1 The Attack

"Princess… down" Arthea roared.

Pushing her sword deep into the opponent's neck Arthea saved the Princess.

"Come on Princess, we need to rush" Arthea requested Princess.

"Where am I supposed to go? I am not safe anywhere, this indispensable Fort is conquered and we are surrounded from every corner. The Barbaric animal won't stop until he gets me" Princess shivered.

Arthea's heart quenched at the state of her Princess.

"Princess, I know the situation is so grave but please trust me. It's my duty to keep you safe and I will find a way out, now please follow me we have to locate our King and Queen" Arthea requested her Princess.

Princess eyed the strong wooden door that was getting hits from the opposite side, looking up at Arthea she saw the determination in the eyes of her most trusted servant, who is not just a loyal slave to the throne but also the strongest willed woman with impeccable fighting skills.

Rushing Princess inside the enormous bath area, Arthea walked near the jasmine plants. Pushing away the pots Arthea opened the secret chamber.

"Arthea, what if they found out this too?" Princess quizzed petrified.

"Trust me Princess, this secret way is something entrusted to your protectors, that is us the Zenders, Loyal Servants to the Throne of Vrishnya" command in Arthea's voice made Princess trust in her.

"Be with me Arthea," Princess requested.

"In a minute Princess" rushing her Princess in the secret underground way Arthea walked to the main door.

Arthea felt her legs giving up, she has been fighting with tha barbaric animals since the time the sun was set. The Kingdom lacked ammunition to fight those animals, they were no match to their powers.

With the little ammunition remaining, Arthea chose to fight till the last breath. Her sole responsibility is to protect the King, Queen and Princess, if not the throne.

Planting the explosives beneath the main door, the only way to barge inside the chambers of Royal Princess; Arthea rushed Princess through the secret underground way.

"Arthea, what if they have surrounded Father already?" Princess bellowed.

"Trust in our soldiers Princess" Arthea assured.

"The same soldiers who were sold out for the barbaric Emperor and gave away the clues" irony in Princess's words hit Arthea deeply.

Arthea never even in the wildest of her dreams imagined their soldiers being sold out for others. The oldest and tiny kingdom though encountered many issues, stood strong on the ground due to the fighting spirit soldiers.

Arthea felt ashamed of herself for the way her fellow soldiers are behaving.

"Arthea, we almost reached the end" Princess nudged Arthea's shoulder bringing Arthea back to her senses.

"Princess, be brave to face anything. We will fight until our last breath, I will keep you safe" promised Arthea.

Princess Alora was not sure about anything, she is petrified beyond extremes. All her dreams have turned to dust within a span of one sunset.

Had that barbaric monster not attacked the Vrishnya Kingdom, she would been the bride of King Joshua, the new King of the Southern Empire by new.

While the Kingdom was getting ready for the wedding of Princess Alora, fate had other plans or must say Destiny.

Now all it remained was flames, the whole kingdom bathed in red and not the crimson red or maroon red. It's the bloodstain splattered across the tall walls and mahogany floor.

After several attempts Arthea finally could open the secret door that leads to the secret Chambers of King and Queen, she kept praying for the safety of their King and Queen.

Looking at the state of her Princess, Arthea's chest echoed in pain. The Royal Castle lit up for the wedding decorations, now surrounded by the bodies of their brave soldiers, with blood splashed everywhere.

Princess Alora felt dizzy looking at the chambers in flames, the flames burning down the historical Royal Castle, their soldiers, husbands and sons. Bloodshed scared Princess Alora to the core and the flickering Red around made her immensely weak.

"Princess, we need to rush, we have to locate our King and Queen, then head to a safe spot" Arthea grabbed Princess Alora's hand as she walked over the dead bodies of their soldiers.

Arthea's legs felt weak as she found hoops of soldiers bodies lying down and she can't imagine the plight of women who lost their husbands, sons, partners, fathers and families.

The cream coloured tiles with brown diamonds studded in the middle, the flooring was a favourite thing for Queen, the golden chandelier dangled sparkling lights on the dead bodies of their soldiers.

"Arthea…" screamed Princess when a dagger barged in their way. Ducking down Princess, Arthea swung the silver sword only to be broken into pieces. Arthea was taken aback when she faced a shade of dark maroon eyes.

Never did she come across this colour of the eyelids, she couldn't look anywhere except the monstrous animal growling.

Her immediate reflex was to protect her Princess from the weird creature.

Arthea took quite some time to recognize the creature as a wolf and even before she could react, she felt her hands cuffed and so did Princess Alora's.

Earsplitting roars barged from the darkness, which scared Arthea to the core. She is not the easy one, she rips humans in a swift and highly trained assassin. However, she seemed of no power when it came to these weird creatures.

Arthea tried using all her strength to assure Princess Alora, who was being dragged by a black skinned wolf, her palms got sweaty and an urge to end the life of the wolf dragging her surpassed her brain.

A sudden growl brought her back to senses and she saw the Palace being almost burnt down, growling at them the beast opened a heavy mahogany door.

"King Richard" cried Arthea as she glanced at King Richard whose writs were chained together. His head was bent and there were bloodstains over the fabrics he wore and that sight was enough to tell the tale of their defeat.

"Princess Alora.." he took the name of his daughter with pain and love but what surprised both was the index finger of King Richard pointing at Arthea instead of his daughter Alora.