The Princess Knight by: Tauriel Rogers

Chapter 47

The princess rushed back into her room and threw her closet door open, immediately grabbing her training clothes, and hurriedly dressed herself. Derek handed her now dry boots to her and she laced them up almost as fast as she put them on. She grabbed her sword and followed Derek down to the already loud courtyard of training men. Derek took her hand and led her to the armory. He opened a chest that hadn't been sitting under his shelf before and started handing the princess armor pieces. Alice carefully looked them over as she began to strap them on. "Are these...are these mine?"

"Yes, they're the ones that the blacksmith made for you," Derek told her.

"They're beautiful," the princess commented.

"Let me help you with those," Derek said when he saw her struggling with her bracers. "This is also for you," he handed her her very own shield. Alice accepted it and tested it out.

"It's so light weight!" she said surprised. Derek chuckled as he started to put his own armor on.

"Mr. Turner does a mighty fine job."

"Alice!" the King called desperately from the hallway. Alice poked her head out from the armory.

"I am here father!" she shouted back. The King turned and smiled brightly.

"Look at you!" he grasped her shoulders, "You look fit for battle." The princess smiled and tied her sword belt around her.

"I need to saddle my horse," Alice told him.

"Then I will see you on the front lines," her father hugged her and kissed her head, then turned around and continued ordering his army around. Derek took the princess's hand and began to lead her toward the barn. He stopped Jacob along the way.

"As second in command, it is your job to round up the men and I need you to get the horsemen prepared as well," Captain Riley instructed. Jacob nodded and started shouting. The princess and the Captain made their way to the barn and Alice stopped in her tracks when she saw her horse. Jade was all decked out in battle armor, completely protected from any foe. "Alice come on, we have to hurry," Derek reminded her. The princess quickly snapped out of it and mounted her steed. "I believe you'll be needing this as well," he handed her a helmet. She admired it, running her gloved hand along the handiwork. Derek was about to put his helmet on to, but Alice stopped him.

"Wait!" she cried. He looked at her confused until she leaned over to kiss him. "For good luck."

"And for our victory," he added as he kissed her back, longer this time. He pulled away and put his helmet on. Alice followed suit.

"To battle," she said confidently.

"Are they all lined up?" Captain Riley asked as he rode into the mass of men.

"Yes sir and they're ready and anxious to get it over with," Jacob responded. King Bard was already at the front of the army, ready to lead them to battle. Captain Riley rode up next to him and shared a few quiet words.

"LET'S MOVE OUT!" the Captain shouted as the King lead his horse out of the barn and into the daylight. In an organized manner, the men funneled out and formed their ranks as the army was lead onto the grassy fields in front of the castle. They traveled for some time and stopped.

"Send out the scout," King Bard ordered. Thomas's horse came forward and left the group. Moments later, he came back with news.

"They are approaching as we wait," he informed the King. Soon enough, the marching of their army and war cries could be heard as they came into view, stopping a few yards from the Linque kingdom's army. There was a competition between the armies to see who had the loudest war cries. Alice gulped when the Aldan King raised his hand to quiet his men.

"We fight to take over the riches of our kingdom and return what is rightfully ours, including your princess," he announced. Alice gulped. Captain Riley protectively drew his sword.

"If any of your men lay a hand on her, I swear it would be my pleasure to kill every single one of them!" Derek shouted. The Aldan King sneered.

"She was to marry my son and I plan on making sure that still happens. He was in love after all."

"I will fight to protect my beloved princess to my very last breath," Derek vowed.

"We shall see about that," the Aldan King answered, raising his sword to prepare his men.

"STAY IN CLOSE RANKS, LEAVE NO ALDAN ALIVE, AND LET US FIGHT FOR ALL OF THE GOOD AND KINDNESS OUR KINGDOM STANDS FOR!" King Bard bellowed.

"YEAH!!!" the Linque army cheered.

"YEAH!!!" Alice joined in, raising her sword.

"CHARGE!!!" Captain Riley yelled, pointing his sword to the opponent. The clashing of swords, banging of shields, horses neighs, and cries of agony were soon heard. Alice led Jade to a crowd of Aldans by Sam and plummeted through, slashing her sword right through their shoulders. Her father taught that that was one of their armor's weak spots. The princess quickly fought her crowd of men off and rode to the next, grunting and crying out as she went. Before long, she had taken back her ground and galloped to Larry's side. Having both of them on horse back made taking the Aldans out so much easier.

"Go! I've got this!" Larry told her when only a few were left. Alice spotted Hue in a heated battle with more men than he could handle and quickly rushed to his aide. The princess clobbered three of them with Jade and cut down four more. As she came back around, she kicked several of them. Even though the Aldans slashed their swords at her and her horses armor, she soon found that their weapons could not pierce it. The princess smiled to herself as she and Hue had the advantage. Hue chopped the last one and nodded his appreciation to Alice. She scanned over the battlefield to find her next challenge.

"THEY'RE GETTING INSIDE!" Thomas yelled alarmed. Alice's attention was drawn to the barn and sure enough, at least two dozen Aldan's had managed to break through. Those numbers may not seem like much, but Alice knew there were enough to cause some serious damage. She raced Jade to the barn with her sword drawn, slashing at the men surrounding Jacob as she went.

"THANKS PRINCESS!" he called after her.

"DON'T THANK ME YET!" she shouted back. The Aldans turned, many surprised when they heard her cry as she came crashing through the wide pathway. She fought with several, but grunted frustrated when she saw several of them escaping into the hall. The princess quickly jumped down and killed the few that stayed behind and chased after the others. She easily caught up with them, killing a few of them at a time as she followed the Aldans deeper into her castle. They seemed to be leading her somewhere on purpose, but she didn't know where. She climbed a flight of stairs, chasing after the last six, slicing one of their arms off and throwing another over the rail. She cringed when she heard him hit the floor at the bottom. Alice turned around just in time to block the third one's sword. He put up a bit of a fight, but she eventually won. She huffed as she followed the last three into the library, who were making a mess as they ran, trying to slow the princess down. However, they had no such luck with Alice's agile skills and perceptive sight. She ran on top of the book shelves to gain on them, jumped down in front of them, drew her dagger, and used her sword to pierce both of them in one shot as she came up behind her. Alice followed the last one into the heart of the library. The Aldan narrowed his eyes at her and drew his sword, circling the princess. Alice returned the gesture and watched for any mishap in their battle stance. The Aldan tripped over a book and Alice took her chance to leap forward. She was trying to aim for their neck, but the way they turned their head, she clipped the edge of their helmet with her sword instead. The helmet went flying and the princess gasped in surprise.