The Princess of Blue Star Castle

Chapter 4

Captain Leynard and the soldiers found the hoof-prints in the dirt leading to the other spot where the princess may have been before. There was no sign of a tent being pitched up, nor any campfire. The soldiers were certain that they had been on her trail and would have found her by now. All they found were hoof prints, foot prints and grass that had been nibbled by two horses. Tylore found a few threads of the princess' cloak in the brush where she possibly lay. A piece of white cloth that was once a part her blouse was found, stained with blood on the opposite side of where she lay. Worried that she could have been injured, Leynard new she was still alright.

"Whoever was here, took her blouse to bandage themselves or she bandaged them herself," Leynard deduced. "Also, I doubt it's her blood, she's too cautious. I just hope whoever it was had the decency to keep her covered. Then again, the bandits are infamous for- I don't even want to think about it." He shook his head at the last comment.

"She may have caused the injury to the other," said the tracker, "I mean, she does have a sword with her."

"I don't think so," Leynard said, observing the cloth again. "The marks shaped by the blood show that it's more of a claw scratch than a sword cut. Whoever it was, was attacked by the balakar. I knew she didn't have enough strength to fight them herself. Clearly she's travelling with whomever weakened them."

The knights each began to worry again. If she was with a bandit then she was in trouble. None of them even came close to finding the bandit hideout before and if she was with one of them there was a good chance she was in danger. "Captain, there's still a good chance that they're still close. I found more hoof tracks leading away from here," Tylore said, hoping it was enough to re-motivate the soldiers to continue the search. The soldiers looked at each other and nodded. It was possible that they were close.

Leynard looked over at his youngest knight. He knew that the young man had feelings for the princess; more of a brother/sister relationship, but nonetheless had feelings that he would do all he could for her. Even if it meant using extreme violence to free her from the hands of a band of bandits, even a balakar horde would have trouble if she were surrounded by them. Leynard walked to Tylore and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know what to do Tylore, take lead and find our princess. Nothing will stand in our way to search for her."

Tylore, surprised that his captain was giving him the lead position, nodded. He didn't know which way to start, but didn't want to let down his comrades nor his captain. Looking around he found the hoof prints leading away from their current position, further into the forest. Tylore mounted his horse and took the lead following the hoof prints. Leynard took second position, having more knowledge of tracking, he would help the young soldier if he got off track. It shouldn't be long now, Leynard thought, with new motivation we should find the princess and her captor in no time. The band of soldiers took off in the direction Tylore led them. His youthful vigor was enough to get the rest back on track and hopeful again.

"Say that again?" Eric asked, surprised at what Ivy had just told him.

"I used the blouse I wore to bandage your wounds, I had no other cloth with me," Ivy replied, with a half blush and smile. "I used all the bandages I had so-"

Eric sat with his eyes wide. It was getting hotter in the middle of the day, having stopped to rest and drink water, he had requested Ivy to remove her cloak but she refused. In his confusion, he had to ask her. Now he wished he hadn't. Looking at the cloth it did seem softer than most cloth that he had worn before. Most bandits had light leather, wool or fur linen and the occasional hemp to wear while the cloth Ivy used was more of a silk-like cloth. Though he was grateful, it was not in his mindset that she would do something like sacrifice her blouse to use as bandages to wrap his wounds in.