6 THE ESCAPE?

Andrei opened his eyes, half-asleep he was confused at first, on where he was, but when he saw that there were purple-colored lights flying above his head, and the air felt so pleasant, he remembered that he was on the garden.

He put his arm on his forehead and closed his eyes, "It's been so long since I had that dream," and then, just like changing gears, he quickly stood up from where was sleeping. It was the wooden bench that he was sitting on earlier.

"Crap, I fell asleep", he then looked over the place to find out if he was discovered or not,

"Apparently, I'm still safe, I have to get out now" he looked at his wristwatch and found out that he slept only for thirty minutes. Feeling a gaze from his back he quickly turned around but no one was there.

"Creepy... Must have been my imagination," he shook his head and continued walking, after a few minutes, he finally saw a pathway leading to a veranda and stairs beneath it.

"Lucky! Exit point secured," he then slowly approached the stairs while being cautious and when he reached it, he immediately went down and was astonished by what he saw.

From where he stood, he could see all the people were wearing medieval-styled clothing, they were all integrated to the city made of brick houses and rode carriages just like the one he saw at the plain lands in front of the village.

He was also surprised to see cherry blossoms along the highway made of stones that stretch all the way to a gate guarded by knights, which was the entrance castle. Once again Andrei felt happy about being in a different world, for him it was like a dream come true, it was a feast for his eyes to see such a beautiful and lively medieval city.

As he was enjoying the view, a breeze blew past him, this made him step back twice while covering half of his face with his arm.

"Ah, unlike modern-day earth where pollution rides the winds, the air here is so fresh!" He said while spreading out his arms, he took a deep breath and shook his head, "this is no time to appreciate such things, ah what's wrong with me! I easily got distracted, this time for sure I'll proceed smoothly and get out of this castle and go into that town and see more of it!"

He went down further the set of stairs that was more than a hundred and there were almost 16 sets of them, after a few minutes, he felt tremendously tired when he reached the ground floor, he instinctively hid behind a pillar while catching his breath.

There he saw groups of knights who were procrastinating, some took off their armor, while some only took off their helmets, it was like they are in their free time. Andrei searched for the gate, and around the corner, he saw a black iron-barred gate that was open for human entry and there appeared another group of knights entering while chatting with each other.

"That must be it, but.." he frowned when he saw two bulky knights guarding each side of the gate.

"Ahhh I should have expected this, I have no choice but to wait for the right moment," he sighed in disappointment. And just after that, he encountered another bad luck.

"Knights line-up! The Queen is here!"

After the announcement, the knights who were relaxing that they had the best vacation ever, hurriedly tried to equip their armor and tools. Some had a hard time equipping their armor, they looked funny with their startled faces, it seemed like they were too scared to line-up unprepared when facing their Queen.

"You over there!" a loud shout echoed through Andrei's ear, he was startled and he didn't know what to do, he didn't look to where the voice was coming, but he only stood surprised while sweating.

"Crap, they've found out, how do I get out of this situation", he then remembered several medieval movies he watched, there were lots of hanging and guillotine execution. The thought made him gulp, "For starters, I have to look natural," he thought, he slowly turned around and saw a knight around his age, he had chestnut-colored hair, was about the same height as him and has a clean-looking face that he almost looked like a woman, unlike most of the other knights, he wore full-body knight armor while holding his helmet.

He reached for Andrei, which made Andrei panic when the hand was being stretched to him, however, the hand didn't strangle nor did any harm to Andrei, the young knight simply patted his shoulder.

"You should really wear your armor now otherwise you'll be scolded" the knight said with a worried look, then he pointed at a nearby table, there laid a set of Armor, with a helmet, which Andrei didn't notice before, it seemed like the owner had left it there.

"Those are yours right? Hurry up and wear it, I'll help you" the knight said as he got the spare armor from the table and gave it to Andrei.

"Ahhh yes, thank you," Andrei replied instinctively, "Lucky!" he thought that he was too lucky to have that set of armor just right when he needed it if, "If it wasn't for this I would have already been... " he gulped as he saw the bulging muscled of the Knights that guarded the gates.

Andrei wore the armor, with the help of the young knight, but it wasn't his size, the shoulder blades are off and the joints do not match where his are, the real owner was obviously taller than him.

"Man, you should really customize your armor, is that from your brother or something? I have a blacksmith uncle, want me to introduce you to him?" the young knight offered, Andrei learned that this man was a good guy and felt comfortable with him as he replied. "No, I like it this way" while smiling.

"If that's how you want it then let it be, but you don't want to wear that armor with you in a real battle. Let's hurry up and line," the young knight walked away from Andrei while wearing his helmet.

"Your name is?" Andrei asked in a distance, he was always very naive when it came to people helping him.

"Gerald!" The young night replied enthusiastically with a glance and made a gesture saying to come and follow him.

Andrei followed the knight and lined up next to him.

"I'm glad they are not so organized, for now, I have to imitate them with everything I can, this is also an opportunity for me to get out of this place while wearing this armor" Andrei sighed, he touched his armor all over with his hand and felt it.

"This armor, it's so light, bullets can get through this without any problem," Andrei grew up in a family that had served the national military for decades, being the youngest of the three brothers, since he was a child he was already given adequate military knowledge and training by his parents, the family did everything they can for Andrei to become a top student at the Academy, or so they planned to, but all their plans went down the drain when Andrei fell in love with the smartest girl in high school.

However, Andrei didn't forget a single thing that they taught him, it was the last thing he could do to respect his parents, as such as why Andrei could discern that the armor wouldn't stop a bullet fired by a gun.

This training was also the key to how he was able to line up with everyone without standing out, though it made him very nervous. The Knights lined up in columns as they faced a leveled wooden platform, no one made a sound, they just stood there and waited for instructions, this increased his anxiousness, not knowing what to do next.

While thinking different scenarios on his head on how to escape, he heard heavy footsteps going to the direction of the platform, when his eyes followed the direction he saw Knights in gold and shiny plating. They number up to 8 people, after marching in an orderly manner they formed an aisle as if making way for someone.

The crowd was amazed at the aura that the golden-plated knights gave off, but not even one of them said a word. "Queen Michaela comes in," one of the Golden Knights announced, he didn't wear a helmet like the others, he looked like an old man in his 70's.

Then a beautiful girl, in white complexion with blonde hair tied in twin tails, emerged from the isle, walking at the center of it, her eyes that were diamond blue, her expression and gave off a majestic aura as she passed by. She wore the same armor as the stealth-mode woman, however, it had gold accents on its edges and instead of full-body knight armor, she wore a knight-like skirt in plated metal and wore black knee socks.

Andrei was reminded of the girl he hid from her pursuers, they looked alike, but the difference of height and aura was great, "Is she her sister?" Andrei thought to himself.

Andrei was looking at the beauty when her eyes suddenly returned a stare, he couldn't help but avert his the gaze and pretended that nothing happened, "I should be wearing armor, I should be fine, she's definitely not looking at me" he convinced himself.

"Wait, didn't that deadpan woman told me about the queen wanting to marry me? Then that means... is she the one I rescued?" He looked again, and noticed that she was really the girl he saved. "I see, the boots are giving her that heigh, and the majestic appearance must be nautral to her, I saw her sleeping after all, how the hell would I know? I'm such an idiot"

The procession came to an end and the girl together with her golden knight escorts was at the wooden stage. Andrei behaved himself in order to avoid standing out, hoping to get out of the castle gates without any problem, "and, marrying that girl? No, no, it's impossible! Beautiful girls EQUALS high-maintenance, she's too good for me, I don't even know her," he thought as he stared at the platform.

"Today we will be conducting another test for those who would want to join our ranks, those who want to take the test could stay and the others could leave or spectate" a bulky man in his sixties with white hair announced.

"Lucky! now my escape would be complete" Andrei was filled with delight, he once again looked at the girl, she had a sincere expression, never losing the majestic aura around her.

"If she was at my world she would really be popular," Andrei thought to himself, finally the announcement was finished, around more than half of the knights scattered and a handful remained.

Andrei who was excited to leave also scattered together with the other knights, blending in with the crowd just as when he was near the gate a Andrei heard the old man's voice again. He tried to ignore it but the announcement was something that made him stop.

"Hey! That knight with the loose armor over there heading to the gate, come over here!" the old man pointed at the stopped Andrei.

"Ahhh that might be just my imagination" he shook his head and continued to walk a few steps more.

Then the young knight went over to him and stopped him, "hey brother, he's point at you!" The knight said while patting his back, "Congratulations!" the knight happily smiled at him.

"Congrats your ass, I didn't need your help! I'm so near the gate right now!" Andrei thought, cursing the young knight within his heart. Then he turned around in a snappy military 180 turn and faced the announcement stage.

He made a snappy salute and said, "I'm honored sir but I do not have the requirements that you are looking for, moreover I just wanted to stay the way I am now, therefore I won't fight," after hearing this everyone stopped.

"Whoooaahhh," everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at him.

"What?" Andrei, not knowing what happened, he looked around and saw that they were staring at him with pity on their eyes. "What?" He shrugged, and they all facepalmed in response.

It was Gerald who let him know what he did, "man why didn't you bow to her majesty, the Queen of the kingdom before speaking? This is gonna get you sent to the gallows you know?" Said the young knight with a worried expression on his face.

"Crap, I fucked up... " Andrei thought and felt a chill run into his spine. Then footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of the wooden platform.

"Okay, time to go!" Andrei immediately tried to run, but not being used to the armor he was hearing, he pathetically fell down on his face.

Before he knew it, Andrei was then surrounded by the golden knights, "ahh shit," one of them punched him in the stomach hurting him much, even though Andrei was drilled by his strict father, the beating this time was real, and it hurt more than he expected, seeing that he was already weakened and beat-up, they brought him in front of the girl who sat while crossing legs.

"Queen what should we do with him?" The old knight said to the girl who was leniently sitting on a wooden chair that doesn't match her golden attire.

She slowly got up, "I don't care, just forgive this man," Andrei's face lightened up a little bit in his pained situation,

"Saaaaaafee thankyou so much, ah she's a kind girl after all," he thanked the girl within his mind, he was held by two knights from both sides with one hand, but to his surprise, the girl continued, "-just make him participate in the test, that will be his punishment," the girl responded with a few words while crossing her arms to her bosom, her eyes weren't even looking at him, she just stared in what is in front of her, unwavering.

"Sorry I take back all my gratitude, you're not kind after all" Andrei took back his gratitude within his heart after hearing the news.