Tyler eyed around as he found himself in a royal chamber. A place he had never seen before. There were colourful silk curtains around and he could smell the fragrance of the musk that filled the entire chamber.
What amazed him was the bed he was lying on. He had only slept on hard and uncomfortable surfaces like ground, tree-tops, caves, etc. But he had never slept on such a cushioned bed. It felt like his skin would melt just from having a touch.
He saw Princess Rebecca sitting beside him with her two maids standing behind her on both the sides. "Princess…" He muttered.
When he looked at himself under the sheet that covered him, he was surprised. "Wait, why am I…" He looked at the princess. "… Wait, did you…" He was feeling embarrassed as his whole body was covered in bandages and he was in his underpants. The women around him made him feel even more shy and embarrassed.
"Do not get the wrong idea, you pervert." The princess frowned. "It was the servants who took off your clothes and bandaged you."
"Where am I?" He asked.
"You are in my personal chamber," replied the princess. "You are lying on my bed. Take it as the best moment of your life."
Tyler thought for a bit and asked, "Since how long I have been unconscious?"
"Since the night. It is morning now."
At this, Tyler remembered it was the time for the duel. "Wait, is it the time for the duel?" He tried to get up, but his body hurt. "Ah!" He winced in pain and stayed down on the bed.
"You should not move until you recover. Are you such an idiot that I have to tell you this?"
"But I need to go. They will kill my friends," Tyler insisted.
"Where are your friends?" She asked. "They are nowhere to be found. It seems they feared losing their lives and deserted you."
"Shut up." Tyler frowned at her words. "My friends are not like that. They must be in some kind of trouble." He tried to get up again but his effort was in vain.
"Then where are they? Not to remind they left you in the middle of the enemies. What kind of friends are they?" The princess raised a brow.
"You do not know a thing…" Tyler was a bit irritated now at her judgement, but also worried. He had a feeling that his friends could be in danger. He sighed after thinking for a while and asked, "Why did you help me? Did you already know about the attack on us?"
"I did not want to help you, considering the fact you wanted to make a royal kneel in front of you, but I am also a person who likes justice… sometimes." She flicked her hair in pride. "I had overheard my father and that annoying guy Jordan talking about assassinating you. They would have killed you three, dumped your bodies, and labeled you as cowards who ran away before the fight."
Her words shocked him. "Wait a second, you father is in this too?" She nodded. "But why?"
"I do not know," She responded with a sad face. "He has shook hands with The Order of Assassins. He wants to marry me to their leader's son to strengthen their friendship."
"So, your father is the one helping those assassins to spread their legs again. Is Jordan the son of their 'Jason'?" asked Tyler with a quizzical face.
"Yes. I do not know why my father is doing all this, but I know he is doing wrong." When the princess was speaking, a maid spoke to her in a low voice.
"My lady, you should not talk about these things to a stranger."
"It is alright. He is not harmful," said the princess. "I was not aware of Jordan's identity. My father had told me he was a wealthy merchant and was from a noble lineage. I came to know about his real identity a night before my wedding," She told Tyler.
"So, you ran away when you found a chance," Tyler added to her words.
"Yes." She stared at the ground with an annoyed expression. "But I could not succeed. It was too late." She clutched her dress near her thigh tightly.
"Where is my armor?" He asked.
Meanwhile, it was the time for the duel. The people were gathered in The Public Arena, feeling excited for the battle to begin.
The Public Arena had a structure similar to The Colosseum. The governor was sitting on a high throne with other nobles and enjoyed the best view.
Niko too was among them. "Where are you, guys?" He had been looking for Tyler and others, but could not find them. The soldier guarding the dungeon had stopped him when he had tried to meet the three. Now at this moment too, they were nowhere to be seen.
Jordan, on the other hand, stood down in the arena with a smile. He waited for his challenger, but he was unusually calm for someone to have a death match in a few minutes or so. He was wearing a metal armor and carried a war-hammer.
The commoner girls cheers for him to get his attention. "Master Jordan! You will win today!"
"Show that man his place which is the grave."
The governor and others waited for Tyler to show up, but there was no trace of him.
"Where is he?" A noble muttered. "Did he get scared and run away?" The governor had a slight smile on his face when he heard it.
"I think we should wait a little," Niko suggested. The surrounding nobles nodded in agreement.
Jordan had a grin on his face while he stared at the metal gate in front of him. Although he had heard that Tyler and one other guy was nowhere to be found and his men were found dead in the dungeon, he was sure they would never arrive before him. It was a matter of time before his men hunted them.
He stepped ahead and walked to the center of the arena. "My lord, the nobles, and the common folks," He addressed everyone. "As you can see, I had accepted the challenge of a death fight with that unknown man. I waited for him here for long. As you can see, there is no one to be found."
"He is a coward!" A man among the crowd shouted.
"He must have pissed his pants and hid somewhere to save himself!" commented another man among the crowd.
A soldier came to the governor and whispered something into his ear. At this governor stood with an angry face, or at least, he acted to be angry. "What? They escaped!?"
The nobles murmured among themselves after hearing this. "What is he talking about?"
"Did they get scared and run away?"
Niko was tensed now. "Where are you, Tyler?" He muttered.
The governor raised his hand for everyone to pay attention to him. "The challenger and his friends have escaped." The grin on the face of Jordan widened after hearing this. "Now that the challenger has violated the rules of this battle, I hereby declare Jordan Adamos…" As he was about to announce the victory of Jordan, something happened. "Huh?" He saw the metal gate opposite to Jordan opened all of a sudden.
Jordan too looked shocked when the gate opened and he saw Tyler entering the arena. "What? How is this possible?" He looked at the governor who looked as confused as him.
The governor composed himself and sat down. Tyler was wearing his battle armor and carried a sword and a dagger as his weapons. He eyed at Jordan and smirked. Everyone noticed the staff he used to support himself.
"I apologize for being late, my lord," He said, facing the governor. "As you can see, I got into some trouble."
"What happened to you?" Jordan asked. "Did someone assault you?"
"Yeah, something like that," responded Tyler.
At this, the nobles and the common folk began to murmur among themselves. "Who could assault him at such crucial moment?"
"It could be someone who would gain maximum benefit from it."
"Could it be…" As the noble was about to complete his sentence, the governor intervened and asked Tyler, "Did someone from our soldiers do this to you?"
"It was I who picked a fight with them. It was my fault," responded Tyler while rubbing his head awkwardly.
"What an idiot!" A man among the crowd commented in a mocking tone. They all laughed at this. "He is dead now."
"Where are your friends?" Jordan asked. "Did they escape so that they could save their necks?"
"Do not worry. They will be here soon," He replied calmly. He noticed Jordan's perplexed face when he said it.
They both eyed at each other and took their positions against each other. Tyler threw his staff away. Jordan looked at him struggling to stand without his staff.
"Are you sure you can fight?" He asked.
"I am sure. What happened?" Tyler smiled. "Are you scared of a wounded man?"
"As the challenger has returned in the last moments, the battle will commence now," The governor said before someone rang a giant bell as an indication for the battle to begin.