More To The Princess Than Meets The Eye...

Evanna flinched at Cilv's comment before wiping her face with her hand; she gagged at the blood that had splashed onto her. She was shocked by what just happened; Cilv slit his throat easily and without remorse, and she was the one to watch it happen. Her stomach dropped as she realised she caused the boy more pain from being merciful than if she killed him straight away. His last moments were agonising, first the death of his father, then his last struggle of life when Cilv slit his throat. But why did Cilv act out so viciously to him?

Evanna started to move but stopped abruptly as she felt winded. Placing her hand on her back, she winced at the spot where she felt the muscles tightening and bruising up. Taking another step, she looked down after feeling a metal object underneath her boot; bending down slowly, she found a dagger. She grabbed it and brought it up to her face to assess it.

The blade was bent as though it had been smacked into a rock. The only part that looked normal was the handle, which was still straight. Realisation dawned on her, Ash used the dagger on her. Instead of being stabbed and ultimately dying from such an injury, she was left feeling winded and bruised. 

"Raven!" Ger was by her side after running at full speed. He grabbed her by the face, his eyes flickering between hers; when he saw a look of confusion staring back at him, he became confused himself. He brushed his hand down her back lightly, checking her back for the injury he knew she had. Once his hand reached the area where Evanna felt bruised, she stiffened.

"Ah", She hissed at his touch.

Concern etched onto his face, but after removing his hand from the ripped material, he found no blood spilling from where a wound should be. He bent down to inspect it further.

"I am sorry if this hurts", He said before placing a finger through the hole, making contact with her back, but not her bare skin. He felt more material on the surface; she hissed again at his small jab. Frowning, he came back to face her again before looking down at the dagger in her hand. There was no trace of blood on the steel, and it was bent. 

"I saw him stab you.." He said astonishment replaced his concern.

Cilv tilted her head in amusement, "Looks like there is more to the princess than meets the eye.."

Axel and Ronan were by her side now. After seeing the princess with no injury, their heads kept moving as they scanned the surrounding area again. 

"How.." Ger's eyes were still wide as he looked from the dagger to searching Evanna's face. She touched the Dracosbain armour under her shirt; his eyes looked at it and back at her, confused. He presumed it was an undershirt to keep her warm, the material seemed so thin, yet he knew just from what he witnessed that this was no ordinary shirt. Awe replaced the confusion on his face.

"I am wearing Dracosbain."

Axel and Ronan looked back at Evanna, wide-eyed and Cilv's eyebrows rose at her comment. They all knew what the material was made out of, and to see the blade in her hand bent just proved the myth to be true. Unlike the elves, the humans did not have easy access to such garments and were only left with whispered tales of such a thing.

"That must cost a fortune.." Cilv spoke dreamily. They could see her eyes calculating the cost of such an item and almost see her drool at the prospect of such wealth.

A broad grin spread across Ronan's face as he looked at the princess.

"We do not need to worry about you at all! Here I was, trying to help a damsel in distress, only to turn around and see she was in no distress at all! And now.. you have extra protection" He raised his hand to prove his point at the armour she was wearing and the fairy that had flown to her shoulder. 

Evanna stopped herself from rolling her eyes. At least they knew she was actually able to take care of herself, and they could focus on their own fights. She knew they were trying to protect her, but their divided attention could cost them their life.

She smiled back at Ronan before her face turned to one of panic. She suddenly remembered about the fairy and cursed under her breath. A tiny hand touched her neck, making her still.

"Nesrin! Are you okay?" Evanna asked; Nesrin giggled back at her panicked state.

"I am fine, do not worry about me."

"What happened to you? Where did you go?" Evanna questioned; she did not think twice about the fairy. Once the bandits came, her attention was entirely focused on them.

Axel came forwards and placed his hand down onto her free shoulder, making her look up at his bearded face.

"I'm sorry, lass, but we need to get going. These aren't the only bandits on these dangerous roads," He forewarned.

Nodding her head, she began turning on her heel towards the horses. She was happy to see no harm fell onto the horses. As she mounted Midknight, she could not help but notice that the group were all in need of a good wash. Their faces and hands were covered in mud and blood; she did not want to even think about how she looked right now. 

Her face still felt sticky after what Cilv did to Ash; she glanced her way cautiously. Cilv met her eyes unblinkingly, making her uncomfortable, and she turned to look back to the front. Her thoughts were too jumbled to talk to her right now.

The group left the bodies on the road as they made haste away from the area. The five companions rode quickly down the road before making a sharp left and galloped across the fields, off-road. They soon found themselves coming across a river. Evanna sighed in relief; she could not wait to clean her face and wipe her gloves down.

They dismounted their horses and made their way to the river. Evanna immediately felt a lot better, refreshed after splashing the cold water onto her face and hair. The cold water and damp air made her feel more refreshed. After everyone cleaned up and had a water break, they got back on their horses to continue their journey.

They did not stop for most of the day. Axel seemed to be on a mission to get the group as far away as possible from the road where they had been ambushed. The continuous galloping of the horses made it hard to have any conversation. Even if Nesrin could mind link her, she did not as she appeared to be concentrating on holding on throughout the ride.

They slowed their horses down to a walk again when Evanna's pocket watch read out the time to be just past 4 in the afternoon. The group appeared tired after travelling for so long and not taking any breaks to eat and drink; their backs were slightly slouched as they sat on the backs of their horses.

Evanna was the first to speak up, "Nesrin, you never told me earlier where you went," Ronan chuckled as he rode his horse next to hers, the group back in their regular riding positions.

"I was helping."

"Helping?"

"We found her performing some kind of spell on six bandits. There were roots and vines everywhere, holding them back in place!" Ronan said excitedly, his eyes gleaming as he looked across at the fairy.

"Looks like flower fairies do come in handy after all!" Axel shouted from the front.

Evanna smiled down at Nesrin, "I never doubted she would not be. How are you feeling now, though, Nesrin?" She looked down at her worried, it was not but two days ago that they managed to free her from her kidnappers where she was weakened from malnutrition.

"You worry too much", She giggled, "I will be fine after a good night's sleep." 

"I wish I could have seen you in action, though."

"You missed a show, alright! Although, you put on quite a show yourself! I am quite certain you took down the most out of all of us" Ronan spoke in awe at her.

Evanna looked away from his admiration; her cheeks reddened. It was not something she was proud about, yes, she trained and made sure that she could defend herself, but she did not like taking life. She knew this would be a certainty, but she was still coming to terms with it. She was no killer, yet her hands were now tainted with the blood of others, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her fate was sealed the moment she chose this path.