Tale of the Princess

XXXI

Shyra blinked. "The princess? Angad never mentioned you. How do we know that you're not lying?"

Tara laughed. "How unfortunate that the first royal you meet is Angad, not me. Very well, I'll show you proof."

Her hands reached behind her neck and unclasped a heavy necklace. "This necklace was worn by all the women in our royal family. I'm sure you'll recognize it, Empress Shyra."

And Shyra did, much to her surprise. That necklace was gifted to them by King Ram, and was one of his last remaining treasures. But it wasn't enough to convince her.

"That's all very well, but how do we know it's yours by possession? You could have stolen it from the treasury," she pointed out.

Tara sighed and wore the necklace again. "I suspected it'll take more than this to convince you. Very well-"

But she never got to finish her sentence. A familiar face popped up behind her, and all of them gasped.

"Naor? What are you doing here? How did you even get to the palace?" Hira asked. Naor shook his head, urgency carved out in his stance.

"I'll explain later. There's no time now," he said as clangs of steel rang through the air. Hira sheathed her sword and ran to the window, trying to spot the source of the noise.

"We're orchestrating an escape, Your Majesties. Please cooperate with us, and follow me." Naor said, his voice turning insistent. Hira nodded and climbed out of the window, landing on a thick vine growing over the wall.

Arina and Shyra followed her through the window, and when they climbed out, Shyra realised that Tara hadn't followed them.

"Tara," she yelled, realising that the princess was going to cover for them. "Come with us if you want. We have enough room on board."

Tara glanced at her and smirked. "Of course I'm coming with you, empress. I'm not going to be left behind to deal with the consequences. Don't worry. I'll make it out after dealing with the guards."

"Oh," Shyra said, chagrined by the rough response to her polite invitation. Tara looked like she wanted to say more, but Arina pulled her hand and dragged her through the dense branches.

A great deal of scratches later, they stumbled into the ladder and began climbing down, with Hira taking the lead and Shyra bringing up the rear. Shyra had always felt uncomfortable when people ran around without a proper plan, but she pushed her discomfort down and raced through the forest with the rest of her team.

Naor led them in a different direction this time, but before Shyra could question him, the baan's port loomed before them. She stumbled a little at the unexpected sight, and Arina clasped her hand and ran with her.

"Wh... what are we doing here?" Shyra gasped, but Naor shot them an apologetic look and ushered them into their ship.

"Wait," Shyra said when Naor turned to run out again. "Explain everything happening around us. No matter the rush, we deserve to know our situation. Otherwise I'll be forced to take serious steps."

Naor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, Your Majesties. A while after you left, Ahsan convinced me to go after you and keep you safe. I managed to track you down when Empress Hira got captured by the net. I wanted to help, but Princess Tara found me before I revealed myself and convinced me to stay quiet. It's a really long story, but King Angad is a bad person.

"Princess Tara heard about our problems and has agreed to help us. Apparently, she has been gathering allies among the army for a rebellion. That's why we've docked on their port. The rest of the army has boarded the ships, and we're ready to take off. Plus, we haven't left any ships for Angad's army to follow us, so once we're in the air, we're safe from him."

"Okay," Shyra whispered, gathering her thoughts. The fact that Tara could be a traitor crossed her mind, and she was afraid that this was some elaborate scheme to defeat the royals. By the looks on Arina and Hira's faces, they were thinking about the same thing.

"What if Tara is-"

"A traitor?" Naor guessed, an amused smile playing on his lips. "I've thought of that too. At this moment we don't have much of an option but to trust them. If they try to attack us when we're travelling, we have all the necessary means to outrun them. I did a round of their ships, and they seem much more primitive compared to the standard crafts. It's only powerful enough to get them from one place to another."

Shyra nodded. Their situation was still perilous, but it would have to do.

"Then let's get Tara and be on our way."

"Do we even know where Arawn lives?" Arina asked in her usual brunt manner. Shyra blinked, trying to pick out the information from her mind.

"I... I'm actually not sure," she muttered, rubbing the nape of her neck. She'd presumed that they'd have plenty of time with the baan army to track Arawn's location and formulate strategies. Now they were on the run again, and didn't even know where their final destination was.

"Well, looks like we'll just have to figure it out on the way," Hira said, shrugging her delicate shoulders.

A message rang through their comms, and Hira pressed a button to play it.

"Hello, crew of the Peacock," her voice rang through the ship. Shyra frowned and mouthed, 'Is that our ship's name?' to Hira, who shrugged and gave a small smile.

"Everyone has boarded the ships," Tara continued. "Shall we begin our journey then?"

Everyone looked at Shyra, and with a slight chill she realised that they always thought of her as their leader. Even though it was a role she'd trained for her entire life, it felt daunting to be in the company of capable leaders, and have them wait for her guidance.

"Is this communication two-way?" she whispered. Naor caught her look and nodded.

"They cannot hear our conversations. Feel free to speak your mind."

"Okay then," she said, twisting her fingers. "We don't have Arawn's location yet, so we'll be stumbling around until we get a location. I don't know how dangerous that is, but I do know that Angad's army will be hunting for us, and it's not safe here anymore."

"So we'll take off without a plan," Hira reaffirmed. It felt daunting to hear the words out in the open, but Shyra hardened her resolve and nodded.

"It's our best choice. Naor, tell them to prepare for takeoff immediately. The Peacock will take the lead, and their fleet will follow us in a uniform line."

Naor nodded and relayed her messages through the intercom. Hira took her place at the pilot's chair and guided their ship through the perilous takeoff. The others watched from the window as the other ships followed them like a tail. It was a thrilling sight, Shyra admitted to herself with a smile, as she watched the white fleets of ships follow them into battle.

An entire army of highly trained soldies. All at their disposal.

Once they were safely in a less-known Asteroid Path, Shyra approached the cabin and asked for Tara's ship.

"Princess, I believe we have a few important things to discuss. I'd love to have a little tea and a chat on our ship, if you don't mind."

Shyra had already made a note of all the loopholes in Tara's story for her interrogation, and listed out every gap of information and strategy that could hold them back.

"Sure thing, empress," Tara said. Shyra swore that she could feel Tara's smirk through her voice. "I'm on my way."