“Bye-bye, Sir Dragon!” Nana tried to wave her hand.
Krai left them quickly, and Sabael suggested they rent horses to get back faster, which they agreed to. With Naptunie riding behind Cessilia, they all departed quickly, hoping to reach the bridge soon. However, to their surprise, they were stopped by the Royal Guards, who refused to let them in.
“Are you kidding?” roared Sabael. “These passes are perfectly fine! Which division do you belong to?!”
“They are not,” retorted the guard calmly, his eyes going to Cessilia.
Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a look. There was no problem with their papers. Those guards were only set on not letting them through. While Sabael was bent on arguing with them, Tessa sighed and pulled his horse’s bridle.
“Stop it, Sab. Let’s just try one of the other entries.”
“We shouldn’t have to! Our papers are fine!”
“I know they are, love, but that guy barely looked at them. He looked at us. Either he has something against foreigners, or he was paid off. In any case, we aren’t going back this way without causing a commotion. There are three other doors, right? Let’s just try the closest one...”
The Royal Guard grunted, but the girls had already decided to let this go. In fact, they were all drenched already, and that only added to Sabael’s frustration. They should have been getting back as soon as they could, but now they had to spend extra time under this downpour, in this unsecured area, and make an unnecessary detour. He was ashamed they had run into corrupt Royal Guards and internally swore he’d remember their faces for later...
Luckily, the girls were calmer, and once they were on the way to the next bridge, no one mentioned what had happened. Or perhaps the rain and wind blew their frustrations away too. However, it was still a long way there. They kept riding next to the first wall that protected the city, the rain pouring down on them.
Except for Nana, they all quickly realized they were being followed. At first, it was an uneasy feeling. Sabael had been nervous since they were refused entrance into the Capital, but now, it was clear someone was chasing after them. They could hear horses, and see their pursuers coming from adjacent streets. It made no sense that more horses would be riding under this downpour to gather behind them unless they also couldn’t get in at the previous door, which was unlikely. People who could afford horses shouldn’t have to ride from one gate to another.
“Cessi, keep going with Nana!” Tessandra shouted, taking out her sword.
Cessilia’s horse accelerated, Nana holding on tightly behind her. Meanwhile, Tessandra slowed her horse until she and Sabael were riding next to each other.
“There are a dozen of them... at least,” she shouted to be heard. “Will you be alright?”
“I should ask you that!”
“You’re cute!”
Sabael rolled his eyes and took out his own weapon. Of course, she would be fine... He was more worried for his little sister. Naptunie had no fighting abilities, and he was pretty sure he had never seen the Princess use a weapon, either, which explained why they weren’t staying behind to fight as well. Tessandra was the fighter of the two.
The first attack came from the corner of a street, taking them by surprise. A man stepped out at the last second, with a long sword. His target was Tessandra’s horse, and the young woman moved quickly to save her leg from being cut too, knowing it was too late to save her mount. The horse was brutally stopped in its run by a large blade slicing its flank, and Tessa jumped. Her body made a perfect arc in the air, and she fell down brutally on top of the man, her blade going right for his heart.
“Cessi, don’t stop!” she shouted.
Cessilia nodded and had her horse speed up. While her cousin’s horse rode farther away, she already had two more men going right for her. Bandits, by their looks. However, their weapons were new, and she was clearly their target. Those men had been paid off. Tessandra frowned and raised her sword, attacking first. She was strong, and those men were not a problem for her. What was more annoying was the slippery ground, the fact they were still outside of the Capital, and she had no idea how many more enemies were targeting them. She couldn’t stay here.
“Tessa!”
She raised her head, and to her surprise, Sabael, whom she thought to have been gone already, was coming back to her, riding his horse and holding his hand out to get her. Tessandra smiled and got ready to grab his hand. He rode past her, and in a perfect movement, she used his strength to swing and land behind him. As soon as she was seated behind him, she put a quick kiss on his cheek.
“You came back for me?” she asked with a smile.
“Not now, Tessa!”
“You so came back for me,” she smiled, hugging him from behind with a satisfied expression.
Sabael rolled his eyes, but as he was seated in front, Tessa couldn’t see that he was smiling as well... He pulled the reins and had his horse turn around to try and catch up to the others. Who knew how many more attackers were waiting for them between there and the next gate? They had to find a way back into the Capital, and quickly.
Chapter 11
Cessilia trusted Tessandra’s fighting skills enough to leave her and Sabael behind, but she was more worried about Nana. The young girl had realized what was going on and was helplessly hanging on to her, maybe even crying.
“What do they want? Why are they pursuing us?!”
Cessilia didn’t have time to answer her. She was busy navigating their horse through a place she didn’t know well at all, under the darkness of night and the downpour, riding as fast as possible to the next gate. She was worried more people were after them and targeting her. From the looks of it, this was all a set-up. It was obvious that whoever had made sure they wouldn’t be able to get back through the nearest door had also hired people to attack. Did someone spot Krai when they left? They wanted to get rid of her while she was far from the castle. In this downpour and that place, it would even take a while before they got worried about her and Tessa’s disappearance...
Her main thought was that she couldn’t get Naptunie involved. Although she was a candidate too, chances were low that she was those men’s target. The Royal Guard from earlier had barely glanced at her... Cessilia was glad they had chosen to rent horses. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine the nightmare of escaping those men on foot... She glanced up, but they wouldn’t make it out by the sky, either. Even if she tried to call Krai now, the dragon wouldn’t possibly hear her. They were on their own.
She heard the pounding of several hooves on the streets of cobblestone and glanced over her shoulder. It wasn’t Tessa, but more pursuers! Why were there so many of them? What had become of her cousin? Had she and Sabael chosen another way back? All the streets were so similar, if it wasn’t for Nana guiding her from time to time, she wouldn’t have known where to go... It was getting late and dark too. The streets were getting darker and more intimidating around them, flooded by the rain that wasn’t stopping. Cessilia clenched her teeth and had the horse accelerate, more determined than ever.
“Cessi...”
She heard Nana cry a bit behind her, and she could feel the fear in her voice. It ought to be scary, both their situation and their speed, but they couldn’t slow down. Cessilia had thought about it, but she couldn’t part with Nana, who didn’t know how to ride the horse alone. They had to keep riding until they saw the door, or when Tessandra and Sabael appeared. She didn’t even have a weapon to defend herself with! Even her hands had turned back to normal already, her claws and scales gone...
Suddenly, she heard Nana shout, and something flew past her shoulder. An arrow!
“Nana! Are you okay?”
“My shoulder...”
Nana was hit? Cessilia panicked, but just as she was trying to look behind her, their horse whined loudly, and suddenly pitched up without warning. Cessilia tried to hang on to the bridle, but it was no use; the horse completely collapsed onto its side, and she felt Nana fall off before she did. She heard a scream, one second before her own body fell.
Cessilia’s head hit the ground, brutally. She felt the pain resonate in her whole body, and right after, another wave of pain came, from her lower body this time. Something heavy fell on top of her, crushing her and making her gasp for air.
