Valiant (*On Hold*)

2 Before Again - Adelaide

"-been dead for hours now."

My eyes opened slowly, drawn out of my slumber by the familiar voice coming from below. I rubbed my eyes to clear them and squinted at the road. There were men there, gathered around the carriage and the fallen, holding torches and examining the scene on horseback. One, the one who had spoken, slid from his mount and knelt by his King. I saw his red cloak and the symbol of the guard but it was not until he spoke that I recognized him. "You three, check the forest. I do not see the children among the dead. If they ran off-"

"Ridley," It was my own voice that had spoken but I could hardly recognize it myself. Hoarse and rough, barely a whisper. But he had heard it. He held up a hand to quiet his men and cast his eyes about. Hastily, I reached to untie the rope around me with fumbling fingers.

"Sir, what-"

"Shh."

He quieted his men again. I could see him straining to hear, waiting for me to call out again, as I made my way down the trunk to the solid ground beneath.

"Did you hear that?" He asked. "It sounded like-"

"Ridley," I said his name again as I stepped out into the light of their torches. The men around us stood, stunned, as the Commander of my father's army turned to face me. He breathed a sigh of relief as his open mouth closed to a smile and he rushed forward, kneeling in the dirt to embrace me.

"Princess," he breathed into my hair. "Adelaide. You're alright."

"She's covered in blood, Commander," One of his men spoke and he pulled away, examining me at arm's length.

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "It isn't mine."

A flash of sorrow overtook his features and his grip on my shoulders tightened as if he were holding on so that neither of us fell apart. Then his expression changed, his lips set into a firm line.

"Adelaide, I need you to tell me what happened."

I was staring at my mother's body behind him. He shook me.

"Adelaide."

"We were in the forest," I told him, my eyes remaining firmly on my mother. "Alder, Aislynn, and I. We were arguing. They shot him. Through the neck with an arrow. Aislynn and I ran but she got her foot stuck and she told me to go. She said I had to warn father but by the time I got here, he was... they were... I heard her scream as I ran. Is she- are they- they're dead, aren't they? All of them."

His expression softened. Some of his men turned away. Some closed their eyes. I felt it then. The rage. It took over my body completely. I gritted my teeth and cried out in a mixture of anger and mourning.

"No!" I screamed, my shrill voice piercing the dark night. "No, no, no! They can't be dead! They can't! You have to help them! We have to do something! We have to-"

"Adelaide," He grabbed me and held me firmly against him, subduing my struggling little body easily. I kicked at him, bit his arm, balled my fist and punched at his chest. But still he held on.

"Let me go! You have to let me! I have to follow them! I have to kill them!"

"Adelaide, you can't. You're just a little girl. Please. Stop."

"I'm not just a little girl! I can fight too! I can kill them! I have to kill them! Ridley, let me go!"

"Take her," He snapped to one of his men. "Subdue her. Chain her if you have to. We have to get her back to the palace and off of these roads. Hadley, ride to her grandfather. Tell him what has happened. Tell him Etzera is in need of him."