77 Bloodbath

Ausrand harbour town,

Verum.

…

It was a bright sunny morning. The entourage continued its journey towards Hertalese.

After several days of travelling, they arrived at a small border town west of the capital.

Monie sat silently on a light brown horse about three steps behind Princess Alina.

Her eyes stared ahead past the town's harbour and the two ships docked at the piers. With a scrutinizing gaze, she stared at flowing torrents of the Hatling with a slight interest in her eyes.

For about three thousand miles from the foot of the Thatlesterian mountain range, the river drew a winding line south before emptying into the Buxster sea east of Ignis bay.

But although the sight of the fast-flowing torrent was quite fascinating to behold, it was not a very welcome sight to the voyaging group.

The river stretched for about ninety meters along its width and was several dozen meters deep, too wide and deep for horses to waddle through.

That being the case, the noble supervising the entourage had long arranged two brigs to ferry the group across the river. Either way, too much time and effort would be spent on just crossing this river.

Monie gaze moved to s portion of the pier with a little commotion. There the princess's carriage was being hoisted aboard the first brig with wooden cranes. The vehicle was being prepared to be transported across the river ahead of the princess.

"I hope this isn't too stressful, your highness?" A deep masculine voice asked from the side in a tone laden with concern.

Monie turned to face the speaker and saw a dashing young man approach them on horseback.

He had very masculine features, blond hair and icy blue eyes. About two heads taller, he towered over the two women even when seated on horseback.

"Not at all, Sir Davis." The princess replied with a warm smile.

"Thank goodness then." Sir Davis said with a relieved smile.

He glanced at Monie beside Alina and gave a small nod to which she replied with a somewhat clumsy bow.

"Thanks for your concern," Alina added.

"It's no issue, Princess."

The two conversed lightly for a while.

Monie peered at the two who seemed to have forgotten about her presence.

She glanced at the young knight, a hint of derision flashed in her eyes.

Sir Davis looked composed and held a steady aura, but the concealed infatuation in his eyes somewhat annoyed her.

His fawning words, the affection vaguely conveyed in his tone, the yearning nestled deep in his gaze.

These little clues told it all. They spoke miles of the desire he held in his heart.

Monie saw through him.

At the same time,

She was somewhat aversed, disgusted even by it.

To her, this skilled young man, valiant on the battlefield now appeared quite laughable.

Comical even.

Why?

For all his courage and skill he was nothing more than a tool for a foolish, scheming, overprivileged princess to toy with.

Monie's eyes drifted down to Alina's gentle smile, her aversion grew stronger.

Subconsciously, she compared herself with the princess.

'What makes you so different? Why must I bow every time I see you? Why must I serve a person like you? Why?' She thought, a hint of resentment hovering in her mind.

'Is it because you are smarter? Of course, you are! If you weren't, given all the great books available at your request you would probably just be deserving of death.'

'Or is it because you are prettier? Well, if you weren't given the amount in gold spent every month just for your upkeep then you would also still deserve death.'

Staring at the princess's parted lips, the peachy glossiness reflecting the morning sunlight she thought again.

'Yet why? We probably aren't any different. You are human just like me, so why? Just because you were lucky enough to be born into the right family and I wasn't?'

'How is that in any way fair?!'

Monie looked away. She gazed fixedly at the flowing torrents in the distance, her eyes glazed over.

They appeared quite forlorn.

She thought to herself.

'How great would it have been if I was born a noble instead?'

…

"M-"

"Mon-"

"Monie."

"Yes, princess." The maid snapped out of her reverie. She looked down to see Alina's hand gently shaking her shoulder, concern reflected in the princess's eyes.

"Are you Ok?"

"Y-yes, your highness. I just carried away when I saw the river, it somewhat reminded me of home."

"Home?" Sir Davis muttered subconsciously.

"Hmm." Princess Alina nodded. "Monie lived in a small fishing village south of the Kergen river before she was sent to serve at the castle."

"Really?"

"H-hmm." Monie nodded timidly.

"Don't worry too much, I am sure sir Davis here can arrange for you to occasionally go home to visit your mother while we are away. I guess that shouldn't be a problem?"

"T-thank you, Princ-."

*BOOM*

*Neigh*

*THUD*

An explosion interrupted Monie's words, frightening their horses.

Her steed suddenly reared up on its hind feet, throwing her of its back.

She fell with a dull thud and pain shot through her body.

Weakly she climbed to her feet.

Groaning painfully she turned towards the source of the explosion.

Behind her was a billowing plume of thick black smoke.

It rose from the spot where a large portion of the entourage's horses was stabled, only the horses didn't exist anymore except for jagged portions of semi-rare chevaline.

Monie looked down at her elbow and saw a bad bruise. It bled with a sting.

"Are you ok?" Alina called from behind. She was still struggling to restrain her startled steed.

"I am fine," Monie growled softly. A hint of annoyance surfaced in her voice.

Her gaze turned to sir Davis. The young knight was also thrown off his steed.

He limped to stand in front of the Monie and the Princess with his back facing them.

Then suddenly, he drew his blade.

Monie's eyes narrowed.

Looking past the knights, she was appalled by what she saw.

Chaos,

Chaos everywhere.

Commoners, townsfolk and merchants alike escaped frantically from the harbour. It was almost like a stampede.

Some sailors attempted to put out the fire before suddenly giving up altogether.

They were escaping for their lives at the sight of an unknown group that appeared seemingly out of thin air, slaughtering every person in sight.

The attackers although dressed differently, all wore red scarfs around their necks so it easy to tell them apart

With an almost tangible bloodlust, they quickly engaged the knights defending the entourage.

It was a bloodbath.

Carnage. Everywhere.

Quietly, the maid unsteady backtracked.

A hint of fear appeared in her eyes.