There were a lot of things that did not make sense to Alicia. As much as she tried to wrap her head around why Tyra was doing this, she could not think of anything. Or maybe she had no time to do proper thinking because she was in a battle between life and death and had vowed not to die. Herself and Harvey were putting in their best effort, shooting arrows and using swords on some nearby rogues.
The greatest advantage Alicia had was that the windstorm didn't affect her. But that was also a disadvantage for Harvey. However, he was a well-trained swordsman and not as careless as the rogues, who could not find their footing. Another fortune Alicia had was Hellion. Hellion had always hated it when someone was close to him. So it was in a battle on its own, kicking away any sign of a person around it.
At this point, the ground was littered with dead bodies. The rogues left were only about 15, but they were still quite a lot for Alicia, who was already pretty exhausted. She wasn't immune to any of it. She had a few cuts, some from arrows she only narrowly missed and some from other sharp weapons that were able to touch her.
But she didn't want to give up. If she had gotten to this stage, she believed she could do more. She could win this fight. And she wanted to win this fight.
However, the more exhausted she was, the weaker the windstorm was. She knew she could not continue.
"Why can't you kill her?! Why are you all useless?!" A livid Tyra, who had been hiding far away, yelled at the remaining wounded men, who were moving backwards at the sight of Alicia and Harvey approaching with their arrows drawn.
"SURRENDER. AND YOU SHALL LIVE." Alicia yelled loudly for the men to yell. But on hearing that, Tyra laughed loudly.
"DO YOU THINK THAT I CAN BE EASILY DEFEATED?" Tyra asked, sounding amused. She pointed a sword at Alicia as she said, "You must be mistaken, Amber. I have no intention of losing." She said it in a more serious tone, and just then, Alicia and Harvey's eyes narrowed to look far behind Tyra before their eyes widened in shock at more Rogues trooping in that direction. There were about 50 of them. Fifty strong men, haggard men, racing in their direction.
Alicia turned to look at Harvey. He was also stunned. This was more than they could handle with their empty packs of arrows and exhaustion. Alicia looked at Tyra angrily.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS FOR?" She yelled at her, livid.
"It's not my fault. You underestimated me." Tyra said with a smile before she began to laugh loudly as the troop got nearer and nearer.
Alicia turned to Harvey. There were so many things she wanted to say, but at the same time, she had nothing to say. Should he return? Should she tell him to fight with her? This was a fight that they were not going to win.
Alicia Queen... how did her life turn out this way?
But then Harvey gave her a small smile and nodded before he looked ahead, ready to fight to the death.
And just when they thought they had no hope left as the troop got closer, the palace doors opened.
And it was not only Lance and Williams that stepped out but also a few other palace guards, some of whom already had injuries from the previous fights, and some noblemen, including Sir Richard, Sir Evan, and Sir Gregory, who would rather die than not be out there to protect their sons and their kingdom. There were also some other sons of nobility who had been trained to fight.
When Alicia saw them racing out of the palace with different weapons in hand, trying to fight, she didn't know when tears dropped from her eyes. And even an effort to smile made more tears flow. She turned to look at Harvey, who also seemed touched as he looked at their troop with his father in front. Sir Richard glanced at him briefly and gave him what could be considered a proud smile.
The sight gave them renewed strength and hope.
Gathering her strength, she raised her sword and, in a loud voice, bellowed, "FOR OUR KINGDOM!"
"FOR OUR KINGDOM!!!" They all echoed as they clashed with the other group, fighting with all their might.
However, when Alicia's eyes went to where Tyra was, she noticed Tyra looked unusually calm. In fact, she had mounted a horse now and just watched the fight. Either she was very confident in her team's winning, or there was something else that gave her that kind of strength. But whatever it was, Alicia had a bad feeling about it.
Meanwhile, some noblemen inside the palace were demanding that the palace doors be sealed after they had been locked. And while trying to carry out this cowardly act, they never dreamed of being put down by women. Women! And young girls!
Most of the noblemen were very angry at this point. First of all, those stubborn men insisted on leaving the palace to join the fight despite their protest. They were noblemen, not fighters! Why couldn't they just seal all the doors and windows and wait until the guards outside caught wind of what was happening and came to their rescue? But they had received a solid backlash from Sir Richard, who was supposed to be restricted to his chamber. Not only had he called them cowards, but he had also told them how disappointed he was, especially at the palace guards who stood by and watched as the woman who had risked her life to protect them was locked outside.
Since those stubborn ones had decided to go out, they could only protect the palace and seal the doors. But who would have thought the next set to protest were the women? Since when were they allowed to talk in the presence of men?
"These doors will remain unsealed!" Lady Victoria said, standing in front of the door with the sword her husband had handed over to her to protect herself. Some other women were beside her, fully in support of her decision.
"HAVE YOU LOST IT, WOMAN? YOU WANT US TO DIE JUST BECAUSE YOUR HUSBAND AND SON CHOSE TO DIE?" A man bellowed at her.
"YES!" She screamed. "YES, I HAVE LOST IT!"
"OUR SONS ARE OUT THERE! OUR HUSBANDS ARE OUT THERE! THE WIFE OF OUR PRINCE IS OUT THERE!" She looked at all of them pointedly before her tone reduced, and she said, "If we lose this war, the palace should as well burn to the ground for all I care. But this door shall remain unsealed!" She said with fire in her eyes that even some men were scared of approaching her, especially with that sword in her hand. Everyone had heard what Susan did to Prince Ivan. How she has cut him with his own poisoned sword. They didn't want to take any chances with this crazy woman.
"I can see why your daughter died. She must have been as careless as you are." Someone said it in an unpleasant tone, making the room go quiet.
Lady Victoria's eyes met his. It was a boy. Probably 18. His father was one of the noblemen currently trying to have the doors sealed. Victoria swallowed hard as she moved closer to where the boy was and stood in front of him.
She looked at him.
He looked back at her.
And then she gave him a hard slap on the face that echoed throughout the entire room.
Her action was shocking for everyone gathered there because, not only was he a young man of age, but never had it been heard that a woman hit a man, not even her son. Well, Princess Amber had even fought with Prince Ivan, but that didn't count now.
The boy touched his cheek, still in disbelief. It was his father who reacted first, storming in front of Lady Victoria and yelling so much that his spit flew everywhere, "HOW DARE YOU HIT MY—"
His words failed to complete when she also slapped him hard across the face, sending the whole room gasping in shock.
"I can see where he learned to be mannerless," Victoria spoke to the stunned man fearlessly and then turned to look at the wife and mother of the men she had slapped, who was standing behind her husband, as though challenging her to speak too. But the woman looked like she was grateful for the slap she had given to the men in her life.
Victoria raised her chin confidently and turned back to guard the door with the sword in hand. "The door remains unsealed." She said it firmly.
But whether the door was to be shut or remain unsealed, it didn't matter. Because Tyra already had a plan for those left instead.
They were her plan C.
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