Challenge: Prompt 2 (2024)
Prompt:
A prince needs rescuing. This is a turn of events since you are used to being the damsel in distress. How do you save him?
DISCLAIMER:
There have been questions in regards to using AI for these. I use spelling and grammar checkers, however the ideas and writing are all my own. I do not use AI to create the prompts or stories.
“What are you doing here?” the general asked. “Someone get the princess out of here.”
“I can help,” she replied.
She was shocked that he noticed her so fast. She was trying to hug the wall like a fly and use the ranking officers in the room for cover. Two guards grabbed her arms and tried to remove her. She fought them, planting her feet.
“No,” she said, conjuring her best impression of the king. “I can help you.”
“Oh, really? How is that?” the general asked.
“Well… I-!,” she faltered.
“Get her out!” he ordered again.
"I can give an alternative perspective. I-I'm an old pro at getting kidnapped."
The guards grabbed her arms, dragging her toward the exit.
"And I'm smart," she said.
The guards continued pulling her toward the door. She fought them, digging her heels into the stone floors of the war room.
“No,” she said. “I can help. I don’t know how, yet, because I don’t have the details. I’ve been in his shoes before. I know things that you don’t.”
“Such as…?”
“Such as…” she said.
She looked around at the drawings and scrawlings covering the room. Over the last few years, the general had become excellent at finding her, but with her brother gone, he seemed somewhat lost. Like he was floundering. She didn’t have a plan yet, but her brother always helped with her escape and she was going to help with his, if only these drawings could give her something. She noticed a note in handwriting that didn’t match the others.
“There’s a ransom?” she asked.
“That’s none of your business.”
“They’ve never wanted a ransom for me.”
“You’re not the heir.”
“I am if he dies,” she said, noticing another note’s contents.
There was a long and tense silence where the princess and the general held eye contact. The general was the first to look away. He was looking down at the map, but it seemed more like he was hanging his head. She wasn’t sure why.
She had been the damsel in distress too many times and for countless reasons. The princess knew the prince must be as scared as she was the first time. She wanted to get him home as soon as possible. She took advantage of the general’s shame to gather as much information as she could about her brother’s whereabouts.
Behind the general, in a place she could only see because his head was down, there was a piece of paper with her name scrawled across it and a question mark. Over the question mark was a big red ‘X’.
“So you think it's me?” she asked. “You think I’d put my brother through that? I love my brother.”
“No,” the general said. “I would never accuse you, princess. But you have the only motive we can think of. And the demand for money seems odd, considering...”
"Considering what?"
"That they only gave us until nightfall to get the money. Whoever made the demand either thinks the kingdom has more money than it does. Or they need time."
"Is that what makes me a suspect?"
"There's something bigger going on here."
"And that makes me a suspect?"
"It means you're the one with the best motive. Don't think I didn't know about your little escapades to Midtown Hearth. You know how to leave the city and the castle without being seen. This seems like a good cover."
“In other words, ‘yes’?” She shook her head, backing away. “You know what? I’ll do it on my own and we’ll see who frees him first. I'll show you it wasn't me.”
“Don’t waste your time,” he warned. “We’ve got this.”
She turned and stormed out. She wasn’t sure where she was headed, but she sure as heck wasn’t going back to her room.
She walked with determination down the long hall from the War Room to the rest of the ornate castle. Regardless of what she was going to do, until she was out of sight of the War Room, she was going to look confident. She passed the doors to the barracks for the newest additions to the Royal Guard. The hall terminated in a massive foyer. As she approached the foyer, an idea struck her. She turned on her heels and marched half-way back to the War Room.
She stopped outside one of the doors to the barracks and took a deep breath. The princess wasn’t completely convinced this was the right way to go, but the king and queen would never let her go if they knew. Her only hope was convincing a new soldier she had more power over him than she actually did. She took another breath and stilled herself. She put a hand on the knob and pushed.
“Ouch!” she said, running into the door.
It was locked. She rubbed her forehead and turned to the one across the hall. She walked closer to it and listened for voices. There was laughter and cheering. The princess prepared herself for what was beyond the door. She grabbed the handle and turned it. The door was significantly easier to open than the first.
Their laughter faded expeditiously when they realized who was there. Several were naked and jumped to cover their private parts. A few of the naked ones made no effort to cover up. Some jumped to attention. One was on the floor and jumped to his feet. A few were in their beds resting and one or two of them sat or stood up.
She hadn’t thought this far ahead.
“What is it, princess?” one said.
The man looked like he was carved by the gods from stone. He made no effort to cover himself and he stood with the confidence of a man well above his echelon. The beige garment he held had the word 'Garix' in red lettering along the hem. She wondered if that was his name or something else. She hadn't bothered to learn much about the new army, so for all she knew that could be his rank. Which was curious since, in the ancient tongue, 'garryx' was a term for a magician. More like trickster, but 'magician' was the word many
She cleared her throat.
“I’m going to save my brother,” she said, confidently.
The silence that followed felt as if it lasted an eternity. Then they all erupted in laughter. Her face contorted with rage at not being taken seriously, but she bit her tongue trying to put the right words together.
“Fine,” she said with a shrug. “I guess you don’t want a reward for helping the princess. Have a nice day, gentlemen.”
She turned and left.
Laughter erupted when the door closed behind her.
Fine, she thought, if they won’t help me, I’ll figure out another way.
She walked down the hall to the foyer, then to her room. In her room, she pulled out paper and a pencil and started to write everything she could remember from the War Room. When that was done, she laid out all the pieces of information, hoping they were correct.
The princess thought about the fact that she was a suspect and what the implications of that were. She also pondered how the prince’s kidnapping might tie back to her other than, in some lower echelons’ minds, motive to be the queen.
The princess didn’t care about that. She wasn’t frivolous like the prince. She wanted more out of life than to be bought and sold to broker peace. She also didn’t want to rule thousands of people and make decisions that make or break them. She wanted something simpler than that and more than being property.
She wanted freedom to choose. She would be satisfied living life as a pauper if it meant she got to choose it.
That’s why she felt so strongly about saving her brother.
She thought back to the last time she was the one kidnapped. The people who had taken her were trying to lure her parents out of the safe walls of their castle.
“Maybe this is a bad idea,” she whispered. “No. No, I have to be the one. To prove I’m more.”
Knock, knock, knock.
She stood up and walked to her door.
“Mom’s heard by now. I bet she’s livid.”
She opened her door and was greeted by one of the soldiers from the barracks.
“Why are—” The man pushed past her, cutting her off.
She wasn’t comfortable being alone with him in her room.
“Shut the door,” the man ordered.
The princess did as she was told. She needed help and hopefully he would be willing.
The man removed his cover and his hair fell down around his shoulders.
“Listen to me, princess,” the soldier said, only his voice was more feminine this time,
“some of the soldiers are on their way here, right now. Don’t trust them. They were part of the plan to kidnap your brother.”
“And why should I trust you? You’re not even supposed to be part of The King’s Army.”
“I can help you find your brother.”
“Why should I believe that?”
“Because the penalty for what I’ve done is death. If I’m wrong, hang me. Burn me at the stake. Chop off my head and feed it to the crows. Whatever you want. But if I’m right, spare me.”
The princess was intrigued by this offer, but she didn’t have the power to make those choices. First her father, then her mother (if, gods forbid, father were not alive), then her brother would get the choice over her. Did this soldier know that though?
If she did, she wouldn’t have asked, the princess thought.
“Fine,” the princess said.
“We need to leave now, then,” the soldier said.
The soldier pushed past the princess toward the door. The princess stopped her.
“You need a disguise,” the princess said. “There will be less questions about my going out with a handmaid than a soldier. Borrow one of my old dresses. I think I have one about your size.”
“As long as it's not pink.”
“I can do that.”
The soldier rolled her eyes while the princess went to her closet and pulled a simple and lightweight green dress for the soldier. Together, they got the soldier into the dress and tightened it enough that it would stay up.
The princess hadn’t worn this dress since her thirteenth year, but even then she was more developed than the soldier. It had been her favorite dress back then. She had worn it so much that the fabric was somewhat stretched and torn in a few places. One tear served perfectly for hiding a sword on a belt. The soldier took advantage of the looseness to hide her dagger and a knife.
“Here,” the soldier said, handing the princess a knife. “Take it, just in case.”
The princess took the knife. It looked like a miniature version of the soldier’s sword, sheath and all. She hid the knife in the folds of her skirt. Then she grabbed a pouch of coins and with that, they left.
They walked from the princess’ room to the foyer where the general stopped them.
“Hey, have you seen the queen?” he asked, then he tilted his head to one side and looked at the soldier. “Do I know you, handmaid?”
The soldier looked at the ground and shook her head.
“I think she’s in the kitchen. You know how she is the week before a ball,” the princess lied.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“The courtyard for a walk. I’m going stir crazy without my brother,” the princess said. “I need to walk off some of this energy.”
“Do me a favor,” the general said. “Make it quick. There’s something off and I want you where I can keep an eye on you.”
“You won’t even notice I’m gone,” the princess said.
The princess and the soldier walked out the front and into the courtyard.
“Princess, we have to leave,” the soldier objected.
“I know. There’s a way out through the courtyard. A secret passage my brother and I used to use to visit the city. How do you think I got kidnapped all the time?”
They walked the stone paths toward the wall that protected the royal family from the outside world. It had been close to seven years since the princess had been this way, so she started to wonder if she had forgotten the way when it came into view.
The princess remembered running this path as kids, racing to the outside world. They used to joke that the courtyard was hell on earth because it was the only thing that stood between what they wanted to do and what they had to do. The running made every step to the passage faster than it was going now, but she was trying not to draw attention to themselves as escape drew nearer.
The castle had been built near the beach many generations ago. Due to the proximity to water, the princess’ ancestors had created pools to collect water from the high tide which was then collected and used to water the garden, make food, bath, and wash clothing. They had proven to be weak spots in the last war. Most of them were cemented over before the king was born. Two were left open. One by the kitchen. The other between the garden and courtyard.
That was the one they were headed to.
“Can you swim?” the princess asked as they approached their way out.
“It’s part o—”
“Princess!” the general’s voice roared from somewhere near the castle. “Run! Get out! Get your brother and don’t lo—”
The princess’ heart pounded in her ears to the timing of her footfalls. Her feet moved as fast as her heart, getting faster as they ran. She dove into the salty water and swam for the gate that kept sea creatures out. Her dress was heavy, but she kicked her feet harder. She pulled the lever that lifted the gate and swam through. The salty water burned her eyes as she watched for the soldier.
The princess pulled the soldier through and shut the gate. Her lungs were starting to burn from holding her breath, so she kicked off the bottom of the pool. When her face broke the surface, she took a huge breath of the thick air. The princess swam out of range of the castle’s weapons before taking the same route she used to.
She looked over her shoulder to see the soldier just behind her, following her. When they landed on a part of the beach that was out of sight from the castle walls, the princess laid in the sand, breathing heavily. She was trying to process what had just happened. She had never been a fan of the general, but he had been loyal to her family. Once upon a time, the princess had even been a mentor to his young daughter.
The soldier crawled onto the beach, heaving.
“You…swim…fast,” the soldier said between breaths.
“Catch your breath,” the princess said.
“You’re surprisingly calm.”
“I’ve been imagining this my whole life. I’ve had a plan for a long time. Why do you think I had a bag of coins ready to go?”
“I just figured you’re rich.”
“We try to spend our money on the people. Why do you think there hasn’t been an uprising in this kingdom ever? Our last war with anyone was a hundred years ago. And we ended them by using their own magic against them with almost no deaths on our side.”
“Then why do you have an army?”
“Our ‘army’ is a joke. A joke that does little more than rescue me. I was suspicious when the general wanted to bring in recruits for the first time in ten years. But no one wants to listen to a girl when a man’s reputation is on the line.”
“The general is a good man. I’m sure he had his reasons.”
The princess stared at the soldier. She cleared her throat and stood to her feet.
“You ready?” the princess asked.
“I guess.”
“Good. We’re going to have to walk to town from here. It'll be harder in wet clothes. There’s a cave up there. My brother and I used to keep clothes in there. If they’re still there, you can had something dry, but I don’t think anything’ll still there will fit me.”
It was a fight to walk up the beach, but she managed it. The soldier managed too, curing up a storm the whole way. The beach started to turn rocky, which made the walk a bit easier in wet shoes.
They approached the cave's entrance. Inside, the darkness was dense and damp. It was also cool, which was a nice contrast to the sunny beach and hot sand. The princess walked in first, feeling along the wall, looking for the crevice she had carved with her brother almost two decades ago. When she found it, she reached her hand in and felt the oil lamp first. It was dark, so she felt around for the fire starter. She lit the lamp.
There were two sets of clothes inside. The first was pants and a shirt. She pulled them out. The second set were also pants and a shirt. One set seemed suitable for the prince, but the other was her size. When she shook the second set out, a piece of paper fell. The princess picked it up.
"Dearest sister,
"If you are finding this note without me, then you know that I am gone. Do not believe the rumors you hear about my disappearance. The general’s new recruits are not to be trusted. I have gone to find help.
"Do not seek me.
"Find someplace safe to hide until the smoke clears. If it never clears, find someone to settle down with and have a happy life.
"With love,
Your Dearest Brother"
“What’s that?” the soldier asked.
“A message from my brother.” The princess folded the note back up. “It’s our code. He’s telling me where to meet him.”
She grabbed her brother’s set of clothes and tossed them to the soldier.
“They’ll be too long,” the princess said, “but my brother is much smaller than me so we can roll them up or something.”
Both women changed, leaving their fancy dresses behind. In the light of day, the princess re-read the letter to make sure she understood the message.
“Where are we going?” the soldier asked as they made their way from the beach into the city that surrounded the castle on three sides.
“I’ll explain it when we get there.”
They left the beach and headed into the woods. They made idle conversation as they got closer to the city. The princess was afraid to say much because you never know who could be listening or how they’re listening. She yearned for the cover of a bustling city and it wasn’t long before buildings began to crop up. The closer they got to town, the more people they saw.
The princess looked back at the soldier.
“You ever been here?” the princess asked.
She noticed a hooded figure following too close for comfort. She turned left down a random road.
“I grew up here,” the soldier said. “As a matter of fact, I grew up not far from where we’re standing.”
The figure followed. The princess made another left. And another. Four left turns and the man stayed right on their tail.
“Are you lost, princess?” the soldier asked.
“Don’t call me that,” the princess hissed.
“Then why are we walking in circles?”
“You know where Midtown Hearth is?” the princess asked, heading to a main street, hoping to lose their stalker.
“In the heart of town.”
“Good. Meet me there.”
The princess dove down an alleyway. The soldier looked confused, but the princess needed to know which one of them the figure was following. She hid behind a pile of casks. She clutched the knife the soldier had given her in one hand, pulling it from its sheath. Ready to strike if necessary.
The figure followed her. She knew her hiding space wasn’t great, but she hoped it would conceal her long enough. It did not. The figure grabbed her by the wrist with a strong hand. She tried to fight him to no avail as he lifted her from her hiding place.
Next thing she knew, she had fallen to the ground and the soldier had the hooded figure pinned to the wall with her sword at his throat. The petite soldier was stronger than she appeared. For that, the princess was grateful.
“What do you want from us?” the soldier demanded.
“I’m here to help,” the figure said.
The princess scoffed.
A purple light emanated from where the man’s eyes should have been. It intensified until it overwhelmed all the princess’ senses. She fell back against the cask, trying to catch herself. There was a blinding pain in her hand. She couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Furthermore, her sense seemed to be dulling with the intensity of the overwhelming light.
~
“Princess, princess, wake up.”
The princess opened her eyes and looked around. She was in an ornate bedroom. One she recognized. She wasn’t sure how though.
The soldier was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the princess. The soldier’s oversized pants and shirt had been replaced with a form fitting dress.
“What’s going on?” the princess asked.
“The last thing I remember was a blinding light.”
The foggy feeling was beginning to clear and the princess remembered where she had seen this room before. It was her parents’.
“How did we get back in the castle?” the princess asked.
“Is that where we are? I’ve never been here before.”
“This is the king and queen’s bedroom.”
“That can’t be good.”
Footsteps outside the door silenced them.
The princess stood. She caught a glimpse of herself in the floor to ceiling mirror that stood near mother’s side of the bed. The princess, too, was in a dress. It was silver with delicate white beading. Not that different from her mother’s wedding dress. As a matter of fact, it looked identical to her mother’s. But the queen was much more petite than her daughter. There was no way this could be the same dress.
The door pushed open. Something about the way it squeaked no longer offered the comfort of home. It was ominous. It made her heart race. Some part of her expected to see her mother or father or even her missing brother, but that was not who entered the room.
“I don’t suppose you recognize me,” the young man said.
“You’re the man from the alley,” the princess said.
“Wrong! Any other guesses? You, so-called soldier, do you recognize me? You should.”
“Private Garix,” the soldier hissed.
“Not any more,” the man sneered. “I’m about to be king.”
“How?” the princess said. “My brother is next in line.”
“Your brother is dead,” he said. “At least, that’s the story the public will get. Finding him was a fool’s errand to keep you busy long enough to dispatch your parents. He’s been here all along.”
The princess couldn’t believe her ears. Were her parents’ really dead? How did they die? Where was her brother? What about his note? Had that been written by this man and placed there? It all seemed too wild to be plausible.
“I don’t believe you,” the princess said.
The man moved closer to her, pushing the door shut behind him. The soldier stepped between them. The princess suddenly recognized Garix as the man carved of stone by the gods. She couldn’t believe that the kingdom’s most revered and decorated general had missed how untrustworthy this man was before bringing him in.
“You don’t believe that you’re marrying me or that I dispatched you parents, because technically, you’re right about the latter. I gave the order but I didn’t get my hands dirty.”
“Stop it, Garix,” the soldier ordered. “Or my father’ll—”
“General Wright, do you mind joining us?”
The general entered the room. A man who had once stood tall was hunched as he opened the door and entered the room.
“Yes, m’lord?” the sullen general asked.
“Father!” the soldier ran to the general.
The soldier wrapped her arms around him. He shoved her off.
“Oh, careful, he’s under my spell. It's a spell only true love can break and dear ole mommy is dead,” Garix said.
The general’s eyes seemed to light up for the soldier, but he stood, waiting for an order.
“Anyway,” Garix said, “tonight we announce the tragic drowning of you mother and your father will commit suicide.”
Those words hit the princess harder than any physical blow could have. Tears filled her eyes. She knew there had to be a way out of this.
“Is that how they actually…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
“That’s the story we’ll tell the people. You’ll give them their honors and bury them. Then we’ll announce our marriage, which is happening tonight, by the way. And finally your brother’s death will be announced. Luckily, no one will question anyone but you because you’re the only one with motive.”
“Can I see their bodies?” the princess asked.
She wasn’t going to believe him until she saw them.
“You don’t want to,” Garix said.
“I won’t believe you until I see them.”
“They’re being staged at the moment.”
“I have to see them!” she demanded.
“You will soon enough!” Garix was angry now. “At their funerals.”
He stormed out, taking the general and slamming the door shut. The princess followed them, pulling at the door knob, but the door didn’t open. It didn’t move or budge at all. She kicked it and punched it and threw herself into it, but nothing happened. When she was too tired to keep fighting the door, she melted to the floor.
She sobbed. The soldier walked to her and sat next to her, touching the princess’ back in a comforting way. The princess pushed the soldier away.
“You knew about this,” the princess said.
“No, I didn’t. I knew they were staging a coup but that’s as far as it goes. My father had me sending word back to him about them. Everything escalated today.”
“Did my parents know?”
“I-I can’t say.”
“My brother?”
“I doubt he knew.”
“Then how did Garix emulate his code?”
“Maybe it was an accident. What was the code anyway?”
“In the letter, if it is sandwiched with ‘dearest’ then it means to do the opposite of what’s in it. He said not to look for him, but that meant to look for him. He talked about smoke clearing. In our code, that means—”
“The giant fireplace near the front gates of the city center.”
“Yes, but it's the opposite.”
“So, Midtown Hearth?”
“No. The castle because it's on the opposite side.”
“That seems complicated.”
“That’s the point,” the princess said, standing.
She walked to the bed and sat down.
“Yeah, but my point is: do you think he could have written something so complicated under duress?”
The soldier stood, leaning back against the door.
“I don’t know.”
“What else was in the letter?”
“He said something about settling down and having a happy life.”
“What would the opposite of that be?”
“Staying here an—staying here. He told me where to find him.”
“So, what does that mean?”
“The courtyard.”
“What?”
“What’s the opposite of a happy life?” the princess said.
“A sad life.”
“No. Hell on earth. That’s what we called the courtyard.”
The soldier’s hand was playing with something near her belt. She pulled it out and looked shocked.
It was a dagger.
“Where’d you get that?” the princess asked.
“I think father gave it to me.” She turned the dagger over in her hands. “Take it. When you marry Garix, he’ll be alone with you. You never know what you might need it for.”
The soldier walked to the princess and handed her the dagger. The princess waved a hand.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ll do something like stab him with it.”
“Take it,” the soldier ordered. “Get him here.” She pretended to stab her own neck. “Or here.” She pointed to her eye. “Or here.” She pointed to her side. “And give it a good twist. Let him bleed. Watch him die. Find your brother and be done with it all.”
“I can’t do that.”
“He killed your parents, kidnapped your brother, and cursed my father. The man who has all but laid down his life for you and your family.”
The princess’ heart clenched and she began to sob again. She wanted to forget what she had been told. But the soldier was right. This would end here and now if the princess killed him.
The soldier offered the princess an awkward hug. The princess pushed her off.
“He’ll put up a fight. Teach me what to do,” the princess said.
She stood to her feet. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks, but she would not let them stop her from protecting her kingdom. She wasn’t as weak as everyone thought. She had been a curious child and that got her kidnapped when she was younger. Now she was a grown woman and she refused to be a helpless hostage.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll teach you some basics that’ll slow him down, but he has magic and training. You’ll have to be smarter than him,” the soldier said.
“How do I do that?”
“Go for weak spots. The back of the knees, the throat, the eyes, the groin, the nose. All of those can give you a slight advantage if you strike fast enough. Also, he needs you alive or—”
“He’ll start a war he can’t hope to win. Too many claims to the throne exist with my whole family gone.”
“Yes, but that’s no where I was headed with that. He needs you alive but he does not need you fully intact. There are many ways he can hurt you that your people would never know or he could easily blame on an accident. We want you intact.”
The princess wiped the tears from her face, but more came with that realization. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it wouldn’t go down.
The soldier reached for the princess’ face. She flinched away. The soldier continued to reach and wiped the stream of tears from the princess’ face.
“You can do this,” the soldier said. “You are braver than you know. I can feel it. You were ready to go off alone and find your brother. You can handle this.”
The princess took a handful of shuddering breaths. When she finally pulled herself together and forced the crying to stop, she took a deep breath and let it out in a huff.
“Ready, princess?” the soldier asked.
“Ready.”
~
“A toast! To my new bride,” Garix told the room. “And my new kingdom.”
The room was filled with servants and soldiers as witnesses. The general, who’s tears could be seen even though his eyes were empty of will or life, stood in place of the groomsmen and the soldier served as her bridesmaid. It was the only kindness the princess had convinced Garix to offer her.
“To your health,” he said, tipping the glass toward the princess’.
She refused to let his glass touch hers. The others in the room lifted their glasses and tapped them together. The princess refused to drink as Garix sat next to her.
“It’s not poison,” he whispered to her.
“Too bad,” she said.
She wasn’t drinking the wine because she needed whatever tiny advantage she could and a clear mind was one. The post wedding dinner began once his toast was done. She picked at the turkey and nibbled on the carrots, but nothing tasted very good and it all sat poorly on her stomach. Garix’s announcement that they would be headed to their room to consummate the marriage did not come fast enough.
The princess, the general, and the soldier followed them with the soldier and the general left to stand guard outside. The princess’ heart raced as she gripped the folds of her skirt, ensuring that her knife was still there. Garix shoved her toward the bed. The princess stumbled, trying to remember the plan.
“Lucky for me you’re not too hard on the eyes. A little large for my taste, but a few days without meals will help that,” he said, pushing her closer to the bed.
She tripped and fell. Her knee hit the ground hard. She took this opportunity to grab the knife and stab him in the back of the knee.
She drove the knife in as hard as she could, giving it a twist. He cried out in pain. She pulled the knife out.
“Foolish mistake, princess,” he said, using her knife to slice open her cheek.
He seemed unaffected by having just been stabbed. The soldier had not accounted for his magic when teaching the princess.
Garix cast the knife aside and the princess dove for it. He grabbed her by the ankle, dragging her back toward him. The blankets moved like snakes wrapping around her. They dragged her onto the bed and tied her down.
“I can be an excellent lover,” Garix said, unbuckling his belt. “But after that? I don’t think you deserve it.”
She kicked and screamed. Behind him, the princess saw the soldier burst in. She charged at Garix while the princess tried to kick him. Blankets snaked around her ankles, pulling her legs apart. The soldier jumped on his back, putting him in a headlock. He tried to shake the soldier off, but he couldn’t.
“General!” Garix called out.
The general walked in. He walked toward Garix and the soldier, grabbing the soldier by her hair.
“Dad, no!” the soldier cried. “Dad, I love you, please stop. Dad.”
The general drew his sword.
“No!” screamed the princess, fighting the blankets for her life.
“Do it now!” shouted Garix as his eyes rolled back.
“Dad, please don’t. Dad!” cried the soldier who was still holding Garix as she was being dragged away.
“I command you,” Garix said.
The blankets’ grip on the princess was slipping. Garix must have been focusing too hard on the other things happening. The general pulled the soldier’s hair hard enough that she let go of Garix. The princess saw her chance and dove for the knife.
The general brought down his sword at the same time as the princess stabbed her knife into Garix’s neck. Garix fell back, sword sticking out of his shoulder and knife sticking out of his neck. Blood trickled from his mouth.
The general drew his sword from Garix and drove it into him again. They watched as Garix breathed his last breath.
“I have to find my brother,” the princess said, stepping over Garix and making her way to the door.
“Princess, there are other enemies out there,” the general said.
“They’re your men, shouldn’t they be loyal to you?”
The general smiled.
“My brother is somewhere in the courtyard. Lead the way,” the princess said.
They walked out and toward the foyer. Soldiers seemed relieved to have their general back to normal and for Garix to be gone. They were all a bit dazed and confused, but one remembered where her brother was. He led the way into the courtyard.
There was a door that she had never noticed before and it led to a cellar. That was where her brother, looking exhausted, ill, and disheveled waited.
She pulled him into a hug.
“I knew you’d find me when he forced me to write that letter,” he said. “He has the entire army under his spell.”
“He’s gone,” she said. “I killed him.”
The prince hugged her.
She helped him out and back to the castle. Inside, the staff tended to her brother.
“How did you break the spell?” the soldier asked her father.
“True love,” the general said. “There’s no truer love than what I have for my daughter.”
“I wish that were enough to bring my—”
The princess stopped talking when she saw the king and queen wander into the foyer. The princess ran to them, hugging them as tightly as she could.
“I thought you were dead,” she said, crying tears of joy.
“I think we were too,” the king said.
“All I remember was darkness,” the queen said. “But I’m here now, I guess. Is your brother still missing?”
“No,” said the princess. “I found him.”
“You?” the king and queen said.
“I told the general I could help and I did.”
The End
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