Chapter 51: THE WOODS
[MUSIC RECOMNDATION: HO ~ SUIN]
Nix ignored the girlish giggling sounds Kitanna was making, continuing to ride his horse and leaving her behind.
Larel and Khelan were riding on the other side of the forest, enjoying the natural scenery. They attempted to na the different birds that flew past them, sharing a laugh whenever one of them failed to identify a bird correctly.
"Morado is so blessed; I see why other kingdoms try so hard to claim this land," Larel said with a small smile.
"Not just blessed with nature but also our warriors. We’ve never lost a battle," Khelan said with pride, subtly puffing his chest.
The queen dowager and her cousin regrouped with the rest of the party after taking their separate walks.
"Are we tired already?" Khelan asked, savoring the mont with Larel. He didn’t often get the opportunity to spend ti with her. So it was a great opportunity for him.
"Are you suggesting we do sothing else?" Kitanna asked as she leaned forward to pet her horse gently.
Khelan shook his head. He did want to spend more ti with Larel, but he didn’t have any other fun activities in mind.
"What about a ga of tag?" Larel suggested softly.
"A ga of tag? Too basic I must say. What about the ga of Hungers? I hear it’s quite fun and popular among the commoners," Lady Deonisia chid in.
A hush fell over the group as they considered her proposal. The Ga of Hungers was a ga known for being extrely dangerous and grueso, banned in all the kingdoms due to high casualties. However, noble individuals occasionally played it in secret, targeting commoners who did whatever it took to survive.
"Lady Deonisia, that ga has been banned. We are the royal family; we should set an example," Kitanna said with a look of disdain.
"Yes, Lady Deonisia. We won’t engage in such a lowly ga," Khelan added.
Lady Deonisia, in turn, cast her gaze toward Almaria, hoping for her cousin’s support.
"Oh, co on now. Kitanna, don’t tell
you’re afraid. Don’t worry, the ga won’t be too extre, and I’m sure nobody will know about it. It’s just us here," Almaria reassured, pushing for the ga to continue.
"Yes, it’s all family. Except....for your personal guard; maybe he should go back. Where is he?" Lady Deonisia said, her eyes filled with mischief.
"If we are deciding who should leave, Lady Deonisia, it should be you. You are only our mother’s cousin. There is no family relationship with the royal family, and you’ve only been with us for a few days. What makes you think we’ll trust your cousinhood over a guard who even dines with us?" Kitanna retorted. Anger was already beginning to boil in her chest, because it was just obvious the way Lady Deonisia wanted her to be cornered.
"Very well, let’s play the ga. Rember we won’t use extre asure like the real ga," Khelan finally spoke up to ease the tension that was rising.
"Let the ga begin!" Almaria shouted happily.
Kitanna looked around, the ga was about to start and Nix was not yet back. Was he lost in the wood? Kitanna asked herself, her face creasing due to worry.
"You don’t seem enthusiastic about the ga, and I don’t see your guard. Did he scurry away in fear?" Lady Deonisia taunted Kitanna in a soft tone.
The ga of Hungers was a ga where everyone hid in the woods without making a sound. A wild boar was released to chase and feed on losers.
The problem with the ga was that only one person is supposed to survive and that is winner. So basically the ga ant there would be a great deal of betrayal.
There needs to be a sabotage of other people’s hide out so that while the boar is feasting on them, the winner can erge by running to the starting ground or rather the point of safety.
Larel, who was beside Khelan, began to tremble. She had a bad feeling about the ga and wanted to avoid it.
"We shouldn’t use a boar, should we?" Larel asked in a small voice.
"Queen Larel, don’t spoil the fun. We are out in the woods; there should be nothing to fear. Okay, to make it better, let’s form teams," Almaria suggested, in a very sweet tone.
"Yes, teams would be ideal. We are all complete, in pairs. Kitanna, you are with your guard, the queen with the king, and I am with my sister," Lady Deonisia announced.
Larel turned to look at Kitanna and began to say, "But Princess Kitanna’s guard is..."
"Larel, hush now....the problem now is the price. Khelan what is the price?" Almaria turned to her son with a twisted smile.
Larel backed away imdiately, she was not as powerful as the won around her, it was evident that there was a feud and it was the elderly won against the princess. Larel felt pity for Kitanna but she was unsure how she could be of help in the situation.
"Let’s say for the price, we go with twenty boxes of Gold, and a land in any village of your choice" Khelan said the price as enticing as it could be, only for him to receive a look of distaste from his mother.
"No no, we are all wealthy. We are the royal family, we don’t need to waste our ti with wealth again, give sothing much more enticing. Sothing worth it" Almaria suggested, while she received a back up nod from Deonisia.
"Let’s say, winners get to decide two important cases of their selection in the court, and then losers get to be stripped of their title for let’s say three days" Almaria called out the rules, her face looking so bright.
Kitanna knew very well, they were out for her, she ca down from her horse and gently touched it.
"Mother, it seems you want to really try to be a maid, but I guess your wish will be granted today"
Almaria wanted to respond to this, but was pulled back by Lady Deonisia.
Lady Deonisia interjected, "Let’s make the ga even better, as we cannot let the king participate. Let the king and the queen be our lookouts. Queen Larel doesn’t seem to like the ga that much."
Larel smiled awkwardly, relieved to have an excuse to avoid the ga because the atmosphere was not pleasing.
"Alright, alright let the ga begin!" Khelan shouted.
Kitanna, already down from her horse, ran into the woods. Lady Deonisia and Almaria dismounted their horses and followed in the opposite direction.
Inside the forest, Kitanna continued running, attempting to keep her footsteps as silent as possible. The rule of the ga was altered, so she was to walk to the far end of the woods and then return to the starting point without a single scratch.
But Kitanna couldn’t shake the feeling that she was set up to lose the ga, and that the other won had no intention of playing fairly.
She didn’t stop, running deep into the woods. She montarily paused to check if Nix was following, but there was no sign of him.
Kitanna heard a sharp sound coming from her side, she turned and dodged the first arrow, then nurous arrows started flying towards her. She began to run again, but this ti she ran in a zigzag manner trying to dodge the arrows.
When she was finally at a place that seed to be safe, Kitanna squinted her eyes to see if she would catch the archers. For all she could rember the queen dowager had no knowledge of archery or even swordsmanship, except it was her cousin sister, but her hands did not look like it either.
"Have they planned this out in advance? To what extent will these won stoop just to see
humiliated? I can’t believe the lengths they would go to just see
lose," Kitanna muttered to herself.
She sighed in frustration, her anger was especially because Nix was nowhere to be found.
"Where is he whenever I need him the most?" Kitanna wondered, her face creasing with worry.
Just then, she heard another sound, and when she turned, she saw in front of her. A wild boar!.
Kitanna widened her eyes in shock, they all agreed to exclude the boar part of the ga. She started running to escape from the boar’s charge, she only ca out of the palace with the dagger which was on her shoe. She thought it was just a casual walk, so there was no need for serious weapons. Who would have known that she would be running in woods for her life?.
Kitanna frantically searched for a spot where she might gain an advantage, so she could create an opening and attack the wild animal.
Kitanna finally found a spot, she took out her dagger and positioned herself waiting for the boar to attack first.
"Co on, you ugly beast!" Kitanna called out to the boar.
The wild animal finally found it’s prey, it watched Kitanna as if also waiting for an opening to devour her. Then imdiately it rushed towards Kitanna with full speed.
Kitanna also launched her attack imdiately, she raised her hand to use the dagger on the boar, just then her dagger broke into pieces on the boar’s body without even causing a scratch on it.
Soone switched her weapon! At that mont, warning bells rang in Kitanna’s head. She saw the wild boar jump to pounce on her.
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