Knights of The Dauntless Princess

Chapter 32: Former General Azalea

"You're the princess?" Shiloh asked in disbelief.

Louie also couldn't believe that he was seeing the princess, and she was with Dravis. The admiration for the princess's beauty was evident in his siblings' eyes, but Louie didn't share the same sentiment.

Quickly, Louie grabbed his sword, which was hanging on the wall near the door. Dravis, Ranz, and Cyrus didn't expect such a reaction from him, and they were about to draw their swords as well.

"No, stop!" Amara calmly ordered. Though the boys were puzzled, they obeyed her command. Nonetheless, they remained on high alert, anticipating what Louie might do to her.

"Big brother!?" Shiloh exclaimed in surprise, and the twins echoed the same.

Louie gritted his teeth, staring sharply at Amara. He tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, breathing deeply as if trying to control himself.

"Why!? Why is this girl with you!?" Louie asked, his gaze fixed on Amara. "Why!? Why is this killer with you!?"

The three men were clearly angered by Louie's harsh words and were about to attack him, but Amara intervened just in time.

"Enough! We're not here to sow discord!" Amara said, smiling again. "Aren't we here to make friends?"

"And who said I'll be friends with you? Leave, because you'll gain nothing from me!" Louie retorted. "I will never befriend the woman who destroyed and disrupted my family."

"Don't speak to the princess like that!!!" Cyrus scolded him, but Louie just shrugged off his remark, throwing mocking glances at him.

"Why not? Is she going to order my head to be chopped off? Huh! Does she still think she's a princess?" Louie turned away. "Wake up! She doesn't live in the castle anymore!"

"We won't give up!" Amara said with determination. "We'll convince you eventually."

Amara turned away from the young man, heading back to her companions without bothering Louie any further. For a few moments, Louie was taken aback, watching her walk away gracefully. In truth, at that moment, he couldn't fathom how a princess could harm her own family, especially when he felt no ill will from Amara. However, the anger still prevailed in him because she remained the reason they had to distance themselves from their mother.

"Let's go. Let's just return," Amara said, and Dravis, Ranz, and Cyrus followed without asking any questions.

Louie couldn't understand why their loyalty seemed to be with the former princess, despite her being the one responsible for all the evil that had befallen the entire kingdom!

"Big brother," Shiloh called him, and Louie met her gaze. "What you did earlier wasn't right! They came here peacefully, so why did you treat them like that!?"

"I've told you, haven't I? They're not our friends! Our lives will be in danger if we get involved with them! Just like our mother, that princess is also being hunted by the law!" Louie explained before he finally turned away from his sister.

Meanwhile, Amara and her group returned to Ranz's campsite. She felt disheartened because she thought she could persuade him, but it seemed she became the reason he became more reluctant to join them.

"Don't think about it, princess! What matters is you tried, right?" Cyrus comforted her.

"That's right! That's right! That crazy guy will come to his senses eventually! Don't be sad, princess!" Ranz added.

Amara could only manage a faint smile for them, and although she didn't want to dwell on what had happened, she couldn't help but keep thinking about it. Louie's words seemed to linger in her mind. She sensed his inherent goodness and knew he must have discovered something through their heated argument. She also considered that he might be angry with her, unaware of the truth behind her actions.

Amara seemed to make a decision that they needed to convince Louie no matter what and that she wouldn't give up until she accomplished that.

"We'll come back tomorrow! We can't leave him without persuading him!" Amara's words were filled with hope, and the three young men looked at her with admiration.

They were pleased with her determination, and even Dravis, who secretly observed from the background, couldn't help but smile.

For a few days and nights, they visited Louie at his house persistently. Rain or shine, the four of them didn't mind making repeated trips to Louie's home just to convince him. Siblings Shiloh, Erica, and Enrico would often look out their window to watch them. Their hearts were filled with sadness as they saw their big brother still turning them away.

One morning, after the rain had stopped, Louie was about to leave to deliver some medicine when he noticed a letter in front of their door. It was a piece of paper weighed down by a stone to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.

Louie picked up the paper with curiosity and read its contents. He felt even more irritated at the thought that the possible author of the letter was none other than Cyrus.

"Go with them! Trust the princess! Danger is coming! You're not safe in that place!" were the words written on that small piece of paper.

Louie gritted his teeth and crumpled the paper. "Are they trying to imitate my mother's handwriting? Are they that desperate? Will they even involve my siblings?"

Louie continued with his departure, and once again, he went about his work on that day.

****

"Hey! Do you know this person?" one of the soldiers rudely asked the vendors, showing them a few sketches on paper. "Someone saw her here!"

"Look! See if you recognize this picture!" He held up pictures of the former general, Azalea. Immediately, the people there shook their heads in response. "Are you sure? Don't hide her from us if you don't want your entire family to be implicated!"

The people whispered amongst themselves, but none of them could share any information about seeing the former general. The soldiers were infuriated because they knew the townsfolk were merely covering for Azalea, whom the citizens remained loyal to. If it were up to the soldiers alone, they would have already burned down that small town in Priya. However, they refrained from doing so because they earned significant profits from the vendors.

"Don't waste any more time on them!" said the apparent leader of the group of soldiers confidently as he walked. "We won't gain anything from those old folks. I know where we can find his family."

Upon hearing this, the vendors clenched their fists and restrained themselves out of concern.

"Where? Where can we find them?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Just follow me! Gather the group, and let's go!" the leader commanded, walking away as if he were a commander, and the soldiers quickly followed.

They followed their leader and walked together along a winding and secluded path towards Louie's house. They did not make a mistake in choosing the right way and soon found his residence.

Shiloh was currently preparing a meal when she heard their arrival in their backyard. The twins were helping her with the household chores, and Louie was still not home by that time.

The siblings seemed excited about their arrival, thinking that Cyrus had returned. However, when they opened the door, they were shocked to see who it really was – soldiers from Emmett.

"S-Shiloh..." Erica trembled, clutching onto her older sister's back.

Though their knees were trembling with fear, they didn't immediately surrender themselves because they knew they had done nothing wrong to them.

"W-Why are you here in our house? W-What do you want?" Shiloh tried to be brave, attempting to protect her siblings.

The leader of the soldiers grinned and signaled his men to search their house. Shiloh's eyes widened, and they tried to stop them.

"Stop! Don't come in! What are you doing!? Let me go!!! Ahhh!!!" Shiloh exclaimed as one of the men grabbed her, causing her to be thrown to the ground.

"Come on, kid, just relax! We're just looking for your mother!" said the leader. "Where is she? If you just let her out, we can leave already! Huh!?"

Shiloh stood up and clenched her fists. "Our mother is not here! Even if you turn the house upside down, you won't find her here!"

The soldier approached Shiloh and asked again, "If that's the case, young lady, where can we find your mother, huh? Do you have any suggestions?"

Due to the irritating smirk on the soldier's face, Nina couldn't take it anymore. "I don't know where she is—"

Before Shiloh could finish her sentence, the man suddenly grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her up while choking her.

"Shiloh!!!" Erica and Enrico shouted.

Shiloh struggled to free herself from the chokehold, but the soldier seemed to enjoy seeing her suffer.

"E-Enrico, E-Erica..." Shiloh gasped for breath.

"You're a liar! Tell me where your mother is!!!" shouted the soldier.

"Let her go! Let go of Shiloh!!!" cried the twins, trying to free their sibling.

"N-No! Please!!! G-Go away!!! R-Run far away... Erica, Enrico!!!" Shiloh pleaded tearfully, feeling hopeless.

"Get out of here... pests!!!" the soldier said angrily and kicked the twins until they lost consciousness.

"N-No, stop!!!" Shiloh protested, but the soldier tightened his grip around her neck.

"Just tell us where she is so you won't get hurt any further!!!" the soldier demanded furiously.

"I-I don't... know! I-I don't know anything—ahhh!!!" Shiloh screamed as the man squeezed her neck, as if he wanted to kill her.

Then... an arrow pierced through the soldier's shoulder, making him cry out in pain. He released Shiloh, who sat down, struggling to catch her breath.

"Ahhh!!! Damn it! Who did that!?" the leader of the soldiers grew even angrier.

The soldier and Shiloh both looked back, gasping for breath. From a distance, they saw a woman holding a bow, ready to attack again. That woman was none other than their mother, Azalea.

"A-Azalea... I knew it! You're still alive! Ahahahaha!" the leader of the soldiers laughed loudly.

"I don't know you, and I don't care who you are," the former general replied coldly. "Leave my children alone! They have done nothing wrong to you!"

The soldier grinned, "So, you're admitting that you're guilty? That you're also one of the traitors to our kingdom!?"

"Think whatever you want, as I said earlier, I don't care!" Azalea retorted and shouted, "Don't involve my children in this!!!"

When the soldiers inside the house heard Azalea's voice while rummaging through their belongings, they quickly rushed out and surrounded her.

"M-Mother!!!" Shiloh exclaimed, her eyes welling up with tears due to worry.

Azalea's arms were forcibly held by the soldier, causing her eyes to glare even more fiercely. The leader grinned and used Shiloh as a barrier in case Azalea attempted to break free again.

"You shameless coward!!!" the former general said, trembling with rage.

"If you don't drop your weapon, I'll be forced to kill your child," the soldier threatened.

"M-Mother, no! Don't do it! They'll capture you— hmm!" The soldier took out a knife and pressed it against Shiloh's neck.

"M-Mother, let her go!!! D-Don't hurt her!!!" Azalea cried, tears streaming down the sides of her eyes. Since the attempt on her life by Emmett's soldiers, she had chosen to stay away from her family to keep them safe from trouble. She endured being far from them just to protect them, but this still happened.

Azalea took a deep breath and had no choice but to release her arrow. Shiloh stared at her, helpless, as she watched herself being captured and hurt by the soldiers. Her mother's hands were tied, and they punched her in the stomach, making her weak.

"N-No, mother! Mother! Mother!!!" Shiloh called out repeatedly, but they didn't listen.

The soldiers eventually arrested the former general, Azalea. They left her unconscious and lying on the ground while Erica and Enrico lay motionless, and they stabbed Shiloh in the shoulder before letting her go.

"N-No! Shiloh!!!" Azalea weakly pleaded, unable to get up to protect her child due to the pain they continued to inflict on her.

The soldiers left, dragging Azalea away. Shiloh struggled to stay conscious and weakly walked to seek help.

At that moment, Dravis and Amara were on their way back to Louie's house when they suddenly stopped in shock upon seeing a bloodied Shiloh.

"Shiloh!" Amara's eyes widened as she saw the young woman, barely walking and holding onto her bleeding shoulder.

Amara felt deep sympathy for her, mixed with anger towards the people who had harmed Shiloh in the past.

"What happened!? Shiloh!?" Amara quickly asked the young woman, but her vision seemed to darken.

Struggling to make out the figures in front of her, Shiloh eventually recognized Amara and her companions, which calmed her.

"H-Help us, please... help me, dear princess," Shiloh pleaded before finally losing consciousness.