Chapter 7 - Set In Motion: Part Three

Evanna paled at the sight before her, how was she spotted? She was always so careful. She looked back at Ger who already put his sword back into its sheath and placed the weapon down on the ground. Unlike her, he couldn't keep hold of a weapon in front of the king, he would be considered a threat to his majesty. Evanna relaxed her stance and put her own swords away, sad that their fight had ended, she was enjoying it, fighting a different opponent. Now, it seemed she was going to be a prisoner in her own home after leaving the palace. Again.

Osian got down from his horse and walked up to the scene that was before him. Ger who now stood taller and broader than him had grown out of his baby face, he now bowed before him. Further behind him he saw his daughter dressed like a man with weapons sheathed behind her back, her body stiff with apprehension and her normal pale complexion looking ghostly. He looked to and from each of their faces. Then spoke,

"It came to my attention that I would be missing a rather entertaining fight", His lips spread out into a broad grin.

After last night's conversation with Evanna, he was on high alert. He did not know what she was planning but he made sure to have a few of his men to keep an eye on her and his own personal servants to inform him about any gossip they came across regarding her. Once word came back to him this morning that his daughter was dressed for battle, he knew where he would find her; it disheartened him that she preferred to train in the woods and not the training ground at the palace.

He knew that she did not care about the gender rules of fighting, but she still did not want to cause more nobles to gossip about a deranged princess swinging a sword around. Nevertheless, he was never against his daughter knowing how to defend herself and was pleased to see she was passionate about a hobby that did not include escaping buildings.

On hearing King Osian's reply, Ger straightened himself and looked back at the king to see him smiling at them. Evanna walked forwards, "You are not mad?.. Your highness," Her shock clearly made her forget about formalities.

"Why would I be mad? Are you not training?" the king then eyed Ger suspiciously.

"Yes, of course we were father.. I thought I would be in trouble," She responded.

"Trouble? Why would you be in trouble? Ger escorted you from the palace, did he not?" He asked.

Although his servants provided the king with intel, he still did not know how she came to escape the palace so well and unnoticed. He knew she may have met Ger somewhere along the way but knowing that she had weapons on her, made him feel relieved; he also knew that Evanna was not about to change a habit of escaping overnight after doing it for nearly 5 years. So, he let her off.

Evanna stood there blinking, unable to comprehend her father's comment, but Ger replied quickly in her stead,

"Yes, of course your highness."

"Then it is settled. Hugh set up a perimeter near the entrance of the forest and the surrounding areas." He ordered. While Hugh and the other guards were setting up, Osian went to one side and waved his hand for them to continue.

Ger turned back around.

"Don't you dare go easy on me now," Evanna challenged.

"I wouldn't dream of it, princess," He replied, his eyes gleamed.

With that, Evanna grabbed both blades and brought them in front of her. Ger barely grabbed his own sword before he was defending himself again.

For the next hour both opponents were working hard to find the other's weakness. Evanna was elegant, agile and very skilled, Ger found her able to block most blows and if he were to catch her off guard she would dodge, roll to the side, or simply somersault herself backwards, landing gently on her feet a fair distance away from him. Ger on the other hand, already a skilled swordsman, was relentless in his blows, his technique edged with strength and power. Evanna struggled a couple of times with his brute strength but then she used her own ability to swiftly dodge.

Near the end of the hour, Ger was gasping for breath and Evanna was sweating, and feeling weak. Seeing this he made a final blow which made her lose her sword, she narrowed her eyes and looked at how unbalanced he was, she stepped into the small space between them, ducking her head from another blow and swept the back of her own sword underneath his lower legs, making him fall flat on his back.

THUD!

He groaned, giving up after seeing her sword placed above him. Evanna sheathed her sword before lowering her hand to help him up. Pulling him up towards her, Ger towered over her making her look up to see his face, he leaned in close to her so that only she would be able to hear him.

"It appears you can fight. Maybe we won't need so many men after all...How did you learn to fight like that?" Evanna could feel his breath on her cheek.

"I told you, I had a very good teacher," her voice low.

"Hmmm."

"We should talk when-"

"AHEM" Hugh's fake cough interrupted her, Evanna blushed and stepped away from Ger to see that Hugh was now standing next to the king, watching them.

"Bravo! That was excellent!" The king praised. He did indeed enjoy watching the fight, but to see how snug they were at the end made him uncomfortable, he will need to keep an even closer eye on Ger.

Evanna smiled at her father, she was glad to beat Ger especially in front of him. She needed him to know that she could take care of herself, for when she would soon leave, she knew both her parents would worry.

After grabbing their belongings, the king announced that he had business elsewhere in another village. After much deliberation, Evanna convinced her father that she would be fine with Ger escorting her back to the palace. She needed some time alone with him without causing suspicion or having to climb down her balcony in the evening, she was far too impatient to get her plan set in motion.

The king and his men left once Evanna and Ger made it back to the road that led to the village Reigh. Once they were out of site, the tension left their shoulders and the pair burst out laughing after glancing at each other. They continued to walk down the road.

"Honestly princess, I am impressed," He chuckled.

"Shh! I don't wear this rag because I want to!" She glanced around her nervously, before sighing after seeing that it was just the two of them. For now. He chuckled again before replying,

"I know a couple of guys that can come with us" before she could reply, he held his hand up cutting in again "They are loyal to me, so they will be loyal to you."

She nodded her head, even though they should really already be loyal to her, she was their princess after all. But she understood what he meant.

"I also have someone I have been thinking about asking, but you must trust me on this," She replied. He raised a brow at her but did not probe further, he knew that he would be meeting this person soon.

"How long will it take to get these men you speak of here?"

"Hmmm, they live in Slymere. So, we can meet tomorrow night?" Ger responded. Slymere was another village not too far from Reigh. "What about your… 'friend'?"

"I am sure she is about…" Evanna then added "She will make it for tomorrow night"

Ger frowned at her response but said nothing. They then made a plan that they would meet after dinner the following night outside her balcony, it was the safest place to meet without her getting into any more unnecessary trouble and it was a place where they could talk more freely other than her chambers. Which she did not feel comfortable with, strangers, especially men to be in there.

Tonight's little mission would be to write some invitations to Ger's friends that he could pass on to them the following day, to grant them access to the palace, and for her to inform the king of their arrival. She did not know how the evening would go, what with them going to dinner and spending time with her half-sister, the queen and her younger siblings. Hopefully, smooth.

Her thoughts then shifted to her 'friend'; she did not fully trust this person, but she thought her skills would be needed for the quest they would be taking. Evanna knew that with the right leverage, she would be swayed in coming. With her, there was always a price, but she accepted that a long time ago.

She acquired her services two winters back when the situation between her and Isabel was too much, ignoring her childish behaviour became hard. Isabel deliberately planted a seed of doubt into the minds of the nobles at a ball, that Evanna was not the king's daughter. This was quite an outlandish tale, because why would the king take care of a woman and child, if they were not his own. The nobles laughed it off, but the rumour made its way back to the king. Somehow, Isabel had passed the blame convincingly onto her, causing Evanna to be punished.

The same night she ran into Cilandra after leaving the ball and making her way back towards her room. The lady saw what happened and said that she would take care of the problem for her. The problem being Isabel. It was very cryptic, and she had only just met the woman, so before agreeing she made sure that Cilandra did not mean to harm her. Evanna did not know what the lady done but Isabel did not pull another stunt like that again, in the beginning she even started to act openly frightened of Evanna. Not that she cared in the end, if it meant that her sister would keep herself away from her, she was happy. A week later, Cilandra turned up asking for payment, in return Evanna gave her one of Isabel's many necklaces that she knew she could go without. Until this day, Isabel still did not notice the misplaced item, that was the significance of her never-ending jewellery boxes.

"more of a head start."

Ger's voice brought her back to the present, she missed the first part of what he said but she nodded her head politely. Ger noticed her thoughts were elsewhere so he repeated what he said to her,

"I was thinking that early morning would be the perfect time for you to escape. It will give us more of a head start."

Evanna was grateful to him for repeating what he said.

"I will need to see my mother before I leave," She responded to see him nodding his head in agreement.

"Then I would suggest getting up before sunrise," She looked at him flabbergasted, then saw how serious he was, she composed herself once again, but Ger already saw the shock on her face, she saw a smirk crawling up his face.

Evanna loved her sleep, she knew she was a little spoilt and there were plenty of times where Maggie would be shaking her awake to show it was well into the morning of 8am. But to get up before first light was madness! That would mean getting up before the servants! She shook her head in displeasure at the thought but knew that her comforts as a princess were soon to be over.

They continued through the village and found themselves in the marketplace. Evanna walked towards a stall where a lady was selling fabrics, there were also some ribbons, she grabbed a bright red one and paid for it. Asking for a quill and some ink she then wrote on the fabric before leaving the area. Ger looked at her questioningly then watched as she tied the ribbon to a well in the middle of the village. Without another word they went back to the palace.