Knights of The Dauntless Princess

Chapter 2: Desecration

Five years had passed, and the innocent princess had become a brave and adventurous young lady. Her stubbornness had worn down her mother, the queen, who finally gave in to allowing her to handle weapons. Amara was overjoyed when they permitted her to learn how to fight. She improved her training, and like her father, the king, she excelled and became impressive in that field.

Accompanied by her two guards, Amara saw her father and her uncle, Lord Laxus, conversing on the palace veranda.

"Is that so? How many of them are there? Where did these men come from? Are they from Gustava?" the king asked with a concerned tone.

"I'm not sure, but my men suspect they have hidden weapons in their large wagons," Lord Laxus replied.

Amara furrowed her brow when she noticed the seriousness of their conversation. "What's happening? Is there a problem, father?"

The king turned his gaze towards his daughter and smiled to reassure her. "Lady Amara, you're back! How is your training going?"

"It's going well, Father," Amara answered, then she returned the question, "Why do you seem worried? What's the problem?"

"Nothing, my daughter! Everything is fine," Lord Lennox faked a smile, but Amara, knowing her father well, didn't believe him.

"Fine! I know you won't tell me, then," Amara said, shifting her gaze to her uncle, Lord Laxus. "Please, uncle, you tell me what's going on?"

Lord Laxus chuckled softly.

"Your daughter has a strong intuition, Lennox. You can't deceive her," Lord Laxus said as he faced his niece. "You see, my dearest princess, my men spotted some outsiders heading towards the town of Niall. They have large wagons, and we suspect that they carry hidden weapons. It's similar to what the people from Gustava did before the last war, so your father is worried."

Upon hearing this, Amara immediately turned her gaze to her father. She saw that his eyes were clouded with worry even though he was still smiling. She clenched her fists and made a firm decision.

"I will go there. I will find out who those people are and their purpose in our kingdom!" Amara bravely declared, which startled the king.

"No! You cannot go there! It's dangerous!" her father objected, but Amara's determination was unwavering.

"No! I will go there! I want to stop whatever evil they are planning!" the young woman insisted.

Lord Laxus tapped Lord Lennox's shoulder and smiled. "My dear brother, you know you can't control your daughter. Why don't we let her go?"

"But—" Lord Lennox was about to refuse, but Lord Laxus quickly interjected.

"Your daughter is capable! Don't you trust her? I personally trained her before, so I assure you she won't even get a scratch," Lord Laxus grinned as he nodded to Amara, urging the king to give in. "Don't worry; we'll accompany her with our best warriors!"

"You have nothing to worry about with me, father! I can handle them!" the princess confidently said. "I will also bring Bowen and Leo with me! They are reliable in battle, my dear king!"

The king looked at the two guards, and they bowed to him in respect. He knew he could trust them and that they would not neglect his daughter's safety. Moreover, he also knew that Amara was skilled in combat. She accompanied him in observing and promoting peace in Dillon. She had caught many criminals, and her decisions were just. He thought the mission might be okay for the princess if they only needed to observe those men.

"Alright, go there, but I only want you to observe them! If you notice any suspicious activity, report it immediately to the kingdom! We need to make sure if they are just foreign merchants or spies from another kingdom," ordered Lord Lennox.

The princess was delighted by the trust her father had given her, and they all agreed with the king.

As the king had said, they headed to the town of Niall, but because it was far from their kingdom, it took them nine hours of travel before they reached it on horseback.

"We have arrived, Lady Amara," said Bowen.

The princess nodded and proceeded on the path toward the foreign merchants. They observed their actions to determine their true intentions in the town of Niall. They inspected the entire city, and some of their men pretended to be customers to talk to them. However, they found no evidence or traces indicating they planned something malicious against their beloved town.

They continued observing for five more days but still didn't find anything suspicious about them. Amara began to think they were simply ordinary traders who had come to make a living.

"Let's go back to the palace. I don't see any reason to arrest them," said the princess.

"But what if they suddenly cause trouble without us knowing?" objected the leader of the guards in that town.

"We have conducted an inspection and investigated them. We haven't found any evidence! We know that the town of Niall is one of the prosperous towns of the Emmett Kingdom, so they may be just here to make a living.

"But we shouldn't just rely on our assumptions," he said again to Lady Amara.

"Our investigation provides sufficient grounds, and I haven't found anything suspicious about them. They were only suspected because they were from another place and their wagons were large. Still, there's no other reason to think that they are planning something against us," the young woman insisted, but she also considered their concerns. "But fine, let's do this: my guards and I will return to the palace to report our investigation. You, with your men, continue observing them. You take charge for now; whatever happens, inform the palace immediately."

And so they did. Amara's group returned to Dillon, where Emmett's palace was located. The sun was setting as they reached the town, and Amara was eager to see her family and report that everything was fine. The sky started to pour rain, which added to their anticipation and urgency.

As they approached the palace entrance, they saw a large group of guards waiting there. They were uncertain about what was happening but could sense something was wrong. As they drew closer, they saw how tightly the guards held their weapons and how sharply they stared at them.

"What's happening? Are they waiting for us? But why are they looking at us like that?"

Amara's companions felt the same, so they remained alert due to the confusion in their minds.

"Lady Amara, I have a bad feeling about this," Bowen, her loyal aide, said. "Be careful."

Amara nodded and continued on horseback. When they were a short distance from the guards, the guards suddenly blocked their path. Amara nodded and continued riding her horse. As they drew closer to the soldiers, they pulled on their horse's reins as the soldiers suddenly blocked their path. The princess furrowed her eyebrows and became irritated because they were showing no respect for her as the daughter of their king.

"What's happening here? Why won't you let us in!?" the princess asked sharply, but they remained silent. Instead, the soldiers suddenly attacked them and attempted to kill them!

"LADY AMARA!" Bowen shouted when one of the soldiers tried to strike Amara's horse.

"Argh! Damn it! What madness is this!?" the princess exclaimed as she swiftly drew her sword.

Without hesitation, Amara fought back when she saw that the soldiers were determined to kill them. She was sure that those soldiers were their men, but she couldn't understand why they were doing this to them.

"Hyahh!" Amara yelled as she swung her sword.

"Lady Amara! Leave! We'll take care of this! See what's happening inside!" Ismael, one of the princess's servants, said. "Bowen, Leo, accompany the princess!"

They urged Amara to enter the palace's main gate, even though they were reluctant to fight against their men. Once inside, a gruesome massacre greeted them. The bodies of their loyal soldiers were scattered lifeless, bathing in their own blood. Amara shuddered, but she didn't allow herself to lose courage.

"We need to find Father!" Amara said immediately, and they got off their horses to enter the kingdom.

Relentless fighting met them. They didn't hesitate anymore to kill the soldiers attacking them. They thought those bastards would indeed kill them if they didn't fight.

"Bowen!!!" Amara screamed when she saw Bowen stabbed in his back by an impertinent soldier.

Bowen's eyes widened with blood spewing from his mouth as he fell to the ground. His lifeless body collapsed as the soldier pulled his sword from Bowen's back.

"Bowen!!!" Leo also shouted and killed the soldier who attacked Bowen.

Amara froze and trembled. Tears welled up in her eyes at the loss of one of her loyal guards. Because of that, she was almost about to be attacked by another soldier, but Leo quickly pushed her aside to save her.

"Lady Amara, move—" were Leo's last words before the sword meant for the princess struck him.

"Leo!!!" Amara cried in anguish.

Amara's heart filled with anger at the death of her men, but that anger was not enough to end the bloody battle. She was about to avenge them when, suddenly, a decisive blow struck her from behind, causing her to collapse.

"She shouldn't die! The new king wants to see her!" Amara heard the soldier who attacked her say.

A new king? W-Who is the new king? No, where is my father!? Where are they?

Amara momentarily lost consciousness. She didn't even know if she was still alive. While her eyes were closed, the dreadful princess heard voices around her that caused her to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was lying unconscious on the floor.

Amara raised her gaze and saw her uncle, Lord Laxus, standing before the soldiers she had fought earlier. Amara smiled, thinking she was probably still alive because her uncle had saved her. She tried to stand up and refused to lose hope because her father never taught her to do so.

"Uncle Laxus," Amara exclaimed, which caught their attention. "T-Thank goodness you're here!"

"Oh, Amara! My princess," Lord Laxus said with concern as he approached her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but where is—" Amara couldn't finish her sentence as Lord Laxus suddenly grabbed her neck and choked her. "U-Uncle! W-Why are you doing this to me!?"

She was so confused as she tried to loosen his chokehold on her.

"Isn't it obvious, dear princess? I thought you were smart!?" Lord Laxus grinned and tightened his grip around her neck. "Leave us for a while; I'm just going to have a little talk with my niece."

"Understood, Your Highness," the soldiers immediately obeyed Lord Laxus' command and left the hall.

Upon hearing that, Amara quickly realized everything. He was the one behind the desecration of the kingdom.

"Y-You!!! No! H-How could you— ugh! Where is m-my father!?" she asked, struggling to breathe.

"Why don't you look around you?" Lord Laxus devilishly grinned, and suddenly, a powerful lightning bolt illuminated the dimly lit area.

Amara's eyes widened as she saw her lifeless brother hanging on the wall.

D-Dale!

She also saw her mother's blood-filled body lying on the floor.

M-Mother.

And what crushed her heart the most was seeing her father lying motionless with a sword impaled on his back and bathing in his blood.

"F-Father!!!" tears streamed down Amara's face as she realized it was too late; her family was gone.

"You returned too early, my dear niece. Honestly, I wanted to spare you and make you my ally since I saw your potential in battle, but it seems like destiny wants me to be the sole ruler of our kingdom. It's a shame, but I think it's probably better for you to disappear now!"

"L-Laxus!!!" Yelena, Amara's mother and the queen of the kingdom, weakly called out to him.

M-Mother!

Laxus looked back. He was so surprised to see Yelena quickly throw a dagger at him.

"He did nothing wrong to you, so let go of my daughter!!!" Yelena shouted while the dagger flew towards Laxus' left eye.

Laxus released Amara, clutching his bleeding eye in pain. Amara quickly gasped for breath and was about to approach her mother. Suddenly, the giant door of the hall opened again, and the soldiers started entering.

"Mother—"

"No! Go! Save yourself!!!" her mother restrained her. "Please, for mercy's sake, save yourself, Amara! You should live, my princess!"