Chapter 1

July 25, 1345.

Radnor Forest,

North Walsham,

The Kingdom of Myknos.

Lady Odeya Katarina Black

Sounds of battle in the air brought the lone rider to a halt below an old iron wood tree. The sounds came from the meadow downhill tickling her curiosity to observe the scene.

The forest itself held its breath as if the spectacle below was one that determined the fate of the world. No birds could be heard singing their lively tunes and the crickets, these woods were famous for, remained silent.

She loved watching men in combat as there was a feeling that she got from seeing the dance of the feet of the soldiers, the sounds of the clashing swords and the determination on the faces of both men, that could be likened to that experienced by an opium addict.

The rider was but eighteen summers old so she had never known real combat besides the training's from her father and brothers in arms so the chance of observing an actual battle was an opportunity that she couldn't afford to miss.

She dismounted her horse and pulled up her hood to hide her face. Then secured her mare, Zara, to the thick base of a tree loosely just to make her retreat, if the situation called for it, easier.

Attaching a row of throwing daggers to her belt and placing a dirk in her left boot, she felt slightly over prepared but one could never be too careful.

She then swung her bow and a quiver of arrows on her shoulder and walked stealthily towards the sounds of clashing steel and death cries.

As she got closer to the noise, she decided a slightly higher position would afford her a better view of the scene and then climbed a sturdy looking ironwood tree, with closely spaced branches.

Reaching a desired position from the ground, she tested the weight of a branch before placing her whole weight on it and prepared herself for the show.

To her surprise, she identified the Myknosian knights surrounded by a horde of bandits who looked shabby in their blackened chainmail and cracked boiled leather chest plates when compared to the glistening steel armor donned by the Kings men.

She noted the other soldiers scattered around the marshy forest floors engaging in a battle for their lives and losing terribly if her opinion was anything to go by.

Another banner hung off the poles but she overlooked it, trying to make sense of the battle before her. It was clearly an ambush but none of it made any sense to her as bandits would never attack anyone who rode under the kings' banner and they certainly would not challenge the knights. Unless? No. He would not do that.

She looked closely at the knights hoping she would not see the prince but, as fate would have it, she could see a figure in the middle of the ring of knights held back by one of the knights and he had an arrow sticking out of his arm.

She could not believe that her own father would betray her like this. From the looks of things, the prince would be dead before she would get to him and she could not let her only window of saving her mother pass by.

The bandits attacked again and the knights, outnumbered ten to one, fought hard to protect their prince.

The prince in question, broke out from the ring and immediately took out the three people who attacked him using his left hand.

'Impressive.' She thought.

She had heard of his skill in battle but she had only half-heartedly believed that he was no more than an over privileged brat like the sons of lords she had met before. As she watched him dodge a fatal strike to his head with feline grace, her breath hitched in her chest and her heart started to beat an unsteady rhythm.

She quickly notched an arrow and took aim at a bandit who was about to run him through from behind. She let her arrow fly and it struck him in his throat. She never had tolerance for people who killed without honour.

She let a few more arrows fly startling everyone but once the knights saw that the arrows were with them, they fought with renewed fervour.

The bandits looked around trying to find the source of the arrows and she paused for a while using the dark parts of her woollen fur lined cloak to blend in with the tree she had perched on. She took down a lot of them and her presence went noticed almost too soon for her liking.

Some of them started running towards her and she shot most of them down before they could surround the tree she was currently climbing down from.

She made a slight miscalculation of their distance from the tree so she had to dodge a fatal strike directed at her head as soon as she had landed.

She used her slightly crouched position to pull the dirk out of her boot then sent a sweeping kick to her assailants leg making him stumble. He tried to get up again but she held him down with her knee and stabbed him in the eye.

There was no time to cringe at the feeling of her first kill as his brothers circled her. She picked up his dull sword and slashed in a circle making them jump back as she had expected then she kicked one in the chest and stabbed another in the gut. Just then, a blow came to the back of her head making her dizzy and bringing her to her knees.

She moved her head as a slash to take off her head came. She shook of the dizziness and threw two daggers at the nearest bandits then she unslung her bow and shot arrows at the others surrounding her.

The sun began to sink beneath the clouds casting dark shadows over them as they danced to deaths tune.

When she noticed she was running out of daggers and arrows, she kicked up a fallen bandits' sword and slashed her way through the bandits until her arms and legs felt like lead.

The remaining bandits noticed that they were losing and turned to retreat but the knights were too tired to chase after them.

When the prince started giving orders for their capture, she picked up her bow and shot them down. She had to protect her father even though he had not kept his part of the deal.

She looked around and noticed that the knights had reduced considerably and so many foot soldiers had been killed, those who were alive had a lot of nasty cuts which would get infected soon if they didn't start treatment immediately.

She began to pull out her daggers and arrows from the fallen, not caring that the knights were watching her movements with defensive stances. It was almost comical to watch as even those with deep cuts attempted to look threatening.

Once she had tucked her daggers in place, she turned to leave but halted her movement when a man wearing expensive looking muddied boots walked in front of her.

He seemed to be waiting for her to speak but she just felt like messing with him so she relaxed herself and said nothing. He seemed to be studying her and from the obvious tension in his muscles, she could tell he was losing his patience. He cleared his throat and she did hers knowing it would irk him to speak. He watched her for a little while longer before he spoke.

"I do not like these mind games you're playing." He said, "Who are you?"

From the way he addressed her, he took her for a freelancer who he needed to reward.

"I am but a traveller my Prince." She said in her voice.

She had been lucky to be born with a deep voice and an above average height, unlike her other female counterparts, making her pass off as a man easier. Mother had always complained about her being manly because even though she was well developed, she loved to wear loose shirts and breeches to hide her figure and since men also kept long hair, it was no issue for her.

"Take off the hood. I want to know who assisted me today." He replied.

"My lord I have to cover my face lest I get attacked on this fair road." She said in a somewhat girly voice making all the men around her gasp.

"I have had enough of this deception!" He said in an agitated voice, "Take off the hood or suffer the kings' justice."

"The kings' justice you say? I just saved your life." She replied keeping the charade.

"You are no mere lass. No common girl can do what you just did." He said.

"Thanks for the compliment but I must..." She said before the prince interrupted her.

"And I don't seem to recall asking for your help." He continued arrogantly.

"I really wished I hadn't interrupted then. I could have enjoyed watching them tear you limb from limb." She said angrily, "I'm certain no one would miss your sorry arse."

"Take off the hood wench or I will have my men do it for you. We don't need to see how ugly you are we just need to know if we're dealing with some fugitive." He replied.

Her head snapped up at the insult and she stalked dangerously towards him, her fingers itching to kill him there. She poked him the chest and looked into his cobalt blue eyes, which was not so hard since they were almost the same height.

"DON'T. YOU. EVER. CALL. ME. THAT. AGAIN!" She yelled.

"Call you what? A wench? Ugly?" He said with a smirk on his lips.

She saw red and then she did the most foolish thing she could have ever done; she pulled off her hood.

"I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR WHORES AND YOU WILL SHOW ME SOME RESPECT YOU OVER PRIVILEGED BASTARD!" She yelled dropping the act of having a girly voice.

The shock on his face was apparent and she was not sure if it was because she insulted him or because she was prettier than he had expected. She realized her mistake immediately and kicked him in the closest place her legs could reach, his groin.

He yelled in pain and that was her cue to run. The knights were confused, as to whether they should help their prince or catch her, giving her a good head start.

Running up hill was harder than it normally was for her but she ignored the pain in her legs from the long days of riding and pushed herself towards her mare that was pulling at the leather used to secure her to the tree.

'Good girl.' She thought, making a mental note to give Zara extra apples that night.

The knights had snapped out of their confusion and were hot on her heels although they were slacking due to the weight of their armour and the weariness after the hard battle they had just finished fighting.

She vaulted on her horse and cut the leather attached to the tree. Zara galloped speedily leaving yelling knights behind her. Some were mounting horses and soon they would catch up with her so she picked a dagger from the row on her belt and threw it into the rump of one of the horses making it buck. They struggled with calming the horse and it hit another one sending them running.

She rode hard and fast, veering from the main roads into the forest darkened by the canopies formed by the tall trees.

Even though darkness had set in, she rode until she was sure that they would not find her before slowing their pace.

Wolves were rumoured to hunt in these woods and she could not build a fire or she could give away her position so she led Zara to a thick fallen branch and unmounted.

Then she fed her some apples and rubbed her down until she fell asleep. The forest air was chilly so she spread a dark woollen blanket over her and then gathered some fallen branches and leaves to cover the blanket so that no one would spot her.

It was time for her to make her bed for the night so she looked for a tree with close branches and climbed a high distance then made a small hammock with the branches.

Once she was done, she settled to eat a light dinner of a day old loaf of bread, some cheese, and a flask of vermouth. She counted her remaining gold coins and thought on her mission. She had not seen a bird from her father and that was not a good sign but she could not care less.

He had betrayed her so he had no right to be so mad. Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, she lay on the hammock and fell asleep listening to the sound of hooting owls and howling wolves.