Chương 18: Entering the Forest
The trio kept running into the darkness, Lewis continued to guide them through the darkness – a faint glow from his eyes seemed to pierce through the darkness.
Despite both Bailey and Bella being unable to see further than a meter in front of them Lewis's own eyes seemed to be unaffected by the darkness as they followed behind him closely – his own steps were frantic as they both had to speed up to keep sight of him.
Several times they changed direction because of distant lanterns floating in the night, no doubt search parties looking for the prince or the patrols sent out to monitor the surroundings – either way, they had no desire to be caught by either of them.
"Stop." Lewis said suddenly, listening to him both of them stopped the moment they heard his voice – it was the first time since they'd left the camp that any of them had spoken.
Both of them knew that now they'd left the camp with Lewis there was no turning back – if they wished to do so they'd only be caught and questioned on the location of the Prince as Lewis himself had no intention of returning.
He, of course, could have simply sent some scouts into the forest to scout out the new threat that had emerged and yet he didn't wish to do so – ones' own eyes were more trustworthy than words on paper in this situation.
One could argue that was the Prince he shouldn't try and place his life in such dangerous situations yet what right did that give him to order people to their own potential demise if he wasn't willing to do so himself.
Some would call such a mindset foolish but he felt it was perfectly justified, who didn't have a family they wanted to return home to?
Because of his fathers' foresight his bodyguards had specifically kept a watchful eye on him to prevent him from sneaking off to the frontlines during the battle, no one could've predicted the appearance of these 'demons' or that the Prince would want to risk his own life in such an uncertain situation.
…
"Anything?" The bodyguards regrouped at the camp after several hours of searching, it was as if the Prince had disappeared without a trace and even they had no idea where he'd escaped to.
All of them shook their heads in dismay, despite their best efforts they'd been fooled and had essentially failed their only duty.
"I sent someone to check the whereabouts of that kid the Lord has taken a liking too recently, any luck?" One asked looking down at a group of soldiers who'd just rushed over noticing their return.
"No such luck Sir, a Captain from another unit has also reported the disappearance of a woman from his group. Both are likely to have assisted the Crown Prince in leaving undetected." The leader of the group stepped forward and reported, there was a hint of disbelief in his voice as he thought of the current situation.
The Crown Prince had escaped his own War Camp under the cover of darkness with two commoners?
Anyone who heard the situation would find it unbelievable, the Crown Prince had always been an upstanding individual and had never displayed any signs of being rebellious in public, only his father and his personal guards knew his true personality and were wary of his actions.
Unfortunately, they'd let their attention slip and the Prince had found an opportunity to escape their watchful eyes, but could they truly be blamed for this?
They all sighed at this thought, of course, they were, as the guards entrusted to the Prince by the Emperor it was their duty to keep an ever-watchful eye over the Prince, yet in a moment of negligence, they failed the only task they were personally entrusted by the Emperor himself.
Finally, one of them broke the silence after a short period of time, send a messenger off to the capital with a message for the Emperor. 'The Prince had disappeared.' Send the message off at once and tell them to make haste, the Emperor needs to hear this news as soon as possible, in the meantime whilst we wait for his command the search for the Prince will continue." He spoke to the leader of the group who nodded before hurriedly heading off in the opposite direction shouting orders at soldiers simply idling around in the camp.
"For now we'll continue to scout the perimeter if you find any sighting of a figure in the darkness immediately send a flare." One of them said before all four of them gave a short nod to one another before heading out in different directions.
Their lanterns becoming a beacon in the darkness of the night. Unfortunately, none of them could imagine that the Prince had already approached the forest and was mere moments from stepping into its boundaries.
…
"This is fine, we can talk now," Lewis said suddenly, from what Bailey could see they were almost under the cover of trees but it was hard to tell as everything seemed to blend into the darkness around them.
"What was with you earlier?" Bella questioned after hearing they could talk, how frantic he'd been had led to both of them being confused by his actions for the majority of the time they had been travelling.
Although it wasn't a major issue as both could keep to the pace it was as if he was trying his hardest to escape from something despite them being alone in the dark, leaving lingering questions in their minds.
"Well… I was scared." He said sheepishly as he turned away from the two.
When they heard this Bailey tried his hardest to stop the urge to laugh as he turned to Bella who was already care freely laughing as she looked at Lewis.
Finally, after a few minutes, she managed to calm herself down, although he couldn't see her face due to the darkness he could imagine the grin on her face as she tried to stop herself from laughing again.
"Why were you scared?" Bailey asked calmly as he looked at Lewis who was facing the wilderness of the forest in front of them, without turning back he replied calmly:
"I've only ever planned to escape from the constraints of my 'duty' but I've never had the chance to put those plans in motion before today, would you believe anyone who said the Crown Prince had willingly delved into the depths of the Forest of Beasts risking his own life? Of course not! But when I saw my entourage searching for me I can't lie, I had thoughts of turning back and returning to my life as a noble prince,"
He turned to look at the two of them, although they couldn't see his face the fierce glow in his eyes that seemed to pierce through the darkness shined in the night as he looked towards the stars.
"My franticness was due to this indecision, I feared that if I lingered for too long I would change my mind and give up, returning to that caged life of mine…"
Silence descended on the group as they simply stood there, Bella and Bailey offered no comments and simply nodded knowing that he could see their movements in the dark.
"We should get going before they finally decide to check the edge of the forest just in case." With this he turned and left, both of them showed no hesitation as they followed him into the depths of the forest, beginning their hellish journey.
They had no idea about the hardships of the life of a prince but as of now they would all need to rely on each other to survive, they needed to be strong to face whatever danger awaited them…
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