The Royal Quest

Chapter 11. Hidden in Shadows

Dahlia and Baron arrive at the river. While Dahlia is busy rubbing her skin with a damped fabric, the man is occupied with something else. He took his heavy armor off and cut a length of a stem from a plant nearby. Baron then uses a dagger to sharpen the edge of it. Once satisfied with its tip, he pulled his trousers up to knee level and stepped into the river.

The princess got curious while watching the man and couldn’t help but ask.

“Baron? What are you doing?”

“Catching a delicious fish for your breakfast, Your Highness.” He responded as he kept on piercing the pointed stick into the water.

“You mean, you are trying to catch one?” Dahlia retorted with chuckles, emphasizing her words as she noticed how the man struggled to get one.

“They are tough, Princess. But I’m sure they’ll get tired soon, and I will get them all.”

“You don’t have to do that. I have enough supplies until we reach the next valley.”

But the man seems not to hear her as he continues chasing the water creatures until he excitedly cries loudly with a broad grin.

“Whoa! I caught one! See! I did it!” Raising the stick, with the medium-sized poor fish hardly wagging its body on the tip of it.

“Nice!” Dahlia responded with a smile.

“You truly are a talented soldier, Baron,” she commented playfully.

“Thanks for the compliment, Princess. But wait until it’s cooked.” He told her as he started cleaning the fish.

Baron left the princess for a while to get some firewood and promised to return quickly.

The Princess continues cleaning up her body. She also took off her boots and noticed some red spots on her skin, a shred of evidence of how she ran miles away from the palace without a wagon carrying her on. Dahlia walked into the water and soaked her feet as she closed her eyes, capturing the refreshing feeling when the water touched her skin.

While enjoying the river, Dahlia noticed something sparkling underneath the water. She walked closer to find out what it was and saw a golden locket stuck between two rocks which made it stop from flowing away. The princess picked it up.

“Beautiful.” She muttered as she stared at the fantastic carving on the jewel and dried it with the hem of her clothing.

“That’s mine. Give it back!” a husky voice of a man suddenly interrupted her.

Dahlia was startled and looked around her surroundings, trying to find the owner of the voice.

“Where are you? Who are you!?” Dahlia shouted while her head kept on turning side by side, but failed to see the owner of the voice until she heard footsteps together with the sound of rustling leaves coming from the other side of the river.

“Who are you?” She repeated, squinting her eyes to adjust her sight from the light to the dark shadow that covered the man under the gigantic trees.

“Give back my locket.” The mysterious man repeated.

“Step out of the shadows and show yourself,” Dahlia demanded with her authoritative voice as the man was covered with a thick black cloak and a large hood that covered his face very well.

However, instead of following the lady, the man suddenly laughed wickedly.

“Who are you to order me around, young lady?” He asked, chuckling mockingly.

“Fine, but how could you prove that this is truly yours? Why is it in the river? Why didn't you take it earlier before I saw it?" Dahlia continuously asked as she started crossing the water in the direction of the man.

“You have many questions. Why don’t you just give it away? If you want gold, then I will give you as much as you want.”

“Wha-what? You don’t know who you are talking to, mister.” the princess felt irritated by his words.

“You don’t know me either.” The man retorted and sighed deeply.

"So annoying." He muttered with irritation.

“There is an initial on the back of the locket." He finally let out in a much calmer voice.

Dahlia looked at the jewel and turned it with her fingers around until she saw the initial letter A.

“There-” The man threw a bag full of shillings in front of the princess.

“Take it and give the locket to me.” He insisted again.

“Rude! Who do you think you are!?”

Dahlia couldn’t help anymore as she moved in haste to get out of the water and confront the man face to face. However, before she could make it out, she stepped on a slippery rock that took her balance off.

"Ahh!!!" She shrieked.

Everything was quick as thunder when the man caught Dahlia and brought her to the dry surface safely. Dahlia's eyes widened in shock as the mysterious man was already back in his spot under the gigantic tree and already holding the golden locket in his hand.

“You're too clumsy to act bravely in front of me." He mocked the princess with a smirk.

"You-You're a vampire." Dahlia stammered with trembling hands, staring intently at the man's face that was now a bit visible due to the hood that had been pulled down a bit behind after saving the lady. She also noticed how his golden eyes glimmered in the dark.

But before she could ask more, Baron suddenly called out for her from behind, and the man just vanished into thin air. Dahlia was stunned and rapidly ran towards the shade where the man was standing earlier. However, the vampire left no trace aside from the pouch of jingling coins.

"Princess! Come back here. I have already started the fire!" Baron cried from the other side of the river. But Dahlia was occupied by the vampire she had just met, and the feeling of doubt started to grow inside her.

“Princess, what’s wrong?” Baron noticed the silence that covered the Princess. They are currently sitting on a big log, sharing the blessing that Baron caught earlier from the river.

“Nothing.” She denied it, but the man did not withdraw his stares at her.

The princess sighed deeply before she spoke again.

“I’m just scared,” Dahlia muttered, looking down.

“About what?” He inquired.

“About all of this. What if I fail? What if they are right that I am not capable of doing something right for the kingdom? My parents would be so disappointed in me for sure, especially my king father. It is the vampire king who we are planning to execute, who killed thousands of lives in just one night. He is Massimo Gor who has no mercy even against his own family.”

“I admit that I was careless with my decisions, and now I feel like I shouldn’t have done this. What if I just let them marry me off to make everything less complicated?" She sadly added.

Baron moves closer.

“You are doing nothing wrong, Princess. If you let them do whatever they want, to control you… you will only end up regretting yourself for the rest of your life for not having the courage to fight and feel even worse than this.” Baron’s hands slowly moved and took the princess’s, squeezing them gently.

“I believe in you, Your Highness. You are the bravest person I have ever known. We can do this.” He said, trying to cheer up the lady.

“But how? It is just the two of us. What we need is a military with skilled abilities to win this.”

“Then we will outsmart him. I'm sure we can come up with ideas along the way. It is better to risk this chance rather than do nothing at all, right? Trust me. We can do this together. ” The man assured her with a smile.

After filling themselves with energy for their adventure, they head back to the cabin.

“Are you sure you want to leave them? I know how important your armor is to you, Baron. I don’t want you to sacrifice something you love just to help me with my unsure adventure.” Dahlia said.

‘Only if you knew, my dear princess. I can leave everything I have behind just to be with you.’ Baron thought with a smile.

"It's alright, Your Highness. Besides, they are too heavy to carry and could only attract the attention of the villagers, who could lead the palace to our location." He explained, and the princess just nodded in response.

“I think you should also stop addressing me as a member of the royal family and just call me by my name.” Dahlia also suggested.

“But, Princess-”

“It’s Dahlia.” She cut him off.

“You should get used to it from now on. But if you can’t, I think you should better get back to the palace this instant.” The princess warned him with a smile and stepped out of the cabin. Baron followed.

“So, the nearest village from here is Heinzfield. It is much easier if we just follow the river to get there.” Baron said, but the lady did not pay attention to what he said and just walked away.

“Princess, wait!” The man cried as he walked behind the cabin to get the beast he had brought with him.

Baron sighed, seeing the lady who was already a few meters away from him and kept ignoring him. He then climbed onto the horse's back and galloped to the princess.

"Your Highness," Baron went down.

"We will be traveling for hours. You should ride the horse so you will not get swamped up too much." He told the lady but still got no response from her.

Baron sighed and took a deep breath before he spoke again.

"Dahlia, please." He finally let out.

The lady turned to face him finally and grinned widely.

"It wasn't so hard. Isn't it?" She retorted as she started to put her foot on the stapes while holding the horse's saddle, getting ready to get up on it.

Baron also chuckled to himself.

Once everything was set and ready to go, they started their journey to the next valley.

*****

"I almost lost you," Massimo muttered, sitting on his sofa inside his study while staring at the blurry, black and white photo inside the locket.

"So you finally found it." Alice suddenly interrupted, bursting into the room without any warning.

"Don't you know how to knock? I told you not to just crash inside this chamber without my permission.

"I apologize, Your Highness. But I have news for you that will surely get your interest." Alice announced with her charming voice as she started caressing Massimo's arm and leaned forward near his ear.

"The young princess of Haru Kingdom is coming to kill you." She whispered enticingly.

"And what makes that interesting?" Massimo coldly replied as he closed the locket with his hand and slightly pushed the lady away.

"Well, have you ever thought of expanding your power in this world? Now, this is our chance. If we take down their beloved princess, then we can conquer their kingdom as well." Alice explained further.

"This will be the start of our reign. Get rid of the power of mortals and lead the world." She dreamily added.

However, Massimo only laughed at her scheme and stood up.

"I am the Vampire King, and I've been living for more than three hundred years. I don't need to slaughter a weak princess just to take down a kingdom." He proudly told the lady vampire.

"Then why are you still stuck here doing nothing in this lonely palace of yours?" Alice moved and stood in front of the King, raising her hand to touch his face.

"Let's rule the world together, Massimo," Alice whispered, looking straight at his golden-flared eyes.

However, Massimo is not affected by her seductive act as he is not fond of her cold touches and is still longing for the warm skin of his beloved mortal.