Louis' POV
After 5 days of riding on horseback, my legs and back felt like they had been trampled by a stampede. I had stopped at various taverns along the way, mostly so my horse could rest. Getting to Yazmin had been the only thought in my head since the scout told us what had happened in Col.
As I rode alongside the mountains, I neared a sheer cliff that dropped into the roaring river below. There was a thin trail next to it, only about 4 feet wide. My horse slowly stumbled along, and I tried not to look down. Gravel scraped in my ears, and I glance at the cliff to see small pebbles falling into the river. I gulped. Certainly, there had to be an easier way to get to Rothsburn. There was no way they got carriages and horses over this regularly.
"To get to the castle, you'll want to take the Berhad Pass. Short, easy, takes you straight there," the barkeep had said. I had given him 2 silvers, and he still lied.
I had been riding for days, and been on the trail for hours. At this rate, I would never find Yazmin.
Squirrels screeched as I rode along the trail, my horse's hooves snapping branches as we went. The entire landscape was white, brown, or green. As much as I loved Brulon's beaches, I could see why Yazmin loved it here. I couldn't quite place it, but a delicious smell filled my nostrils. Evergreen? No. Grass? Whatever it was, I loved it.
The sunlight peeked through the branches, making the ground look like the stained glass window at Ari's castle. I had entered a fantasy. This side of the mountain range was peaceful, while the other was surely covered in blood. A slight humming came over the trees, and I dozed off.
When I awoke, we had reached the castle. Judging by the new position of the sun, it had been about 6 hours. I spent 6 whole hours asleep on my horse's back.
The castle looked empty, and all the messed up snow on the ground told me that they had left in a hurry. I tied my horse up and darted up to the front door.
"Hello?" I asked as I entered. "Yazmin?"
"Who are you?" A woman asked. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw she was in a maid uniform.
"I'm Louis, I'm looking for Yazmin," I explain.
"You're the Duke, huh?" She eyes me up and down. I nod. "I suppose the Queen sent you here to fetch her. In my opinion, she shouldn't be fighting in this war. She's already seen too much." She gazed off.
"The Queen doesn't know I'm here. I just want to protect Yazmin."
She hesitates before answering. "They left yesterday. Just missed em. If you hurry, you could catch up with them by midnight," She told me. I turn to go back to my horse. "And Louis, be careful with Yazmin. Everyone in this side of the country sees her as their daughter, so if you hurt her, Vidal will be the least of your worries."
"I wouldn't dream of hurting her. Or letting her get hurt."
"You're young," She states.
"Yeah." She looks at me with a solemn gaze, then turns to go back inside. I center myself, then mount my horse for another few hours of riding.
Yazmin's POV
"We don't have enough soldiers to outlast them. We need to hit hard and fast," A general says.
"Archers can keep firing volleys in the back, Infantry takes them head-on, and Calvary goes around the sides and attacks their army there," Another explains.
"We can't breach the wall. They will keep funneling out to meet us," Horatio says.
"Did Lord Aerin send any trebuchets? Catapults?" Sylvia asks.
YOU ARE READING
The Queen of Luania
Fantasy"A weak Queen is a dead Queen" When Arabella became Queen of Luania, she thought it was all ballgowns and dancing. 4 years later, she has learned that it is quite the opposite. As she and her allies play a complicated game of love, hate, peace, chao...
