The Princess and The Bandit

ONE

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Once upon a long, long, long ass time ago . . .

There was an empire.

A great land of peace and culture. A great land of prosperity and opportunities. A great land of magical history and an even brighter future.

Well, until one night . . .

"Find the princess! Bring her to me!!"

Lord Brad of Bunloaf County ordered his men. At long last, he has taken seige of the imperial castle. His father before him was too spineless to take the crown for himself, satisfied of becoming a mere servant to the Great Emperor Michael of the imperial house of Jauregui. But not him.

The emperor won't take him as his only child's betrothed. The princess herself despises him. Lord Brad's own father loathes him. But alas, time has come to show them all that nobody has the right to refuse Lord Brad of Bunloaf County of his wishes.

He's done murdering his own father, taking claim on his lands and his properties and his title despite disowning him a long time ago. He murdered his own little brother whom his father declared his sole heir and his commoner bitch of a mother. He's done murdering the emperor himself and his wife in their sleep. Too bad they're too stupid to believe and trust his charms and gave him a place in their counsel.

And now, he's taking claim of their only child, the beautiful princess Lauren. He is claiming her and her father's empire and everything she owns.

Since the day he laid eyes on her, she was his. Nobody else's. But his.

Not even that mighty elf prince from the far east can stand a chance on him.

"M'lord, the princess is gone! She is nowhere to be found!" A foot soldier said.

Lord Brad growled, "Search every nook and crany of this lands! I want her alive and unspoiled! She is mine!!"

"Imperial Reinforcements has arrived, m'lord, what shall we do?!" Another foot soldier spoke.

"Stick to the plan, Pita. The rest of you, find the princess!!"

Lord Brad turned and left his soldiers to do his bidding. He then faced the commander of the imperial guards who arrived a minute too late.

"Bandits! Bandits of the eastern forests, Commander! They have infiltrated the castle and murdered the emperor and his wife!" Lord Brad deliberately lied.

Commander Austin looked skeptical, wary of the man before him. "How so? The security in this castle is impregnable!"

"I do not know, commander! I was invited as a guest as the emperor was seeking counsel for the princess's betrothal. My party and I arrived late in the evening because we were delayed in our travels and as we did, there was already an attack happening!"

Commander Austin doesn't look convinced at all as he knew that the invitation the emperor gave was not about discussing the princess's future spouse. It was about sending Lord Brad to be an emissary for the savage tree dwellers of the northern mountains.

"Pardon me, my lord. But your claim is quite inaccurate. But first, where is princess Lauren?"

"The bandits took her!"

Lord Brad can see how the commander isn't buying any of his bullshit. So, he nodded to Pita imperceptibly and just like that, an attack ensued. But commander Austin didn't become an imperial guard for nothing. He managed to fight back. When most of his men were killed and the others yielded, he managed to make an escape.

Now he knows that the rumors were true. Lord Brad is indeed the snake that would poison the great empire of Arcadia.

Battered and bruised, Commander Austin Mahone of the imperial guard sneaked in to the imperial temple at far northwest side of the imperial grounds. It was a hard feat, running and keeping himself hidden for a distance of twenty miles. He has to know that the princess still lives. If otherwise, the imperial priestess will be sent for a quest for the fruit of the Arcadian tree of life, nurture it to become the next rightful ruler of this great nation. It is a grueling process that may send his beloved country into civil war and chaos.

But if the princess still lives. The Jauregui line is not broken just yet, and there is still a chance.

At the temple, there is a so called cauldron of the blue fire. It is a mythical artifact that dates back to the beginning of time. Nobody knows for sure about its origins, how it came to be, or the true capacity of its magic. But only a true human fruit of the Arcadian tree of life is capable of holding it's fire. There was only one account of the blue fire dying out and that was about two hundred years ago until such time when the tree of life bore fruit once more. He survived and carried the name Jauregui.

For two hundred years when the blue fire died, Arcadia was a lawless land of thieves, murderers, pirates and whores. But once the tree of life gave it's fruit and became a man known as Jauregui, Arcadia thrived and flourished. The couldron was once again ablazed with an unrelenting blue fire. Twelve generations later, it has come down to this.

One betrayal is all it took to threaten the peace.

The Imperial temple is the only place in the whole country that withstood it all. It has been through a test of time and it still stands. Wars, plague, storms, earthquakes and tidal waves all failed to bring it down to pieces of ruble. It is said to be protected by magic and it's the last safe place the princess could've ran to.

Commander Austin tried to enter the threshold but he can't. He found himself on the ground after hitting a barrier that he couldn't see.

"Please, whoever is on the other side, let me in! My name is Austin Mahone of the imperial army, I seek refuge and I seek for the last heir of the imperial house of Jauregui!"

"Traitors aren't allowed here! The Imperial army has been compromised and failed to do their duty!" An ominous voice replied.

The commander couldn't see shit, but he couldn't deny the fact that indeed he has failed to do his sworn duty. He took absolute shame in that and for that he vows to redeem himself by seeing through the protection and ascension of the princess.

"I am not one of Lord Brad's mercenaries! I fought back to the best of my abilities, and even so I know I failed. But please give me a chance to prove my loyalty to the crown! Allow me to protect the princess!"

"You will not find the princess here! You must leave or you will lose your life!" The ominous voice replied.

Commander Austin could've sworn he saw blue embers coming off the highest tower of the temple. A telltale sign that the Jauregui line was not broken just yet.

But the dark of the night could be deceiving and he's wounded and tired. He could've have just made it up, and the blue fire has actually faded.

He was wise enough to heed the ominous voice's warning and left. But he wasn't truly convinced with the possibility of the princess being dead. He believes with every fiber of his being that the heir to the imperial throne is still alive somewhere.

And he is right.

Because inside the temple, a blue fire still sits in the cauldron. Still very much fiery and strong. Covered in the safety of magic and the best ability of the priestess to disguise its absence. But then, the princess is not anywhere in the temple, or anywhere near the imperial grounds.

As the empire of Arcadia is about to fall in the hands of a traitor, princess Lauren is well on her way to the outskirts of the city. Riding her trusty steed, a brown thoroughbred stallion she named Dash, she ran off to seek guidance and refuge from an old tutor of hers.

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A/N:

This is what I come up with when I'm sleep deprived for a few days and then spends a lot of time in the toilet . . .

Another cringey fanfic.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think.

- Hatfield 🙂