The Last Princess [EDITED]

Chapter 24

"AYE, and then he said, how pretty my yellow hair looked," Aster said, nearly doubling over.

"So, he thought you were someone else all along?" Maple gasped.

"Aye - I set him straight!" Aster said, eyes twinkling.

I grinned. It was hard to imagine a man courting the lovely Aster, especially one who mistook her raven-colored locks for golden ones.

"He was intoxicated, wasn't he?" Arden asked.

Aster winked at him. "Indeed, he was. He never trifled with me after that, nor did any of his friends!"

"What a relief," Aiden said dryly, "To be free from courtship."

"Indeed," Aster sighed, a slight grin falling onto her lips.

"But you truly never wished to marry?" Maple asked. I glanced at her sharply.

Aster twisted her lips, shrugging, but Terran interrupted. "That's enough talk now, let's stop and train for a while."

I was paired up with Pecan, who, whenever I sparred with him, beat me. But I was getting better.

"We are partners again, Princess," he said, lifting his sword. I nodded, doing the same with mine.

We'd switched partners in a while, and I was opposite Arden. He was far ahead of me in swordplay, like his twin. In fact, Arden was better than Aiden - though Aiden, of course, would never admit it.

Finally, we stopped to take a break, drinking from a nearby stream and eating the food we'd found.

"You need work, girl," Terran grumbled, watching Maple pointedly.

Maple blushed. "Yes, sir."

Terran grunted. He'd taken to personally overseeing Maple's training after claiming how weak she was.

Aster stood up, stretching her shoulders. "I'm going to take a small walk, I'll be back in a moment."

We sat, eating and talking, until a shout shattered the stillness.

I jumped up, grabbing my sword as we ran in the direction of the shout. We found Aster, standing over a soldier - silver armor shining.

She grabbed her sword as well, putting it to his throat, but as we watched more soldiers emerged from the trees.

"The Queen will be pleased with this lot," one of them said, hefting his sword grimly.

"I don't think she will," Pecan muttered.

In unison, they leaped at us. Swords clanged around the meadow as we met, and I found myself face-to-face with a soldier.

He looked so young, not older than me at all. Only a boy. Still, his face contorted, and he aimed at my side.

I could see right away that he hadn't been trained for long. His blows were sloppy, his limbs uncoordinated.

It was easy - too easy - for me to dodge and whirl, my arm flying around to pierce his neck.

I drew back, staring as he fell to the ground. He moaned painfully as blood gushed out of his wound, the same blood coating the silver of my blade.

The light winked out of his eyes.

I felt everything around me go silent, the blood roaring in my ears. I'd killed him -

Loud shouts.

I turned slowly. Branches had wrapped around the soldiers, stopping their movements. They squirmed in the branches, but they couldn't move.

The rebels were looking at me.