Page 85 of The White King's Favorite

Cessilia trusted Tessandra’s fighting skills enough to leave her and Sabael behind, but she was more worried about Nana. The young girl had realized what was going on and was helplessly hanging on to her, maybe even crying.

“What do they want? Why are they pursuing us?!”

Cessilia didn’t have time to answer her. She was busy navigating their horse through a place she didn’t know well at all, under the darkness of night and the downpour, riding as fast as possible to the next gate. She was worried more people were after them and targeting her. From the looks of it, this was all a set-up. It was obvious that whoever had made sure they wouldn’t be able to get back through the nearest door had also hired people to attack. Did someone spot Krai when they left? They wanted to get rid of her while she was far from the castle. In this downpour and that place, it would even take a while before they got worried about her and Tessa’s disappearance...

Her main thought was that she couldn’t get Naptunie involved. Although she was a candidate too, chances were low that she was those men’s target. The Royal Guard from earlier had barely glanced at her... Cessilia was glad they had chosen to rent horses. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine the nightmare of escaping those men on foot... She glanced up, but they wouldn’t make it out by the sky, either. Even if she tried to call Krai now, the dragon wouldn’t possibly hear her. They were on their own.

She heard the pounding of several hooves on the streets of cobblestone and glanced over her shoulder. It wasn’t Tessa, but more pursuers! Why were there so many of them? What had become of her cousin? Had she and Sabael chosen another way back? All the streets were so similar, if it wasn’t for Nana guiding her from time to time, she wouldn’t have known where to go... It was getting late and dark too. The streets were getting darker and more intimidating around them, flooded by the rain that wasn’t stopping. Cessilia clenched her teeth and had the horse accelerate, more determined than ever.

“Cessi...”

She heard Nana cry a bit behind her, and she could feel the fear in her voice. It ought to be scary, both their situation and their speed, but they couldn’t slow down. Cessilia had thought about it, but she couldn’t part with Nana, who didn’t know how to ride the horse alone. They had to keep riding until they saw the door, or when Tessandra and Sabael appeared. She didn’t even have a weapon to defend herself with! Even her hands had turned back to normal already, her claws and scales gone...

Suddenly, she heard Nana shout, and something flew past her shoulder. An arrow!

“Nana! Are you okay?”

“My shoulder...”

Nana was hit? Cessilia panicked, but just as she was trying to look behind her, their horse whined loudly, and suddenly pitched up without warning. Cessilia tried to hang on to the bridle, but it was no use; the horse completely collapsed onto its side, and she felt Nana fall off before she did. She heard a scream, one second before her own body fell.

Cessilia’s head hit the ground, brutally. She felt the pain resonate in her whole body, and right after, another wave of pain came, from her lower body this time. Something heavy fell on top of her, crushing her and making her gasp for air.

“Cessi!”

She looked around, trying to see Nana, but her voice had definitely come from above, and Cessilia’s body was stuck in the opposite direction, toward the ground.

“Nana, r-run! I’m fine, g-go!”

“B-but...”

“Run!” Cessilia roared.

The young woman hesitated but took a step back, and turned around, running away while holding her injured shoulder. Cessilia thought she saw the shaft of an arrow sticking out, but she wasn’t sure. For now, she was pressed against the ground by the horse on top of her, barely able to see anything. She could feel the steps and horses running her way. She tried to move, to get out of there. If her arm wasn’t already trapped underneath, she could have lifted that horse off of her! The whole horse’s dead weight was pinning her down, and a normal woman would have been completely unable to move, but Cessilia was stronger than the norm. Grunting and ignoring all the pain in her body, she was fighting to free herself. The downpour felt like it was trying to pin her down too. Each movement let her know of an injury in another part of her body, which made her worried that getting out of there would be for nothing. She could tell her ankle was broken, at the very least, and perhaps a rib or two. She couldn’t believe how bad her situation had gotten in minutes. She couldn’t die here!

She kept trying to push the huge weight off of her with one arm, grunting and panting in the flooded street, looking out for the enemies running her way. She was out of time, and Tessa was nowhere in sight.

“Cessi!”

That voice sent a cold shiver down her spine. Cessilia struggled to turn around, and spotted, from the corner of her eye, Nana’s silhouette running back toward her.

“Nana, no!” she shouted.

“I can’t leave you,” cried the young girl.

She was already by her side, and trying her best to pull the horse. Cessilia was shocked, she couldn’t believe the young woman was back, in tears and probably terrified, but still there. She was in awe at Nana’s bravery, but this was suicide! The men were almost there. She turned her head, seeing their figures almost on them. They were both going to get killed any minute now!

Suddenly, a large shadow jumped over them. The largest black horse she’d ever seen jumped in the middle of the opponent, and silver lightning immediately sliced one of them in two. The action was so fast, their attackers were thrown into complete disarray. The horses panicked, the men shouted, yelled, trying to face the threat. Their weapons were swung around recklessly, unable to take a hold of him. It was like a god of death had appeared among them. An imposing figure, with a black cloak covering him. The large blade was moving swiftly, flying in the air and sending blood and limbs to the ground. Swish, swish, swish. It seemed like he was cutting through men, weapons, and the rain alike. Someone screamed, and orders were shouted to retreat, but that wouldn’t happen. There was nowhere to flee and no way they could escape from that monster among them.

Still pressed against the cold cobblestone, Cessilia could only witness the scene. His large stature as he jumped down from his horse, and when the hood fell back, his white hair flew around him like a mane. He was moving at an impressive speed, yet each of his movements was graceful, perfect. A dance of death defeating all their enemies, leaving them no hope of survival. The teachings of a War God sharpened to perfection. Cessilia was so fascinated, she had completely forgotten about her pain and struggle, just to watch him. Ashen’s fighting stance was fueled by his anger, making him both captivating and scary. She held her breath at each movement of his sword, each time she could see his dark, dangerous eyes shining. The White King was right in front of her, saving her and leaving her breathless, mesmerized. She had to watch his back, mostly, as he refused to move from where he stood, using his long sword to reach all enemies and standing like a wall to defend her. From panic, Cessilia’s heartbeat had switched to a different tune, still so fast, but for a different reason now.

When the last enemies turned around, desperate to flee, he grabbed a blade abandoned on the ground and threw it like a spear across the street. A scream echoed back, and a dull sound. Then, he turned around and ran to cover the short distance between them.

His expression changed from anger to fear as he reached her side.

“Cessilia! Are you alright?”

“I’m... fine,” she grunted, remembering that horse on top of her.

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