The Game of Time and Crown

Eight

There is a loud noise. Screams.

I am in a hospital?

As i opened my eyes, i could hear my rugged breath and a staggering pain at my side. I whimpered as i tried to move.

The surrounding was so hot i feel like there was a fire burning just beside me.

Everything was blurred but i tried my hardest to clear my eyes.

"Laide!"

What?

I looked up only to realize that i was actually lying down. A woman approaches me and and tried to say something.

"Laide, they're hear. You need to get up."

Whose here?

I made a mumbling sound.

"Who are you?" I asked.

As my vision begun to clear up, I saw a woman, about my age, standing in front of me while wearing an armor that seems like an old one and a rusty one with a sword that is bigger than my whole arms.

"What the--"

I was cut off when i heard a sound and realized

a horn. Someone us blowing a horn.

"Here's your sword." She hands me a sword inside a leather case.

"Pull yourself together, the Persians are here."

"What?"

I slowly stood up and let my eyes adjust in the surroundings. Everybody is rushing back and forth with their crossbows, bows and arrows and a lot of swords.

Huge ones.

"What? What is happening?" I uttered.

"Laide! We need to go in formation now!" the woman yelled again.

Laide? She know me?

I hurried up to her pace.

"You know me?" I asked her.

She stopped walking and looked at me.

"Of course I know you! What are you talking about?!"

"Then who are you?" I asked her.

She made a full stop and faced me.

"The Persians are here. Now, I don't know if you're drunk but get yourself together! I don't want you to die in the most idiotic way possible!" she screamed.

I confusedly followed her while never stopping to look around and observe.

The last time i remembered, i was in a hotel.

Right! I was in my hotel!

"My God," i muttered. "The Prince."

The woman looked at me.

"Probably both of them are going to be here. We're going to be on the lookout and if the gates are breached, we're going to go back to the palace to guard the princess."

I just nodded.

Where am I?

To answer my question, I looked at the far east of my back and there it was.

A castle.

The castle itself was surrounded by a towering wall so i was able to see just almost the tip of it.

"My God," i utter in a frightened tone.

Suddenly, i remembered what the woman told me earlier.

They're here. The Persians are here.

"Persia."

I began to shake as i calculate how long it has been since a country was still called Persia and I almost drop to my knees in horror.

I, once again look at everything and i felt beads of cold sweat drip in my forehead.

As i took a step back, I hit the stand where there are daggers in store and it scattered into the ground.

I was just about to let out a frightening shriek when something hit me.

"We are in a war. In the middle of the war," I mumbled.

So I listened to the first thing my body told me.

I ran.

But then I remembered the woman. She was so brave. The castle. Everything.

I am nowhere near my hotel or anywhere near my period.

I have nowhere to go.

With my wobbly knees, i turn back and grabbed 'my' sword and followed the almost gone woman.

We stood on a higher ground where we can see the village and almost all of the people are being moved by the soldiers. There were a huge amount of knights in standby of the burning gate which is not far away.

And outside of that is a swarm of heavily armed men and in front of them is a man wearing a silver and gold armor and the only one riding a horse.

I could hear my breath as I struggle to stand on my knees.

I don't know if I should be thankful that there is only one Prince but a hundred of men behind him.

"That's odd."

I turn my gaze to an older man who is wearing nothing but a thick beige wool.

He nervously looked around as if hoping to find someone.

"What?" the woman asked him.

"The King is physically weak right now, but both the Princes are in great condition but only one of them is outside."

The woman sigh nervously.

"I've seen the two fight alongside each other and i know that they both know they are stronger together. So this is a mystery," he continued.

The man motioned one of the guards to come over.

"Double your security at the main gate of the palace, and evacuate Princess Laleh," he ordered him.

"I am sorry, Sir but the Princess made it clear she's not going without her two most trusted knight." He looked at us.

"But we need both of them here."

"We will retreat once the second wall is broken, go back to the palace as fast as we can and evacuate the Princess to safety," the woman beside me suggested.

The man seems to be unconvinced but was left with no choice but to nod.

"Amaya, Laide. I trust in both of you."

I slightly flinched when he called out our names.

So it's her name.

Amaya.

This body seems to be very close to her.

"Come on," Amaya motioned me.

I walked beside her and was about to leave to go to the other tower when i noticed something. Amaya herself was so attentive that when she notice me turn around, she looked at the same direction that i did.

"Sh*t," she cursed.

There was group of three men climbing up the wall and not long after we saw them, the first one managed to stand atop of the walls and pull out a horn and sounded it.

I swear, I think even from afar I saw him smirk.

"The third wall is breached! Send your troupes on the western gate!" the man whose with us shouted.

"How many groups are in there?!" Amaya furiously asked.

The knights looked at each other but didn't answer.

"How could you leave that gate unattended?!" she yelled at them.

"But all of the Persian forces are there!" one of them reasoned out.

"Then what do you call that? That is the Prince of Persia! That is a Persian! You idiot!" the man shouted.

Seven groups of knights were dispersed in the area.

I don't think they're gonna make it," i mumbled.

"What should we do?" Amaya asked me.

I was taken aback and never got the tongue to answer her immediately.

"We'll have to go there," I blurted.

"That's right. And face that overly confident Prince."

We ran and jogged to the direction of the wall that they've climbed.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. Pen is mightier than sword," I complained while trying to catch my breath.

"Why do we always have to face the smart one?" Amaya mumbled under her breath.

When we arrived at the wall, there were only 3 knights left and still all of the invaders are still standing strong.

I immediately recognized the one who sounded the horn and was pretty sure that this is the other Prince who is probably a monkey or a lizard.

Because who the f**k can climb a wall like it's nothing?!

I draw my sword, almost as if this body knows how to, and pointed it at them. I memorized how the two looked like because i don't want to accidentally killed our knights. It was made easier when i realized that our troupes are wearing a almost dark cyan uniform underneath the armors and the Persians are wearing red one.

"You take the Prince, I'll take the two. Be careful."

Before I can protest, Amaya was gone.

I tried to search for him but i just saw him ran towards the direction where the other gates of the village is located.

"Aren't Princes suppose to be pampered?"

I took the same path he did, turning left and running as fast as I could. I saw his back running like he was just jogging. He wore a black long sleeve shirt that is something similar to the white ones that people used to wear when during sword duels in movies, and a dark red scarf around his neck and a leather vambraces on both of his arms.

Now, i don't know if I am slow or he's just fast but just to say, two cars can park right in front of our interval, that's how far he is from me.

My eyes went wide when i realized that he is now approaching the third gate of the village and is already making way to open it when two guards came in and surrounded him.

I hurried up to run until i reached the gate. The guards were still surrounding him.

I almost dropped to my knees due to sudden stop but still, I managed to stand up still.

The scarf covers almost half of his face and i can only see his eyes.

What if he's not the Prince?

I looked at him. He wears no armor at all. His skin is tanned and his hair is messy. The only giveaway i found is his sword.

It's handle is silver with gold and black linings in it and something is carved in it's blade.

I pointed my sword at him and he looked right through me.

I had to take a step back because i had goosebumps all over my body. I almost fell to the ground when i saw his eyes,

They were bright shade of emerald green.

"Stay where you are!" I shouted.

"I didn't came here to stay," he answered.

I charge towards him with my sword in front but he immediately deflected it.

I don't even know why I did that.

My arms went straight up and swing the sword right in front of his chest and he barely manages to escape it. The other two guards helped me in fighting him but he seems to have four arms.

He manages to disarm one of them making his sword double, with his original one on his right hand and the other on the left. He cracked the neck of the other and that made me took a step back.

When i was about to charge at him again, he pointed his sword right in front of me, only an inch away from my throat.

"I've never seen a female knight in our country. We never had one." he said.

"Better. You might've

One arrow flew right pass in his face. It went straight to the ground with his scarf.

I looked at him but was stunned. I felt my muscles froze and my mouth fell open.

"W-what the hell?"I mumbled.

"Darius?" I utter

He tilted his head.

"Oh! You know my name," he smirked.

"No," i unbelievably whispered.

"You just said it." He smiled but then turned to the gate.

I was snapped back at reality when i heard the loud creak and a metal clicking.

"The Gate!"

I looked back to see Amaya from afar screaming and running towards my direction.

The gate swung open and knight wearing red vest and carrying red flags flooded the village while i just stood there, astounded.

"What happened?!" Amaya held my shoulders and shook me.

"Are you bewitched?!" she yelled with a worried face.

"He's Prince Darius," I mumbled.

"What did he do?"

"That's impossible," i confusedly said while tilting my head.

"They're heading directly to the palace!"

I blinked and a flash of earlier memory gone through my eyes.

he has the same emerald green eyes.

It's impossible. Because that Prince looks exactly like Prince Darius. Exactly like him.