Guinevere ran, leaving mental perception magic along her trail to lose the guards after her. At the moment, she was certain they were all following a three dimensional image of her running to the opposite direction of where she was heading.
And by the time they would realize they had been fooled by the lady, she would have gotten out of the Castle's perimeter and into the woods.
Her anti-gravity magic had come in handy, as usual, as she escaped and took the path of the dark and untamed woods.
She had to get away. It was the only way she could think of right now.
Guinevere was devastated at the news of her brother's disappearance.
In fact, the whole week had been so mind-boggling for her.
She had just gotten out of Ursula Academy of Magic after spending years of schooling, and was already met by the announcement of his father on their first family dinner after a long time that he got her engaged with another magical family.
She had never saw her father look so certain and willing that she grew anxious. She felt like she was gonna be married off soon.
But she loathed the idea of marriage, especially to someone she did not know.
She found it quite pointless for her parents to send her to Magic School only to be married off right after graduation. What use would her top skills would be if she would be carrying babies and checking if her husband was in condition to go to war.
She had to think of a way to stop this engagement.
And now her brother Lancelot had disappeared, right when she really needed him.
He was the pride of their father, being the next in line to keep their family's world-famous fencing skills running.
So his father might reconsider the engagement once he hear Lancelot's thoughts about it. And of course, she was confident that her brother would back him up on this.
But she did not know where the hell he was, and it had almost been a week! She had to find him first, and then they'll think of a way to break off this marriage.
The sun had already set when Guinevere had crossed the woodlands at the east of Castle Gorge, where the Baroque Family line had lived for ages, and arrived in a village.
People there had started to retreat for the night, and she had nowhere else to go. What was worse, she was starving from all the running and spellcasting she did.
She took the almost empty main road and realized people were throwing looks at her.
Though she was used to getting stared at, especially now that she was wearing her violet dress and black-heeled shoes among people in tattered off-white clothes and holed slippers, she was sensing some stares were not looks of astonishment but alarm.
A couple of seconds later, she found out the meaning of those looks as a couple dozen of guards in blue armors and combat helmets came running towards her from different direction.
She bent in a stance, ready to cast her spells, trying to figure out how the guards had arrived earlier than her and why they were wearing blue metal armours instead of golden brown.
"Sieze the Lady Guinevere!" The one in front of the troupe she was facing yelled and everyone else obliged.
She instantly casted a spell, leaving her own illusioned form as she blinked into the side of the road in a blur.
The guards grabbed the three-dimensional image she left and she could not help but glance over her shoulder with a smirk at the sight of their confused faces as the illusion popped and exploded before it fell to the ground.
The ones near it took the hit, but the ones st the back saw her and started chasing her again.
She sprinted through the village's alleys, trying to confuse them, but there were just clever ones who managed to escape her spells.
She came at the corner of the village, where, to her annoyance, more guards were waiting.
"There is no escape, Lady Guinevere!" The one who looked like the commander, told her. "Surrender yourself. Your father, and the Paxley family, is worried about you."
Guinevere frowned as she straightened from her defensive stance. "The Paxley family?" She repeated. "So you are from the Paxley's troupes."
"Yes. Your father had immediately asked for the Paxley's help the moment they realize you were gone."
She scoffed. "This engagement is proving to be even harder to break by the minute."
"Both families just want you safe and sound, Lady Guinevere."
"I decide where I will be safe and sound, and this time, it isn't in Castle Gorge or that damn Paxley's!"
In a split second, Guinevere threw her arms wide at her side and released all the magic she had left. It levitated her off the ground as she yelled her spell.
In an instant, all Paxley guards surrounding her got knocked up in the air more than six times before sending them all hitting their butts against the ground.
Most of them got knocked out and laid fault on the ground, the remaining few were too busy waiting for their heads to stop spinning, giving Guinevere enough time to run away.
She used her anti-gravity magic to jump towards the balcony in the second storey of a wooden house just three houses away from the main road, where she planted a palm against the wall for support as she waited for her nausea to pass.
"So you're the one causing all the uproar outside." A male voice suddenly said.
She lifted her gaze and stiffened, ready to fend herself for any attack.
She followed the voice and saw a boy, peeking from behind a cabinet, his magical blades glistening blue and floating just around his shoulders, ready to pierce her if she makes any advancement.
"You." She said, more sternly than she intended it to sound. "What are you doing here?"
"Running away. Same as you."