Return to Glory

Why Were We Attacked?

"We were attacked. That's what,” Alex replied to Aidan’s puzzled question. She was drained; it had been way too long since she had any further physical activity than the mundane house chores and passionate s****l encounters with the blond, and none of those compared with the general activities she normally would carry out in the citadel, or while on a mission. She had let herself get comfortable and it was now coming back to bite her in the ass.

The prince was quiet, but the utter lack of comprehension he was going through was more than evident on his elegant features. “But why would they attack us?” he asked, still slightly in shock, as he stared blankly down at the bodies and blood that pooled on his pristine floors. Alex would help him clean up after they were done disposing of the men, but she knew this would leave a permanent mark in the other’s house.

Watching him from the side, she wondered if it was possible that in all his privileged life as a royal, and then isolated here, that he had never seen a person dying. Or at least one under these conditions.

She wasn’t proud of it, but she had seen her fair share, partly due to her job, and partly just survival. Her house had been seized twice in her teen years by some desperate bums, and, unpleasantly, things had not ended well. But it had been her and her mother against the invasions and, being peaceful in a situation like that was the equivalent of just offering everything you had; from your material belongings, to your whole persona.

This cabin was secluded and austere enough for burglars to not be interested in actively searching for it to raid, but, at the same time, any ill-willed person passing by that found it probably had the idea that it was an easy target. Glaring down at her first attacker, Alex wondered what would be the case of these guys.

They were huge; not your average common man wandering around in the woods. Not even guard-size. These had to be mercenaries of some sort. Had it been that just one of them was bulky, she could have considered it was just a group of low-life burglars. But the three of them were much larger than almost all of the strongest soldiers, both formal and informal, she had ever seen.

“Aidan, are you okay?” she asked, noticing how he was simply staring at the men in silence.

“Yes…” he replied quietly. “Why would they attack us?” he asked again, clearly disturbed by having had his home invaded that way. Alex had to admit she was a bit relieved to see it wasn’t that he was feeling queasy because of the blood or death; she probably was going to need his help to dispose of the bodies.

The brunette wasn't one to make assumptions out of thin air. Like it or not, she was going to have to give them a thorough check. Sighing, still a bit drained from the unexpected fight, she moved over to her first attacker to turn him around. She couldn't tell if he was still breathing, but didn't plan on dwelling too much on that matter. He'd eventually pass on to whatever there was after life.

The first thing she noticed was the ornate knife in his hand. It was nothing like what she had ever been able to possess; clearly much more expensive than what a peasant could ever afford. She quickly jumped over to where her other two attackers were and found both had weapons of the same quality; unnecessarily jeweled and evidently costly. These guys had been paid well or were private workers for someone noble.

But that still didn't answer if they were just raiding the place because they were accustomed to proceeding that way, or if they had done so with some sort of purpose. Frowning as the sticky, warm blood was impossible to avoid in her task, she rummaged through their clothes in search of anything that might guide her towards their reasoning. Oddly enough, each of them had an inexplicably high amount of coins; much more than someone would need to live for over a year. Even if they had robbed some other place or even multiple places on their way, the sum was too great.

She was increasingly inclined to believe they were paid for a large mission. Or one to seize an important person. If she took Aidan back, the payment she was supposed to receive wasn't as much as what each of these men were carrying. She glanced over at the prince as her gut feeling invaded her. Could it be that these men had been sent out to kill him?

The amount of money they had, along with the ornate knives seemed to indicate that they most probably had been paid well. It didn't feel like they had tried to attack them without preambles, just by chance. Quickly, she began to pay one of them all over, determined to see if he had anything that would connect him to the citadel.

Luckily enough, as a showoff mercenary, this one was carrying a royal-crested amulet. It was the type of object that was granted to the highest ranking soldiers, and since the king's death, had not been provided to anyone, due to the revolt. Much less someone that did not belong to the royal military. He could easily have stolen it, but the fact was that this simple item placed him in contact with the mainland of the kingdom. She proceeded to check the other two bodies and confirmed each had an amulet as well. This was all too much of a coincidence.

Her gut told her they were no longer safe there. She didn't have full, concrete proof that the men had come to attack them for the reasons she had now concluded, but her instinct was smart and she was not going to ignore it.