Beautiful Scar

Sixteen

The evening ray had descended quite fast in the woods. Scarlet’s unit was awaiting for carriages and horses to be brought upon by Lance’s group. To pass the time, some men still enjoyed their remaining leisure here, fishing, foraging, catching some short and yet deep slumber in the open air.

The suitors were hunched up on another corner, feeling out of place and unsure what to do. They merely sat there and tried to relax. Although, James and Jackel’s heads were nodding off from time to time. They were really exhausted.

Neville was really quiet.

Dylan lied down gazing at the slow-blue-turning-to-orange sky, unsure of what lied ahead, honestly. This place felt so far away from his own Kingdom, his worries, his Mother’s wrath. He closed his eyes for a moment to soak up this serenity.

Zuber, however was not with them. He somehow was already easing himself in with the group of men surrounding Scarlet and Mason who were both playing a game of chess in another corner.

Apparently, Zuber was assisting Mason to make the next move to counter Scarlet.

But Scarlet was steps ahead. She took her piece, moved a few steps and easily defeated Mason.

That caused a mixture of groan and cheers.

“Not bad, Officer Mason and Prince Zuber. But you both have long ways to go…” she smirked.

Not long after that, their carriages and horses arrived.

The suitors all boarded into the carriage with Lucas and Mason accompanying them. Scarlet however, hopped onto her black horse and rode away.

In the carriage, as James and Jackel continued to doze off. Dylan started to ask Zuber, curious, “So, what made you all of a sudden so chummy with that girl?”

Neville looked over the window, listening and aware.

“I had something I require from her”, Zuber simply replied. “And she agreed to assist”.

“Really now”, Dylan was not convinced. “Assisting in what huh, eliminating us, your competitions?”

“That’s absurd”, Zuber calmly snorted. And Dylan was shocked to see the change in Zuber’s character. “Don’t you realize we already dug our own graves the moment we agreed to participate in this battle royale event? Are you blind to see that she and the Princess are no mere girls in dresses and bejeweled blades? They are women that could sway the hearts of men and influence the scale of balance of the Kingdom”.

Dylan was rendered speechless. Even Neville finally turned to see the look in Zuber’s eyes.

There was determination and somehow an unwavering conviction surfaced onto Zuber’s face.

Whatever pact he made with Scarlet, Neville realized Zuber had somehow won some form of grace with the Lady with the Scar.

When all the suitors had reached the palace, they were so drained from today’s training, that all of them considered turning in early for the day.

Until Fina saw them and invited them to join her for dinner later that night.

Despites their exhaustion, they forced a smile and agreed to accompany her.

The day passed by quite peacefully, or at least, the suitors’ numbers remained at five today, despites the brutal regime they went through.

However, in Neville, James and Jackel’s chambers, a new roll of scroll laid on their dressing table, that night before they settled into beds.

There was not much changes except there were ‘Additional Training Lessons’ in the upcoming days ahead.

And in the comfort of their chambers, Neville sighed, James and Jackel groaned in reluctance.

The next day, the regime was even grueling.

They had archery and horseback riding while battling Scarlet and her men.

Dylan was the first to have a hard time managing his horse. He somehow got the wilder and rougher war horse around, only to realize that Scarlet’s men set him up for this. Because that horse was Scarlet’s. His body and face were dragged across the ground when he tried to grab hold on the horse’s rein. And when he already managed to mount on top of the horse, he was not prepared for the onslaught of men trying to attack him, causing him to fall again.

James and Jackel also struggled.

These three had never tasted the battlefield. Especially Dylan, who was an heir, this was troubling.

Scarlet observed. And the clock was ticking.

Neville and Zuber managed decently though they really struggled to regain their breaths, since they had some cavalry experiences.

Fortunately, the five suitors’ archery skills were decent enough to not warrant ‘additional lessons’ in each of these men’s scrolls.

By the end of the day, every suitor, at least would have one new scroll with ‘Additional Training Lessons’ in the remaining week ahead.

They were always rendered exhausted by the end of the day, but they managed to will themselves to entertain the Princess if either of them stumbled upon her, and if they still had the strength to venture into the Kingdom’s market and town.

The days were a repetition of breakfast, intensive trainings, being ridiculed and driven by Scarlet herself and her men, dinner with the Princess. Along the way, they managed to notice the Princess’s Lady Companions, Lady Lydia and Lady Brie, apart from Scarlet herself, when the four young ladies managed to dine together for breakfast one day.

It felt like they were training not to be a Groom but a Warrior!

And by the end of the first week, as they reached the common room, the five suitors slumped themselves against the available couches in the room.

Any sense of pride and dignity they carried themselves as royalties or gentlemen were discarded in this room.

They were all just really, really tired.

“Ah…at this point, I don’t mind not marrying the Princess, if I can escape this hell”, Dylan said in between his breaths.

Today, they just went through an intensive combination of trainings. From swimming, running and horseback riding across the mountain foot and the training base.

“That Captain has no mercy”, Jackel panted as well.

Neville also was inhaling air, trying to slow down his ragged breath. Despites the exhaustion, he was rather alert. He would’ve never thought he could swim across the open sea, despites that he swallowed some water, as he lost his composure at times.

But for what it was worth, he managed to overcome, at least a bit, of his fear.

He felt indebted towards Scarlet, but most importantly to the young Officer Lucas who had accompanied and assisted in his additional lessons throughout the week. The officer was patient and kind in offering words of encouragement towards him.

Suddenly the knob of the common room twisted. And stepped inside were Scarlet, Lance, Lucas and Fina.

Scarlet, Lance and Fina were all cladded in armor from their neck to toes.

Fina’s armory was slightly distinguished as compared to Scarlet and Lance. She had a cloth wrapped around her hip, almost like she wore a skirt over the steel shells that encased her body. Her brown hair was braided as well.

The armory made the Princess looked unlike the gentle Princess they ever thought of her as.

It made her looked even regal and intimidating.

The men quickly sat up from their lounging. And then, it dawned on these suitors.

This Kingdom that boasted on their military prowess. There was another ultimate commander above Scarlet, if Scarlet was to rise to be General.

Princess Fina – no, the Future Queen would become the Supreme Commander of the whole Silverstorm’s battalions.

Fina managed her usual charming smiles at the tired-looking suitors, “Hello Gentlemen, I hope you don’t mind us intruding…we would like to discuss some matters before we leave for our Warrior Circle meetings in an hour time”.

The five young men couldn’t help but reconsider between those two young ladies in front of them. Who were more terrifying?