Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅ ◈ ⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

At the sight of bloodshed, her horse panicked and bucked, sending her tumbling to the ground face first with a mouthful of grass, which she spat out. She scrambled desperately to free her left foot from the stirrup as the horse dragged her across the grass, fumbling with the leather, before she managed to untangle herself.

She started to pull herself away but stopped and slowly looked around to find the knight with purple eyes towering above her. His sword was out as he approached, and she froze, finding herself trembling with uncontrollable fear. She had never felt so terribly... mortal.

I wonder if this is how Thomas felt on that battlefield two years ago, she thought.

"You're the Northern king's daughter, aren't you?" he asked, his voice surprisingly soft. His expression was stone cold and hadn't changed once. That terrified her the most about him: the lack of emotion on his face. All of Lucian's men-at-arms and knights were taught to be stolid and unwavering in their disposition, but this man was different. He seemed completely dead.

Audrey was paralysed, unable to speak. In the distance, she could see Lachlan fighting hard as he backed towards the moat and tried to defend the drawbridge, showing exceptional skill with every slash, and driving many into the water to drown in their armour, but soon he was overwhelmed and had to sprint for the castle walls. Lachlan could not help her, and neither could her father, who had disappeared.

Audrey didn't respond. He made no move to kill her.

"Listen, when Kael comes and asks you to surrender, make sure t—" he started before engaging in a battle with an Everwood knight who had tried to sneak up behind him. Audrey recovered her wits and pushed herself up, ignoring the numbing pain from falling off her horse. She had to get out quickly. She couldn't use the main pathway down the cliff without being seen, but she could get out through a secret passageway.

She ran over to a dead knight's body, prying his sword free from his limp hand and cutting her dress clumsily at the hem so she could run without tripping over. She ducked a poleaxe swinging in her direction and dropped the sword before running through the raised portcullis. Her cousin Ulysses could take her in, or maybe she could head to Redbrook Castle, the main holding of Reagan Eternel and Dinah Everwood. Neither of them were pleasant, but maybe they'd take her in.

She ran across the drawbridge and into the castle, defended by men-at-arms who rushed to protect their princess, and turned the corner to...

"What are you doing here, princess?"

She turned to see Will. He was standing with his feet planted apart and a bow in his hand, an arrow nocked.

"You should have fled by now," Will said. "Go. I'll guard your back."

"I... I..." Her voice shook.

"Why haven't you?"

"I don't want to go." The words sounded stupid, and she realised it. "My father, he might—"

Will wasn't having it. "Look, I'm escaping, even if you aren't. And you should come with me."

In a land of enemies and betrayal, only the strongest can survive.

She stared at the white-haired archer, his face solemn for the first time since she'd first met him. And then she nodded. "I know a passageway."

Will followed as Audrey ran, staying close to the walls. They got to the area in front of the gatehouse, the ground at their feet piled with dead or injured bodies, then ducked behind a pillar as a spear sailed past them.