3 The Hill of Grimmer Death

The Devil's cave was on the top of the hill called "The Hill of Grimmer Death". This particular hill was very steep and was made up of stratified rocks. There were no traces of single plants on that hill. It was rumored to be that way because of the curse of the Devil that lived on top of that hill.

A small road was carved all the way to the top of the hill. And as the name suggested, the roads of that hill were extremely dangerous. The roads were just wide enough for a carriage to pass through. And if the wheels of the carriage were to get side tracked by even a few inches, the carriage would fall several hundred meters down the steep cliff.

The fallen carriage would either crash on the harsh rocks or would roll down and drown in the river that was flowing along the side of the hills. And people and horses and whatever were travelling through that road would die a horrible death. And hence it got the name "The Hill of Grimmer Death". No one in their sane mind would travel through that road unless they wished a horrible death.

General Osmond carried the Princess and they got out of the Palace undetected by any guards. Then they started to walk towards the Northern Border to find the Devil's Cave. It would normally take two hours in the carriage to reach the top of the hill from the outer village of Wyverndale; that was if the carriage and the people inside it were lucky enough to survive.

But General Osmond could not take any carriage for this journey because the guards of the palace would block the carriage even though they could see no one inside. So, the first option that was available to him was to walk for at least 12 hours, which might even take longer due to the scorching summer heat. The second option would be to get out of the palace and steal someone's horse at the edge of the outer town so that less people will see a horse running away on its own.

Osmond had only walked for about 15 minutes after getting out of the palace. The Princess was quietly eating a chocolate and watching the beautiful village around them. She had not seen any villagers till now. The view of small children like her running around on the road and laughing and playing made her want to play with them, but she could not tell this to the person who was carrying her. She was intimidated by the stern look on that man's face.

Adeline's sapphire eyes looked around for her father but he was nowhere in the view. She was very eager to see her father and play with him so she asked General Osmond, "Is my father still far away? When will I see him?"

This question from the Princess pinched Osmond right in the heart. He hated what he was going to do and he hated that he was so helpless. With a heavy heart he lied to the little Princess, "I'm sorry Your Highness. The King is still far away. You will have to wait some more."

Adeline was a perceptive child. She noticed that the man was unhappy with something and she asked him, "Are you also sad because he is far away?"

Osmond was surprised that even the Princess was able to see through him right now. "No, Your Highness. I am not sad."

Rather than accepting he was not sad the Princess instead gave him a reply which pierced General Osmond's heart even more. "You don't have to be sad. We will meet him soon."

He felt that he was as cruel as the rumored Devil. Even though the Princess was just a child, she was considerate enough to care about the man who she had never met before. And he, on the other hand, was going to abandon the same Princess to be devoured by the Devil.

When the two of them were walking, the palace had already turned upside down. The situation was very chaotic. Everyone was running here and there in the search of Princess Adeline. King Dragomir was giving orders to the palace guards to close the main gate of the palace and not to let anyone leave or enter the palace until the Princess was found.

Then he called Hawisa and Osanna, personal maids of Princess Adeline, for the inquiry. The maids entered the King's Court "Your Majesty!" and bowed to the King. Both of them were scared for their life.

The King hit his hand hard on the table in front of him and roared, "Why did you two leave the Princess alone? I'll behead both of you if I do not find the Princess by the nightfall."

Both of them fell to the ground immediately and asked for an apology, "Please forgive us Your Majesty." Hawisa further tried to shed light on what had happened, "We were told by a maid that Queen Claricia demanded to see us. That maid offered to look after the Princess while we were gone. But by the time we were back, the maid was lying on the ground and crying. She said that some masked men came and kidnapped the Princess. She even said that they threatened to kill the Princess if she made a single sound."

"Call that maid here immediately." The King ordered to a Court guard. Hawisa followed the guard outside while Osanna was still bowing in front of the King and was starting to tremble.

The King was losing his patience as he was waiting for that other maid they were talking about. He was starting to resemble a fire-breathing dragon that would destroy anything and everything that lay in the path. He looked at another Court guard and ordered "What is taking such a long time? Ask them to come here right away." The guard immediately went to call the others.

After some time the two Court guards entered the King's Court along with Hawisa. Hawisa was terrified right now, her eyes were filled with tears and she was trembling as she walked. One of the Court guard bowed and said to the King, "Your Majesty, we could not find the maid that she was talking about. She must have already fled from the Palace."

The King got up from his seat and shouted at the maids, "What was her name? Which quarter did she work for?"

Both Hawisa and Osanna had no idea who that maid was and who she worked for. Osanna mustered up some courage and replied to the King, "We don't know that, Your Majesty. She must have been a new maid; we have never seen her before."

The King's eyes were burning like fire with rage. He thought that the maids wasted his time. "Was it a new maid or are the two of you spewing lies to me? I cannot tolerate liars." He looked at the Court guards and ordered, "Drag both of them out of my sight and throw them in the dungeon."

Both the maids started to cry and plead, "We are not guilty, Your Majesty. We also love Princess Adeline with all our heart. We would not dare hurt Her Highness."

But those pleadings fell into deaf ears and they were dragged away from the Court.