-Problem 3

When Lia had reached her room, sleep had come easily to her. The soft blankets, pillows, and the overall feeling of comfort and safety stuck to her emotions like honey to the hive.

Of course, Lia could also claim that it was because of the mental exhaustion that she had so easily fallen asleep, regardless of the cold breeze she felt from her window. It didn't seem to bother her at all that she had not once opened it throughout the whole day.

Nevertheless, sleep was so easily reached by Lia, that her worries about the day had slipped away.

And in the silent night that blanketed the surroundings, the soft, almost inaudible sound that rang out in the night, was the slight pitter patter of the rain.

But if one listened closely, they could ever so slightly hear the sound of a dozen running footsteps.

For Lia, however, the soft pitter patter of the rain easily set the mood for her to fall into sleep. Without ever hearing the sound of the patio door opening.

As soon as the sound appeared in one swift creek, it was gone just as quickly. But the faint traces and outlines of a dozen or so people standing within the room.

There was no sound, no creak, no movement. Only the steady sound of Lia's breath as she inhaled and exhaled.

A slight glimmer in the moonlight, as it poured through the windows, and any could tell that a dagger had just been drawn.

One death, but for a group of twelve, it seemed almost too much. But no one complained. They were all being paid, and handsomely at that.

With one quick move the dagger was across her neck, and with a simple flick of the wrist, she would be dead.

But it never came. Instead, the sound of a dagger digging into flesh rang out through the room. The heads of the other eleven snapped to the princess, who now sat half upright, with a golden glinted dagger dug deeply into the eye of the attacker.

The eleven were momentarily caught off guard, they were sure she was asleep. It should have been easy. But just as quickly as they stood shocked, they regained themselves and swiftly moved against Lia.

However, using the spare moments of time that they had given her, Lia swiftly drew back the dagger, the now dead attacker slumping down on the bed sheets, as Lia drew a sword from a hidden scabbard under her bed.

After constant assassination attempts on her life, Lia had developed almost a tolerance for people who snuck up on her. And since her childhood remained daily unprotected, she had hidden two blades within her bed.

One, a dagger under her pillows against the bed frame, while the other, a smooth and thin rapier rested in the crevices of her mattress and the frame. Both were clean until now, never before stained with blood.

But Lia was about to change that.

As the eleven rushed her, Lis's senses began to scream out. One left, two right, and one over the foot boards, half flying through the air.

It was these same senses that Al Shir had trained her to hone, that had caused her to hear the footsteps of these twelve. Well, now eleven.

Her senses and ears had blocked out the raining sound, after the constant repeat of pattering, blanking the sound and almost blurring it into the surroundings. It was then that she heard the sounds of footsteps, something that went against the rhythm of the rain. And it was then that she knew she was being attacked.

As the first attacker, to the left, drew his blade - a long curved form of a karambit - Lia readier her own.

The attacker aimed for her knees with a swift and sudden dive, expecting her to be caught off guard, but was instead met by the tip of a blade, as Lia swung the rapier in a downward arch.

Caught off guard, the attacker could not regain his composure, as he was now falling, in a downward motion towards the floor. Vulnerable to Lia's attack, he could do nothing as Lia drove her golden dagger right into the neck of the assassin, killing him instantly.

Lia felt nothing as her dagger tore through flesh, and quickly re-positioned herself, ready for the next attacker.

The two on her right, moved easily over the top of the bed and quickly slashed diagonally with their short swords. One went high, the other went low, leaving Lia with little room to move.

Acting quickly, Lia threw her dagger in the direction of the low attacker, distracting him long enough for her to block the upcoming attack from the top, bending her back in an arch, allowing the lower attacker's sword to pass by unharming her.

Because of the momentary distraction caused by the dagger, the lower attacker had little time to reposition his sword. Had he been given that time, Lia would have easily been dead. But thinking quickly, she was able to narrowly miss his attack, whilst also blocking the incoming attack from above.

A momentary once of pride filled her heart and lungs, and she sidestepped, allowing the second attacker's sword to fall flat downward, throwing him off balance, giving her enough time for the first attacker, who had now re-positioned himself, and began attacking once more.

Lia played this form of cat and mouse, throwing one attacker off balance, then immediately blocking the next one for over five minutes. She had one goal in mind when she enacted this plan, and soon, her hard work and patience paid off, as one of the attackers got fed up with her constant bobbing and weaving, and lashed out in anger.

This was his first mistake.

Having not seen where his comrade was attacking from, he wasn't able to properly assess the situation, as they both began attacking from the same direction. Above. Leaving Lia with an opening from below, in which she took. Bending downward, under their blows, and coming from behind them, slashed out.

Soon, two heads flew past her, as the decapitated corpses of the two attackers fell to the ground with a large thud.

Pride filled her body, and flooded her emotions, blinding her to the situation at hand.

As she turned, she was struck, fist against face as she was knocked to the floor. The pain was immense, as a stinging sensation filled her body from her nose, to her teeth. Lia was sure she had bitten her tongue.

In her ignorance she had forgotten about the fourth attacker, who had jumped over the foot board at the end of the bed.

And while she was busy with the other two, the fourth had been kept at bay only temporarily due to the constant movement of his target. But the moment she stopped moving, he stuck with full force, knocking her to the ground.

Darkness.

The sheer force of the punch from the fourth attacker had caused her to black out on the floor.

Her mind screamed at her to get up, to fight, as he senses become attuned to the presence of people gathering around her.

Her mind screamed for her to get up, but her body did not allow it.

They would kill her soon, now that she was so vulnerable. And as the last moments of her consciousness slipped away, she heard the faint sound of ringing near her ears.

And finally, she was asleep once more.

***

The feeling of warm and wet liquid continuously dripped and splattered on the forehead of Lia, who awoke after several minutes.

She could faintly recall the time when she was hit and inevitably knocked out. And with a groggy head, she finally pushed herself upward, only to slip back down and hit her head.

The pain stung, but not as much as the punch that had knocked her unconscious.

When she looked to the floor, where a pool of liquid had caused her to slip, she was shocked to find a large pool of blood beneath her.

Instantly, thinking the blood was her's, Lia checked the back of her head, as well as many spots on her body. However, she found none.

As her mind thought through the possibilities of being injured, her mind came to a sudden halt as she now faced the open room. And horror was all she could see.

There were nine of them. Nine mangled bodies and corpses that laid about her room. Some were missing arms and legs, others were missing entire faces, others were simply torn to shreds.

Blood was pouring everywhere, from holes in their chests, to blood spurting out of disassembled limbs.

A small drip hit her nose from above, and as she turned upward to find the origin of the drip, she was met with the mangled corpse of one of the assassins.

Though, assassin might have been a stretch. It was more or less just a plaster of flesh and blood against the roof of her room Almost like throwing an egg against a wall, and seeing it splatter . The only difference was they used a much larger, human shaped egg.

Lia fought back the urge to hurl, and rushed towards the door in hopes of escaping whatever situation this was.

If she could get the guards, she would be safe. They may not like her, but she was still a princess.

And if she found them, they would be able to deal with whatever creature did this. Because whatever it was, was not human.

As she neared the door, she heard scurrying voices, and the sounds of metal clanking against one another. But before she could investigate, the door to her room burst open, and out sprung over a dozen guards, who seemed rather shocked to see Lia, on the floor, bathed in blood.

In fact, Lia could see many of the other guards fighting the urge to hurl at the sight of the room, just as she had once done.

Two spoke quickly and quietly to one another, while the rest served the room for any survivors. They spoke in a hush tone that Lia was unable to hear, due to the ringing in her ears. A side effect from being knocked out with such force.

Eventually, when the guards had made sure no one else was there, two helped Lia to her feet, only to hold her by the shoulders for stability.

One guard, the leader, came up to her with his right hand man in tow. These were the two speaking earlier that she had seen.

"What happened here?"

Lia was barely able to respond with anything more than an exhausted sigh of a word.

"Assassins."

"We figured that much."

The right hand man spoke before his leader could do so. Clearly there was some confusion passing among them as they almost seemed to question why she was here in her own room.

"Why are these so-called assassins so…"

The leader trailed off, looking left and right at the mangled corpses of what used to be men. It seemed as though he didn't want to even bother asking.

"What did you do to them?"

After a while, he eventually changed the question to a much simpler one.

But even then, Lia could not answer. Instead, she simply muttered a half hearted reply.

"I-I don't know."

"You don't know?"

The leader seemed suspicious about her answer, but from the looks of how she was acting, he could tell that she was probably knocked out given the state they found her in. Even so, he had orders.

The leader turned to face his right hand and ordered him to lock down the wing, and inform the captain of the west wing guards. He spoke quickly and urgently, but two words stuck out to Lia like a sore thumb that froze her on the spot.

"...bind her."

Before she could resist, her back hands were tied with rope, to the point they dug into her skin, bruning her. Of course, Lia protested.

"What are you doing?! Yo-You can't do this to me!"

As she yelled out, the guards before her dragged her away, but not before she could hear the faint words of the leader, who now had his back turned to her.

"If you think being a princess will help you, you're more wrong than you think."

And with that, she was taken away, gone from the horror that had been left behind for the men to investigate.

Left behind by the others, who had taken away the princess in chains, the leader sat down on a nearby stool, followed by his right hand man.

"Are you sure about this?"

His right hand man asked.

They had been working together since they were children, and had joined the palace guards as knights in training. Though it did take a noble's blood to become a knight, that was certainly no problem for the leader, whose father was a count.

However, his right hand man found it difficult to be accepted, considering that he was just a mere stable boy, who had befriended the count's son as a child.

Needless to say, however, the leader wasn't willing to go into this without him, pulled certain strings, and got him in.

They had been inseparable since. Almost like true brothers.

That being said, they had received orders from someone they couldn't disobey, and it caused them to question the real reason they joined the kingdom's guard. It hurt him to do this, knowing what the princess had gone through most of her life, but he didn't have a choice.

"He's not someone we can refuse. We just have to do this one thing and then we're done."

The leader reassured his friend.

"Trust me, once this is over, we'll be back to our normal jobs."

His friend wasn't as convinced as him, however.

"But what about her?"

The leader couldn't answer with words but instead deeply sighted. His friend was right. If she was taken under his orders, then there was no telling what the princess would go through.

He shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry, she had powerful people protecting her. She'll get out alive."

This much he hoped for, knowing that her uncle or master would hunt them down if something had happened to her. And they were far more feared to him than the one who requested such a task from them.

"And this? How do we explain this?"

The leader looked to where his friends' eyes laid. The mangled bodies and corpses of twelve were seen. Well, eleven, given that the leader had to look up to find the last one.

Three, he deduced, had died by normal means. A rapier laid near the bed was also a tell tale sign to him that they had been killed by the princess and not by…whatever did this.

In a way he was impressed by her actions. Defending against three, while knowing there was another nine behind her, would normally make someone crack under pressure. But he was certain she was better than this. She must have caught off guard when she was knocked out.

Coming to a conclusion, the leader stood up from his chair, followed by his friend, and they calmly left the premises for the cleaners to pick up the mess.

As they left, the room's temperature cooled drastically. The temperature could be said to have reached below freezing, as any form of liquid, including the blood around the room, froze over.

Near the bed, in a dark corner, sat a man, no one had seen when sweeping the room. This was because he did not want to be seen. His power was great.

Upon hearing the words of the two individuals, the man simply smiled, his eyes glowing red with excitement.

"What fun."

Was all he said.

***

The throne room was just the same as it had been moments before. Dark, barely lit, and even in the moonlight, the figures of the king, queen, prince and princess were hardly recognizable.

They looked frightening.

Even so, Lia, who at one point, found herself in the middle of the throne room, tied to a small wooden post, no larger than her waist.

There was hardly anyone here, other than her family, who seemed to be already present when she entered. The few maids that were present were too busy lighting the torches to see what Lia saw as a plain setup.

Her family knew.

She doubted that all of them knew, but she had the suspicion that some of them knew.

Lia wasn't as dumb as many people thought. Without a summons, the nickname useless princess stuck easily to her most of her childhood. That being said, most people tended to mistake the term for her foolishness, when in reality, she was anything but.

Instantly, she was able to make the connection between the assassination having something to do with the fact that her master, Al Shir, had directly rejected the king and queen in regards to furthering the training of their children.

The cause? Her.

So who else to benefit from her assassination and potential death, other than her siblings.

However, even then, she faced conflicts within her logic. Clara and her father looked as if the two had just woken up with groggy eyes that had trouble staying open. Whereas her mother and brother seemed wide awake.

Lia recalled the fact that her mother, be a queen or not, had many connections to the underworld that she had once made in her teens, when she was still the daughter of the grand duke.

Lia could barely contain her frustration and anger. She longed to just scream at them, ask them why? Why did they hate her so much for something she couldn't control?

But still, she remained silent. She said nothing, and like her master had taught her, she let the anger burn inside. Let it harm the inside, rather than the outside. Because it is the outside, that has repercussions on the inside.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the king spoke.

"Lia, my daughter. I've heard from the west wing captain that your bedroom was attacked by invaders of the palace."

He looked at her with confusion. Most likely because he was wondering why he was here in the first place.

"Would you tell us what happened?"

Lia easily obliged, keeping her voice calm and quiet, but thin like a knife to her words that cut them deep.

'The way of words,' something her master had taught her. The technique of speaking with words, yet inflicting the same damage as a blade.

"Alone, I rested in my bed. Yet, I was torn from my sleep by people I did not know. Assassins."

The king regarded his daughter with much question, and if one could bother to say, concern. Though he tried hard not to show it.

"Assassins? Then why are you here?"

"Father, if I may?"

Before Lia could answer, Rall spoke for her.

"Lia was attacked in the midst of the night, killing three with her blade, and wounding many more. However, when the west wing guards arrived, they found her knocked out, and the mangled corpses of the assassins everywhere."

The faces of the people present changed a little. The choice of phrase, 'mangled' did not slip off the tongue as lightly and easily as it did with Rall. Their minds could only imagine the smallest of details.

Before anyone could ask further questions, Rall spoke again.

"It is reason to suspect that Lia has, within her midst, and due to the evidence at play, a weapon she has hidden from us."

"A weapon?"

The king now sounded annoyed with his son, especially for calling him here so late.

"Rall, you brought us here to bear witness to Lia unveiling some prized dagger. What next, she has a summons?"

The comment was made to prove a point unreachable to Rall, but came across more as an insult to the girl he once called daughter.

"Article 37, section B of our kingdom's Rule of Law."

At this, the king's annoyance disappeared, and was frozen in a face of pure seriousness. The room dropped several degrees, and Rall's face was strewn in fear.

"What?"

One word, that rang so strong and echoed so loud, Rall and the many people present flinched at the sound of it.

But Rall continued, knowing that if his point was not made, he'd be in for it.

"Article 37, section B states that none shall hide their summoned creature from the king or kingdom. Anyone caught having done so after a certain period of time, will be tried for treason against the kingdom. Such is the written text of the king's Rule of Law."

"I did not ask for a read aloud of my own laws. I know well what they say. So, Rall, tell me."

His voice grew cold and frightful with his next words.

"Tell me why you believe that Lia hides a summons from us?"

"Father, if I may. Given the state of the corpses, and that Lia was taken into custody only an hour before, the only logical conclusion would be to claim she holds a summons within her midst."

The king rose to speak, but was interrupted by Lia, who spoke first.

"I don't have a summons. You know that."

Rall turned with fury in his eyes.

"You will speak when spoken to!"

"Enough."

Called a voice.

From the shadows that danced and licked the pillars, walked out both the grand duke, and Al Shir, who were both within their bed robes.

The king, seeing their presence, became more alert to the situation at hand. For a moment, he might have thought Rall was telling the truth, and was prepared to doubt everything any master had ever told him about his daughter. Almost.

"What are you doing here?"

The grand duke's eyes passed over Lia, then between Rall and the king, before he spoke. The king took note of his hesitance.

"I came because my soldiers told me my niece was taken away by palace guards. They told me about Lia's attempted assassination, so naturally I went to Al Shir and told him."

"I was very upset to hear that my student, a victim in this crime, was arrested and brought before the court on suspicion of hiding a summons."

Al Shir was calm, and showed no signs of anger in his voice, but nonetheless, everyone knew he was simply suppressing his anger for a much calmer attitude.

Rall, now engaged in this sudden intrusion, did not back down.

"Do you see a court here? It's just us. I'm simply just throwing it out there that the bodies of the guards who reported to me, informed me that they suspect a summoner was in play."

He glanced at Lia as he said these last words, knowing what meaning it would hold behind them.

"I never once accused her, a victim, as the perpetrator."

An insult, easily read by both the grand duke and Al Shir. And by the presence they both gave off, they were furious.

"Is that so?"

Al Shir spoke, holding his anger back, and turned it into a blade. Following his students' actions, he turned his voice into a weapon used to cut deep into the emotions of those present.

"If I don't stand corrected, you four are that very same court. You don't need anyone else present to decide upon an action. 'Judge, jury, and executioner,' I believe the saying goes."

Rall suppressed a smile threatening to form on his lips. Al Shir was correct in many regards. All Rall needed to do was convict Lia, and she would be done for.

"Lia has, for years, tried to call forth a summons, and yet you claim she has one within her grasp. Are you a fool, Rall?"

Rall clenched his fists and teeth, an action that did not go unnoticed by his mother, who turned to her brother, with arrogance in her eyes.

"Will, are you so sure that you should be calling my son, the crown prince, a fool? If you ask me-"

"I didn't."

The room went deathly silent at the sound of the Grand Duke's words. If anyone else, a guard, maid, or even noble, had dared to utter those words, they would have lost their head.

But William Ben O'lca was not a mere noble. If they dared to try and accuse him of something, he would find any loophole around it. An example would be now, he could simply claim it was old sibling treatment he still held for his sister. Queen or not.

Because of this, the queen did not dare continue forward, knowing full well that he would be able to slip out of anything she said. A weasel is what she called him.

It would just be too exhausting on her mind to go down that path with him.

"I am aware that Lia has not called forth a summons in her entire life. In fact, the whole kingdom knows that."

Breaking the silence, Rall stepped forward, closely watched by his father from behind.

"But even so, the state of the corpses could only make me suspicious of her. Who wouldn't after seeing the state they were in. The coroner couldn't even identify them."

"You're exaggerating. It's only been an hour, and yet you claim that the palace coroner was able to identify this?"

Al Shir asked, his point clearly made.

"Anyone would say so at the state of the bodies. A summons had to be the cause, and with Lia being the only one in the room, I put two and two together."

The more Rall talked, the more convinced the king looked.

Initially he would have claimed Rall a fool, witness or no witness, he didn't care. He had spent pounds of coins on Lia trying to discover any flaw within the masters deduction. But he could never find anything.

She was doomed to be normal, without a summons.

Yet here his son was claiming he was wrong, and that all the documents, tests, and medical treatments he had given her were all wrong. Of course he wouldn't believe him.

But now, it is different. He saw what his son saw. Going through the events that had taken place, if the bodies were as Rall claimed, then perhaps he was right.

But before he could act on his thoughts, Al Shir spoke first.

"WHo said she was alone?"

Cold water was instantly poured on the fire burning inside the king's chest. Any hope he had for his daughter obtaining a summons was gone. And with only a few words.

The king faltered, but Rall did not.

"There was no one there when the guards came in."

"What if I say I left to get help?"

"What?"

Now it was the grand duke's turn to speak.

"If Al Shir dealt with the assassins, then it would obviously explain the state of the bodies. And, let's say he went to gather help from the guards, but wasn't able to make it back in time when the west wing guards got there."

Rall clenched his fists.

"You have no witnesses, and therefore no proof that Master Shir was there. Therefor-"

"And you have no witnesses to prove she has a summons. If you claim the bodies are the only evidence you have against her, then you can't prove that it was or wasn't Al Shir or any summoner nearby who dealt with them."

"What are you saying?"

Rall's voice was filled with anger. He clearly did not like where this was going from here, but what could he do.

For one, he wanted to convince Lia of hiding her summons from them, even if she chose not to show them it. But even then, he would need to prove this. He thought he could do so with the bodies as proof, but was sorely mistaken.

Al Shir and the Grand Duke were smart people. With no witnesses, if they took responsibility, there would be no way one could prove it was Al Shir or Lia.

They had no proof.

This is what ran through the head of the king as he looked between his daughter and Rall. Lia had not said a word this entire time, and had simply let the others speak.

Grant could only assume she was turning things over in her mind. And with everything that had happened to her, from assassination, to trials, and now to a full blown power struggle between his brother in law, along with his master, against him.

An old feeling of fatherhood passed back over him as he looked at her frail figure. She wasn't eating much these days.

But Grant quickly suppressed his feelings of fatherhood, for a number of reasons. One, he needed to focus on Rall more as he was his successor. Two, if he was found comforting Lia, the court will use this against his crown. And three, he had no right in his own mind, to go to her and comfort her.

He had long since lost that right.

But even so, he was still willing to help her with this.

"That's enough."

His voice was calm but powerful, as immediately all those within the room became silent.

"What Rall says is true, if the bodies of the assassins are as he says they are, I can conclude that Lia may have a summons within her grasp. As unbelievable as it might be."

The Grand Duke and Al Shir's shoulders slumped, while Rall's raised. But before either of them could celebrate, Grant poured cold water on all of them with his next words.

"However, the claim that Al Shir and Wiliam O'lca bring me also holds some truth. I can not depict fact from fiction with these two claims, as they both hold fact, but also fiction."

Now the opposite happened. Al Shir and the Grand Duke's shoulders raised while Rall's fell. He was clearly unhappy with how this turned out. Grant noted that he would have to speak with him later about this.

"That being said, one fact I certainly can deprive from fiction, is that my daughter, the princess Lia was attacked at night, and that is by no means allowed. So, let's drop the idea of accusations, and get Lia treated."

Al Shir went up to Lia, who held her head down. Behind him, he could hear Rall opposing the king's decision, but Al Shir did not pay any attention to it. He knew Rall would not get far in his argument. For now, his duty lied with Lia.

The Grand Duke left soon after the king and queen, followed by their children. Apparently, he wished to have a word with the two guards who warned him of this exchange.

While William thought they were being kind and caring, Al Shir knew that they were probably ordered to take Lia away silently, and most likely feared the repercussions that would happen to them, if they did.

Especially from both Al Shir and Grand Duke William.

Al Shir lifted the head of Lia, who could be seen crying with tears streaming down her cheeks. She was afraid, and what was worse, she was surrounded by enemies.

From assassins to her own family, both inward and outward, she was battling with her very existence. Something that she should have never gone through.

As Al Shir guided Lia out of the throne room, he felt a sense of dread come over him.

It was light subtle, and quiet, almost as if it was a breeze of air. But Al Shir knew it was more. Fire that just licks at your legs, is still fire.

He turned as Lia left through the side door, and surveyed the area behind him. From the pillars, to the throne, all the way to the second floor where the majority of the court sat.

He found nothing.

But as he turned away, he felt the subtle chill in his bones. His eyes, they had missed something important, yet regarded it as nothing more than a trick of the light.

Two crimson red eyes.

================================

A:N

Sorry about the lack of uploads. I wasn't very happy with this chapter, there are still some parts that are bland to me, but this was the best I think I could do without changing everything.

That being said, I'm getting close to the main break away point where the title really takes the cake here.

I think I'll try and make 2 or 3 chapters a week since i'm trying to put a lot into these chapters. But I just want to let you know, my upload scheduled might be a little wack considering that I also have school to get through, and it's been a lot recently. (I go to a year round).

Either way, enjoy the next future chapters with Lia and our soon to be new main character.