The Dead war.

Chapter Four: Oliver

My father had told me a group of guards and a doctor had entered the castle to help my mother. One of them was a female. When Serena entered the room immediately my heart picked up pace, she was so beautiful she had long black hair pulled in our traditional hair styles.  Her hair reached the bottom of her waist. Standing next to her was a broad shouldered man. They both stood about 6 feet. She was slighting shorter than him. I spoke first and then Liam when he introduced everyone. I learned her name was Serena even her name was perfect. He had told me that she never talks. It was strange to me but I understood.
Examining my mother took almost hours with no luck. No one could figure out exactly what she had.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning to examine her further, as for right now the best medicine is rest. Serena, Nathaniel let's go." Liam said
I felt a connection with Serena just the way she looked and the way she held herself something about the way she moved was entrancing. Once they had left I rested my head back on my hands. My arm rested on the bed while the other head was in my mothers hand. I will help you mum, I promise. I exited the room at about 10:30 that night. I headed to the training room to clear my head as I often did on stressful days. Once I entered the doorway of the room I saw her. Serena was by the punching bag, her technique was that of royalty, someone who was taught how to fight from a knight or gaurd. I stood there and watched as she punched and kicked, her technique was flawless like she never made any errors. Was anything about her not perfect? She eventually noticed me watching her and she turned her head to face me. I thought about turning around and walking out of the room
But I had a slim glimmer of hope I would be able to get her to talk.
"You used to be royalty didn't you?" I asked, leaning on the door frame.
"Why do you say that?" She replied. My heart skipped a beat. Her voice was like a cold popsicle on a hot day. Or a warm vanilla cake on a winter afternoon. She sounded like a mother singing to her babies. It was a weird description but to me she sounded tender and kind.
"Because you're using the technique on the punching bag, the same one I learned how to do when I was a boy. From Viktor, the head of our army." I said
"Yes I was born in Umbris to the king and queen, they wanted something different then what I wanted so I left the end of the story." She said with one final punch to the bag and it came crashing to the ground with a thud. I'll admit I was kinda intimidated. No one on our guard, not even I, could break that bag. We continued to talk. Well I continued to ask questions I could tell she didn't want to answer or talk to me but she obliged me. I was grateful I don't ever get to talk to people anymore. Not as much as I used to when I was a boy.
"So why leave if you had everything handed to you." I asked. I already knew the reason I just wanted to hear her say it. She gave me an annoyed look and it made me grin. I held the smile back because she was inches from the bows and arrows and I didn't want an arrow through the heart.
"It's not that easy Oliver, yes I had everything but I wasn't happy, I didn't want to be this proper princess who wore dresses and heels and pranced around getting married and uniting nations. I'm independent and I prefer it that way." She said walking over to the bows.
"I ran away from home, and when I got into the woods with my horse, an archer shot my horse down. I ran for my life but eventually was caught with an arrow in the ankle. Liam ran to me and the archer ran. He brought me back to his little village outside of the Prophis and that's where I met the rest of them. We trained and fought each other and I became the strongest of all of us. So much so that they made me the leader, I was better equipped because I was royal. I knew how to protect myself and others and knew how to carry out our missions." She said her story was so much like how I wanted mine to be. She fired an arrow and it landed with a crack in the exact middle of the bullseye.
"Think you can do better?" She said with a small grin. I laughed and grabbed the bow. As soon as our hands touched I felt a surge of electricity pulse through my arms and hands. We stood there for a good few seconds before she pulled away. I snapped my head back to reality and calmed my breathing as I shot an arrow hitting her arrow and snapping it in half down the center.
"Not half bad for a Prince." She said with a smug look on her face.
"Not bad for a girl." I retorted.
She rolled her eyes and smiled. It wasn't a big smile but it was there. She walked off the mat and was walking out the door when I yelled. "When can I see you again?"
"You wish pretty boy,'' she called. She walked out of the room and I let out a sigh, I could breathe now. Something about her presence made all my air disappear. I stayed in the training room for another two hours before I eventually walked back to my room. When I passed the hallway where Serena stayed she was in wool pants and a black really tight tank top, a little two tight. It framed her body perfectly in all the right places. She was in the doorway of the room with the two boys. Talking to them I couldn't understand what they were saying but I got a glimpse of my name and my fathers name. Who were they and what were they doing here really?
Next morning came and I entered the room and Liam was already examining my mother. I looked around the room but to my dismay Serena wasn't in the room.
"Where is Serena and Nathaniel?" I asked, looking around again.
"They had business outside of town today apparently some little girl they found in the forest wanted to talk to them again." He replied not looking up at me.
"Oh, so how is she?" I asked
"Serena? She is Tense I guess why?" He asked confused
"Oh no sorry I meant my mother." I really meant Serena but I didn't want to seem creepy.
"Oh right, she is doing better than yesterday the medication I gave her seems to be helping. The fever has gone down some. She should be back up on her feet tomorrow or the day after I will leave my notes with your doctor and the treatment and the supplies so he can continue to monitor her." He replied he seemed in a hurry to leave and it was a little suspicious. I just shrugged off the thought and ignored it. The next two days went by as fast as any day had. I hadn't seen Serena since that day in the training gym. I was almost positive she had been avoiding me. I went to bed that night and fell asleep quickly. When it hit 12:00 I was awoken by the touch of someone grabbing my hands and Tying them together. I thrashed around trying to get free when I saw her. Serena was on my bed. She held a cloth in her hand and pushed it to my mouth. She has a mask on but I could tell those eyes from miles away. The last thing I say was her face her eyes were pure anger and regret at the same Time. And suddenly my world went black.
When I finally woke up I saw Charlie with his mask still up crouching in front of me.
"Pretty boy decided to wake up." He smirked from behind her mask. I looked at him in confusion and betrayal. He shoved my head away from looking at him and my eyes caught Serena as she was leaning against a tree, her arms folded. And her legs crossed she looked so different from that woman in the gym. This woman was cold hearted and bitter. And the one I'm the gym was kind and beautiful. Don't get me wrong she was still so beautiful but she wasn't who I thought she was. Charlie walked over to me and brought water to my lips. I refused at first and then he opened my mouth forcing me to drink.
"We need you alive, not dead." He smirked
"Well as alive as we can. Didn't mean we can't give him a beating first." Oscar said standing up
"I don't think so!" Serena said. "We want him alive and well, not fighting for his life, you idiot." She crouched down in front of me and grabbed my chin and looked into my eyes. "We need information. And you're going to give it to us. And we don't take no for an answer." She said She pulled my mouth guard off again. Charlie had replaced it after I drank the water and I coughed.
"So you lied? All of you lied?" I said panicking.
"Not exactly, I did help your mom and she will get better but that wasn't our mission. Our mission was you." He said with a grin.
I looked at her and she was talking to Nathaniel by the tent. I sat on the dirt ground and my clothes were dirty and torn from being dragged. We were only a day away from Prophis and if I ran fast I could make it back. But now was the hard part trying to escape and not being caught. I was left outside while everyone went to bed. Now was my chance. I slowly exited the tent I was placed in with Charlie. And once I was free of the tent I stood up and looked at the direction that I was sure was towards home. And then before I knew it I was running. I was sprinting as fast as I could. My feet slamming on Hard cold dirt. I continued to run faster and faster and my mind began to race why no one came after me. I slammed to a stop, my feet skidding on the ground. There Serena stood with a bow and arrow pointed straight at my chest. She stood there with a look on her face that sent chills down my spine, a look that made my heart stop. She wasn't bluffing if I made the wrong move she would shoot. I turned around and there stood Nathaniel with a crossbow pointed right at me.
"I knew you would run. You're quite predictable." Nathaniel said.
"What information can I give you! I don't even know my fathers plan for war he won't tell me! How am I supposed to know? What information am I supposed to know?"  I said practically yelling.
"We didn't take you for information on the war, we used you for leverage. Once your father knows we have you he is forced to resign from the war to get you back." Nathaniel said.
"What happens if he doesn't agree? My father isn't the type of person to care if his son is missing. He won't even notice until he wants me to take a woman out on a date. You won't get any information or anything to win this war so what is the point of taking me if you're not gaining anything." I said, trying to explain my way out of this. I knew I was right. I knew I would live the rest of my life stuck in an Umbris jail cell.

I finally gave up and held out my hands Serena walked over and grabbed the rope and walked back to the camp and tied me to a tree and everyone else went back to bed. She sat by the lit fire with her hands on her face.
"Why are you helping these guys? Who actually are you?" I asked Serena.
"I am the princess of Umbris. That part was true and me wanting to be a knight and fight is also true. The woman who shot some of your men in the forest 3 weeks ago was also me. I live in the castle. I am royalty." She refused to look at me While she talked. I was in shock and confusion and so I stopped talking.
"Do you really think your father won't come get you? Or send someone for you?" She asked, still refusing to look at me.
"No I don't, my father has never been the heartfelt type about me." I said I looked down at the ground, a hint of pain tugging at my heart. Memories of my childhood flashed in front of my mind. Falling off a horse and falling and hurting myself, my father never cared he never offered help. He never comforted me when I had a nightmare and never let my mom. I always had a maid do everything. And before I knew it the tears started, I prided myself on never showing my emotions but now everything cracked. Suddenly the idea of my life ending here. Spending the rest of my life in prison in Umbris. My life was over.

The next morning I was awoken by Oscar chucking water in my face.
"Time to get moving, sleeping beauty." Oscar said. Serena walked over to me with a canteen and crouched down next to me holding the canteen up to my lips.
"Drink." She said, I thought about refusing the water but my throat and body protested otherwise. The cold liquid poured down my throat and my body protested when she pulled the canteen away from my mouth. She then held up a piece of a sandwich.
"Eat this you need to keep up your strength." She said feeding me the sandwich. Once I had finished the sandwich she gave me some more water and my body protested once again once she removed the canteen from my lips.
"Thank you." I said
"Don't thank me. I'm just making sure you stay alive. If it was just the boys you wouldn't make it five seconds" she said walking away.
Everyone packed up their stuff and Serena came and grabbed the rope tied to my hands.
"Let's go, the faster we get back the faster all of this will be over." She said pulling me along. We walked for what felt like hours. My feet were killing me. I was slowing down and when we finally stopped to take a break I practically dropped to the floor. Serena walked back over to end with more food.
"Here." She untied my hands and handed me the water and the food.
"Why did you untie me?" I asked.
"Because you already know how bad of a decision it is to run." She said I grabbed the food and drank the water. She sat in front of me eating her own food and drinking her water and when I finished she grabbed the canteen and put it back in her bag. The days dragged on sleeping and getting up early with barely any food, I was becoming weaker day by day. I felt my energy draining and I could barely keep up anymore. And then I was falling to the ground, I felt the ground impact my skull and then suddenly everything went black.