Protection of the Lady (closed)

[zydrate]

(send me a PM if you want to join me in this)

1493

Lady Elaina Dupree and her guardsmen made their way through the thick forest. She was on her way to meet her fiance', King Maurice. Yes, soon Elaina would become a queen, as her destiny foretold.

The marriage would unite her country with his, thus making it stronger. In fact, whomever Lady Elaina married would no doubt make their country stronger. Which was why she was traveling with such a heavily armored group. Their sole job was to protect her on her journey or at least die trying.

It would be at least another two nights before they would even be halfway to their destination and then another night before they would be met with guards from the King's court so they could escort Lady Elaina the rest of the way on her journey. All rode horses and also had some guard dogs walking with them. The dogs were on high alert.

Little did the guards know they were being watched. Deep in the forest was someone watching Elaina's every move. Even the scouts they had sent ahead weren't aware of these set of eyes watching. His job was to get Lady Elaina and prevent the marriage between herself and King Maurice. For someone else wanted to marry Elaina, if not for her beauty but for her country.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason Darkblade examined every move made by the party escorting the Lady Elaina. He had been watching them since they had left her castle when they had thought themselves safe, and when they had entered these woods and had become more alert.

It had been a simple manner to slip around their scouts. For one such as him they might not as well have been there. He had been born on the streets and had been abandoned early. Picked at an early age by the guild he had been raised in a strict and disciplined way where a false move meant death. Only one in a hundred boy's made it to graduation but those that did were pure silent killers and were well sort after by Nobles of all Nations for jobs that needed doing. Their rates were high, but no one had ever survived once they were hired and Jason was the top operative. That was why he had been given this job.

This was a very special request. Not a killing this time, but a kidnapping and retrieval. He was to take the princess to a certain Noble who had designs on her kingdom. He wanted to marry her and rule her country. Jason didn't care. A job was a job and his masters wanted it done.

He had all ready spotted several holes in the body guards defense but he would see what they were like at night. Besides his rendezvous was towards the capital anyway, let them carry her part of the way. He saw them getting further away and waited, then ghosted ahead of them to continue his observations.

 

[zydrate]

Her back was starting to ache for she was not used to riding her horse for hours at a time. Her time was spent among the hall, making sure all the needs of the men were met, but it was a small sacrifice she needed to make for her country.

The riding continued for a good 30 minutes more before the head of the guardsmen held up a hand and the riding party stopped. The dogs were on edge as they were held back by their handlers, who were telling them to hush. The horses were also on edge as they stomped nervously at the ground and yanked at their reigns. Reaching over to her horse's neck and patting it, Elaina looked up and surveyed the forest and the path that they stopped on.

"What's the matter?" Elaina asked out loud in a harsh whisper to the rider closer to her. The man shook his head and held up his hand to her for her silence. Something was wrong and the way the party stopped for nothing, so it seemed, made the Lady extremely nervous for all.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason watched as the party halted and began to become nervous, the horses and dogs milling around on edge while the men glanced around trying to spot what had caused their leader's to stop in this spot. Jason looked around himself and could not spot anything. He was far back in the woods and was well concealed. He knew he could not be spotted and he would definitely see and hear anyone approach him before they saw him.

He was intrigued by the leaders actions however. He had issued no orders and his men did not seem to know what to do. No one had moved to guard the princess, the dog handlers had not moved to protect the flanks or moved up to the front ready to unleash their hounds. The men looked for orders that did not seem to be forthcoming and milled around aimlessly. He smiled as he looked at the chaos. If it was like this during daylight hours when they were supposed to be alert, what would they be like at night when they were groggy or trying to come awake. This job looked like it might be easier than he had planned for.

Still he would like to know why the party had stopped. What had spooked the leader? Unfortunately his position did not let him see further down the road so he was blind to what was approaching, but none of the scouts had reported back so he didn't think it was something as trivial as another traveling party.

Had the guild sent another member to increase their chances or was there a rival for his target? Jason allowed a cruel smile to crawl across his face. If it was another member he would be sent back to the guild with his tail between his legs, he did not need help, he was a master and he would prove it yet again. If it was a rival, well they would never even see him before they felt deaths embrace.

 

[zydrate]

Unable to take the tension anymore, the Lady rode up to the leader of the force and regarded him as she spoke, "Why are we stopped sir? Is something the matter?" She asked as she looked around, still not at ease with the situation.

The man held he position for a moment longer and then shook his head at the Lady, "No mi'Lady, I was just being cautious. These woods are known to carry raiders and the such."

Lady Elaina was tired of riding and nodded, "I see, well, let us ride until the sun sets before we find a place to camp for the night, shall we?"

"Of course mi'lady." The leader said before beckoning the group to move along.
****

Another hour and a half of riding was completed before the party halted and set up camp. Most of the men took refuge on the outer parts of the camp while the Lady stayed near the fire in her small make shift tent to give her some sort of privacy. She was exhausted but dared not showed it. The only thing to keep her going was the fact that this time tomorrow night, she would be resting under the castle roof of King Maurice.

As she lay down, Elaina thought of the King. Although she didn't love him and had only met him once when she was a younger girl, she knew this marriage was necessary. It was all for the sake of her country, which she loved dearly. The people of her country deserved the best she could provide and if marrying a King she didn't know would keep them from war with other countries, then so be it. She would make the sacrifice.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason had followed them for the remainder of the day and to make sure he was not detected he had increased his distance from them by a further fifty yards. He still had no trouble observing them and continued to move silently through the trees, jumping from one hiding spot to the next, always keeping the main party in sight.

Finally he saw that they were going to make camp for the night and while they were setting up he moved up closer, taking up a position not ten yards from the picket line they had established. By the time everyone was settled and the guards finally posted he was so well hidden that a person would almost have to be standing right on top of him to spot him.

He saw the Lady had been given a tent to herself in the middle of the camp and her own fire, while several other small ones were set up around the perimeter to provide light for the guards and to ward away wild animals. The guards that had been posted gathered around these fires, warming themselves and chatting while everyone else settled down for the night.

Jason could not believe his luck. These had to be city guards and have never traveled outside the walls they guarded. Anyone that had knew you never looked directly at a fire at night or gathered around one. It killed your night vision and you couldn't see more than the distance that was lit up in front of you. Jason made sure to never look directly at any of the fires as he scanned the camp.

His job had just become a lot easier. He waited until the sun had been down for several hours before moving to the horse line and quietly cutting all of the horses free. They remained where they were for now, but it would only take a loud noise or a well placed thrown stone to set off a stampede. Then stealing two he led them out into the woods and around the camp several hundred yards away from it. Hobbling them he made his way back to the edge of the camp again and settled in.

Most people thought that midnight was the best time to make a move, however that wasn't true. Most guards changed around that time so they would be alert. The best time was around 2 or 3 in the morning. The guards would have been on duty for several hours and be drowsy. The night was at it's darkest and those not on duty would be in a deep sleep. Jason gauged the time by the stars position and sure enough the guards were beginning to doze around the fires. Smiling he ghosted into the camp and quickly made his way to the ladies tent.

Silently he entered and gazed down at her sleeping form. Taking out a small flask and a sharp needle, he dipped the needle into the dark substance then plunged it into her neck then withdrew it. He waited a minute then from another pocket he pulled out a large black sack and bundled her in tying it up tightly. Opening up the tent flap he looked around the carefully made his way out of camp again and to the horses. Tying the sack to one of the horses backs and un hobbling them he ran back and taking a blow gun from his pack he shot one of the horses and watched as they all panicked and stampeded off. Smiling he ran back and vaulted onto his horse and rode off into the night towards his rendezvous point. The drug he had put in the ladies blood would keep her asleep until tomorrow morning.