Although her outfit had caught the people's eyes, the villagers were stunned to see her display of power.
She was a sorceress and not just any but a dark magic user.
Both the men and women cowered out of sight, distressed at what she had done to Matthew.
If their enemy was capable of wielding dark magic, it meant they were all doomed as their celebration earlier was useless.
Despite feeling threatened, Leon's men still refused to give way to Dasha. They held their grounds as the redhead sauntered towards them regardless.
"I must say I was quite impressed last night," She twirled her fingers playfully around her red hair while she plastered a smug smile on her lips,
"It was a delight watching you and your men fight tirelessly with the look of fear on your faces." Her smile widened and she returned her gaze to the soldier she had struck,
"Especially this blonde one..." she looked at Matthew, who was still contorting in agony, albeit he had been aided with a bandage cloth to his wound.
"...Although I refuse to believe you conquered my army fair and square." She noted, remembering the strange events that took place the previous night.
"Tell me, what is the secret?" She asked straightforwardly, her smile cold and calculated.
"For a female warrior as cunning looking as you, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out," Leon finally retorted, his voice firm.
"It is clear to me now why your army was difficult to conquer. You aided them with dark magic," Leon tried to control his anger as he spoke, his eyes blazed in annoyance.
It made sense how they had been able to make it to District 2 without notice. They had used dark magic to conceal their presence until they reached close enough for them to attack unawares.
Dasha tilted her head and raised one of her brows, "Perhaps you're not as dumb as I thought," her velvety voice derogating and without regard.
Leon's grip on his scabbard tightened staring at this redhead. She was getting on his nerves terribly.
"When will you get straight to the point?" He asked her with etched brows.
"What do you want?" He was done with her beating around the bush.
Dasha's eyes flashed again and without warning, she raised her hand and sent a bolt of dark magic hurtling toward one of Leon's soldiers. The man screamed as he was lifted off the ground, his body contorting in agony.
"Your victory is short lived," She declared, her eyes flashing with malevolence. "My armies shall return and next time, you will not be so fortunate."
Leon's men rallied, ready to defend their king when sparks of fog burst out, confusing them.
When the fog finally cleared, Dasha was no where to be found. She had vanished as suddenly as she appeared, leaving behind the echoes of her laughter and the twisted, smoldering bodies of Leon's men she had struck down.
Leon didn't take any time to react. He rushed to where a pale Matthew laid helplessly, pressing his lips in a thin line. "Get the two of them into the carriage now!" He ordered the people who were still puzzled and they immediately obliged.
Carrying Matthew and the other knight into the carriages, they all left the bewildered villagers, heading to the palace at once.
_________________________
Since they were expecting them, all the servants already stood by the gate, jubilating and celebrating as news reached them that their kingdom had defeated the enemy.
Unbeknownst to them, an even bigger problem had submerged.
'All hail the king!' Were the cheers that filled the castle as the chieftains and royals stood outside with smiles on their faces.
Albert stood beside Alice and her sister, Amie who only feigned a smile as she had not gotten over the embarrassment of the Coronation night.
Leon and his men played along with them in other to not dampen their spirits with the unexpected clash they had with a powerful witch.
Alice on the other hand, had a frown on her face when she looked around the chariots that rode in and didn't see a blonde man, the one person she had anticipated to see the entire time.
"Where is Matthew?" She worded out but the cheers died down her soft voice, making her statement unheard.
Her heart slowly began to beat rapidly in panic as she could not yet see the carriages that carried the injured soldiers.
She didn't think Matthew could easily get injured like that as he was a very skilful warrior. Horror painted her face when she assumed the worst.
Did he perhaps fall with the rest? There was no way. Matthew couldn't just die.
Amidst the cheers, as the carriages and chariots ran through the long pathway with different people standing and cheering, Leon's eyes scanned the entire crowd before him, looking for a familiar redhead he was fond of and not sighting her, he felt his heart drop in disappointment.
Where was she?
Knowing that not everyone was present here, he shrugged it off assuming she was most likely among the few servants who stayed behind to look after those who were receiving treatment in the infirmary.
A scared Alice walked away from her sister and King Albert who looked at her puzzled as she lifted the hem of her dress, sauntering away and darting her eyes here and there.
Amie already understood what was happening when she noticed a black war horse that she uniquely knew to be Matthew's ridden by no one. Instead, it was pulled by its reins by someone else.
She was aware that whenever something like this happened, it simply meant the horse rider was badly injured or dead as a soldier never left their horse to the hands of another soldier.
She smirked internally as the thought of a dead Matthew seemed appealing.
She had never liked that man from the start especially since Alice seemed to always put him before her and because of him that day at the Coronation, she had been sent away from the hall in sheer embarrassment.
What better revenge could there be than him getting his piece of cake at the battlefield?
The carriages finally entered the gates but the chariots were at the front as the chieftains went to welcome the King happily. Lord Nicholas was among them and he begrudgingly followed along to greet.
"Welcome, Your Highness," they bowed with gratitude as they had also been scared the whole time.
Leon saw his sisters and Albert come to greet him. The hostility in Amie's face was still evident as she didn't seem very excited to be here.
However, his attention was drawn to Alice. He smiled at her when she bowed and greeted him but something else appeared to be bothering her.
"Matthew..." She called and the smile on Leon's face faltered.
He looked behind at the carriage and Alice followed his line of sight. By then, the guards had rushed to Matthew's side to aid him as he could no longer walk, the bandage that had been wrapped round his abdomen was now red and soaked in his blood.
He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in pain as they pulled him and the others carefully from the carriage.
"Matthew!" The people turned around startled to stare at the young princess who didn't even know when she had screamed the advisor's name in shock.
She ran as fast as she could to his side, almost tripping in the process before crouching to his level when he was lowered down and placed her palm on his freezing cheeks, looking at his pale red face that was now turning blue.
Her line of sight went to his cloth and then his wound.
"Oh my God..." She whispered in disbelieve as she covered her mouth with her palms.
"Attend to him quickly!" Leon commanded the physicians who didn't waste any time and carried him to the infirmary.
He glanced at Albert whose gazed was fixated on a crying Alice. The Savannah King's eyes were glued to Alice, his brows furrowed at her and Leon couldn't help but sigh in defeat when he saw his expression.
Albert, however, placed his feelings at the back of his mind and hurried to help the other knights who were injured and were being taken to the infirmary.
The onlookers including the servants who saw this gasped in shock as it was strange and uncalled for, for a king to aid a lowly person.
Slowly but steadily, everyone went back to their tents, continuing their usual task without being aware of what had transpired in District 2 with the so-called Dasha.
...
"Will he be fine?" A shattered Alice asked in fear as she stared at Matthew, noticing how he looked worse than earlier. He was now unconscious and didn't look like he was close to waking up from his comatose.
The royal physician paused and stared at her in concern,
"I can't tell, My Princess. I have done a proper check up on all the injured soldiers and something seemed to be off with Advisor Matthew and this knight over here." He pointed at the other knight who had been struck by Dasha.
He didn't know what it was but their bodies were not healing like the other soldiers who were responding to treatment. They were only getting worse.
"What...?" Alice asked in fear as she looked at the other knight who laid beside Matthew on another sick bed. His face as pale and blue as Matthew's.
She could tell something was different about both of them.
"What did you find?" She asked a female medical practitioner who was taking tests and samples of the patients. She came forward with a scroll in her hands and a damp expression as she stared apologetically at the princess.
"Milady..." The girl started with her hands shaking as she held the scroll. She took a brief look at the physician before passing the scroll to him and he collected it to open it.
She stammered, "...T-there's no medical report. I believe something must be wrong with both of them." She said in weary. There were totally fine medically and their reports were similar to that of other soldiers.
However, their condition wasn't and it was obvious.
Alice gazed at her briefly in panic before going closer to take a better look at Matthew. She stretched her hand to the bandage cloth that was wrapped around his injury and opened it slightly, her curiosity peaking.
The physician waited patiently for what she would do and time seemed to pass for them as her vibrating hand exposed the wound slowly.
Immediately it shown clearly to her, Alice had her eyes widened at the sight of Matthew's wound that had vehemently grown round his abdomen like a spreading disease.
"What is this..." A puzzled Alice looked at the wound before her in shock and fear as it had barely been an hour since it was checked and it had grown terribly wide.
"W-what...what is this?" She asked again and could see the confusion on the physician's faces as they kept silent, completely short of words.
The royal physician looked at the other knight who laid helplessly beside Matthew on the other bed.
Frantically, he walked over to him and when he was close enough, he placed his hand on the knight's body and his eyes widened before he took a glimpse at the practitioner behind him.
Seeing his expression, the lady rushed to his side, her eyes desperately asking him questions silently as she touched the knight as well. Curious, a battered Alice followed suit to know what was happening.
She came to the side of the other knight who was also unconscious like Matthew was and she touched him.
The difference was this man here looked paler and colder than Matthew... very cold. Unlike Matthew whose skin still held colour, this young man was white and his body was stiff.
The physician and practitioner stared at each other in realization before looking back at Alice who was clueless to what was happening.
"What is going on?" She couldn't hold back anymore and spoke out, staring at them.
"H-he's dead, My Princess. The soldier is dead." The physician finally uttered in shock as he kept checking the young man's pulse which he couldn't find.
He brought his hand to the soldier's face and opened his eyes to see or take note of any life but there was none.
He went back to Matthew and checked his pulse to be certain and thankfully, he was still alive but since both men were having similar symptoms, the physician wasn't sure there was hope for the King's right-hand man.
He was also growing cold and lifeless.
He looked at the princess, "My Princess, this man is dead. Advisor Matthew is still alive but... I don't..."
He trailed, afraid that his words might come out wrong and he saw how the princess stared at him unresponsive, a tear dropping from her eyes.
There was no way...