Chapter 60 - One

"Five!"

Katherine still didn't have any plausible idea, but the enemy was counting faster. Her gaze wandered over the guards erratically. Why didn't they do anything?! Would they just wait for Hazel to be killed?

"Four!"

Some of the guards moved uneasily. Obviously they, too, wanted to know why they didn't get the command to attack. Pete, however, seemed calm. Did that mean they still had a plan? Katherine hoped so. But maybe Pete looked just calm by nature and was flipping the table inside his head! Hazel had stopped crying after the cut on her throat. Now her eyes were pressed together tightly as if her situation would change if she didn't see it.

"Three!"

There wasn't much time! Katherine's hands were slippery when she felt for the dagger she had put under her dress after the last ambush. If nobody did anything, could she throw it at the enemy? Would it even hit? She wasn't an expert at throwing, much less throwing knifes. But what other choice did she have? She needed to try at least!

"Two!"

Suddenly, there was a strange cracking noise. Everyone looked around for it's origin, but nobody could tell. Strangely though, one person didn't move a muscle at the noise.

The "one" never came. The speaker that held Hazel looked like he was frozen in action, his mouth half-opened, arms and body stiff.

Then another noise followed, and a black rain of arrows fell from the sky towards the attackers.

"No! Hazel!", Katherine exclaimed, and rushed forward. This time Pete didn't pull her back. There was no need. In the next second, before Katherine could even reach the open field between the parties, the enemies went down one by one. The rain of arrows was too thick for anyone to escape. Blood splattered the leaves and seeped into the ground. Screams of agony filled the air.

One man with an arrow in his leg tried to crawl away, but another sharp arrow found his neck before he reached half a step further. In a matter of seconds, the attackers all died. There was no escape.

But even though everywhere around them was dead, Hazel and the frozen man were strangely left untouched. Katherine slowed down. She couldn't run into this death-field. Helplessly, she glanced at her maid who was shivering visibly now in fright. Her eyes were still tightly closed, but Katherine was sure, she could hear the sound of the arrows and knew what the fluid meant that had sprayed on her hand and clothes.

It was then that in all this chaos, a person appeared. Katherine didn't see him walk to the battlefield, but there he was, like he fell right from the sky. The sun glittered in his golden hair and armor, and an icy-blue cape dr.a.p.ed over his shoulders. In all this mess, his neat and shiny appearance was completely out of place. Somewhat... unreal. Katherine was even questioning if she was hallucinating, but it took the figure only one move to fit into the picture and let Katherine feel a chill roll down her spine.

With a slender fingers, he lightly tapped the shoulder of the frozen speaker. It was like frail glass falling on the floor. What was a person once, disintegrated into several shards of ice. Even the sword followed suit. Then the shards broke into even smaller, shining pieces, until there was nothing but a little glitter in the air. Even that dissipated swiftly. The person was gone, completely and utterly annihilated.

With her hand on her wide opened mouth, Katherine stopped. She'd wanted to scream Hazel's name to wake her up, but now she was just staring. What a powerful magic! What a frightening mage! He looked like the death god reaping their souls just now. She didn't want to catch his attention by screaming out loud.

Only after a few moments, Katherine's mind started working again and her rationality kicked back in. Maybe because of the gore all around, his appearance seemed much scarier than it actually was. Most likely he had frozen this person from the beginning and now only let him splinter. Was he one of the ice mages of the Icelands? Still, that was a frightening performance. A show of power. But to whom? Who exactly was he?

When Hazel felt the sword and arm around her disappear, she didn't even get to open her eyes. A relieved sound escaped her, then she fell down unconsciousness.

Katherine's eyes twitched. Though that was the perfect picture of a knight in shining armor, she couldn't shake the feeling that this person was just pulling off a show. She felt anxious for Hazel. Her poor maid had been through enough hardsh.i.p.s for today. As she was innocent, she would get infatuated with the knight that saved her and not notice that he was a fake. Katherine could only imagine the trouble that would follow. Fortunately, Hazel wasn't conscious.

Quickly, Katherine recapitulated the last few minutes. Pete was so calm before, it meant that he was sure there was someone to save them. That someone was this man. However, if Pete was so calm, didn't that mean this man had been there long before the arrows had been shot? So, what was his reason to continue to wait and torture her maid? He really was a show-off!

Instead of thankfulness, Katherine felt rage building up in her. What a disgrace of a knight! Hazel could have been killed a few times while he waited by the side! Taking a step forward, Katherine wanted to shout at him to give her maid back. However, when he turned around, she forgot what she wanted to say. Her mind was blank.

Until now she had only seen his back and side, and didn't look at his face. With bright blue eyes and the sweet dimple in his cheek as he smiled, he had the kind of youthful charm that attracted girls like flowers the bees. Coupled with wavy gold-blonde hair and a powerful, yet somewhat playful aura, he was a real looker.

However, that was no reason for Katherine to loose her mind. In between the earl and the patient, Katherine got a bit immune to outwardly charm. This youth sure looked brilliant, but somehow too... young? He looked even younger than her!

Whatever, what first shocked Katherine wasn't the looks of the man, but the resemblance. He looked a bit... just a little bit... he looked like her patient!

Maybe it was nothing more than the blonde hair and blue eyes, which were quite normal features in the Icelands, but she somehow felt that was not it. Though the resemblance in their faces was not as striking as between the earl and the patient, they looked a bit alike. Maybe they were cousins? But if he was the patient's cousin, didn't that mean he was Nathaniel's cousin, too?

Now she grew even more vigilant. Whoever had the earl's blood in him, she didn't believe that there was anyone who was simpleminded. And that persons actions already proved him to be more vicious than he looked. She had to protect herself and her people, especially with the way he carried Hazel. The girl's exhausted face was hidden in the white fur that covered the knight's shoulders.

Suddenly, all the guards around her got down on one knee and bowed their heads. When Katherine looked around in irritation, she saw that even Sam was bowing deeply, though he was not on his knees like the others.

With one voice as if they had studied how to do it many times, all of them shouted: "We welcome your highness!"

Another bomb exploded in Katherine's brain, throwing all her thoughts in disarray. W-what? Highness? Did that mean... a prince?! This man that appeared out of nowhere to help them but coldly waited until the last second, a total show-off, was a prince of the Icelands?

In a daze, she could only stare at him. He did look like a prince should, elegant and brilliant. His demeanor told nothing about the scheming mind he must possess.

Only after a few seconds did Katherine realize that she should be curtsying, too, and hastily followed the custom.

"Your Highness", she mumbled rather late.