Luelle slowly opened her eyes, feeling disoriented she attempted to sit up and as she did she let out a wince. Her whole body hurt all over. Luelle glanced around cautiously and couldn't recognize where she was.
She was in a sort of cave, the sun rays glinting brightly; illuminating the cave.
"Sunrise…" Luelle's voice came out hoarse.
"Princess Luelle" a male's voice spoke out, startling Luelle.
Luelle glanced up as he stepped into the cave, And was met with tired dark blue eyes staring back at her, skin dark like polished wood; covered in bandages, blood seeping through them, And long jet-black locs cascading down his back.
It was Erydor. Erydor was Luelle's Father's closest guard, they were basically best friends; known each other since they were children.
Luelle sprung up not caring about her injuries.
"Father…. Is he okay?? And Terry…he….no no… he's strong…he's okay" Luelle's voice sounded unsure.
"I am really sorry, I couldn't….save your Father…. His last message was for me to protect his highness Terry and you, Princess Luelle" Erydor's voice sounded pained.
Luelle sank to her knees, it didn't feel right. Almost unbelievable to her; she didn't want to think it could be true.
"Terry… we need to find Terry!" Luelle's voice sounded desperate and hoarse.
"After….looking everywhere for you and your brother, I heard voices and followed them….. I arrived too late…I found his highness out on the courtyard…with his…his heart ripped out of his chest. Before the intruders spotted me…I heard one of them suggest looking for you in the woods….I managed to kill him and those standing near him" Erydor couldn't look Luelle in the eyes, his eyes welling up with tears as he bit his bottom lip until it bled, understandably so. He lost his best friend and his best friend's son who he has watched grow up, they were family to him.
For a moment Luelle just froze. She felt a lump in the back of her throat and she started taking deep breaths but it wasn't helping. Luelle let out a gut-wrenching scream as she started uncontrollably sobbing and clawing at the ground.
"O-oh brother…. Oh elder brother!…..please please please!…. You can't be gone! You can't! you can't!…you can't leave me!!!"
Luelle was now full on sobbing, her fingers tips now bleeding from clawing at the cave floor. Erydor had to step in and try and stop her; but she roughly pushed his hands away.
Erydor let her cry, nothing he said would make her feel better so the best he could do was stay nearby. Luelle cried for roughly 4 hours, she would stop in between and her tears would come back.
Once she managed to calm down a bit, Luelle spoke, her voice sounding empty…..numb.
Who did this?…..you must know Erydor….what is their purpose?….
"Your uncle….I don't know how he managed to get back into the kingdom but he did….by now he has ceased the throne, we must depart…leave everything behind. Your uncle won't be satisfied with just killing your Father and brother, your life now carries danger, princess." Erydor's eyes narrowed as he spoke.
Luelle met Erydor's gaze with confusion.
"Uncle?" She questioned.
"Your uncle, your Father's younger brother. Valric Feywin." Erydor's voice held distant.
"Uncle…Valric….he was exiled correct?" Luelle questioned, her gaze unreadable.
"Correct, he was exiled 847 years ago for attempting to commit treason against your Father, the king" Erydor answered.
"Erydor…we must go back, we must kill him" Luelle stood up, her body feeling weak.
"We can't, The king is dead, all our guards are dead. The few who survived must've already pledged loyalty to Valric to save their skin, princess Luelle…I promised your Father I would protect you, and I won't break that promise, I've already failed his highness, prince Terry, I won't fail you too" His voice was firm, like no matter what Luelle said. He would not budge.
"This doesn't make sense! How can all the guards have been killed, they were trained! Most had magic abilities! I won't just stand here and watch that… that man who killed my family, sit on that throne" She hissed.
"We must leave princess, even if we were to attempt to go back and fight, you have no training in swordsmanship…and your magic abilities have yet to appear. Besides as far as I know, we're the only ones alive" Erydor stared at Luelle, looking and sounding defeated. He had wounds everywhere, it would be pointless to attempt anything.
" you expect me to leave my home behind?….To leave my kingdom? My people?! I won't… I can't leave! I won't be able to bury their bodies…. of nanny, brother and Father" Luelle gritted her teeth, she wasn't stupid, she knew she wouldn't be able to anyway, but it pained her.
"I'm not asking, princess Luelle. We need to leave now, they'll come looking for you, we need to somehow leave the kingdom without getting caught and it'd be best if we did so now" His voice held no room for discussion.
"Where would we even go?…Mother's birth kingdom?…they could…help, uncle Arlen Mother's brother is the king, is he not?" Luelle fidgeted with a bandage on her arm.
Erydor shook his head and said "The kingdom of Gardenia Glades isn't doing so well,not to mention your uncle Arlen wasn't on good terms with your Father the king. Your uncle helping you would just send Valric the message of openly supporting you, Arlen wouldn't start a war to keep you alive….he's the type to easily fall for a bribe. Besides, even if he decided to help you in secret and keep you hidden, Valric isn't stupid. He would have figured that'd be the first place you go to, Arlen's castle must be filled with Valric's people, the moment you reach out to Alrern;they'll know"
Erydor pondered for a moment "I know of a place where you'll be safe, come, let's go"
With no other choice, Luelle followed Erydor, each step she took was hesitant. She wasn't doing mentally well, everything she knew and loved was now gone. She couldn't even hug Terry one last time.
Sneaking out of the kingdom wouldn't be that easy. Erydor managed to find two dark cloaks for him and Luelle to wear; as well as some boots for Luelle to wear. Luelle felt tense the whole time. Going out through the main entrance was out of the question, Valric's guards would be stationed everywhere. The only option was through the wooded area, which didn't sound that bad except for whatever creature was lurking there, fully grown unicorns were especially vicious if you were to get near them. One pierce from their magical horns and your body would explode instantaneously, your body pieces would go flying here and there… and just about everywhere!.