Chapter 9

ALEX

We'd arrived at the battlefield, which was desert-like and surrounded by tall mountains. It was extremely quiet. Something was wrong.

"Something isn't right," I murmured.

We were supposed to meet a troop here to renegotiate before the war started. It's a trap. It suddenly occurred to me that our meeting here was part of their plan.

"Father..." The shrieking of one of the soldiers cut me off.

Arrows began to fall from the sky and strike our soldiers.

"IT'S A TRAP!" exclaimed Cornelius.

The formation was quickly formed, and my father and I were shielded. Fear gripped the soldiers as more were hit.

"We'll lose more lives if we stay here," I yelled.

We reformed our formation by forming a circular shape and shooting arrows from below to above. It wasn't enough, but it was enough to cause a commotion.

Suddenly, more soldiers emerged from a location I couldn't identify. We drew our swords and confronted them. They had us pretty well figured out, but they won't be able to get the better of us. I fought them with all that I had within me. As I passed my sword through one, more approached. I had no idea where father, Clint, or Cornelius was. All I wanted was for them to be fine.

The sword slashed through more enemy soldiers, and I could feel the weight of blood on it. At times like this, I put my emotions aside and concentrate on surviving. It's never been my intention to take people's lives, but the circumstances and position I've found myself in leave me with no choice.

"Agh!" As sharp pain passed through my hand, I grunted.

I turned to the source of the pain and slashed his head off his body with one slash. As the war dragged on, my energy dwindled quickly. It seemed to go on forever. It was a relief to find Clint.

"There are too many of them; we can't outrun them." Clint groaned.

"We can't give up. Not yet, anyway" I stated unequivocally.

We pushed harder and fought harder, and the English soldiers seemed to lose concentration. We attacked them more aggressively and reduced their number significantly.

"RETREAT!!" One of the opposing soldiers yelled.

They quickly stopped fighting us and left our premises.

As I sighed, the sword in my hand became heavier. Father. My thoughts were drawn to him. I looked for him and found him with Cornelius.

"Son," he said, nodding briefly.

We camped out of the way of the wilderness. We were resting, but our guards were not down. Some wounded soldiers were treated, and the bodies of those who died were preserved. Some of them, at least.

"We must be extremely cautious and alert at this time." According to Cornelius

We were inside the tent, preparing for battle.

"Clint, you'll be holding reinforcement. 'The Archers'." I informed him. "You're not joining us," I clarified.

"Isn't it dangerous? We need everyone here." Father also added

"We die together if we're together," I stated. "The English soldiers will rethink their attack strategies. They employ tactics, and we must outwit them in this regard " I tacked on.

"Does that mean that separating us is the best option?" Cornelius inquired.

"I believe so," I stated “.

They were all silent.

"Clint, you'll have 200 soldiers with you. You'll be the one we rely on in the end " I locked my gaze on him.

We planned more and prepared for a lot more.

***

Back in the fields, we were confronted with a larger force. They fought against us, and we fought back.

The tension was higher, and the pain of lost soldiers was the battleground.

Their mode of attack had shifted, as expected. They appeared to be attacking more effectively, but that will not deter us. When my sword collided with one of them, I immediately pulled out my bow and arrow from behind me and shot one that was almost as big as one of our soldiers' heads. The more we fought, the more opponents there were. I almost regret asking Clint to stay behind. We fought much harder and reduced their numbers significantly. To my surprise, the English soldiers arrived with large catapults capable of removing at least ten soldiers.

"What in the world..." I muttered to myself.

Cornelius yelled, "FORMATION!"

To protect ourselves from the falling stone, we surrounded ourselves with shields. They threw large rocks, which landed on our shields. The stones were heavy and came with full force, which weakened our soldiers and meant that the shields couldn't stay for long. More rocks fell, and the shields began to crumble.

"Where are you, Clint?" I muttered to myself.

As soon as the England soldiers noticed our dislocation, they charged us with spears, and I leaped from my shields to attack them, preventing them from approaching us. Cornelius, along with a few soldiers, joined me. More stones fell, and the shields began to separate gradually.

We won't be able to measure up.

A large rock landed close to me, and if I had taken one more step forward, I would have died. It knocked me to the ground and separated me from my sword. When one of the opposing soldiers approached me with a spear, I jumped up, weaved the piercing point, and kicked his stomach. He lost his balance briefly, and before he could regain it, I kicked his hand, causing the spear to fall from it. I kicked his stomach again, this time harder, and he fell to the floor. I pierced his heart with his spear in my hand, advancing on the other soldiers, and attacked them. Our army had been drastically reduced, and we were running out of time. More stones continued to fall, and the shields eventually disintegrated.

With one more shot, we'll all be dead.

"Why isn't Clint here?" Cornelius yelled.

Suddenly, a swarm of well-aimed arrows flew above us, landing specifically on the soldiers in charge of the catapult.

As we dropped our shields and advanced on the opposing soldiers, I couldn't help but smile. More arrows were fired at them, and we dispatched the ones wielding spears. Clint joined the fight, and we advanced.

As the soldiers from England withdrew, they raised a white flag.

We yelled in triumph, knowing full well that we had won the war.

Clint said, "Well done, your highness," and I smiled back.

We did it. Many lives were lost, but we survived and triumphed. Finally, I'll be able to return. My face lit up with a smile as I remembered Mia.

We returned to our campsite and prepared to leave.

My father patted my shoulder and said, "Well done, son, I'm proud of you. I knew you'd be strong enough to rule the kingdom."

"Thank you, Father," I said with a smile.

"Remember what I told you earlier about my plans for you?" He recalled

"Oh yes, Father," I replied, curious about this plan.

"Actually, I sent a marriage proposal to the Princess of the Netherlands, and she accepted," he said with a smile.

As he made the statement, my heart sank.

"What?" I inquired, surprised.

"Well, I know you two had a thing once, so I thought it would be appropriate to make it official now," he continued.

"No, Father, we never had anything...why didn't you tell me before you did this?" I walked agitatedly.

This is not acceptable. What is Mia's fate going to be? I don't want to marry anyone else.

"Are you all right, son? You don't appear to be pleased with this proposal " he stated

"I'm not, father. I'm not interested in marrying Princess Arenila " I spoke quickly.

"Why?" He arched his brow. "Is there anything I don't understand?" he inquired

"I...I love someone else," I explained.

"Is she a Princess?" He inquired sternly.

I paused. "No"

"Then I'm sorry, son, it's not going to happen. You are not permitted to marry her " he explained

I'm curious what he has against peasants. Since my mother's death, he has closed down the palace's contacts with the outside world. I couldn't make friends other than princes, I couldn't fall in love with anyone other than princesses, and everything I did was restricted to the palace. It was simply too constrained.

"But why do you have a grudge against the people outside? You never wanted me to go outside or interact with others. What makes you their king if you refuse to interact with them?"

"I meet their needs," he explained.

"It's not just about meeting their needs, Father; they also need to see you. They must understand who their King is " I stated.

He came to a halt. "No. They don't need to know who I am, and I don't need to know who they are. They're fine once their needs are met " He stated this. "This discussion is over. When we return, we will begin planning your wedding " He said this as he walked out of the tent.

I have a feeling there's something I don't know about, and I'm going to find out. I'm not marrying anyone other than Mia.