Chapter 48  

Klara made me wear dirty torn clothes, she put mud on my face and hair and tied my hands.

"If you look like a beggar no one will ever suspect you are a princess." She explained.

I was angry at first. Was she making fun of me? But as we passed many guards and none of them even looked our way I guessed she was right. It must really have looked like I was a slave bought by her from the way she rode her horse and I was being dragged behind with my hands tied. I still hated her for this, but I had to admit she was smart and she was helping me.

Once we passed the guarded place we stopped near a lake and she gave me something to eat. I had never been so hungry in my life before so I ate the sandwich quickly.

"What happened to your leg?"

"I really don't know. I think it's swollen from all the sitting and walking or maybe I wrenched it." I explained.

She just nodded and looked away.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

"I promised Lucian to protect you the way he would." She said, "Even though that was when we were supposed to get married."

"You saved me to keep a promise you made to Lucian?" I asked surprised.

"I am stupid, I know."

"You love him very much." I said more to myself than her.

She truly did love him. I tried to deny that for a long time but it was a fact. She had helped us escape and she saved my life because she knew it did matter to Lucian.

"Don't worry, I am not here to take him away from you. Now sleep for a while so we can keep going."

***

Klara watched Hazel while asleep. She really tried to dislike this woman but why couldn't she. This woman had taken away the man she loved, the only man has ever loved so why didn't she hate her?

Maybe because she knew deep down it wasn't Hazels fault. She had been forced into marrying Lucian, it wasn't her choice.

Sighing Klara lay down on the ground and tried to find some sleep but her thoughts went back to the time she first met Lucian

.

"Klara, you won't participate in this war. It's final." Rasmus said.

"But why?"

"Sweet sister. We are fighting against the most powerful kingdom and their armies leader is the seventh prince. He has never lost a war before."

She had heard of the seventh prince of Decresh, the prince rumored to be the devil's son. He kills without mercy and always goes back home with a victory.

"Brother, I can't stay just because we might lose. What will that make me? A coward?"

Rasmus sighed in frustration.

"Astrid! Please knock some sense into your sister." He said standing up and leaving the room.

Klara glanced at her sister giving her a 'don't even try' look.

"If you want to die why don't you just jump off the window." Astrid said sipping her tea.

"And what makes you think I will die?" Klara asked.

"So we are basically sending our men to die? That's not right sister. That's why I need to go." Klara insisted.

Astrid stood up from her seat "Klara you care too much about other people and I care too much about you to send you to die."

Klara took her sisters hands in hers. "I won't die sister, how many wars have I survived? Just please convince brother to let me go. Please, please." She begged.

Astrid sighed. "Alright, but I will train you to death before you go."

"Thank you, sister." She said and gave Astrid a peck on the cheek.

Klara spent the rest of her days before the war training and coming up with new war strategies. She was determined to win and bring her men back home alive, and whoever this seventh prince was she wanted to defeat him.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Astrid asked when the day had come.

"Yes." Klara said without hesitation. She was a warrior and a warrior would rather die in a battle than hide.

"Be careful," Astrid said. They said their goodbyes and she left to fight.

Klara led her men to the battlefield where they stood face to face with their enemies. She was surprised to find that the enemies army wasn't large, but they didn't seem intimidated by their large army and began to attack directly.

She had fought many battles before but this time she got a very bad feeling. She could smell sweat, blood, and death. But she could also smell defeat. Most of her men were already dead, while most of the enemies men were alive. How was that possible? They had trained and planned so much.

Klara was confused until her eyes landed on a man wearing a mask. But that was not what caught her attention. He was fighting with two swords, swinging them swiftly as if they didn't weight anything. His movements were too fast, giving his opponents no time to defend or attack. Bodies kept falling dead to the ground as he moved between them with such ease aiming for his next target. It was as if he wasn't even making an effort.

The very short amount of time Klara was watching him he had already killed almost twenty of her men. He had to be the seventh prince Klara thought. She needed to kill him first.

Killing off the man she was fighting with she moved toward him tightening the grip on her sword.

Lifting her weapon into the air she was about to strike him when he suddenly turned and knocked the sword out of her hand with such force she fell to the ground. She was about to take her other sword out when she felt the sharp tip of a sword placed on her throat.

With heart pounding, she slowly lifted her head up and found a pair of unearthly eyes staring down at her. Eyes that seemed to be burning burned into hers making her breath hitch and her heart stop.

"Your Highness, we have killed everyone." A man spoke from nearby but Klara couldn't take her eyes off the man standing in front of her.

The prince didn't respond, he just stared down at her. He was wearing a mask that only hid his lower face. Klara could see his perfectly shaped eyebrows and his silky black hair.

"Who is she?" The man asked.

The prince removed his sword from her throat his eyes narrowing.

Klara felt small under his scrutiny. There was just something very powerful about his presence that sent chills down her spine. She was usually the type to fight to the end but her limbs refused to move. It scared her that he was holding her in place with just a look.

"She is the kings' sister." Another soldier spoke and Klara realized she was surrounded by a bunch of soldiers who were her enemies.

Oh, no! Panic kicked in. They knew she was the Kings' sister. They wouldn't just kill her, they would probably **** her, torture her then kill her.

"She looks very young, Your Highness." The previous soldier whispered into the prince's ear.

The prince nodded toward his men then turned around and left. Klara panicked. Did he just give them permission to have their way with her? Never!

Taking her sword out she decided to fight them to death. But they outnumbered her, pushing her down on the ground they tied her up. Klara screamed and kicked but to no avail.

Throwing her on a horse they rode off with her to god knew where. As they arrived at some unknown place they pushed her off the horse and she fell to the ground.

"Bastards!" She snarled.

They just laughed as they got off their horses.

"She is a tough one." One of them said and the others nodded in agreement.

Klara looked around and realized they brought her to their camping place. Some of them were tending to their wounds, some cleaning themselves while other ate food.

No one even looked at her as if she didn't exist. Klara didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. Anyways now she needed to think of a way out. Maybe if she made an agreement or a bargain with the prince she could go home unharmed even though she doubted that.

Just the idea of speaking to the prince sent chills down her spine, but she needed to do something before these men violated her.

"What do you want from me?" she asked but they continued ignoring her.

"I am talking to you." She yelled, still no reaction.

"I want to speak to the prince." Finally, she caught their attention.

"Nobody cares about what you want here," One of them replied.

"You will when I separate your head from your body." Klara snapped.

The men laughed then stopped abruptly.

"Your Highness." Turning her head she found the prince standing there. "The lady wants to speak to you."

He gazed at her with those flaming eyes. Klara had never seen such eyes before and it made her wonder if the rumors could be true.

It wasn't only his eyes, but there was a raw power that emanated from him making fear crawl into her skin. She had fought with many powerful and scary men but this one, he made her terrified when she couldn't even see his face.

"You wanted to say something?" He spoke and Klara froze.

His voice, it was so different from his aura. It was like nothing she had heard before, warm and deep. The silkiness of it felt like an intimate caress on her skin.

"Hey princess, His Highness is speaking to you." Someone called.

Tearing her gaze from his piercing eyes she tried to think. What was it she wanted to say? Yes, she wanted to bargain.

"What do you want of me?" She asked looking up at him.

"I don't know yet but I am sure you will be of great use."

Good lord, his voice. It reached deep inside her and made her feel things she didn't want to feel.

"I will be of more use if you let me go. I will tell my brother you saved my life."

He crouched to her level which took her by surprise. A royalty never did that, especially to the lever of someone they brought as a prisoner or a slave even worse someone who was their enemy.

"Your brother trades slaves and sex slaves over the border. I want to stop that by offering you as an exchange. You will be free as long as you cooperate."

Klara stared at him in surprise. She knew her brother's dirty affairs and she didn't like it, but she wondered why a prince would care about such thing.

Usually, princes supported the sex trade, especially from other countries since they could have mistresses with different nationalities. It surprised her that this prince wanted to stop it.

"Alright." She agreed. If it could buy her freedom and stop the trade why not.

"Alright then." He said standing up and taking his mask off, revealing a face that made her heart stop.