Luna entered her bedroom, sat down, and waited for the maids to change her.
Because of what happened earlier, she didn't even notice there was only one person today. Usually, she would have seen and greeted her, but, at the moment, she wanted to avoid interacting with someone.
While she waited, numerous thoughts filled her mind. She knew well about Fordurn's current situation and Ardos' ultimatum, that's why she tried multiple times to convince her father to allow her to surrender, but he refused and admitted that he would go to war if needed to protect her.
"Here are your clothes, Your Highness."
The maid's voice woke Luna from her thoughts. She looked at the clothes and was surprised to see a clothing set for long travels, like a tunic. Everything was discreet and the main color was brown, very different from the white that she usually wears.
"Clothes for travelling? But I can't go outside from the palace."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness… I wish things were different, because I know you are a good person, but we have no choice…" the maid said with a regretful voice, while avoid eye contact.
"What-"
"Hey! Did she finish changing?" a male voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Not yet." the maid answered.
"Hurry up! Soon Raymond will be back, we can't fail now!"
"Your Highness, please, you need to hurry up." the maid urged.
"I see..."
Luna undressed her beautiful white dress and wore the clothing selected by the maid. Then, she removed the brooch from her previous dress and put on her tunic, next to the heart.
This brooch was made of silver, it had a dragon forming a circle and eating its own tail, and a shining blue stone in the shape of a moon was in the center of the dragon.
This brooch was extremely important to her, because, according to her father, it was the only heritage from her biological family, so she always carried it with her.
After changing clothes, the princess left her room and saw three men waiting. Two of them were guards she saw once or twice before, and the third man was one of her father's counselor.
His name was Adrian. He was bald and was always in favor of handing Luna to Ardos, but her father, as expected, always ignored his advices.
However, he never mistreated her, in fact, he was gentle and cared for her, but he would never accept and agree on sacrificing the people just for her sake.
"Your Highness…"
"It's ok, Adrian. I understand you." It wasn't necessary to explain anything, Luna had perceived what was happening.
"I'm sorry... We tried to talk with Ardos, but he insisted for this path. We have no alternative, and the Vigil is invincible… I really wish there was another solution…" He was unable to look into Luna's eyes and hesitated a lot while he talked.
"Do not be sorry. I have insisted to my father to obey Ardos' demand, but you know him. At least, this will give me the opportunity to save Fordurn."
While Luna said that, her look, that was always sad, became even more lonely and painful. She decided it a long time ago, and now the time has arrived to accept her fate and embrace death.
Her life was condemned from the moment she was born, therefore she would die even if she stayed in the palace, by the hands of her own guards, or by the Vigil.
If she wasn't born an Angel… She could have lived peacefully, without having to worry her father and involve so many innocents.
Meanwhile, the counselor remained silent after listening to her brave words. He tried to say something, but everything he manage to do was mumble incomprehensible words.
Because he couldn't say anything, he just turned to the corridors.
"We should hurry up, let's go."
Adrian walked in the front with Luna right by his side and the two guards behind. The four advanced through the palace's old dungeon, which was currently abandoned with dust building up and spider webs everywhere, so it was a place rarely used by the other workers.
"Thankfully that Illusion magic lasted long enough to deceive Raymond. I didn't know you could use magic." one of the guards said.
"I can't, I have almost zero magic power. I can only sustain that corporal illusion by one minute." the other guard answered.
"Silence! Someone is coming." the counselor whispered.
The four hid behind a big statue near the corridor's wall. Right after this, two male voices approached from the right of a forked path.
Two guards walked past the corridor and continued to the left side. The footsteps became quieter as they walked away, until they disappeared completely.
"They're gone, let's go!"
"Alri-"
"Mr. Adrian?" asked a female voice from behind.
The four turned back in a jump when they heard this voice, and the guards almost drew their swords because of the surprise.
What they saw was only a woman around her fifties and with brown hair tied in a bun, one of the maids responsible for taking care of Luna.
"I-Is there something wrong?" She got startled by the reaction of the guards.
"Oh! So-Sophia! What brings you here?" Adrain failed miserably on trying to hide his nervousness.
"I was going to the laundry; this path is faster. What is Your Highness doing here?"
"We were... going there too!" Adrian answered.
"But why?"
"Well… Your Highness wanted to use a certain dress, but they said it was in the laundry! That's why we're going there to see if it's ready!"
"Oh, I see... But why is Raymond not here? Shouldn't he stay next to Your Highness the whole time?" Sophia couldn't help but think how Adrian's voice sounded extremely false.
"About that…" The counselor tried to create an excuse, however he just remained silent.
The guards became discomforted by the situation, glared at her with hostility and their hands were close to unsheathing their swords. Most knew that Sophia was affectionate about Luna, so they were ready to silence her before she attracted unwanted attention.
"Raymond had to help contain the people on the walls. Earlier, a civilian managed to climb it, so my father sent him there." Luna lied skillfully.
"But Your Highness, shouldn't you wait for Raymond to return before walking around the palace?"
"It's alright, Adrian is protecting me."
"But it's still dangerous! What would happen if you met someone who is willing to follow Ardos? They wouldn't waste the opportunity to do something now."
"You're right... In that case, can I ask you to check if my dress is ready while I return to my bedroom? It's the one with the back exposed and flower details."
"Oh, sure! I will bring it to your room as soon as possible!" Sophia rushed to the corridors and took the left path. The princess rarely asked anything to her, that's why Sophia was happy and eager to fulfill her wish.
"She's gone, let's continue before she returns." said Adrian.
The four advanced rapidly and soon arrived at the external part of the palace.
It was possible to hear, once again, the shouts and protests of the people, in addition to the guards' yelling orders while they tried to contain the ruckus, which made Luna feel dizzy again, but she fought that feeling by focusing on the objective.
Now they only needed to climb the walls and Luna would finally leave the palace for the first time in her life.
She had mixed feelings about leaving the palace. She spent all her 20 years in that place, since her father was super paranoid and made sure that no one would meet and discover her.
She only received permission to leave her bedroom and visit the palace's gardens after reaching the age of five, however she never, in her entire live, left the palace, so everything she knew about the world was limited by books or by the stories told by Geoffrey and Sophia.
That's why, despite feeling sad and walking to the encounter of her death, she also was excited by the possibility of finally knowing how the outside world was, and she also felt a relief now that she was finally going to solve this whole crisis.
"We are almost there; we just need to climb the stairs and jump the wall by the south. We'll take the river to the Kingdom of Lorelia." Adrian explained.
"Good thing the people are distracting everyone on the gates from the north, otherwise our escape wouldn't be so easy." one of the guards said.
"It's not over yet, focus on the objective." the counselor said.
The group kept sneaking next to the wall and hiding behind any object, eventually getting close enough to see the stairs that lead to the top.
When they got near the wall, they saw a strange figure waiting at the front of the stairs. It looked like a man, but it wasn't possible to clearly see his face and body because he was wearing a long dark mantle with hood, so you could only notice that he was very tall, had dark skin, and his eyes were purple.
When they saw that person, the guards immediately positioned in front of Luna and Adrian with their swords draw.
"Who are you?" the counselor asked.
"I was waiting." The man's voice was deep and intimidating. "Hand her over and I will let you live."
"I asked who you are! Who do you work for and what do you want with Your Highness? Answer! Otherwise, these guards will have to resort to force!"
The man ignored the question and started to walk slowly in the direction of the four. His menacing glare was as cold as death itself, his stance was imposing, and his steps were strong and steady.
"Ki-Kill him! Quick!"
The guards moved rapidly. Luna just blinked and both were at close range and attacking with their swords.
The man dodged the guard from the left and grabbed the sword of the second with his bare hands.
"What!?"
The first guard tried to stab him from behind, however the man kicked him with an inhuman speed while keeping his eyes on the other who was trying to release his sword from that unmovable grip.
Then, the man grabbed him by the neck, pressed him against the wall and lifted his fist.
"Last chance..."
After getting up, the guard that was kicked tried to attack the man again.
However, before he could hit, the stranger punched the cornered guard.
"Wait!" The princess' voice was muffled by a rumble so loud as if a lightning had struck right next to her.
Pieces of concrete with the size of small buildings flew towards the nearest houses and partially destroyed its roofs.
The impact caused a tremor so intense that the princess thought she was in the middle of an earthquake, and she almost lost her balance.
A cloud of dust engulfed everyone, blocking the sunlight for a moment, and reducing the visibility.
Luna was in shock. She read numerous stories of warriors with superhuman strength and speed, but she always believed they were exaggerated, and even doubted the Council's reputation.
However, right now, she saw a stranger destroying a fortified wall using only his physical strength. In that moment, the only thing she could think was if she wasn't dreaming.
After that, there was only silence, Luna could even hear her own breathing.
The dust settled down slowly until the man could be seen again.
To the surprise of everyone, the guard was still alive, but he was still being grabbed and he had a visage of pure terror. It was like if death itself was holding him and looking at his soul, ready to reap his life at any moment.
His destiny was in the hands of that monster, who played with his life by showing his abnormal strength and missing the punch on purpose.
Adrian was paralyzed, while Luna was the only who remained calm, or it was how it looked, because this whole situation was so absurd that she had forgotten to react or to feel anything except for surprise.
The silence continued for some long seconds, when the man finally released the guard, who fell to his knees by the sudden action. He tried to stand up, but his legs didn't answer because of the fear.
"Ten..."
"Wha-what?"
"Nine..."
When they heard that, both guards didn't dare to stay there to discover what would happen if that countdown reached zero. Adrian and the guards ran away the fastest they ever did in their entire lives, leaving Luna behind, who still didn't react.
"HELP!" they screamed from the top of their lungs while fleeing from the man.
The screams became quieter while they got further, until Luna couldn't hear them anymore.
The man looked at the princess.
"Let's go."
"What?" Luna asked quietly, as if she was asking to herself.
"Soon the guards and the people will be here. We should use this opportunity to run before they see us."
"Are you... helping me?"
"Yes, now let's go."
"I don't understand… Why are you helping me?"
"Ask questions after we are safe. Take this." The man threw at Luna a mantle similar to his.
The princess hesitated for a moment. This whole situation was totally unexpected, but she decided to follow him even though she didn't know anything about him or his objectives. She was still too surprised to suspect him, so she simply wore the mantle, hid her face, and followed the stranger.
Both sneaked through the streets of Fordurn's capital. The man could move fast and discreetly and knew well where were the abandoned streets that most people avoided. Thanks to his skill, both were able to run away from the palace quickly and without being seem by anyone.