Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 47

           Their race through more sparsely lit pink hallways brought no more attackers though twice they heard fighting in the distance. They were only a few minutes more of running away from the hall when Amorrt stopped them. Valerie glared at him, mouth open to snap at him. He met her gaze and shook his head, pointing ahead.

She frowned and looked up the hall. It looked like the rest had, lantern light glowing on the pink stone floor, two suits of armour set up across from another a few feet in front of the door, an ice column in the corner to their right and a forest of icicles overhead. She blinked and looked again. Instead of the usual one or two, there looked to be a hundred icicles hanging right over the door to the hallway the throne room was off of. She looked back at Amorrt who nodded and pointed again.

She followed his gaze and actually looked at the suits of armour. She realized the only armour she’d seen in the palace had been on people and there was never anything bulky in any of the halls. She was sure the suits were fire hazards at the least. Looking more closely, she noticed a line of light between them, only visible with the right tilt of your head. She shook her head. That was nasty.

Amorrt motioned for her and Isaac to back up. They exchanged glances and obeyed, moving so they stood between Konah and Alejandro. Like a stage magician, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small knife. Taking careful aim, he sent it spinning end over end at the ribbon of light.

It missed, sliding across the floor to stop near the door. She heard him curse quietly and pull another knife out of his other sleeve. This time he moved two steps closer and hefted the knife, like he was weighing it. Setting his feet apart, he pulled his arm back and threw it straight at the thin shining wire.

This time they saw the light part and fall away but they were distracted almost immediately. As one, the pointy, far more pointed than Val had though was possible, fell. The lantern light shone off their razor tips as they rushed the ground. The sound of thousands of pounds of ice smashing into the stone floor temporarily deafened all of them.

The icicles broke into tiny chunks of glittering diamond, mixed in with the fine snow-like pieces and the larger white chunks. Valerie stared at the place that, without Amorrt, would likely have been her grave. She took a deep breath and turned to the prince. “I don’t think you’re going to be getting your knives back.”

He stared at her for a minute then he laughed. He kept laughing, having to lean forward, hands on his thighs as he laughed. The tears streaming down her faces and the tremors she could see running through his body between the actual laughter told her he was close to hysteria. Which was fine, she thought. He fit right in with the rest of them.

When he finally calmed down, and the ice chunks stopped sliding off each other, they picked their way across the debris. Only Konah didn’t fall. Poor Alejandro fell four times, until Valerie moved in front of him to help him choose his path. Even being careful, she fell once. Rubbing the knee that had connected painfully with a block of ice, she could tell she was going to have a colourful surprise come morning.

            Isaac, who’d fallen twice, sighed as he carefully tested the last block between him and relatively clear floor. “This is a war. When someone asks me how I got a bruise I want to be able to say I was fighting someone. Not, I slipped on some ice and fell. That’s hardly heroic enough to get me laid.”

            The other three, not knowing the slang, only exchanged confused glances while Valerie laughed. She quickly stopped when they were all together by the door, boots crunching the snow underneath as they peered out. Amorrt nodded after scanning the hall carefully, leading the way forward.

            They encountered no more traps but when they turned the final corner between them and the throne room doors, they found the last set of guards. Seven knights, each one carrying a shield emblazoned with, what Valerie assumed was their personal device, stood at the far end of the hall, looking up the other way.

            That is until they heard their footsteps. Their heads swung around in unison, their bodies turning a moment later. All Val had time to do was think Oh shit, before they were running towards them.

            She slid back into her defensive stance, one hand holding her scabbard, the other on the hilt of her sword. Amorrt, Konah, and Alejandro flew past her, rushing the oncoming knights. Scattered metallic clangs reached her ears as the three of them held of seven swords.

            “Go!” Amorrt called, shoving the two men in front of him back off his blade.

            “We will see to this, my lady. Rescue your prince,” Konah cried, leaning his weight forward against the three swords currently pressed against his broadsword.

            “But-”

            Amorrt cut her off. She could tell from his tone he was almost certainly glaring. “Shut your mouth and move, princess. My family is known for getting themselves killed for their stupidity.”

            She bit her lip but nodded, Miette and Isaac following her. “If any of you die, I’ll kill you myself,” she snapped, releasing her sword and running to the doors.

            One knight tried to break off to stop them but Alejandro ran in front, blocking his path. Valerie took one last look at the three men guarding her back, men she already thought of as friends, and gulped. Then she shoved the door that stood between her and Darren open.