The Royal Revenge
Chapter 55: Chased

Chapter 55: Chased

"Princess?" Cordelia approached her as she stood in silence for almost a minute.

"We will stay here for the night, Cordelia," Elys made her decision. She turned to Aleksander who had a disinterested and bored expression on his face, "Do you agree?"

The prince shrugged and then spoke to her for the first time since their last argument, "I don’t mind. I love to see people suffer."

Elys couldn’t help but to role her eyes.

The prince just implied the place was just right to his taste – dark and full of misery.

One of the knights was tasked to find a place they could rest for the night. After less than half an hour, he returned to inform them he found a place not too far from where the carriage had parked.

"Very well, let us head over there," the princess said.

Elys returned to the carriage where Aleksander sat indifferently with his legs crossed. He didn’t speak to her the whole short five minutes the carriage rolled towards the inn.

The princess peered outside her window, and she could see the town’s details further down the road. The damage that the vampires had done with the town was nothing short compared to how they attacked any other places.

But it was confusing for Elys.

If the vampires had truly attacked the town, why did she see a lot of women and children still alive? It seemed unlikely for the ill-natured vampires to spare anyone.

The thought that mostly of the Black Bandits were men from this town also bugged the princess. When was the attack and why were there so many inconsistencies? Things definitely weren’t as they seem in this town.

"Prince, Princess, we have arrived," Cordelia announced.

The two got off the carriage and Henry helped with the luggage and supplies. Cordelia spoke to the innkeeper, and in no time did Elys and Aleksander step into their own rooms.

Thankfully for them, there were no other guests that stayed in the inn. The only bad news would be the fact that the rooms were badly kept. The sheets looked like they were unwashed for so long, stains of unknown origin adorned the pillows.

Elys released an exasperated sigh.

It seemed like she would have to use her spare clothes as a bedsheet and pillow. Elys opened her luggage and rummaged through what she could use. Just as she was done with spreading the fabric of her dress’ skirt, an earsplitting scream erupted from outside her window.

"AHH!!! Vampires!" another scream pierced through the air. But this time around, the princess could finally tell who it was coming from.

The princess immediately swerved to where the scream came from. She opened the window of her room, and then leaned over to peer out into the streets.

There were several figures that came walking from afar. One, two, three... five persons in total. Their faces were unrecognizable with their dark cloaks and hoods that hid them well.

But despite her being unable to see their faces, Elys could tell they were dangerous.

She turned her attention to the knights that guard outside with the carriage. They were indifferent as the hooded figures approached, but Elys felt that there was something definitely amiss.

Could those hooded figures be the vampires the child spoke about? The ones that attacked their town and probably caused the Black Bandits into harboring hatred for the Western Kingdom?

She looked closer and saw that there was a little kid with the same features as the boy she had spoken to almost an hour earlier. The princess ran out of her room, past the innkeeper’s desk, flew out of the doors and out into the streets.

Henry saw the princess rush past the prince’s door, and he raised a curious brow. He looked at the time, and noted it was a little late for her to be up and about.

The attendant entered his master’s room with a knock, and Aleksander let him in with the blood he had extracted from the slave right before she dashed out in a frenzy.

Elysianne couldn’t understand why she felt that protective for one child. What made sense to Elys at the moment was that the child needed to be kept safe from the mysterious people ahead.

"Come here!" Elys opened her arms as she raced to protect the little boy. "Why are they after you, little one?"

The child was running away from the ominous figures that seemed to float with the way their cloaks flutter as they approached nearer.

The little boy sobbed in her arms; incomprehensible words being muffled with him pushing his face towards the princess’ chest.

"Shh... don’t worry, I will keep you safe," she told the child.

Elys’ head swerved back and forth from the child, the mysterious figures, and then to the knights that didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Elys asked Teo.

The knight merely nodded and gave her a thumbs up. Elys scoffed – was that gesture supposed to be a joke? Should she even start laughing now?

"This is ridiculous!" Elys complained to no one in particular.

The moment she looked back at the streets; the figures had entirely vanished from sight. All that was left was an eerie silence accompanied by occasional sobs from the child. Elys was on heightened alert, scooping the child in her arms as he made her way into the inn.

But before she could even make it to the door, she was surrounded by the hooded figures, trapping her in a circle of fluttering black cloaks.

"Cordelia!" Elys called out, hoping the maidservant would be able to hear her.

"Henry? Aleksander!" she yelled to no avail.

Where was everyone?

Through the corner of her eye, Elys saw one of the hooded figures made a move to grab the child away from her. She neatly dodged him by ducking, and then turned a full three-sixty as she swept her leg behind the vampire’s knee to take him down.

The man howled in pain as his knee cracked with the blow, and Elys went off to escape the others that approached her.

If they ever catch her, Elys knew it was end game for all.