Obey me

‘I can't waste my life like this here and now…!!!’

Remesis was thinking about this when a cold blade was suddenly placed against her throat. There was no time to think about it. The girl couldn't see her attacker's face, but one thing was certain — this man clearly didn't wish her well. She also realised that she was the only one who could help her in this situation.

She couldn't give up her precious second life in vain.

Holding her breath, Remesis acted carefully so as not to attract attention or provoke her attacker. The blade could slit her throat at any moment. Therefore, the girl did not hesitate when it came to preserving her own life. In this battle, Remesis had put everything on the line.

In two lives filled with successive dangers, she was used to staying on guard in case of a surprise attack like this. Truth be told, after a rather long measured life in the northern castle, this assassination attempt now really took her by surprise.

Remesis was not in good physical shape, and her combat skills were rather mediocre. Nevertheless, the girl had some skills to be able to defend herself in such an extreme situation. And all this was thanks to Hannes, with whom the girl spent most of her time on equal terms with the maester, during his wife's frequent military travelling. The princess asked the knight to teach her techniques for self-defence.

Although the commander of the fortress protested at first, assuring her that it was not necessary and that he and the knights would always be able to protect her, Remesis insisted. In any case, even if these skills would not be of use to her, they would certainly not be superfluous. So, finally agreeing to it, Hannes spent some time training Remesis, after which the girl was able to learn something.

And who knew that one day she might actually need that knowledge?

This was the first time the girl had to put the techniques she had learnt into practice.

Remesis quickly assessed the situation and turned sharply, dodging the stabbing that was to follow. She then made a sharp turn of her body and used her palm to strike the mercenary's elbow, causing him sharp pain and forcing him to release the knife. As soon as she managed to free herself from her attacker's grip, Remesis quickly bounced away from him and skirted into the open door of the carriage.

That moment of hesitation was enough for Remesis to get out of the carriage and dash away while the mercenary tried to regain consciousness. Needless to say, she wasn't going to fight him full on, and this was just a way to give herself some time to escape. Once outside, the girl also found a number of corpses near the stopped carriage. Among them were also soldiers of the north.

The princess could not hide her surprise, because, by the looks of it, these people were really professionals. Not every southern guard would be able to cope with a northern knight even in hand-to-hand combat, let alone a full-fledged sword fight. So she clearly shouldn't have underestimated their opponents, and especially the man who had hired them.

Be that as it may, it didn't take long for Remesis to contemplate the bloody spectacle. The mercenary who still remained in the carriage could take her life at any moment, so the girl wasted no time. She immediately rushed out.

Her heart was beating at a frantic pace as Remesis headed into the darkest thickets of the forest. She ran for a while without looking back. The cold night wind filled and chilled her lungs every now and then.

After running some distance, Remesis tiptoed to where she could hide her presence. She found a secluded spot under a large tree trunk where she would be nearly impossible to find.

As Remesis settled down, an owl hooted loudly from somewhere above. It was a dark night, clouds covering the moon.

Life was so difficult.

The Princess of the North leaned her head against a tree and took a deep breath.

— Where do I go? If I go any deeper, I'm sure I'll meet wolves, — she muttered.

The girl didn't even realise her current location. The place was silent and deserted, and the only sound was the occasional cry of a migratory bird.

Of course, continuing to stay here, Remesis did not know who exactly would find her first — enemy mercenaries or soldiers of the north… But in any case, the girl did not expect this situation to resolve itself favourably. It was unlikely that someone would miraculously come to her rescue.

— I guess I'll have to get out of here on my own.

All of Remesis's senses were heightened to the limit by a depressing longing. Her instincts warned of danger and ordered her to run, but her legs trembled and it was hard to take even a step. In any case, the temperature dropped significantly at night, even in the south, and Remesis had left her warm clothes in the carriage. As it was, she could catch a cold and get sick, which would be quite unfortunate right now.

First of all, she needed to find a way out of this forest.

Trying not to make any noise, Remesis carefully left the bushes that had provided her shelter and looked around. Instead of waiting for the unknown or hoping for a miracle, she decided to take her fate into her own hands.

But at that moment, someone's hand darted behind her and grabbed her.

‘Ugh!’

Incapacitated, Remesis Rania Ashelot felt cold sweat running down the back of her neck.

Apparently, the mercenary who had tried to finish her off in the carriage had managed to track her down after all. Remesis couldn't try to escape again as the mercenary had a firm grip and hold on her, and for the same reason she couldn't use a self-defence move. This time she simply wouldn't be able to take him by surprise, which was the girl's main advantage in their first clash.

— Aggh! — the assassin's grip was so strong that Remesis's wrist would have bruises afterwards.

The mercenary holding her wrist was a professional and did not hesitate long before attempting to finish his dark deed again.

The cold blade of the dagger swept over her, and Remesis instinctively closed her eyes — it was her body's natural reaction, though she wasn't going to just wait for her own death. But did she still have any choice left in this situation?

Barking.

At that moment, the sound of clashing blades was heard, and the mercenary's dagger flew far away from the clear sword strike. After her wrist was suddenly released, Remesis also fell to the ground.

Everything happened so fast that the princess only had time to open her eyes wide and see blurs whizzing past.

The dark silhouette of the unknown was moving with such incredible speed that it seemed as if it was using magic.

Holding onto her frantically pounding heart, Remesis was only able to look ahead after it was over. The one who had suddenly intervened and prevented the northern princess from being killed was holding a sword from which blood was dripping thickly. Opposite lay the corpse of a mercenary.

‘What… What just happened?’

Puzzled, Remesis slowly raised her head and looked at the man who had appeared out of nowhere and saved her.

A flock of birds flew across the forest sky.

The moon slowly appeared from behind the clouds to illuminate the woman's face, which made Remesis speechless.

— Princess Rania…? What in the name of the stars are you doing here?

Judging from the tone of her voice, this encounter came as a complete surprise to both of them.