Impenetrable- Sequel to Arcanum

Chapter 8: Spruce

I kicked my horse into a fast gallop, and I went to the Catori territory. As soon as I spotted my brother, holding back a tired looking Kaliska, I leaped off my horse and ran toward them.
Colt kept a tighter grip on the girl, who was trying to escape from his grasp.

"Princess, what did Cassidy say to you." I asked, gazing into the girl's brown eyes.

"She said if I didn't kill her, she would kill Colt." The girl breathed, and my eyes went wide.

"Don't worry Princess, I'll be fine." Colt sighed, obviously getting tired from holding back the struggling girl.

"I'm not going to let you die!" She shrieked,

"I'm not going to die."

"Colt's right. I'll make sure he has a ton of guards around him at all times." Princess Kaliska finally nodded,

"You should go home, Kaliska." Colt said, and helped the girl onto her black horse.

"Be careful you two." She sighed, and rode off into the distance. Colt watched her leave,

"I don't get it though. Why would she chose me over Harmony? She barely knows either of us."
I shrugged,

"It's hard to know. Either she wants you to marry her, or she really does like you."

"I thought you liked her?"

"I do, but it obviously seems she's got more of a thing for you. You're probably going to kill me, but I saw you two near the lake." Colt clenched his fists,

"Seriously Spruce? What, are you going to barge in on my whole personal life now?"

"No, I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have done this." I chuckled awkwardly,

"Why exactly were you watching us?"

"Well, I was going for a ride, and I happened to see you guys." Colt shook his head in frustration, and climbed onto his horse.

"Let's go." He sighed, and the two of us headed back to the castle.

---

When I arrived at the castle, I went straight to my room, and stripped out of my armour, only leaving on a shirt and pants. A knock at the door made me look over my shoulder,

"Come in." I called out, and the door opened, revealing my father.

"Oh, hey dad. What's going on?" I asked, knowing it was something important. It always was.

"There is a woman waiting downstairs. She wants you to marry you."

"Okay." I grinned, and rose to my feet, making sure my hair looked good before I headed down the stairs. A pretty girl with knee length curly hair approached me, her sky blue eyes shining with excitement.

"Hello Prince Spruce." She giggled, and I bent down, and kissed her hand,

"It's a pleasure to meet you. What's your name?"

"Rosalie." The girl smiled at me, and I looked at her,

"Would you like to go for a stroll?" I asked the girl,

"Yes please." I took the girl's hand in mine, and lead her around the castle, showing the girl around. As we finished our tour, I realized this wasn't really the girl I wanted to marry. Sure, she was pretty and kind, but too easy to get. I wanted a girl that challenged me. Almost on cue, a knight came jogging toward me,

"Hi Prince, King Lucas and Queen Aiyana have requested for you to train Harmony. She's waiting at the castle bridge." I nodded and looked at Rosalie,

"Bye." She smiled, and I waved and walked toward the drawbridge seeing Harmony waiting with an annoyed look. I never really realized how pretty the girl actually was. She defiantly took her looks off her beautiful mother, that's for sure. Harmony looked toward me, her black hair tossing in the air.

"Hi." I walked toward her, and was about to kiss the Princess's hand, when she pushed me away,

"Why do you men always do that!" She growled, and turned away, crossing her arms,

"It's gentleman like." I chuckled,

"I think it's stupid." Harmony spat, and I laughed,

"Why exactly have your parents requesting me to train you?" I asked, as we strolled through the garden toward the fighting grounds.

"Because apparently I'm not a good student with my dad." She grumbled, with an annoyed look in her eyes,

"I'm not surprised." I muttered,

"What was that?" Harmony looked at me,

"Nothing." I tried not to laugh. The two of us arrived, and I told Harmony to go on the opposite side of the arena.

"Um?" She blinked, confused. I bolted toward the girl, and went to pin her down, but the girl dodged out of the way at the last second, a freaked out expression on her face.

"Today we will start with your hand to hand combat." I explained, and Harmony stood up, holding her fists in front of her. She threw one fist forward to attack me, but I swiftly dodged, and whipped behind the girl, putting my arm around her neck.

"You're going to have to be a lot quicker." I said, and Harmony pulled herself out of my arm lock, and she swiped her legs out to knock me over.

"Clever." I grinned, but easily avoided her attack. I had already seen it coming. Harmony rose up, and launched a kick to my side, and I leaped out of the way, and ran toward Harmony, locking my hands around her legs. The girl and I hit the ground with a thump, and I rose onto my feet, brushing off my pants. Harmony took this to her advantage, but I already knew exactly what she would do. The girl growled, and leaped toward me, but I ducked under her. I caught the black haired girl before she crashed into the ground, and she thanked me, and got up, placing her hands on her knees.

"Tired?" I asked, smirking,

"Nah." She panted, smirking back at me.

---

I chuckled as I watched Harmony ride off to her kingdom, looking exhausted.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, knocking on Colt's door. I heard footsteps, and Colt opened the door,

"Good. I haven't been killed yet." He joked, and I laughed, and patted him on the back,

"Don't sweat about it." My eyes caught sight of a few new drawings Colt had drawn, and I walked toward them and picked them up. The first drawing was a few ideas of bows that Colt had thought of, and the second was a drawing of Princess Kaliska. I'll admit, it was pretty realistic too. She was dressed in the red dress we had first seen her in.

"You really do have a thing for her, huh." I grinned,

"Fine, I do. You like it?"

"It's amazing. Think you could draw me?" I made a pose, and Colt shook his head, chuckling,

"It's fine brother." I walked out of the room,

"Be safe." Colt waved, and I went to my bedroom, going straight into bed. My stomach started tossing when I began to worry about my brother, and what was to come. Something in my brain was also telling me that both Princesses were about to be in a lot of danger.