The Game of Time and Crown

Seventeen

True to his words, we did find the river. I was actually expecting it to be a just little stream with a lot of moss and dirty rocks in it but I was wrong. Just to compare the width or how wide the river is, I could fit twenty people in it with a spaces in between them.

Luckily, the water is not deep and it doesn't have that much strong current. We refill all our bags including the two where we previously put the tomato soup that I made. We sat beside the river and took our rest there since tge water running down and some trees actually made the placer a lot more cool.

I suddenly had the urge to sleep beside the river and yawned.

"Did you not get any sleep last night?"

I looked at Darius whose busy drinking water.

"I did but it's just so cold here. It's so refreshing," i said while smiling.

"Can we stay here and rest for a little longer?"

He nodded. I can see in his face how tired and restless he is. Though we get to rest and sleep every night then now and then, the restlessness in his face doesn't seem to fade away and I don't even need to be a genius to know why.

What happened to him in the palace just doesn't piece together. He would get no profit in doing whatever they think he did. Because first of all, he's not the one next in throne. If he wanted the crown or power or authority or whatever it is, he would have to eliminate Jamshid first and that way, he can already secure the position but by killing the queen, he gets nothing.

Second things is that you wouldn't poison someone in front of so many people where everyone can see you handing out the drink. That is the dumbest way to to that. And with that thought I am very sure now that this is not even a coincidence. It's more of a trap. A frame up.

As I already said, the most vulnerable here is Darius. He has an image to keep and maintain since he's not from the palace. If it weren't for the fact that it is the queen, I would highly doubt Jamshid but that is not possible. Darius said it himself, his brother is not a killer and the fact that it is Jamshid mother, unlike Darius makes it more even impossible.

I actually remembered during the time where Jamshid ordered the seizure of Darius himself. The security in the palace was the first to move but neither any of the knights did. It seems like even in themselves, they cannot believe such thing happened so quickly involving Darius.

I personally think Darius had trained with them because in a few days that I have been in the palace, I always see him with them and the nights seem to know him well.

With the word knight being said, I suddenly missed Amaya. We were not even together, or at least not this body, but I feel like we have a bond or connection that connects us both just like how I could connect to my mother.

I drip my face in to the cold running water of the river just to get some refreshment to help me breath and clear my mind up. I have always loved cold showers.

I looked at Darius and suddenly realized something.

Maybe that is why I am here!

To help him. To serve him justice and to reveal the truth! But what if I failed to do so? Will I be stuck here? How can I even help him when he don't even wanted to reveal the truth. He doesn't even want to go back to Persia.

My shoulders dropped at that thought. How can I

convince him to fight for the truth and to clear his name?

Just as I am about to call him, he suddenly stood up and looked around. My forehead creased in confusion. He ran in my direction and grabbed all the things and grabbed me before helping me mount the horse.

"What is happening?" I asked him.

Fear began to crept in my chest even though he didn't said anything.

"Darius? What is happening?!" I yelled.

He mounted the horse and started to order the horse to move forward.

"They're here. The palace's sent guards, they are here for us."

My eyes went wide.

"But that is impossible! We are almost three days more advanced than them. We never stopped unless it's night an--"

"They never stopped during the night."

"But that's dangerous. Didn't you tell me?"

"For us, We are only two. We have a horse to protect and we only have one dagger. That's the only weapon we have. But them, they travel in groups with lots of supply and weapons. Nothing can stop them," he said.

The horse began to speed up and create a dust in the road we are trailing.

"Don't worry, the gate of the northern country is not far from here. We can make it there." He assured me.

"Prince Darius of Persia! Stop where you are!"

I looked back and a group of almost fifteen soldiers are riding their own horses in almost the same speed as us.

"There!" Darius shouted.

I looked ahead and saw a a wood gate that is painted in white.

An arrow missed us just almost hitting Darius' arms. It made me shrieked but I tried my hardest to calm down.

"The gate is closed!" I yelled.

Darius puts his arms in a bag and pulled out a red flag which I am sure is the flag of Persia. He waved it at the air several times but as we get closer to the gate, nothing happens.

I heard him cursed repeatedly before redirecting the horse to the left of the palace which is a deep forest. We passed through several branches and I heard him winced and curse repeatedly because of the sharp branches that hits us but he didn't stop or even slowed down. We once again encountered the river and Darius got down before me. We have gone across the river with Darius holding the horse and me carrying the bags. We wasted no time after we reached the other end and got back in to riding the horse and continues to run far away.

Darius made several turn before reaching a cave. We finally got down in the horse and entered it. It looked like a small one from outside but when we got inside, it was a very large and spacious one. The floor isn't balanced and since it's not leveled up, there were some parts of the cave that is wet and slippery. We led the horse inside and I actually find it amazing that Caspian fits because if he didn't it would be a giveaway for someone who is looking for us.

Even though we didn't have to run in by foot, I definitely need a second to catch my breath. I sat at the slippery rock and tried to breath normally but ended up breathing like I just ran a mile.

"You okay?" Darius asked me while trying to normalize his breathing.

I nodded.

"Why did no one opened the gate?" I said, frustrated.

"No one was in the watch tower."

I felt my knees trembling as I tried to calm my self down. Even Darius took some time to just sit and catch his breath.

"What's going to happen? What if we can't go out now? They will be roaming this place and before we know it, this place will be swarmed with Persian Guards." I cried.

Darius walk back and forth trying to think of something.

"Are those knights or guards?" I asked out of nowhere.

"Guards. Knights will never participate in this kind of hunt especially they're hunting a Prince."

"You can take them down, right? Then we'll make a run to the gates and we will be safe. We will bring Caspian and we will stew and strawberries--if that exist here and dress warm clothes and- and--"

"Hey, Laide. Breath."

He came to me and tapped my shoulders continuously.

That's the first time I heard him say this body's name and it felt weird because that is how my father call me and all the people close to me.

My breathing started to slow down and I suddenly felt dizzy. My head ended up in Darius shoulders and I tried my hardest to just make my feeling a little bit better.

"We are going to try before the sun sets and look out for a way we can make it."

"We will make it," he whispered.

As my heart beat slows down, I felt the calming warm of Darius' embrace and I started to drift off to sleep.

When I woke up, I was lying comfortably to Darius' scarf with an empty bag as my pillow. I sat and looked for Darius but he was nowhere to be found. I was about to panic when he suddenly entered the cave with a frog in a stick.

You have to be kidding me.

He made fire inside the cave before cooking the frog. I shook my head in misery.

"You can have all of that, I am not eating that," I said while trying so hard not to vomit in front of him.

"You're a knight," he chuckled.

"No, not this time. I am a different person."

He laughed.

"Okay, but I will be leaving one in case you get hungry."

"You should probably eat it." I convinced him.

But still, when I turned around, he still left one cooked frog at the stick.

I am not a vegetarian but I will not be eating frogs, I can't just swallow them.

I came back to my position and tried to take a nap and luckily, since my body was so high in adrenaline earlier it just took me a few seconds to feel tired and sleepy.

When I woke up, it is already dark and I saw Darius sitting from a far while looking at his dagger. I don't know where it came from and I didn't get to look at it closely but it looks like it is valuable to him.

"We have to go take a look around."

I stood up and fought the goosebumps I had due to the nervousness I am feeling. We left Caspian tied together with our belongings.

When we left the cave it was already dark outside since the sun is already setting. When it's dark enough, we took our steps in going back to the gate. If ever we saw someone in the watch tower, Darius would present the flag to let them know where we are from and then we can take some knights with us to pick up Caspian.

If the North took shelter of us, the Persians cannot arrest us without the castle's permission. When we are almost near the tower, the wind blows so hard that I shivered in it's coldness.

We are still a bit far away from the castle but we can see the lit of the torches from here and some lights in the main castle. There weren't any people roaming in the outside.

"You think they are still here?"

Darius looked at me.

"The guards of Persia," I whispered.

He nodded.

"But aren't they just guards, I mean the knights are obviously more skillful than them, right?"

He shook his head.

"The knights and the Guards received two very different training and they are both good at it. Persia took it's security very serious so don't expect that they are lower or weaker and you can outsmart them easily." he warned.

His statement didn't even helped at all.

We were just about to take another step when we both heard something from behind but only found that it was just another group of toads.

When we turned our gazes back at the castle we both looked at each other nervously.

The torches are no longer lit. There were not a single light on the whole palace.