4 Arrival

King Dragomir had ordered the Chief General to dispatch a squad of his best armies to search for the Princess outside of the palace. Although the King doubted that his heavily guarded palace could have been breached by a few masked men, who then kidnapped the Princess right under his nose, he did not want to leave anything to chances.

The sun was setting down and now soft breeze was starting to blow. Without the heat from scorching summer sun and soft breeze cooling them down, General Osmond was starting to move at a faster pace. At this pace, Osmond and the Princess would soon reach the outer village.

After walking for another half an hour, General Osmond finally arrived at the outer village. He looked towards the northern border; the hills were still very far away. Princess Adeline was tired and was sound asleep on the General's arm. He started to quietly look around for some food for the Princess and also a horse. After looking around for a while he found a small local shop which sold bread.

He patiently waited for the shopkeeper to be distracted. And when he got a chance, he took a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. He was carrying coins in his pocket. The coins of Wyverndale had holes in the middle to make it easier to weave them in a string and carry around without losing them. The General carefully opened the knot in the string and then left two bronze coins on the counter. He hid the bread and bottle inside his cloth and started to walk away.

He suddenly stopped on the path when he listened to the sound that was coming from behind him. He didn't like the sound that he was hearing. It was the sound of horses' hooves. "The palace already knows that the Princess is missing. The Chief General might soon find out that I'm missing from the duty. I'll be doomed if he finds out."

The sound of the hooves was getting closer and closer. And Osmond was having second thoughts if he really wanted to carry on what he was going to do. "I'll just get found, let them attack me and let them take the Princess. I cannot take an innocent child's life to save my own daughter."

But then he remembered that both of them were invisible. The spell could only be broken by Queen Lillian. How was he going to get found when no one could see him and the Princess?

The squad came closer and closer and passed by. They were asking the villagers if they had seen a girl child dressed in royal garments being taken by some men. But they could not get any lead as no one had seen the child that the squad had described.

Finally, the squad kept on moving further away and was out from the General's sight. The General then slowly dragged his feet to a secluded area and woke the Princess up, "Princess Adeline, are you hungry?" The Princess slowly fluttered her long eyelashes and then rubbed her eyes. She opened her blue eyes and then nodded her head.

Osmond took out the items that he had "purchased" earlier and placed them in front of the Princess. "I've got some bread and milk for you. I'm sorry I couldn't find anything else which would be more suitable to your taste."

Adeline didn't complain. She took a piece of bread and started to bite it with her small teeth. She looked at the General who was sitting in front of her. "Why are you not eating? Are you not hungry?" Adeline asked innocently to the General because he was not eating anything.

"How could a soldier like me eat together with Her Highness? I will eat later." He smiled at the Princess and looked away. He was not able to meet the eyes of the innocent Princess.

But the Princess did not understand why he could not eat with her. So she grabbed another piece of bread and offered it to the General. "Here, now you can eat with me."

This gesture from the Princess made Osmond feel very sad. His heart started to feel very heavy and his eyes were filled with tears. He accepted the bread from the Princess and started to bite it. He was swallowing the bread along with his tears. He was trying hard not to break down in front of the Princess.

After finishing the food, General Osmond carried the Princess once again and started to look around to see if he can find a horse. It was already getting dark. They had to be extra careful from the creatures that lurked around in the night. He was hoping that the invisibility spell of the Queen would also make them invisible from such creatures.

He finally found a strong and healthy looking horse in one of the stables of the villagers. He untied the rope and then patted the horse for some time so that it won't be scared anymore. "Are we going on this horse?" The Princess was curious to know why the General was patting the horse.

"Yes, Your Highness. I don't want you to feel tired. We'll reach there in no time if we take this horse." General Osmond replied to the Princess as he shifted her to his back.

He tied the Princess on his back with the help of a cloth that he was wearing so that she would not fall from the horse even if she fell asleep. He took a lantern and then climbed on the back of the horse. Then he immediately set off on their journey towards the Hill of Grimmer Death.

After riding on the horse for around two hours, they finally reached on the top of the Hill, to the Devil's Cave. Both of them reached safely to the top without any harm befalling them. General Osmond got off from the horse along with the Princess.

Adeline was woken up from her sweet dreams. She could see the entrance of the cave which was well lit with lanterns. Adeline asked to the General, "Is my father inside there?"

Osmond clenched his fists and hated what he was going to say, but still he lied, "Yes, he is waiting for you inside. I'm afraid I cannot lead you in there, you have to find your father on your own."

Princess smiled and simply said, "Okay." And then she trotted towards the cave.

General Osmond decided to leave the grim place before he had a change of heart and before he could think of going inside to look for the Princess. He immediately got on the horse and stormed off, leaving the Princess on her own.

The Devil's Cave looked very grim from the outside, as if death itself was looming inside that Cave. However, upon entering the cave, there were beautiful rooms carved inside of that cave with all kinds of luxury and facility that one could think of.

The cave was a very happening place with guards and maids walking or flying around, performing their duty. But not a single one of them noticed a child walking inside in awe.