Against all Odds {Middle-Earth fanfic}

Chapter Nineteen

Just a minutes later, the guard ran into the throne room, "My king, th-the p-p..." He panted heavily.

The king sighed, "Calm down and speak clearly."

The guard nodded and controlled his breathing, "The prisoners have escaped, your majesty."

"What?" Degore roared, "How?!"

"Y-your son, Sir. He was helping them."

Degore laughed, "You really expect me to believe my son, the prince of Gondor, let his attempted murderers escape?"

"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes, my king. But," the Gondorion soldier pointed to the bruise on his head from Ulric's strong fist, "this is proof. He knocked me unconscious when I accidentally walked in on them!"

Degore was speechless. He closed his mouth slowly while trying to grasp the situation. "I...go find them. Right now. Everyone! Leave!" He shouted.

Back at the edge of the forest, Ulric halted. He glanced around, and then walked to his right, staying inside the forest border. When he was aways away from Nikandros and Thea, he started jogging towards Gondor. He went through the secret door again, and crept to his room.

Just as he shut the door, a voice spoke darkly, "What have you done?"

Ulric turned sharply to face his father, "What?" He asked, slightly confused. Ulric didn't see any way that the king could have figured out his part in assisting the assassins, so he assumed it was about his refusing to come before the king. But he wasn't sure.

"Don't play dumb with me, Boy. Answer the question!" Degore stepped forward from the shadows of Ulric's dark room.

"I refused to come before you." A worm of doubt started to creep into Ulric's heart. 'Maybe he does know...' Ulric thought.

"Why were you helping the prisoners?!" The king shouted, his fists tightly clenched in anger.

"What?" Ulric asked, allowing a totally confused face to show, although inside he knew what the king was talking about, and was worrying what the king would do.

"Stop your foolish lying! The guard that you punched told me everything!" Degore fumed, "What. Have. You. Done."

"I was interrogating the prisoners when he came in." Ulric lied, "I wanted to finish, and also didn't want him to force me to come before you, because apparently you wanted them to bring me before you willing or unwilling." Suddenly Ulric felt a bit angry, "Is that how you would treat your son?"

"Lier! Do you think me so dull as to not see through your tall tales?" The king grabbed Ulric's hair, "I would not be forced to treat you this way if you only obeyed me! Now, tell me the truth!"

Ulric grimaced in pain, and without hesitating, gripped Degore's arm with an iron grip, and yanked it away, "I did tell you the truth." He said through clenched teeth.

"I will not ask again...why did you help the prisoners escape?!"

"They escaped?"

Degore, completely fed up, smacked his son across the face, "You will stop lying to me! I know you helped them!" He roared.

"I am not some child to be slapped when I am 'disobedient' to your every wish!" Ulric shouted.

"I will do as I please!" Degore echoed Ulric's loud tone. His large hands grabbed Ulric's arm and shoved him to the floor. "Stop lying to me, Uric!" Degore said between clenched teeth. He kicked Ulric's stomach with his boot, furiously.

By this time, Ulric was completely angry at his father. He stood up, and punched him in the face. Before Degore could recover, Ulric had him pinned to the ground.

Degore, wide eyed, didn't hesitate to roll over, pushing Ulric off him. Ulric may have been more skilled at fighting than his father, but Degore was still stronger and bulkier than him. "Guards!" Degore shouted.

Several guards had been waiting outside the door, worriedly. They hurried in at their king's command. They grabbed Ulric back from his father.

Ulric struggled against the guards, but against that many, he realized it was useless. He looked at Degore, and glared icily at him.

"How dare you try to hurt your king!" Degore returned the glare, "Put him in the dungeon!" He ordered, "My son, you have brought this upon yourself." He said, his face devoid of emotion.

"You expect me to just sit idly by, while you," Ulric emphasized, "injure me?" He asked indignantly.

"I am the king! I can do anything!" Degore retorted. "Take him away. Now!"

The men holding their prince pulled him out of the room and down the hall. Ulric glanced around him to note how many guards were holding him. There were three of them, two holding Ulric, and one walking in front. Abruptly, Ulric yanked one arm free and swung it at the guard on his left, putting as much power behind it as he could. The guard slumped to the ground, instantly unconscious from the blow. Two guards remained now, and Ulric set to work quickly. The guard in front had turned sharply, and the two guards faced their prince. Glancing around, Ulric noted their surroundings. Before the guards could surround Ulric, he turned sharply and started sprinting in the other direction. He turned down many corridors, trying to lose the guards.

A young guard, Javlin, sighted the prince running towards him. He nervously pulled out his bow already loaded with an arrow and aimed it towards Ulric. "S-stop!" Javlin tried to sound commanding, but he was extremely nervous.

Ulric glanced around quickly and saw a corridor a little farther away. He obeyed Javlin's nervous order and stopped, but not completely. Very slowly, he started walking towards Javlin.

"Sir...I said stop. D-don't come any closer!"

Ulric nodded slowly, and halted his progress. The corridor was close now. Ulric lunged at it, and slipped away. He broke out into a sprint again, and made his way to the exit. He opened it quietly, went out it, and closed it. Ulric glanced around, and started sprinting to the cover of the trees.

Javlin dashed behind him and stopped when he went through the exit. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Javlin shot his bow towards the prince. It struck in Ulric's leg, almost completely missing.

Ulric cried out in pain, stumbled for a moment, then regained his footing and kept running, the wound bleeding. He kept running even after he had reached the trees. Once he was far in the forest, he stopped, sat down, and ripped a part of his shirt off to tie his leg wound. Gritting his teeth, Ulric yanked the arrow out of his leg. As blood started spurting out, Ulric tied the piece of shirt around his leg. Slowly standing up, he started walking again.

Hey all you wattpadders out there!

I hope you are enjoying this story! Things are really starting to heat up:) So...please spread the love by voting, commenting, and giving me a follow or DM! I am always open to talk:) Also, if you have a Hobbit, LOTR, or Middle-Earth fanfic let me know and I will check it out:)

Thanks guys!

Ithildae, Evara, and Aris

Writers:
Thea ~ Ithildae
Nikandros ~ Evara
Xene ~ Aris
Ulric ~ Evara
Degore ~ Ithildae
Fendrel ~ Ithildae
Javlin ~ Ithildae
Random Guards ~ Evara and Ithildae