The knight, the princess, and the prince (a Hetalia love triangle fanfic)

Chapter three

Gilbert charged at the three soldiers, his sword drawn. He slashed at Toris, sending him flying into the wall with a loud smack, which was followed by a thud when he hit the ground. Raivis was trembling even more, but lashed his sword at Gilbert. Gilbert was able to dodge with ease (causing Elizabeta to feel upset she got hit so easily) and swung his sword at Raivis's legs, causing him to fall over.

Roderich was breathing heavily. This was terrifying. But then he realized something.

Eduard was gone.

Gilbert must have noticed too, because he was glancing around the area in search of him. There was a loud, metallic bang and he turned all the way around. Eduard had tried to stab him while his back was turned, but Elizabeta had managed to get up and smack him with her frying pan.

"When did you get up?" Gilbert asked Elizabeta. "That doesn't matter, we should turn them in." She gasped out. Clearly the gash was still a issue, but she was fighting it. "It's for the best." Roderich chimed in.

"Don't." A new voice spoke up. However, it didn't sound threatening at all. Almost childlike and friendly. If it wasn't for the tension around them, they probably would have trusted this mysterious man. They turned around, and a tall pale man in all black was behind them, smiling.

"They work for me. They follow my orders. And they have failed. I will take them home where they will face punishment." He said, eerily calm. The three men paled and tremble, although Raivis was crying a little.

"So, you put them up to this?" Gilbert asked. The mysterious man nodded. "Then EAT MY HOLY SWORD-GAH!" He yelled, falling backwards. He had tried to attack, but the man had struck him with a pipe of some sort. "Do not touch me." He said, a dark aura around him. "We go home now." He turned to the three men. They got up, and he walked away into the shadows, but stopped to face the trio.

"Stay our of my way, or be crushed. The choice is yours." He said with a smile, then followed his men into the darkness.

"No! Get back here or I'll-ACK!" He tried to chase after the four, only for Roderich to grab him by the collar and yank him back. "Gilbert, you did what you could. Right now, the best we can do is go back to the castle and report what happened to Ludwig." Roderich said.

"How are we going to explain this? You two were nearly killed on my watch! I'll probably be sentenced to death and you two may not leave the castle ever again!" Gilbert explained. "Hush, we'll find out way around this." Elizabeta said with a sigh. "Let's just go back." Roderich said. Gilbert sighed. "Fine, let's go. Elizabeta, can you walk?" He asked. "I just smacked that Eduard man over the head with a frying pan, I can walk!" She snapped. Of course, as soon as she tried to take one step she nearly fell over.

"I'll take that as a no." Gilbert said, walking to her and picking her up. "I'm carrying you." He said with a smirk. "Let me go!" She yelled. "I can walk just fine!"

"Elizabeta, you took a terrible blow to the stomach. Let him carry you." Roderich said with a sigh. Elizabeta grunted, But looked away from Gilbert.

The walk back to the castle seemed anxiously long. The slash Elizabeta wasn't too deep, thankfully, so she would be fine. However to avoid a infection, they would need to treat it. They all said nothing as they walked back to the castle, until Gilbert spoke up. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Roderich asked. "You got hurt on my watch. I was assigned to you to protect you, and I failed." Gilbert said, looking down. 'Right he's a teutonic knight, they were trained to be the best, I wouldn't be surprised if they all took failure this way.' Roderich thought, starting to feel sympathetic. Elizabeta scoffed. "Quit trying to save face. We snuck off knowing it could be dangerous, but we didn't care. If anything we learned a lesson." She said.

"We?!" Roderich exclaimed. "You dragged me!" Gilbert laughed at this. "And you let her? Don't be such a loser." He teased. 'There's the uncultured swine I met.' Roderich thought.

"GILBERT!" One of the guards yelled when they saw him approaching. WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED?!" He yelled. "We were attacked while in town. Get a medic for Lady Elizabeta." Gilbert ordered, passing Elizabeta to the guard. The guard ran off with her and they continued their way to the throne room.

It was silent until Roderich spoke up. "I've been meaning to ask you this Gilbert. Why is it you act like yourself when around someone like me or Ludwig, but you actually act mature around the guards? It's very out of character." He said. Gilbert shrugged. "It's what I was taught. Plus, as a Teutonic Knight, I have a image to keep up." He explained. "But Ludwig is the king." Roderich pointed out. "Eh, Ludwig is fine with how I actually am, as long as I'm not reckless." Gilbert said.

Before Roderich could add to the conversation, they made it to the throne room, where a very angry Ludwig was waiting. His face was bright red and Roderich could practically see steam blowing out of his ears. When he saw Gilbert he slammed his hands on the side of his throne and stood up. "GILBERT! You had, ONE F***ING JOB!!!" He screamed.

Gilbert went from grinning at Roderich to looking ashamed in a matter of seconds, and for some reason Roderich felt a pang of a emotion in his gut.

"Lady Elizabeta has been injured on YOUR watch! Your a Teutonic Knight! You should have done better! I gave you this position because I trusted you to protect Roderich and her, but you failed." Ludwig glared daggers at Gilbert.

"Ludwig, it wasn't his fault." A familiar voice spoke. It was Elizabeta. She was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, despite her injury not being to serious. Ludwig looked surprised, and the guard who had taken her caught up, panting. "I-I'm sorry your highness! She wanted to come but I wouldn't let her!" He explained.

Ludwig sighed. "Explain how this isn't Gilbert's fault." He said. "I was the one who dragged Roderich away, and I purposely tried to lose Gilbert. I did some guard training back at home, so I was able to get away from him faster then a regular Royal would have." She spoke, looking Ludwig dead in the eye. "It was my fault. I didn't know how dangerous leaving him would be. Gilbert was only trying to do his job, and I put that and our lives in jeopardy." She said.

Ludwig sighed again and sat down on his throne. "In that case, I guess Gilbert shall be off the hook. But Elizabeta, you will be here until you have been fully healed." He said. She nodded. "Now go get your wounds treated. All three of you." Ludwig shooed them off, and with that they left.

"And here I thought you hated me." Gilbert teased Elizabeta. "Shut up. I still do, but it was still my fault in the end." She glared at him. He only laughed, causing Roderich to roll his eyes.

'It's only been one day with Gilbert and we almost got killed. Elizabeta doesn't seem to like him either. God, what am I going to do with these two?'