Hermon looked shocked as he saw the arrow. I took out the handkerchief I had and took the arrow. It was soaked in something. It was most likely poison. I brought it close to my nose and took a sniff. No odor. They might have more arrows like this. If it really is poison, it could kill the prince. I turned towards Hermon, but his eyes were glued on the arrow. I walked over and put my hands on his shoulders. I shook him with a little shake, which made him jerk out of it. He came back to reality and looked at me.
"I-if you hadn't-" I didn't wait. His safety was important. If he is killed, it could get our family killed since it was my idea to have him over. It's just how did they figure it out. Did we have a spy indoors or it leaked somehow?
"Get under the seat." It was not that good it will protect the prince for not. I will just leave Ari in here, so she could keep him safe with her illusion magic.
He wouldn't stop staring at the arrow in my hand, even though I had saved him. I guess that made him panic, but it shouldn't be the first time. He should have had multiple attempts on his life since he was born since he is the only prince of this kingdom with hundreds of sisters. He only has four younger sisters, and three of them were babies. The rest were older than him.
"W-what about you?" I could tell he was scared from his position and his hands were kind of shaking. He was young after all.
"I need to check if there is anyone outside. My family must have been attacked too. I need to check on them." Hermon slowly nodded in understanding.
"Can I come? I don't think I am safe here alone anyway." What he said made sense. We took him here under our protection. I have to keep him safe while dad is gone, but could I take care of both of us. I was still not strong and I need more control over all four types of magic. I also can't carelessly show everyone my abilities yet. It could raise suspicions. He gave me a small nudge, snapping me out of my thoughts. I sighed. I had Ari to cover us and Lord Evander there as the adult. It might be easier to protect him with everyone's help. I reached out my hand towards him.
"I need you to hold my hand then." Hermon took it as I gave him a nod of assurance.
'Ari, make us invisible.' Ari jumped on my shoulder and started doing her magic. I laid my free hand on the floor and concentrated on the ground underneath the carriage. I just hope it comes out as I wanted to. I made a hole right in the bottom of the carriage by making an earth spike. Hermon looked at me astonished and opened his mouth to speak, but I shushed him up by putting a finger on my lips. I put the ground back to its original state as soon as I was done. I had made our escape route.
I let Hermon jump down first. I watched as he slowly got flat on his stomach with his arms as support. I sat down and put my legs inside the hole. I froze as I heard footsteps and heard foreign voices. They must have come here to check if the prince was in here. I need to check on mom and them fast. They had enough time to get to them while we were in the carriage. I got out fast and laid flat on the floor. The carriage was very high, so there was space for two seven-year-olds to hide underneath, but we had to lie down. I grabbed his wrist. I looked at him.
"We are going to crawl to the second carriage. You will be safe with everyone together." I whispered very slowly and low, so Hermon could hear me. Hermon nodded and looked ahead. We started crawling slowly towards our destination. We could hear footsteps and frustrated yells from above in the carriage. We moved on until we were not underneath the carriage anymore. I heard a small whimper as soon as we got out from underneath the carriage. I looked at Hermon.
He was looking at a decapitated head. It was a bloody mess. His body was right next to the head. The eyes were plucked out. I guess they had some fun with the corpse before letting it. There were black veins sticking out of his face, which means he was poisoned too. Then why was he decapitated? Hermon jumped as a fly landed right on one of the eyes. He looked grossed out and sick from the sight. I squeezed his wrist to help him snap out of it. They were the guards that were protecting the carriage. He was one of the guards that blocked me from getting in.
"Just close your eyes. I will lead you forward."
"No, I am okay. I have to get used to this sooner or later since I am the sole heir to the throne." We slowly got up on our feet and slowly walking towards the carriage where mom, Arthur, and Alex. Their carriage was farther than ours. I heard swords clashing near the carriage. It was Lord Evander. He was with three men in black, fighting. Arthur was alongside him, trying his best. He was having a one-on-one with one of them. There was a wind barrier surrounding the carriage. Why weren't they protecting the other carriage?
I couldn't help them since I had no weapon. Wait, guards? I turned and went back with Hermon to go get a sword from the corpse from before, but the men inside the carriage were running straight at us with swords in hand and with angry expressions.