The Prince's Sacrifice

Chapter 5: Kidnap

  The King and Queen awoke startled, an alarm was sounding. A hurried knock sounded on the door. "Enter and report," King Roland ordered. Mags opened the doors in a rush, "Your Majesties, intruders in the castle! They look like members of The Brotherhood of Fire. We must hide you, quickly," Magnus said out of breath. King Roland and Queen Roina already had their robes wrapped around themselves. "Mama," a frightened Princess called as she ran to her mother's arms opening the door to their adjoining quarters. "It's alright, Nisa, but we do need to hide from the bad people. Come here, Love, quickly," Queen Roina said to her frightened daughter as calmly as she could manage. Queen Roina held Anisa's hand holding her swollen belly with her other hand. King Roland shielded them from behind, Magnus ahead of the group hoping to be a safe look out to the royal family. The group rounded a corner, steps from the safety of a secret passage that only the royal family, royal guests, and Magnus were privy to. Only the highest clearance security officers knew of the passage and chambers that were at the end of the passage. Magnus made it safely, a darkness from the wall opening up swallowed the Seer. Unfortunately, none of the others made it to safety. Arrows vollied at the King and Queen, not missing their mark. Queen Roina crashed to the floor, an arrow sticking from her right shoulder. Blood trickled down her as she curled up into a ball, trying to shelter her daughter and unborn child. Anisa closed her eyes in fear, but made no noise, knowing that this would alert the bad people to her presence. She snuggled into her mother's embrace, her mother holding tight. A grunt and a loud thud sounded, making Anisa whimper quietly. "Make sure they're dead," barked a gruff voice in the silence. "King's a goner," another said. Then Anisa's mother's tightened grip slackened, leaving her half exposed to the strangers around her. "The Queen seems to have succumbed as well. Where's that twit Magnus? He was with them, wasn't he? The order was to get all of the royal family," the gruff voice said. His voice sounded in Anisa's ear, "You ready to go Princess?" She shyly opened her eyes hoping to see a familiar face, a safe face, but was met only with a figure shrouded in a dark cloak.

Anisa squeaked in fear, cuddling closer to her mother. "Come on, don't make this harder than it has to be," the gruff man said, trying to coax her to their shrouded figures. She tried to make herself smaller, so the bad people would go away, but they didn't go away. The gruff man, instead of being patient, grabbed the young fairy Princess and dragged her roughly over to him. "I said, 'Come 'mere," he barked, annoyed, "I've got orders to bring you to the boss. He likes fancy things and you'll make the perfect pet, too bad ya' don't got any of the pretty wings like the rest of 'em." As she was being pulled to the gruff man, she saw a knife in her father's side, along with arrows in his back, he was not moving. Fear showed plainly on her face, making her look like a china doll.

"What's the boss see in these fairies anyway," another shrouded figure asked, the word fairy spoken like a curse word. "Shut it, Terell," the gruff man barked. "Yes sir," the shrouded figure said, bowing their head. "Come on Princess," the gruff man said, pulling Anisa hard towards him once more.

Anisa was handed to a figure on a horse. "Keep her safe, the boss doesn't want his pet to be damaged in any way,"the gruff man barked. The figure placed Anisa into the saddle gently, nodding to the gruff man, his wings tucked neatly under his shroud, but where the Princess could see the shimmer in the moonlight. She didn't know why but seeing this comforted her, after all this man was gentle to her. However, she was confused why he was with the bad guys, wasn't he a fairy too? The shrouded gentle fairy held her, before he clicked his tongue, snapped the reins, and said in a foriegn language something to the horse. She also thought she heard in one of the fairy languages that she was learning, "Fear not, I'm a friend." She fell asleep in a safe embrace and the galloping motion of the horse.

***

"Where is the girl," a figure asked, sitting at his desk in an extravagant study. His face was handsome to many that knew him, his voice smooth and sultry hid evil intent. "In the courtyard, sir. The rider just arrived," a soldier in armor answered. "And her kingdom," the figure asked, daring the armored man to answer wrong. The look was not missed by the soldier. "Destroyed, sir, according to the rogues that were sent to retrieve the young fairyling," he replied carefully. "Excellent. Bring our guest to me. She must be unimaginably frightened," the figure at the desk said darkly. The man grinned evilly, his soldier bowed his head, "Yes, sir," was his reply. The groggy princess was retrieved from the shrouded man on a black horse and led to the man's chambers. "Sir, the girl," the soldier said, placing the groggy girl gently on the ground near the desk. "Thank you, sergeant, you may leave," the man said, placing papers on the desk in front of him. The soldier bowed, turned and left the room, leaving the frightened princess alone with her captor. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the reality of the night's events setting in.