CHAPTER FOUR
1034 Words
The First Blood
_______________________________________
Steel sang through the air.
The marketplace that had been filled with laughter only moments ago was now drowning in screams.
"Run!"
"Assassins!"
"Protect the children!"
Merchants abandoned their stalls as terrified citizens scattered in every direction. Fruit carts overturned, scattering apples across the cobblestones, while horses neighed in panic.
Seraphina tightened her grip on the sword.
Her pulse pounded in her ears.
Not from fear.
From familiarity.
She had trained with a blade since she was eight years old. Before she became Crown Princess, she had dreamed of becoming the first warrior queen in Ashbourne's history.
Then Adrian happened.
"You don't need to fight anymore," he had told her with a smile.
"I'll protect you."
So she put away her sword...
...and slowly forgot who she used to be.
Until today.
---
"Your left!"
Kael's voice cut through the chaos.
Without thinking, Seraphina spun.
A masked assassin lunged toward her.
Their swords collided with a loud clang.
The impact numbed her arms, but she held her ground.
The assassin grinned beneath his mask.
"So the little queen can fight."
He struck again.
And again.
His attacks were fast, but sloppy.
Seraphina exhaled.
Her body remembered what her mind had forgotten.
Parry.
Step.
Turn.
Counter.
One clean s***h.
The assassin's weapon flew from his hand.
Before he could react, Seraphina placed the tip of her sword against his throat.
"Who sent you?"
He laughed.
"You already know."
Then—
Crunch.
His head snapped violently to one side.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He collapsed.
Dead.
Seraphina stared in horror.
A tiny black dart protruded from his neck.
Someone had silenced him.
---
"Down!"
Kael wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to the ground just as another volley of poisoned darts whistled overhead.
They rolled behind an overturned carriage.
The darts embedded themselves in the wooden wheels, and within seconds the wood turned black and began to smoke.
"Poison..." Seraphina whispered.
"A very expensive one," Kael replied.
"They're making sure no one survives."
He looked toward the rooftops.
"They're watching."
---
High above the marketplace...
A woman stood hidden beneath a crimson hood.
Lady Vivienne Ashcroft.
She watched calmly as the battle unfolded.
One of her attendants knelt beside her.
"My Lady..."
"The assassins are failing."
Vivienne smiled.
"I expected they would."
"Then why send them?"
"They were never meant to kill Kael."
Her emerald eyes followed Seraphina.
"They were meant to answer one question."
"And what question is that?"
Vivienne's smile widened.
"Did Seraphina remember?"
She had her answer now.
The queen who should have died...
Was no longer the same woman.
"Interesting," Vivienne murmured.
"Then I'll have to stop playing gently."
She disappeared into the crowd before anyone noticed her.
---
Back in the marketplace...
The fighting intensified.
More assassins poured from the rooftops.
"There are too many!" Seraphina shouted.
Kael remained unnervingly calm.
"No."
He sheathed his sword.
Seraphina blinked.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, Kael reached beneath his cloak and removed a small silver whistle.
He blew into it.
No sound came out.
At least...
None that humans could hear.
The air suddenly became still.
The assassins hesitated.
Then—
A deafening howl echoed across the city.
Every head turned.
From the northern gate, a squadron of black-armored knights thundered into the marketplace.
Their cloaks bore the silver wolf crest of House Draven.
At their head rode a woman with fiery red hair tied into a long braid.
She leaped from her horse before it had fully stopped.
"Your Grace."
She knelt before Kael.
"We came as soon as we received your signal."
Kael nodded once.
"Perfect timing, Commander."
The woman rose and turned toward Seraphina.
For a moment, surprise flickered across her face.
Then she bowed deeply.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."
Seraphina frowned.
"I'm not queen."
The commander smiled knowingly.
"Not yet."
---
Within minutes, the battle was over.
The surviving assassins fled into the maze of alleyways.
The Wolf Knights did not pursue them.
Instead, they secured the area and helped the wounded civilians.
Seraphina watched them in silence.
"They're... helping people."
Kael looked at her.
"Were you expecting monsters?"
"In my previous life..."
She hesitated.
"Adrian told me House Draven slaughtered innocent villages."
Several nearby knights exchanged confused looks.
Then the commander burst into laughter.
"Slaughtered villages?"
She wiped a tear from her eye.
"Your Majesty, House Draven has spent generations protecting the northern border. Half the villages there wouldn't exist without the Grand Duke."
Seraphina's heart sank.
Another lie.
Another piece of the past that Adrian had twisted.
How many more lies had she believed?
---
As the marketplace slowly settled, an elderly flower seller approached.
Her hands trembled as she held out a single white lily.
"Your Grace..."
She wasn't looking at Kael.
She was looking at Seraphina.
"Thank you."
Seraphina blinked.
"For what?"
"You protected my grandson."
The old woman pointed toward a little boy hiding behind a cart.
Only then did Seraphina remember.
During the battle, she had pushed the child out of the path of a poisoned dart without even thinking.
The woman placed the white lily in Seraphina's hands.
"My late husband always said..."
"A true queen is the one who protects her people before herself."
Tears stung Seraphina's eyes.
For the first time since returning...
Someone had looked at her...
Not as a future queen.
Not as a traitor.
Not as a political pawn.
But simply...
As someone worth thanking.
Kael watched quietly.
Then he spoke in a voice only she could hear.
"The people remember kindness longer than kings remember loyalty."
Before Seraphina could answer, Commander Elena hurried toward them, her expression suddenly grim.
"Your Grace..."
"We have a problem."
Kael's eyes sharpened.
"What happened?"
Elena handed him a folded piece of black parchment sealed with crimson wax.
Kael broke the seal.
His face darkened.
Seraphina noticed.
"What is it?"
He silently handed her the letter.
Her breath caught as she read the first line.
To the woman who escaped death...
Welcome back.
There was no signature.
Only one symbol at the bottom.
A crimson rose...
Dripping with blood.
End of Chapter Four
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