5 Assassin

As she opened the door.

The shining, metal blade of a dagger was thrust out towards her gut. She didn't even have any chance to move. Just as the dagger was about to pierce her, a shinning red barrier appeared blocking the dagger.

Then a loud cracking noise was heard. The Princess had now jumped away from the door, making some space between her and her would-be assassin. Looked down at her neck, she pulled out a chain that had previously been hidden within her dress. It appeared to used to hold some kind of gem, but now whatever it held was broken or just gone.

The Princess was just looking at this, ignoring her assailant who had now made his way into the room. He was covered head to toe in a black outfit, even his face was fully covered with a black mask, only showing his brown eyes.

The Princess then looked up. Fury was all that could be seen across her face.

"That was the only thing I have had of my mother! And you have broken it! Burn!" Her scream echoed around the room and down the hallway.

The Princess raised both of her arms. Around them, complicated red, magic runes and circles all appeared. In her palms, two balls of fire appeared. The assailant at this point had begun to slowly try to escape the room. His eyes showed fear as he gazed at the fireballs. Then he turned around, to sprint out of the room.

The Princess's face only became more furious. She sent the two fireballs, plummeting towards her assailant with a slight flick of her wrist. The assailant had barely managed to get out of the door when they hit him.

Boom!

He didn't even get to scream, as the explosion completely eradicated him instantly.

The Princess after confirming that he was dead. Went back as quickly as she could to look at the necklace which was now broken. As she sat down into a chair. Tears could be seen trailing down her face. Each one left its path of water.

Soon enough the noise of people running could be heard. Then a couple of royal guards burst through the door. Their eyes were frantically searching for the Princess. Once they saw her, they rushed over to her. Immediately bombarding her with questions.

"Are you alright?"

"Your Highness what was the explosion!"

The guards while waiting for her to reply, carefully checked her body looking for any signs of blood or wounds. After a full check, they let out a sigh of relief. Then the two guards, looked at the Princess, both waiting for an answer.

Finally, she looked up at them, tears streaming down her face, and yet she was crying out loud.

"Just leave. The would-be assassin is dead. His ashed are over there"

She waved her hands in the general direction of where her assailant was incinerated in her attack.

One of the guards went back out of the room. When he came back in, he looked white.

He dragged his friend, the other royal guard out of the room.

One of them mumbled, "Oh dear Gods…"

One of them poked their head back into the Princess's room.

"Your Highness, I must inform the King of this. So my colleague will stand guard out here to make sure that this does not happen again."

Then he waited for a few seconds, for the Princess to let him go.

As he waited, he realized the Princess wasn't even reacting to him, so he decided to just go and inform the King. His footsteps were heavy as he almost sprinted at full force away to where ever the King was supposed to be. The other guard that was left behind just stood next to the door. Not once bothering to look in on the Princess.

The Princess herself was just sitting there, in her hands was the golden chain into which the gem had previously been placed into. Her tears were constantly falling onto the chain, making it almost shine and reflect the sun.

At this moment anyone who walked in would soon find their hearts breaking apart. Very soon the King himself walked into the room outside were around another twenty or so royal guards. Each one had a serious expression adorning their face.

The King, then walked up to his daughter and tried to talk to her, but when he saw what she holding. The words that were going to come out of his mouth suddenly got caught. Even for the King, who was known around the palace to never show emotion, at that moment had some tears forming under his eyes.

Feeling this he quickly wiped the tears away. Then he looked back at his daughter, the Princess.

"My child, are you alright?"

His words of concern were given no response.

Sighing, he turned around and went to leave the room.

"This assassination attempt was my fault. As a result, you may pick who you want from the administration wing of the palace. I expect you to be gone, after at most two days of your soldiers all arriving and being prepared for what is to come."

The King then left the room, half of the royal guards outside, followed him as he left to do whatever it is, that the King does. The rest of the royal guards, numbering exactly ten. Spread themselves out along the hallway as well as outside of the room of the Princess. It seemed like no one trusted the Princess to look after herself, although she was a talented combatant herself.

The Princess at this point though it seems had finally had enough of crying. She put the necklace down on the cabinet next to her and stood up. Then she walked out of the room. Her face was cold. There was just no emotion etched onto it. One of the guards tried to stop her, but a swift glare immediately shut him up. Instead, they fell in behind her as she walked off towards what appeared to be the training room.

This confused the guards as the last thing they expected her to do, was head there. In fact, they wouldn't have been surprised if she headed for any other room, except that one.

They quickly arrived at the hallway which leads up to it. This hallway itself was different from all of the others in the palace. This was due to it housing the old weapons of former Kings and the occasional Queen. There were some battle maps as well, but these were old and in the minority by far.

The Princess did not look at any of these though and instead just strode straight into the hall. Inside there were weapon racks filled with every kind of weapon one could imagine. It went from daggers and swords all the way to more obscure weapons like fans and whips. Each one appeared to be crafted with the utmost care and perfection in mind. The Princess walked up to the rack, containing the swords. She didn't pause to look and instead just grabbed one out at random.

Then after walking into the middle of the floor. She began o go through a set of sword swings. Each one looked like a piece of art in its own right. Though as one guard quickly remarked, it was a very deadly form of art.

Then after running through the same set of sword moves a few times. The Princess stopped and breathed. Her breathing at this point was getting heavy. Then she carried on, mixing the setup. Making it even hard for the guards who were experienced soldiers, to guess what move she was going to use next. Then after another breath pause, she carried on but this time a small magical attack would sometimes be used in conjunction, with the moves.

The sword style which she was using was killed 'The Rising Flame'. It focused on attack primarily and the incorporation of fire magic into a set of sword moves making it extremely hard not to be killed. The entire style focused on the philosophy of 'The best defense is offensive'. The Princess had captured the core of this beautifully.

Then she stopped. Just as suddenly as she had begun. She walked over and placed the sword back onto its rack. Then walked out of the hall, her new guards following right behind her. As she walked through the myriad of hallways, she eventually came to a stop outside of one door. Looking back at the guards, she asked.

"Are you all going to follow me as I get changed and have a bath as well?"

Her words caused a few of the guards to stumble back in shock. Those that didn't just look down to the floor. Her words were the peak of embarrassment and yet she showed none of it.

Seeing how the guards reacted she sighed a little and walked into the room.

Closing the door behind herself with a loud bang!

Then she proceeded to walk further in, summoning some maids for help as she entered the changing room.