Ambush

"keep up the good work." Gwen congratulated the girl.

The girl nodded, collected the gift and walked back to the crowd. She didn't so much as spare Gwen more than a second glance. Gwendolyn wasn't upset by her attitude. She looked like the type that didn't talk much so it was not unexpected.

The Dean gave a little speech again and then like that the admission came to an end. Before they left the ground, the students were given their mage robes based on the colours of their core. Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Silver and White. Naturally the the higher the rank the fewer the students were.

The Dean left first, followed by the train of Mage Elders then Gwen too was lead back to the room where she had waited before the events.

"Thank you for coming. We appreciate your presence" The vice Dean bowed slightly.

Gwen shook her head "it was my pleasure being here" She might have seen it as a stress earlier but it turned out to have been very entertaining, having to watch all these magic display was new to her who hadn't even known about magic befire, also she has used it as an opportunity to rest from all those piles of work. It was more better than sitting behind that wooden desk with that towering pile of work in front of her.

Speaking of pile of work...

She had promised she would make the list of invitations but had not even had the chance to do so, now she had to go back to attend to them.

"The Dean wanted you to have this as a token of appreciation for honouring our invitation" He said and presented a small wooden box to Gwen.

From the exterior design of the box it was obvious it could only be used to hold something of importance. Exquisite carvings and an eye catching inscription at the top Gwendolyn didn't need to check within it to know the gift inside was of magical importance.

First rule of being a Noble. Never say no to a gift. So even if Gwen wanted to refuse she still had to collect it.

She stretched her hand and received the box. As she opened it, a ring with green Jade and magnificent carvings came to her sight. It was beautiful, the Jade was shimmering in green light, it was like it was filled with a moving green air. It looked magical but apart from that She couldn't see anything special about it, maybe because the tea she drank earlier had completely lost it's effect or because it's speciality wasn't supposed to be something that was emitted.

"The ring was carved by one of our Mage Elders. It had superb healing properties. Unfortunately it could only be used twice for not so grave injuries and could only be used once for severe injuries. Nevertheless it can really come in handy" The man explained to her.

Gwen smiled "Please give my thanks to Dean Myar. I appreciate her gesture of kindness."

She said her farewells to started her journey home. The night was fast approaching and the skies had gone quite black but she was determined on getting home. She needed to go home and sort a few things out before going to bed.

Slowly her carriage pulled out of her Magic Guild territory and back on the road.

"Princess it's dangerous travelling at such time. You should have stayed a little while at the Academy" The Maid that accompanied her said worriedly. She wasn't the only one saying this. The Vice Dean had also tried to convincing her to stay behind but she was just to busy to let any second slide away.

She lifted her head from the papers scattered on the portable carriage desk. Even while on her way she was trying to complete one of the task.

"Time is precious. I had so much to do. It's best I work a little bit overtime so I can complete it on time." She paused then continue "Besides it might really look scary but what is there to fear with all these guards around." As she said this the carriage suddenly came to a stop abruptly.

Gwen and the maid were almost thrown off balance. The papers she was writing on ended up being sprawl across the floor of the carriage.

A tinge of fear sprang up in her heart. While the maid helped gather the papers she slide the carriage curtain with one hand and looked out of the window. The night was thick and the leaves of the trees surrounding them blocked off any chance of moon light. She could barely see a thing outside the window. They sat still for a few minutes and still hadn't heard what had caused the stop.

It was really starting to get frightening

"What is happening?" Louisiana asked fearfully. "Princess could it be an ambush?"

Gwen was anxious too. She was now a Royal, it wouldn't be surprising if someone had the intention of abducting her.

"I should probably check" she said and opened the door. She moved to step out but simultaneously a guard came running to her.

"My Princess" He greeted with a complicated gaze and a helpless look in his eyes. Thankfully there was no hint of danger or alarm.

"What is going on?" She asked.

The guard apologized "I'm sorry my princess but a tree fell on the path ahead, it would take a few more minutes to get it out off the way. You should stay in the carriage as the raid isn't that good"

Hearing his words a part of her relaxed while the other still stayed alert. Till she was out of here and back home she probably shouldn't rest her mind. She had never been scared at moving around at night. She who lived as a peasant was use to working through the day and walking around by night. Nighttime was usually the only time she had to sight see, bit this time was different, she had a crown on her head and a title to her name. If she could get Abducted for just looking like the princess what more when she was actually the Princess.

Before they could finally removed the tree from the road, it took a couple of minutes. To keep herself busy she continued with her writing while her maid constantly fidgeted about the stop. She had gone more than halfway of her work when the carriage continued to move again. The journey continued Now they could all breath a sigh of relief.

Maybe because of the night, it took a longer time before they could get home because it had been harder to navigate through the night. They had gone half the journey before the carriage stopped on the room but it took them longer hours to arrive at the palace.

The moon was standing brightly at the center of the sky when they finally pulled into the palace.

She was dead tired by the time she got home. Her legs felt swollen and her back ached from sitting that long, Even her fingers stung from all the writing she had done. Thankfully on the way she had completed the invitation list like she wanted and even had the chance to attend to a few other stuffs.

She looked at the Stack of documents in the maids hand, picked one out and handed it to her lead guard.

"Hand this over to the Ambassador Piru. He knows what to do, tell him I want it by the fortnight" with a yawn, she made her way to her Chambers.

"Princess!" Her Handmaid's Amelia, Ophelia, Louisiana and Yvonne rushed her when they saw her walk into the room. Their faces showing traces of worry and concern as well as fear.

"You rode your carriage this late at night. It's very risky!" Yvonne the eldest of the ladies reprimanded. She was always composed and quiet most times but even she couldn't help showing her worry.

"Yes Princess! What if there was an accident on the road" Amelia contributed.

Gwen appreciated their worries but it was too late to be expressing their worries, she was back from her travel. Although she had also seen how risky it was for her to have travelled the road at the time, She had gotten really scared when the carriage had gotten stuck on the way. Still everything turned out fine and she had returned safely. There was no need to cause an alarm.

"Aren't I back now? There's no cause for alarm" She dropped the ring box on the dressing counter and began taking off her loads of clothes. Her maids dropped the questions to.

"Would you like a bath?"

"What about dinner? Should I ask the Kitchen to warm up something for you?"

Gwen refused all their offers. The only thing was on her mind now was yo lie down and sleep. She hadn't eaten dinner yet she didn't feel hungry. Her tiredness overshadowed everything she could possibly feel.

They helped her take off her Jewelries, her clothes and then wash her face and feet before she went off to sleep.