Attack

Natalie POV

Shion escorted me to the banquet. The first thing I saw was a large rectangle table with a royal purple tablecloth. The air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and beef. Tiny ravens were stitched near every chair placed. Twenty-Two chairs, most of them occupied, surrounded the table. Two additional smaller round tables were close to each corner of the feast chamber.

Shion tugged on my arm. I followed him to a seat four down from the King himself. I had never been so close to him in all my years here. He was just as intimidating as rumored. The aura around him commanded respect.

Little Kalum pulled a seat out for his Mom next to Shion. Kalum himself sat closest to the King. Both boys were staring at the food. Aileen gave her children a look that had them acknowledging the nobles gathered to celebrate their return rather than mentally devouring the food laid before them. Still, the kids did stick their tongues out at their Mom while she was engaging Krennan's advisor about some important port I've never heard of.

"Our final guest of the evening, please welcome the Princess Lydia of Krennan." So much for forgetting about Lydia and Trevor. Just one look was enough to send more pictures of Trevor, and I's encounters through my head.

Had he kissed her yet? The way he did me in the courtyard.

The King brought a hand down as the princess took her seat. All conversations ended. Even the toddler princes straightened their backs and became mute. From what I'd seen, their silence was rare.

Behind the King, with his head lowered, a young scribe appeared. He wrote as Ling Ulrich spoke.

"I would like to take this moment to officially welcome Princess Aileen of Vernen back home, as well as announce the new order of succession is also in place, and blessed by Father Merino. Shall anything ill befall me or I retire; my dear grandson, the crowned prince Shion Vernen-Lutz will be your next King. God forbid anything to happen to him; his younger brother, named after the deceased old captain of my guard and great man, Kalum, shall be gifted my throne."

"Many odd circumstances happened while I was in another dimension. One of those being finding the lost princess. She was adopted into a family I feel indebted to. Their son has honored this kingdom with his expertise in investigating, fighting, and training. Well, to return their favor and what he has already done for this country I have adopted Trevor as my own son."

What?! I didn't have much time to think about his words or add what he said to my theories about his precious daughter and my previous master.

"Trevor of the Hemmer household has been adopted into the family. All this was witnessed by both Father Murino and a bishop. God has given his blessing to our prosperous, growing kingdom and family."

There were many gaspings and mutterings among the crowd. Directly in front of me, Lydia's grin grew wider. She obviously had already known he was a prince now while bragging about their engagement…Engagement.

"Prince Trevor has come down with an illness, but he did give me permission to make a truly joyous announcement." Lydia giggled lightly at her confused audience. "We are engaged! Prince Trevor and I are to marry at a date to be discussed further."

"I am oh so delighted we can finally unite our kingdoms. It is such a shame my brother was lost in a different dimension. I've heard his replacement was a low-born Princess Aileen?"

"So what does Krennen offer for Lutz?" she smiled sweetly, "Devon has brought the elementally blessed to our dimension. No other countries would dare challenge Lutz with them protecting us." Aileen took a sip of water. No wine had been given to her.

Lydia hid her anger behind a cloth she wiped her lips with. The princess then took several bites figuring out an answer about her homeland. A few noblemen also hid their chucklings by cleaning their mouths.

"We can easily trade wool and timber."

I was surprised Aileen didn't laugh based on her response. "Your country has requested timber trade from the city of Vernen. There was a massive fire before you left your country. I do not see what commodities are needed in this alliance."

"Enslaved people! We have slaves."

"We don't need slaves. Lutz is prosperous enough without the use of free labor." The King raised a single hand again. "Do not speak ill of my country."

"They aren't people. They're slaves! Our country isn't poor for having them." Lydia shouted, failing to hide her embarrassment. It didn't take her brain long to register her mistake. "Sorry, you Highness. That was out of line."

"I'm in love with Natalie!" Shion kissed my cheek...

"I have to go pee!" Kalum shot up out of his seat. Aileen took his hand to head for the commode.

Lydia howled in laughter. "How inappropriate! Her kids have zero manners. I guess when a whore has sex with a commoner, that should be expected."

King Ulrich got to his feet. Fire melting the ice usually in his eyes.

"At least what these kids said was informative, and they're still toddlers." Even as the words left my lips, I couldn't believe I had spoken. All attention was on me, something that was never supposed to happen. It was like I was reverting back to my teenage self, the old me. That couldn't happen. I would fall for her trap.

I chose not to think about what was happening to me over the last 24 hours.

I don't know why I was defending her anyway unless she wasn't evil. *Damn, do I need to get some research done before everyone near Trevor is killed… or I go insane.*

Still, hearing Lydia call her future sister-in-law a whore didn't just piss off the King. The anger in me was flamed by Lydia's gleeful expression. Did the spoiled brat realize how dumb she was sounding? Here she was promoting her engagement and possible allegiance to Lutz, so she insults the King's daughter and heirs? She figures out her mistake just to make one again! I doubt her fiance would be too happy with her either.

Not that I was one to talk. There were so many pieces to this messed-up puzzle. I really could use a heart to heart with Mom, or her old hander. People hiring assassins were not very open about their identities and it was common for them to lie about their reasons for hiring her. Mom's handler would find the truth no matter how convoluted the lies told were. He collected information and found out if a client was lying to him no matter how little he had to go on. Before being taken by Shiuku, Mom was always assured her target deserved her expertise.

Aileen grew uneasy next to me. I'm embarrassed it took me longer than her to sense why. Just as a screeching whirl of wind split down the middle of our table, Aileen flung out of her chair. She had her arms out, taking her kids with her to the floor. The Princess of Lutz covered their bodies with her own, protecting them from the deadly elemental. Blood from a nearby woman decorated the destroyed table.

*"Blend in. Don't let others see how strong you are."* Mom's voice rang true in my head. There were many witnesses here. Not to mention all my possible enemies.

Ahead of me, the King was fuming. A large iron sword was in his right hand as he stared down at the assassin. The killer had already taken the lives of the woman near me and the nobleman that had been talking before Princess Lydia's grand entrance.

Before the King could charge her, a cold tempestuous wind blew around the entire room. Dust followed in the wind's wake stinging everyone's eyes. Through a small slit, I saw the King continue his charge. The song of blades clashing rang in the air. The dust became thinker, and it became next to impossible to keep my eyes open.

The song of swords ended. A thud from a body hitting a wall at high speed came next, followed shortly by a low grunt.

Below me, a toddler pulled on my leg. Blood dripped from an extended cut along the child's arm. Shion was trying to tug me down along with his brother and Mother. Some of the wind was reflected back away from Aileen, I assumed by Shion. After seeing a blurred image of Aileen's back slashed up with several deep nasty gashes, I added to his power.

Another blast sent Shion flying towards the assassin. Aileen shot up, but a whirlwind formed above Kalum, forcing her to cover the smaller child. Tears of frustration and pain ran down her cheeks as she protected Kalum once again.

The dust finally cleared. Others rubbed at their burning eyes as I focused on the assassin with a blade to a toddler's throat.

Forget it! Let everyone in this dimension think and see what they want. A secret identity isn't worth a child's life. It was time to fight.

"Let me leave unfollowed with the boy, or I'll kill Lutz's heir!"