The sun had hovered over the western horizon when Ron Westsinger’s merchant caravan arrived at Valar the previous day. Riding on the horse for nearly the whole day, Sena moras and her knights had hoped for a night of good long rest on soft beds. But things don’t always go according to people’s wishes. They had just arrived at the Moras mansion for about an hour or so and hadn’t even had the chance to settle down when the Mansion’s chief maid knocked on the door to Sena’s quarters.

“House Sergel has sent an invitation, miss,” she said handing out a white envelope with a design twisted golden threads on the borders. On the red wax seal was as insignia of an eagle’s head. “They are holding a ball tonight. The time of your arrival quite opportune the butler said. He personally delivered the invitation.”

“You mean, right now?” Sena frowned as she opened the envelope and took an indigo invitation card from within it.

“Yes, right now. He’s waiting downstairs with a carriage to personally escort you,” Erin, the chief maid said as she looked Sena up and down. “It’s a good thing you’ve already taken your bath, my lady, so please get ready to go.”

“But I’m so tired! Can’t we cancel it?” Sena whined.

“I’m afraid not, my lady. The house of Sergel is one of our closest allies. It would not look good if you declined.” Erin said without any change in her stoic demeanour.

“Uf! That’s such a pain!” she said as she turned around, slamming the door shut behind her. “Tell him to wait a bit while I get ready. And see if any of the boys are done with their bath too. I can’t be the only one to suffer.”

The Sergel mansion was on the south-west part of the town. Since it was a wholly opposite direction, the carriage arrived there half an hour later. Sun had drowned a while ago and the cityscape had begun to lose its twilight ambience.

Sena, along with a stoic Gregor, a grumbling Samuel and the smiling butler of the Sergel, Jeff Arman, stepped down from the dark, wooden vehicle. An area of several acres surrounded by ten feet high stone wall stood in front of them. Within the walls, lay a red stone mansion with a blue-tiled roof. Many carriages and horses were already arriving carrying people of significance from all over the city. Sena and the two knights followed jeff and walked past the gate and the paved aisle, entering a richly decorated ballroom. Bright chandeliers shed streams of light the marble walls of the hall draped with green and golden tapestries.

Music filled the air as lavishly dressed gentlemen and ladies danced with its rhythm. Sena stood at a corner of the crowded room with Samuel as she looked at the various faces floating about in the room. She only recognized a part of them. After all, she had never paid much heed to such social gathering, only attending when her father forced her. Some of them came forward smiling and introducing themselves as she also did the same. She never went to introduce herself on her own initiative. Gregor was doing most of the socializing for her though and being the tall, handsome knight he is, he had even managed to snag himself a pretty dance partner.

Sena pitied him. How exhausting it must be to dance like that after the journey. Well, better him than her. It was through the tireless effort of the two knights that Sena had managed to ward off potential dance partners and giggling gossip ladies. However, her good times eventually came to an abrupt end.

“May I have this dance, lady Moras?” A silver-haired man wearing a green and gold surcoat bowed and extended his hand to her. Arakan Sergel, the young heir of the Sergel house had a smile on his handsome face that the ladies just can’t say no to and one Sena wanted to punch a few times right now. She couldn’t decline this offer, an offer from the host of the ball and the allies of her house. Oh well, maybe it was for the better. If she stood alone like that the event, she might become the subject of the gossip she avoided herself as the ‘stuck up lady Moras’. Yeah, thinking positive was always better.

“I know you must be exhausted, but please bear with me for a while, my lady,” whispered Arakan as he led her to the spacious dance floor. “Otherwise it won’t be good for your image.” he looked and nodded towards the musicians, and the music around the room slowed down. Flowing through the room like a gentle breeze. The dancing men and women also slackened the rhythm of their dances along with it.

Sena sighed and started to dance along with the young man. She also whispered back, “I just wish you hadn’t invited us today of all days. It wouldn’t matter if the ball was some other day.”

Surprised by her frankness, Arakan pressed his lips together to suppress the coming laughter. “Then it’s your bad luck arriving today. Since we noticed your arrival, we couldn’t have just left you out.”

Their banter although inaudible but the jubilant mood surrounding the two drew the attention of many. And not all those had friendly intentions. A group of four among them had a particularly displeased expression. They were from a rival house of the Sergel, the Banat house. They whispered amongst themselves for a while, watching the dancing couple. And after a short stretch of intense discussion, one of them left the ballroom.

The ball lasted for another two hours and during that time, much to Sena’s sorrow, she got dragged around to a lot of events by the smiling Sergel heir.

Sena was equal parts frustrated and furious at the man always spouting the same damn line “Don’t worry, my lady, it’s the last event. It won’t be exhausting, I promise.”

He seemed to enjoy doing it and Sena wanted to beat him to an inch of his life because of it. However, the event eventually ended and Sena exited the mansion with the two knights. Arakan escorted them out. “I hope we meet again, lady Moras,” he said in a cheerful voice.

“Thank you for your hospitality, but…” An exhausted Sena looked at the eyes of the young man in front of her. “I hope that meeting won't come for a while.”

Arakan grinned and lowered his voice. “I’m sure you’ll feel differently if you are indeed here for the queen’s quest. I have some exclusive information I’d like to share and discuss with you later.”

“really?” Sena perked up. She didn’t doubt his words after all his father Auriel Sergel was one of the trusted advisors of the queen. So getting some restricted information wouldn’t be too difficult for him.

“Yes, but that something we would talk about some other day over a cup of tea.” he shook his head, looking at her. “Now you should go back and rest. Your eyes are red like apples.”

So ‘red like apple’ eyed Sena boarded the carriage with Samuel and Gregor. They opted not to bother Jeff to escort them back, though Arakan had offered it.

The noble men’s mansions were quite close to the top of the hill where the city lay. Being close to the palace, and due to its limited yet higher status population, the place was free of the riff-raff recently entering the city. Public security was not much of an issue here so patrols in the area were sparse. Especially since the increase in the crime rate in the lower area demanded security measures to concentrate there. So the nights of the noble’s section of Valar were quieter.

The horse hooves and the clatter of wheels rolling on stone, broke that quiet as the carriage moved along the streets of the city. The golden lights from lanterns hanging from the post mingled with the light of the full moon and dark of the night to create a ghostly ambience. Inside the carriage, only Gregor managed to stay awake, albeit with some difficulty. Samuel had already lost the battle against the sleep demon, snored away at a corner of the seat beside him, but on the opposite seat, Sena was still fighting a hard battle, nodding off occasionally. She didn’t want to fall asleep, being the leader of their team, but although she had been the least exhausted at the start of the ball, now, due to running along with Arakan’s whimsy, she was the most exhausted person.

Along with neighing of horses and a scream from the driver the carriage came to a sudden, lurching halt. It threw Sena hurtling forward. Her head banged against the back of the seat Gregor and Samuel sat on. Her vision spun as a splitting headache clamped her head in a vice grip. She held her head and sat down on the floor of the carriage with a thump. Gregor and Samuel were relatively alright. they stood up and drew their swords with serious expressions. The driver’s scream had been a dying one. It blew their sleep away.

Gregor had no time to consider etiquette and such. He bent down and held Sena’s upper arm, pulling her on her feet. “Are you alright, my lady?” he asked.

“No,” she shook her head and grimaced at the pain. It was a miracle her head didn’t split, but the bump forming on it was a sizeable one. “What happened? I think I heard a scream?”

“It’s the driver,” Gregor said with a grave expression. “I’m not sure what happened, but I think it’s an ambush.”

“Who’s there?” Samuel shouted with a hint of nervousness in his voice, but no one answered him.

“Get away from the wall, Samuel. Woods don’t stop arrows.” Gregor said.

Sena drew her sword and crouched down, creeping towards the window above the door.

“My lady…” Gregor wanted to stop her, but Sena raised a hand, stopping him. She put a finger on her lips prompting them to silence and drew back the curtain a tiny bit. Her heart thumped in her chest as she peeked through the gap. After a while, she drew back.

“I see three wearing black.” she brought her head close to the two of them and whispered. “There might be more out of sight.”

“Should- should we stay in?” Samuel said in a hopeful voice. “Since they aren’t coming in, maybe we could wait until the guards arrive.”

“Yeah, it’d be wonderful if they are willing to wait that long.” Sena couldn’t help the sarcasm in her voice.

“I don’t think they are here to kill us though, or they would have attacked us by now.” Gregor looked at Sena. “I think they’re here for you.”

“Tsk,” Sena's hand clenched on the hilt of her basket-hilt sword. “I’ll kill Arakan the next time I see him.”

Gregor frowned, “You don’t think he did it do you?”

“No, but it’s because of him I’m here. Or now I’ll be sleeping on my bed in peace.”

Samuel couldn’t bear it anymore. “What do we do now?” he asked.

“They’re not that far away, but aren’t approaching us either. I think they have snipers waiting somewhere.” Sena said.

“Then if we get out, we’d be in the line of fire.” Gregor snapped his fingers.

“Yeah, but if we can engage the three…”

Sena extended her hand toward Samuel. “Give me your cloak.”

“Why?”

“Hurry!” Sena frowned and stabbed her sword in the soft velvet cushion over her seat. She cut a big piece out of it, trying to keep as much of the feathers wrapped inside the piece of cloth white. Feathers filled the carriage as she took the cloak from Samuel and wrapped it around the velvet and a heavy gold necklace from her neck to give it some weight. She took a deep breath and looked at Gregor. Gregor nodded and reached out towards the door, gulping. He turned the knob and thrust the door open.

Sena threw the wrapped cloak. It hurtled forward as it unwrapped and feathers inside it filled the night air, obscuring the sight further. It was enough to give an impression of a person jumping out. Arrows whistled through the air. Two of them. They clattered on the stone below where the feet should have been.

The time before the assailants understood the situation and reloaded their arrows was enough for the three youngsters to rush out and close in on the three men garbed in black cloak and mask. The men pulled out their swords in a hurry. They hadn’t anticipated such a move. Nothing inside a carriage should’ve been throwable. They didn’t have time to think as they parried the oncoming slashes.

Two archers holding crossbows flurried around looking at the ongoing battle. They any bolt they launch might hit their companions. It shouldn’t have been like this. Their employer said the targets were only youngsters who’d be quite tired, unable to defend against their assault. Taking them down should be easy. But now their companions were barely managing to hold on against the three people’s aggressiveness. The archers threw down their crossbows, drew their sabres and jumped into the battle.

Gregor couldn’t hold on anymore. At first, the three had the upper hand since the assailants aren't skilled enough to hold themselves against trained knights. They managed to hold on, receiving only minor injuries due to having an advantage in their experience. But their situation worsened a lot after the other two men joined. He was tackling two and a half of the attackers himself. Sena was also taking on a lot of the burden, though the attackers were deliberately avoiding harming her. Samuel had it the easiest, duelling against just one man. But the man was agile as a cat and skilled enough to keep him at bay. Samuel struggled furiously to shake him off and converge with him and Sena.

Gregor dodged to the side, but a thrust by a big, hulking man with red hair sticking out the side of his black mask left a deep cut on his upper right arm. The sleeve of his shirt turned red. He backed up a step. Damn! Where were the patrolmen? At this rate…

A burning hot pain shot through the left side of his stomach and Gregor staggered. He looked down at the sword stuck in his belly. “Oh hell!” he whispered and fell as one of the assailants, a skinny man, drew his sword out in shock.

Damn! They weren’t supposed to kill the knights. This might get complicated.

“No! Greg!” Sena disengaged from her attackers and rushed towards Gregor. She looked at gasping figure soaked in blood. Blood slowly turned his shirt red, and blood also boiled within her. It filled her mind with blind rage, unlike anything she ever felt. With a vicious snarl, she turned and slashed her sword at the shocked attacker who stabbed Gregor before he could respond. A head flew, raining blood like a fountain under the moonlight.

Bathing in their companion’s blood, the assailants regained their senses. A robust man screamed with fury and dashed out. The man who died was his brother! He no longer cared about the task and swung her sword down on Sena, intending to end her life. she brought her blade overhead and stopped the blow, but the force nearly knocked her off. The pressure overhead bent her tired knees. The muscles in her thighs tightened from a burning ache. She couldn’t hold on for long.

A sudden heavy fist darted in from the side and struck chin. The force sent her flinging back. her eyes swam and darkness filled her vision. She knew nothing after that.

The big man with red hair held Sena’s arm as she slumped down. He lifted her and flung her on his back.

“Let me kill her,” the robust man said as he stalked forward with hate-filled eyes. The big man pointed his sword at him and shook his head. The money they were getting for this job was so huge he’d even sell his favourite sword for it, and the man who died was merely an acquaintance. Besides they’d already made a blunder by seriously injuring the knight.

The robust man clenched his fist and turned around. Staring at his brother's head. His face fixed in the expression of shock. As if he couldn’t believe what happened. The man vowed in his mind, he’d use at least half the money for a grand funeral.

“Pick up the body and let’s go.” the big man’s booming voice reached the ears of the black-garbed men as he turned around.

The Agile man also drew back, leaving his opponent. Seeing the big man carrying Sena and leaving, Samuel dashed forward. But three swords sprang at him, pointing at his neck. He gulped, his throat dry, as he looked from the unconscious Sena to the blades pointed at him to an injured Gregor. Yes, Gregor could have done it. He could have fought the three men and rescued Sena. But Samuel was no Gregor. He clenched his teeth and took a sharp breath, shaking all over from the frustrated feeling growing inside him. He wanted to be Gregor. To go all out and take Sena back from the hands of these bandits, but… he looked at Gregor again. He. Was. Not. Gregor!

His hand ached from clamping on the hilt of his sword as he looked at the back of the man carrying Sena disappear into a dark alley. He turned and walked towards Gregor and the assailants also turned to pick up the parts of their dead companion. Then they followed their leader.

Samuel kneeled beside Gregor. He took out a folded handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it over the other knight’s stomach wound, staunching as much blood as he could. Samuel started lifting Gregor, momentarily waking up the unconscious knight.

“Sena! Where’s Sena?” the half-asleep Gregor mumbled.

Samuel didn’t answer him, he brought the injured knight to the only living horse. He unfastened the frisking and neighing animal from the carriage and put lifted Gregor up, laying him on its back. Samuel mounted the animal, riding towards the closest house in the neighbourhood. He would go back to the Moras mansion, but first, he had to save Gregor.