"Yvain! Who is attacking, and what do they want?!"
"Princess, please stay inside and close the door!"
The golden knight said, before shutting the carriage door closed.
The sounds of clashing blades rang clear all around her, mixed with screams of agony, Yvain's commands and the galloping of horses.
Princess Gwen's gaze fell towards the trembling, terrified maid hugging her knees sitting right across her.
"Don't be afraid! The Lioness knights will protect us!" The princess said, her eyes full of resolve.
Her own words also calmed not only the maid, as her fingers stopped trembling as well.
At first, voices she recognized shouted commands and encouragements towards each other, but now and then there were screams of pain, and the worst part was that she knew some of the voices. Even her loyal knight and protector joined the sea of voices, making her wonder just what was actually going on outside.
Right as she was about to peek outside, the small carriage started to shake and wobble. Sounds of wood could be heard from above.
"Princess?" Someone knocked on the roof and spoke from outside. "Please do not worry, we will stand guard."
Princess Gwen recognized the voice as one of the squires who received his knight title from the last competition. At first, they were able to push the attackers away, but it wasn't long until panicked voices and sounds of more people jumping up onto the carriage could be heard. From the windows, she could see the squire was thrown down from the carriage.
The next thing she heard was the pained scream of the knight in charge of controlling the carriage.
The carriage suddenly moved at high speeds and she quickly realized what was happening.
Most of the attack forces served as a distraction and, while the knights were occupied with them, another separate force was assigned to separate her. By taking the carriage with them, they had fulfilled that mission.
There was no way she could stay quiet while holed up in there. With each second she wasted, the carriage moved further away from her knights.
Gwenneth quickly unsheathed her sword, slightly opened the door of the moving carriage and peeked at the situation outside. The carriage was moving at almost breakneck speeds, the darkness of the night made her difficult to see around, especially with the speed.
The princess looked toward the front and planned to attack the rider in the front seat. Knowing what the princess was trying to do, her attendant shouted.
"No, princess! Don't do it!"
The terrified attendant's expression stopped her, prompting her to decide on a different plan. She held the door, sheathed her sword back and said.
"I need you to jump out of the carriage, now!"
There are two choices left for them. Either they stayed inside and got separated even further away from the knights, or they ran through the woods and hid until the situation passed. The longer they stayed, the further they got from people who could help.
Considering the speed at which their carriage was moving, it would not be easy to jump out safely. But if they managed to do so, they could hide in the darkness of night and rejoin the knights later on. All they needed to do was make sure not to get hit by the trees when they jumped.
Princess Gwenneth grabbed the attendant's hand tight and stared closely at the trees. The darkness of night had obscured them, causing them to be barely visible.
"Jump, now!"
Before the attendant could prepare herself, Gwen yanked her attendant's hand and forced her to jump.
The force of the pull caused the attendant to roll on the ground. She might get some scratches and bruises, but as long as she didn't hit the trees, she should be safe.
Now, it was her turn. She took a deep breath, but right before she could move, she heard the galloping of horses and saw three riders quickly gaining ground towards the carriage.
The rider was watching her, she had lost her chance to run into the woods.
One of the riders, a large man with an ugly face full of scars, could be heard jumping towards the carriage and climbing up from behind. The clang of metal could be heard as the axe slammed onto the wooden carriage roof.
When the attacker in black jumped onto the carriage. He looked around inside, only to see that the door was open and his target nowhere to be seen.
He walked towards the door to check if his target had jumped, but right as he was about to peek outside, the princess, who was hanging on the side, quickly pulled him out of the fast-moving carriage, causing him to hit face-first onto the trees hard.
More riders in black were now running towards her on foot, right behind the horse riders chasing her. But behind them, she saw hope.
A golden knight chased them from the back of a familiar red horse. It was Yvain, the golden knight and, though his face and body was marred with cuts, he looked no worse for wear.
"Sir Yvain!"
The knight pulled his horse's reins hard, causing Jewel to speed up and allowed him to catch one of the riders off guard with a well-timed slash to his midsection. The rider fell off his horse and got trampled by the crowd, right as Sir Yvain started fighting with the other rider.
Their sword clashed hard, each swing from Yvain's blade was enough to chip away parts of the rider's weapon. Within a few swings, the golden knight won the fight and kicked his opponent off his horse, leaving him to the same fate as the first one, before continuing to chase the carriage.
"Stay inside, Princess! I will take care of this!"
The knight passed her, caught up with the marauder driving the horse and jumped up onto his seat before stabbing him on the neck. Light quickly faded from his eyes and Yvain kicked the rider's corpse into the woods.
He slowed down the carriage, until it came to a stop, before he stepped off and helped the princess walk out of the ruined carriage. He was about to let her get onto Jewel when all of a sudden, the sound of horses could be heard coming from both sides of the road. Considering the noises, there seems to be at least a dozen of them.
"Let's run to the woods, Princess. It's the safest way." Yvain said.
Princess Gwen nodded and they prepared themselves to run, but suddenly she heard a familiar voice from the road.
"Princess, I have come to rescue you."
Considering the situation, she should have ignored such words. But, as she recognized the voice, she decided to wait.
She saw the people in black chasing her getting closer, while from the front side of the ruined carriage, another group of knights riding horses could be seen.
The group of knights wore a black cape with a white bird symbol, which the Princess recognized as the symbol of Cantiaci Kingdom, their neighbor. The voice was from Prince Edward the Black Knight, who rode in front of the other knights.