the floor. "Well, this is great. We almost die out there and now we're probably on a damn goose chase!" Tace said, "No, we aren't. Oliver wasn't in bed this morning; I usually have to wake him up." Lucia replied, Tace looked at Lucia, "WHERE AM I!" A familiar voice screamed, it was Oliver, Lucia knew who it was immediately. Lucia quickly ran in the direction of his screaming, Tace quickly followed close behind Lucia. Lucia ran into a room where she heard Oliver, when she ran into the room, she saw Oliver tied up. She quickly ran to Oliver and untied him, Tace ran into the room after Lucia, "What the fuck is going on!" Oliver said, "I'm not sure!" Lucia replied, Tace ran over to them, "I think we have a bit of a problem...." Tace said, Oliver and Lucia looked at her, "We might have to leave through the window.... But we need to get books first, from on the desk..." Tace said, Lucia helped Oliver up, Lucia looked at the desk Tace was talking about, she saw four books. Lucia grabbed the books, Oliver saw a different type of creature creep into the room they were all in, he quickly grabbed Lucia and Tace. He ran and jumped out of the window, they all tumbled a bit, Oliver got up, he helped up Lucia, Tace got up, "Well, that just happened..." Tace said, "No more talking, we need to get out of here!" Lucia said, Oliver nodded, Lucia started running to the broken part of the wall her and Tace came in through, Oliver and Tace ran close behind her. Once they had all gotten outside the wall, they ran to the horses, Lucia got on her horse, Tace got on hers, Oliver got on Lucia's horse, he sat behind her. Oliver grabbed the lead and whipped it, the horse started running back to the kingdom, Tace did the same, her horse followed Lucia's horse.

After a while they arrived back at the kingdom, the horses ran into the gate entrance, the horses ran to the village, once they got to the village, the horses halted to a stop. Tace got off her horse, she ran home, and dramatically cried. Oliver got off Lucia's horse, he helped Lucia off her horse, "Thank you, are you okay?" Lucia asked, "I am now." Oliver replied, Lucia smiled, Lucia looked at the books, "What do you think is in these books?" Lucia asked, Oliver shrugged, he grabbed one of the books and opened it, he read the first page, "To my beloved daughter, Lucia. This has everything you need to know in them, all your questions will be answered in these books." The first page only had those few words on them, Lucia looked at the book Oliver was holding. "This sounds like your mother or father could tell the future." Oliver said, "Well, it looks like I'll be busy tonight." Lucia said, she grabbed the book from Oliver, "I will be busy as well." Oliver said, "I'll see you later." He continued, Lucia nodded and headed to Oliver's house. Oliver was pissed, he went right to the knight station to look for Aristotle, once Oliver got to the knight station, he saw Aristotle sitting up against the door, Oliver walked over to him. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Putting Lucia and myself in danger?" Oliver asked, Aristotle looked at him, "She needed to find those books, before you say anything, I can't handle seeing those books, so I couldn't get them for Lucia myself. If she was smart, she would've used her shield in the castle." Aristotle said, "Why can't you see those books!" Oliver demanded, Aristotle got up from the ground, he crossed his arms. "Because I saw her mother writing in them. All the things her family had went through, throughout the decades. Seeing those books would have brought back the memories I am desperate to forget. That's why." Aristotle bluntly explained, Oliver wanted to know what memories, but he did not want to invade on something that could hurt Aristotle. "If it was so easy to get me there, why can't we take back Rozevia now?" Oliver asked, "Because of the curse that was set on the land on the night of the attack. But there were tons of those creatures there when I put you there before sunrise, I barely made it out alive if you couldn't tell." Aristotle said, lifting his shirt and showing Oliver the large cuts, he had gotten at Rozevia, "Then how were there very little creatures there when Lucia came to save me." Oliver said, Aristotle shrugged, it made no sense, how could there be so many creatures there before sunrise but not when Lucia went to rescue Oliver? It was all so confusing, Oliver wanted answers, Aristotle would not give him any. Oliver decided to just go home.

It has been a week, Lucia had just finished the last book, all the stuff she had learned was overwhelming. "The creature put a curse on my mom before she died... Even put a curse on the land of Rozevia within the walls... An awful curse, it kills the anyone who tries to take it away from the creatures..." Lucia explained, Oliver looked up from a book he was reading about different types of ores and how beneficial the ores could be in some cases, Lucia looked awful, she barely got any sleep, she was so invested in the books she didn't give herself much of a break. Oliver got off his bed, he set the book he was reading down on the bed and walked over to Lucia. "You should really get some sleep, Lu..." Oliver said, Lucia shook her head, "My mom died from the curse, and those creatures can control people who show vulnerability... Once the creature controls you, you can never recover from it... You won't be able to control your own body anymore..." Lucia explained, Oliver pushed the book up a bit and picked up Lucia. Lucia's head fell against his shoulder. Lucia was exhausted, she drifted right off to sleep. Oliver went and laid Lucia on his bed, he grabbed the book he was reading, he went and placed it on the desk Lucia was at. Oliver knew what he had to do while Lucia rested, he had to find a way to get rid of that curse so they could take back Rozevia. Oliver left his room, then he left his house, he went and grabbed his armor that his father had upgraded for him. He put on his armor and grabbed his scabbard; he grabbed his sword and slid his sword into his scabbard. Oliver ran over to his horse and mounted his horse, he grabbed the lead and whipped it, causing the horse to run towards the gate. Oliver was determined to find anything to break the curse, no matter the circumstance.