Somebody To Love

Invasion

Dawn starts to break through, the sun slowly creeping in the sky, and Harmony sees the rebels start to wind down on the celebrations. She knows that soon enough, someone will come for her and lead her to her death.

Hearing their cheers all night, yelling "Death to the royals!" followed by cheers, almost made Harmony throw up. She tried blocking them, thinking of what will await her when she dies. Will she go to Hell? Or will she be taken to Heaven and see her mother again? She doesn't know, all she knows is that she will die either way.

Harmony takes a shaky breath, deciding in that moment that, no matter what, she will die with her head held high. "Don't show them weakness.", her mother had told her, back when she was younger. But, at the time, her mother was referring to being in Court, not when she is about to die.

Still, Harmony believes the lesson still applies and she will not give the rebels the satisfaction of seeing her cry, or beg for her life. If they are going to take her life, then they will see her greet Death as an old friend.

Harmony says a small prayer, hoping against hope that, by some miracle, she still has a chance at surviving this. She can hear a commotion on the far side of the camp, and assumes that it's just a couple of rebels fighting, alcohol still fogging their minds, trying to push the sounds from her mind.

It isn't until she sees more rebels running towards the commotion with their swords drawn, that she realizes something's wrong. She leans closer to the small entrance of the cage, trying to see what's going on, but from where the cage is located she can't see very far.

Suddenly, she sees royal guards running across the camp, fighting the rebels, and it takes everything in Harmony not to start crying. However, she doesn't fight the smile on her lips as she thinks that Elise has done it, she had made it back to the Castle.

Running in her direction, Harmony recognizes the rebel that had spoken with her the night before. She quickly slides back, realizing that he is coming straight at her, undoubtedly to finish the job he was payed for. She knows that if he gets her, she's as good as dead.

The man opens the cage and grabs her roughly, pulling her out and onto her feet. He grabs her arm and starts dragging her towards the horses, Harmony fighting him with each step. He hits her across the face, yelling at her to stop, but that does the exact opposite.

Harmony screams for the guards, as she is dragged away, but the sound of swords clashing and men screaming drown her voice out. She can see the horses, and knows she is running out of time.

Just as they approach the horses, someone walks onto their path, effectively cutting them off from the only way out of there. The rebel quickly pulls her in front of him, pulling a dagger out and placing it against her throat.

Harmony looks at the man in front of them and recognizes him. "Jared!", she thinks, a sigh of relief escaping her lips, even though she is still scared.

-"Release her. There's no escape." - Jared tells the rebel, his voice low and menacing.

-"Not gonna happen, Commander. I will accomplish my mission, one way or another."

-"Last warning. Release her."

-"I will kill her if you don't get out of my way." - The rebel lowers his blade just enough to draw blood from Harmony's neck, making her hiss, reinforcing his threat.

-"You think you're that fast?"

Jared pulls a dagger of his own and before the rebel can even answer, Jared throws the blade, hitting the man in the eye. Harmony feels the man's body going limp behind her and steps forward, the man hitting the ground with a thud.

Jared walks over, pressing the blade deeper, the sound of his eye and brain being cut hitting Harmony's ears and almost making her throw up, before pulling it out. He turns to Harmony and looks her over, making sure she isn't injured in any way.

-"Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

-"I will be when I'm home. My sister?"

-"Lady Elise is safe and sound back at the Castle. She's the reason why we were able to find you so quickly." - Jared sees Harmony nod, tears in her eyes, realization that she is safe hitting her like a wild horse. -"I will get you back to the Castle as soon as possible, Your Majesty."

-"What are you planning to do with the rebels?" - She wipes her tears away.

-"My orders are to execute them all."

-"Very well, then I will leave once you've completed your orders."

-"Your Majesty, there is no need for you to stay and witness their executions. I will relay my orders and escort you back to the Castle myself."

-"Jared, I appreciate the concern, but as you very well know, this won't be my first execution and I'm certain it won't be my last. Besides, as the Queen, I need to be present, specially because they were going to kill me."

-"As you wish, my Queen. But I must warn you, it won't be like last time."

-"I know and I'm not afraid of it."

Jared nods, before calling a guard over to stay with Harmony while he checks on his men. He has to admit, he is damn proud to have Harmony as his Queen. Even though she is still shaken by what she went through, the prospective of dying does that, she still wants to perform her duties as Queen. If that doesn't show just how strong their Queen is, then he doesn't know what does.

Harmony stays by the horses, her body still shaking slightly, and thinks that the worst is over. She knows that she could just take Jared up on him taking her back to the Castle, but she wants to show that she can face the worst of odds and come out stronger than before.

She can't wait to go home, to be reunited with the ones she loves, but before she can do that, she needs to see the men that have been terrorizing the Kingdom and that kidnapped her pay for all of it. Then, and only then, can she go home.