"August are you alright?"
Izzy had watched the entire attack happen. They had underestimated the sneakiness of the creatures and when the final one pinned August to the ground, she felt that she had no other option. The only problem was that August was too much of a hard headed person to stand still long enough for Izzy to get a shot off. A shot that would kill the creature but not August herself.
But if there was one thing her father had taught her, it was how to make your mark. Which is why she outranked most of the royal guard members in archery and never left the palace without her bow by her side.
So, when the shot lined up, Izzy closed her eyes and let the arrow fly. She waited a moment before finally looking up to see what she had done and to her full surprise she managed to get the clean shot through the skull of the enemy and left August safe and sound below. Izzy rushed to her side.
August was still in shock from the entire attack. It had been a while since someone had taken her down like that, and so effortlessly. She had let her guard down and it couldn't happen again. She shoved the lump of death off of her and sat up only to be knocked back down again. But this time by it was by two small arms wrapping around her torso.
She grunted in pain as she felt the princess's weight on top of her. Being thrown back onto the forest floor would do that to you. But before she had a chance to complain, August felt the subtle shaking of Izzy as she started to cry. She couldn't help but wrap her arms around her as she did.
They laid like that for a while. August held the princess close as she cried into her shoulder. It hurt to see her hurting like this but she couldn't blame her. The poor girl had rarely left the kingdom a few days ago, let alone be the victim of so much violence. But what mattered was that she was safe. They were both safe. In fact, just as much as she had saved Izzy's life, August knew that she owed her life to her as well. If it weren't for her arrow, she doubted that she would even be alive to tell the tale.
Finally, the sobs turned to simply tears and eventually the two were left embracing each other on the forest floor.
"Are you going to be okay?" August whispered into her.
She felt the princess shift over and bury her head back in her neck. Izzy shook her head no slightly. "I thought I had lost you," she choked out. "I was so scared I wasn't going to save you in time. Or even worse, that I would've missed and-" The crying began again.
August tightened her grip around her body as Izzy let it out again. "Hey there, you can't think like that." She brought her hand to the princess's chin, tilting it up to look into her eyes. "You saved my life. You're the hero of this story Iz, not me."
Izzy found herself lost in the dirty green eyes staring back at her. There was something about the way August held her, how she kept her close and reassured her always, that felt, different. She looked down for a moment, realizing her proximity to her lips. They were small and thin but looked soft. Izzy brought her gaze back up to August.
"Uhm," August stuttered, breaking whatever moment they were just having, "we should probably get going. Don't want to be arriving at the palace gates in broad day light."
Izzy began to push herself off of the girl, frazzled at the thoughts going through her brain. "Oh yeah, we definitely should." She brushed the dirt off her hands and collected her bow and arrows from the ground. Slinging it over her shoulder, Izzy caught the gaze of the woodland girl for just one moment more before breaking off into the woods again.
"We shouldn't be too far," August called as she fastened her dagger to her leg. Even in the moonlight she noticed the bright pink cheeks decorating either side of the princess's cheeks.
...
The stars still loomed above brightly in the sky above when the wall came into site. It had only been a few days but to Izzy it looked foreign to her. From the inside it had served as a symbol of safety and togetherness. But from outside it loomed tall and menacing, sending a message to anyone outside of it that they were not welcome to come in.
Little did the kingdom know that two girls were about to single handedly break into the most heavily guarded place Ostshore had to offer.
They stood for a moment, letting their eyes focus onto the moat and bridge.
"So, any ideas how we're going to make it inside?" August asked, realizing the magnitude of the task ahead.
Izzy watched for a moment, trying to think of a logical way to slip in unnoticed, without being killed. She was just about to give up when the loud thud of a lock opening, echoed through from the gate. They looked at each other, puzzled when another thud came, followed by the third.
"Look!" The princess pointed. Heading towards the bridge was a small covered wagon being pulled by two-night black horses. In front of the carriage rode two men on their own respective steeds. "It must be the watch."
"Looking for us?" August questioned.
"I'm not sure. But I do know that it's our best way into the gates. Do you think we could slip onto the lower beams of the carriage?"
August looked at the princess like she was insane. "Excuse me what? You want to sneak onto a palace carriage while it's still moving AND heavily guarded? Are you insane?"
Izzy glanced towards the carriage slowly rolling and then back at August with a grin plastered on her face. "Are you in?"
She watched as Izzy slipped her bow from her shoulder and loaded one of the last arrows. August simply shook her head, in disbelief of what she was about to do. But the princess noticed and smiled.
"Stick with me, okay?"
And with that the princess took off along the tree line towards the mouth of the bridge.
"Shit," August muttered under breath as she unsheathed the dagger from her leg and took off behind her.
