The Lonely Silver Princess (Part I)

Hundreds, maybe thousands of people, common civilians, crowded the walls around a castle, trying to climb it with ladders and shouting more curse words than a drunken sailor.

On the top of walls, numerous guards wearing armors were trying to suppress the civilians and stop the situation to aggravate.

The few soldiers who could use magic launched spells on the air, hoping it would scare the people.

However, the civilians were in absolute rampage and ignored the magic and swords of the guards, trying at all costs to invade Fordurn's royal palace.

"They are using ladders!" a young squire said.

"Don't let then climb the wall! Push the ladders!" shouted a man who seemed to be the commander.

"But... they will get hurt. They're just civilians!"

"Civilians who are causing a rebellion! Hurry up if you don't want to be punished!"

"But... why are we doing this? Why should we protect that monster?"

"I hope you aren't planning on deserting, squire…" the commander threatened in a serious tone.

"I… No sir!"

"So, hurry up and push those fucking ladders!"

The guards started to push the ladders hesitantly, since most of them agreed with the civilians and believed the angel should be handed over to the Vigil, a special army led by the Council.

However, despite the mess and shouting, two people next to this agitation seemed totally unaware to the invasion attempts. They were Luna, the adoptive daughter of the king, and Raymond, her bodyguard.

Raymond stood out because of his appearance: young and of average height, his muscles were defined, but hidden under a silver armor.

His eyes were purple, and his short hair was slightly spiked and had the same color as his eyes. The lack of facial hair increased his beauty and youthfulness.

The bodyguard was alert to the commotion. That wasn't the first time the people of Fordurn tried to invade the palace desperately, but they were never so insistent as for the current moment. Even the guards were having a difficult time dealing with them. Which wasn't a surprise since there's only two days left before the Vigil come and erase that kingdom from the maps.

"Your Highness, we should go inside" Raymond noticed the situation was getting worse, and Luna could be in danger if she stayed at the garden of the palace.

However, she didn't react and remained sit observing the orange flowers of the garden without moving a muscle.

"Your Highness?" he repeated slightly louder with his gentle, yet strong voice.

This time the princess heard him. Her body trembled slightly as if she got scared.

Luna turned her face to her bodyguard. "Oh, Raymond. I'm sorry, I was distracted."

Every time she talked; Raymond felt stunned. Her voice was gentle, soft, and carried kindness, like a mother singing a lullaby to her beloved baby. It was a welcoming voice that could stop wars and bring peace, but nobody would listen to her since she was an Angel, the mortal enemy of humanity.

Furthermore, she had a matching beauty to her voice. Her body proportions were perfect as if Goddess Kura herself had shaped her . The long hair was like silver strings that shone harmonically with the sunlight, and her pale skin like snow complemented her beauty, like a fragile yet pretty winter fairy.

Her eyes were blue like ice, they had a small ring of light in the dark part of the pupils, the mark every angel carried, and seemed to search for something faraway and unreachable.

Anyone who laid his eyes into Luna would instantly be stunned and fall in love, as long as they don't know her identity. Raymond always wondered if she, somehow, wasn't Kura herself, or even her daughter.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. Was it that dream again?"

"Yes… That was the second time I have it while I'm awake, it used to happen only when I was sleeping…" Luna remained silent briefly when she remembered the way the bodyguard talked to her. "And I have told you already to just call me by my name, Raymond."

"You know I can't do that, Your Highness."

The princess sighed gently. That was a recurrent matter, and she was tired from repeating herself.

"Anyway, what did you-"

"THE MONSTER IS OVER THERE! LET'S GET HER!" The princess was interrupted by a sudden shout from a civilian who managed to climb the wall.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" the commander scolded the guards. "THROW HIM BACK NOW!"

"Yes sir!" the guards answered while they grabbed the civilian and dragged to throw him back to the crowd.

"Well… It was about that, Your Highness." Raymond said while trying to hold his anger. "We should go inside."

"Oh… Alright…" The princess tried to look strong, but her voice sounded shaky and quiet.

Only now Luna noticed the hundreds of voices shouting the loudest they could and asking for her death.

These voices were like souls shouting from the deepest parts of hell cursing her existence, trying to grab and drag her to the underworld to torture her for the whole eternity.

Luna felt a strong dizziness and needed Raymond's help to stand up. Those raging screams made her nauseous, and she desperately tried to block her ears in the vain attempt to stop those horrible sounds from reaching to her.

This hell has been happening for months, and almost everyday she heard those voices vociferate for her death, since Ardos, the leader of the Council, ordered the king to hand her over for once.

She couldn't even sleep peacefully, because the people continued to shout terrible insults from the other side of the wall. Most of the time, she only managed to sleep by exhaustion after crying for hours.

She cried so many times, that now she couldn't cry anymore, almost as if her tears had dried.

"HURRY UP AND THROW HIM AWAY!" the commander shouted from the wall.

The man was resisting the guards with surprising strength. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was still one against dozens.

He noticed he wouldn't be able to push more and nobody else climbed with him, so he took out a cleaver he had hidden in his pants.

"He's armed!"

"He won't be able to do anything with that toy! We're all wearing armor! Keep pushing!"

However, to the surprise of the guards, an orange flame lit on his hand and covered the cleaver. But, instead of using it to attack the guards, he held the weapon by the blade, preparing a throw aiming a target faraway.

"What?!"

"He can use fire magic!"

"PUSH HIM BEFORE HE DOES SOMETHING!"

All guards acted together and were close to push the man from the wall.

"BURN IN HELL YOU MONSTER!" However, before falling, he throwed the weapon.

The cleaver whirled in the air with a fiery line following it. Somehow, the man managed to aim perfectly, and his weapon flied furiously into Luna.

However, appearing from thin air, an electrical discharge hit the weapon midair, destroying the blade completely. The impact produced a metallic, high-pitched noise that reverberated for a while.

"Wha-What was that?" the princess got scared by the sound, but, when she looked around, she couldn't see anything weird.

"What?"

"I heard something…"

"It was probably the guards on the wall. Let's go in before the people get more agitated."

"Alright..."

Both left the garden in a hurry and walked to Luna's bedroom, and she was scared the whole time.

When they arrived, Raymond waited outside while the princess entered her room, where she would change clothing and go to have lunch with her father Geoffrey, the king of Fordurn.

The bodyguard waited while concerned. Fordurn was just a small kingdom, therefore it didn't stand a chance against the Vigil, an army trained specifically to fight against Angels. Not to mention that Ardos, the leader of the Council, stated he would send one of the ten members of the Council, and each member was so powerful that one could destroy an entire kingdom alone.

Thinking logically, Fordurn had zero chances of survival. However, what was Geoffrey supposed to do? Should he simply hand over her daughter, his only family, even if adoptive, who he raised for twenty years? Or should he sacrifice the people, whom he swore to protect when he took the crown, for the sake of his daughter?

Anyway, Raymond would protect Luna no matter what would happen, even if that lead to him sacrificing his life.

"Sir Raymond, Your Majesty is summoning you to his room."

The bodyguard was slightly distracted when a man with white hair and moustache appeared.

That was Karl, the king's advisor, and he was accompanied by two guards.

"I shall wait for Your Highness to finish changing her clothes." Raymond answered.

"Your Majesty urged for your presence. These soldiers were sent to protect Your Highness while you are absent."

The bodyguard examined the guards and tried to remember their names. "Manfred and… Theodor, correct?"

"That's right. It's impressive that you can remember everyone who work here, even I-" Karl stopped talking suddenly. "Anyway, you should hurry, it might be something important."

"Alright, I will return soon." Raymond left Luna's room and walked through the palace.

He only accepted to leave the princess because he knew Karl and the guards were trustworthy, otherwise he would've stayed there until someone who he could trust showed up, or until Luna finished changing.

Raymond walked quickly to the king's room, and he still delayed a couple of minutes to arrive since the palace was crowded and agitated because of the Council menace.

As he walked, he felt a discomfort behind his ear. Using his hand, he removed a small sharp metallic object that was stuck on his skin and was stained with some blood.

"I should have used more power…"

He continued his path and finally arrived at his destination.

"Your Majesty, I'm here as you called." he said at the same time he knocked the door.

"Raymond? What are you doing here?" the king answered while a servant opened the door.

When Raymond entered, he saw king Geoffrey. He was sitting in front of a table with stacks of documents. The king had a tired visage and long white beard and hair because of the age. The exhausted dark eyes had big and profound dark circles, and, despite his height, the tiredness forced him to hunch his back, making him look shorter.

"Karl told me that Your Majesty called me. Forgive me for my delay, everyone in the palace is-"

"What? Karl was here a couple of seconds ago, he left moments before you arri-"

Before Geoffrey was able to finish his sentence, a loud rumble could be heard through the whole palace. By the sound, it seemed like an explosion.

"Dammit! Raymond, go protect Luna!" Geoffrey urged desperately.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Raymond answered while he turned and ran as fast as possible back to Luna's bedroom.