Protector Of The Empress (GxG)

Nineteen

The two sisters hugged goodbye, it was the last day and Catherine was getting ready to leave. Hyeon was outside protecting her, the armor was on and her weapons were equipped. She was ready to go back to work. "I will miss you, come back next year." Adelina smiled.

"I will try," Catherine replied as she sat down inside the carriage. the two women rode out of the village.

It took days to ride back, snow slowed down the horses, but they were tough with thick, warm fur for the winter, they would survive the harsh winters of the north.

-

Hyeon had fallen asleep in the carriage, she had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before because she had been so cold despite sleeping on warm fur close to an actively lit bonfire. she tried spooning the woman, but it did not help much, she was not used to such cold weather.

"Stop the cart Immediately!" Hyeon was woken up by the distressing sounds of the woman's voice. She looked around for any danger but found none. They were back, yet Catherine seemed horrified- no, it was a mixture of different emotions, all seemingly negative ones.

She watched Catherine open the door and step out. "Anja." She heard the woman whisper. Stepping out of the cart she immediately saw the two hanging bodies that Catherine was now approaching. Two women, wearing clothes that she recognized. The maids of the castle wore them. Their faces were drained of any color, it was...haunting to look at.

Their faces were pale, and a hint of blue in them too. The scene was disturbing, of course it was. death was not pretty. Not normally anyway. "Anja."The older woman repeated until she was on her knees sobbing over the dead body of her friend. She screamed for someone to take the bodies down. Hyeon quickly got to work and cut the rope of both women. They both fell lifelessly onto the wooden platform.

She looked at them both. Anja and Em, she was unsure it was Em, but from her memory, she believed it was. "What did they do to you?!" Catherine sobbed as she held the lifeless girl into her chest. Hyeon grew more upset the longer she stayed there. She put Em in a better position where she looked peaceful enough despite being dead. There were deep rope marks on her neck. Their necks were broken.

She slowly approached the woman. "We must go, it is dangerous out here." She watched as the whole town looked at Catherine, their empress. Catherine did not respond, she was too deep in her own grief to care for anything else.

Anja was more than a friend of hers she was almost like a sister or perhaps a daughter. She had so much life left, yet it was taken by her husband, that is what she assumed. He had the power to execute someone publicly.
"Catherine. Please." The woman was unresponsive. She would not let go of the young girl's body.

The knight took notice of the half-circle the people had made to watch the scene in front of them. She drew her sword and swayed it around. "Stay away, do not come closer!" She yelled. The people stayed put as they were told. The three other soldiers who had accompanied them on the trip helped her.

A group of masked people came out through the crowd. "Stay away!" A soldier yelled at them. There were at least a dozen of them and only 3 of them.

"It's the resistance. Take them down." A soldier yelled as she lunged at the resistance. They began fighting. Hyeon was attacked by two men, she managed to fight them off until a third one came at her from behind and pushed her off the ground. She felt an arm around her throat, He squeezed hard until her eyes blurred and her mind turned blank. It did not take long to lose consciousness.

-

Waking up with people surrounding her she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her head hurt too much. When she had regained her consciousness she realized the woman was gone and one of the soldiers had been killed while the other one was tied up. She removed the horse from the carriage and rode to the castle. She ran in to meet the emperor, ignoring the confused and distressed looks of the maids she ran past.