Chapter 9: Losses
(7,5k words, romance, plot chapter, action, drama, size differences, female muscle)
"Perfect!" a rough, older voice responded.
The fully armoured soldier bowed subtly towards the stunned waitress and innkeeper and awaited the arrival of her leading officer. Judging by the armour she wore, Margaret rightfully assumed that she was the protégé of the now new commander of the royal guard.
Alexia's successor seemingly issued orders outside the tavern, but neither Margaret nor Manuel were able to understand anything beyond muffled and incoherent voices - many voices.
After some time, there was eventually one voice that stood out, a very noticeable and familiar male groan.
"Forward!"
The door sprung open and the duo behind the counter were shocked to see a tied-up Remy being pushed before an even more intimidating figure than the already waiting soldier.
Equipped with nothing short of the finest armour and weaponry, suited for her new position, she immediately demanded the respect her prestigious rank and impressive stature rightfully deserved.
Not that either would have been required to make Remy look puny and insignificant in comparison.
The blonde boy looked bruised all over his body, noticeably his face, but nothing was as severe as the guard's reputation would have suggested.
He kept his gaze low as they traversed the distance from the entrance up to the stunned royalty and his boss.
The sheer weight of the armoured intruders would have easily been enough to make the shabby floor creak loudly with every step they took towards the counter had it not been for the new padded carpet Alexia rolled out for just that exact reason.
Unaware of her comrades' arrival and still sleeping in the darkest corner, Alexia remained concealed - for now.
Margaret exhaled in relief when they walked past her dormant girlfriend and straight at her.
"Maggie, it's not what it looks like, I swea-, unghh!" Remy tried to explain before the commander's fingers dug deep into his shoulder to silence him.
"You will talk when I allow you to, scum!"
Remy didn't dare to object and the 9ft tall veteran returned her gaze to the blonde royalty.
"We finally found you, your highness. You are truly a sight to behold now", the new commander said and formally bowed before Margaret in tandem with her younger and smaller protégé.
"Your highness?"
Margaret shook in her boots when she heard Manuel addressing her like that. For a moment she even forgot that he was still standing next to her.
"Please, she must be mistaken?" he asked with a trembling voice.
Her blue eyes tried to avoid the balding human, but his pleading voice couldn't be ignored.
Manuel looked devastated. He was trying to sound like he didn't believe a single word he was hearing, but his gaze clearly showed that he already knew that this was nothing but the harsh, unforgiving truth.
"I... am ..." Margaret muttered, unable to form any words of meaning or offer any solace to him.
She silently stood there trying to talk to him, but her rising anxiety didn't allow her materialize the apology she was forming in her head.
"My princess. You are safe now. We are here to bring you back to the palace!" the younger guard said and took off her helmet to calm down the distressed princess.
It was one of the younger squires. Beth.
Nearly the same age as Alexia and at the palace for almost as long. Margaret knew her for most of her childhood, but even so: it didn't take away from the shock of having them stand before her- trying to bring her back.
Margaret didn't know how to reply to that. Nor did she know how to resolve this situation. All she could do was play for time.
"I... how ... did you...?"
"Find you?" the commander replied and because of her helmet's more open design to give orders more easily her devilish smile was revealed.
Her smirk eventually gave away her identity. There were some members of the royal guard standing at such a massive height, even a few with blonde bordering to grey hair, but only one with such an unsettling grin.
"Trust me, it was much harder than you could even imagine. But once we started to doubt that you even made it, we were blessed by fortuna herself," she said and mockingly clapped Remy's back.
"All it took was one treacherous little snake like this one."
"That's not true!" Remy screamed and earned another tight grip into his battered shoulder.
"What did I just say?" she asked and kept on tormenting the young boy.
Blood started to soak through his shirt as the commander clearly enjoyed his suffering.
Hearing her former comrades' voices was something Alexia got used to after years of service and nothing that would alarm her subconscious to react but hearing Remy's loud scream of agony did.
Alexia yawned quietly and reluctantly lifted one heavy eyelid. It felt like a herculean task after last night's rutting.
That changed when her brain processed the scene, she and Margaret found herself in. Her grogginess vanished within seconds and she had to stop herself from gasping audibly and giving away her position.
She stared at her two comrades in disbelief, but had to consider her options - and quickly.
They all culminated into only one conclusion ... that they would never allow Margaret or her to stay here.
They got their orders and were determined to comply to the highking's wishes ... no matter what. They simply had to ... for their own sakes.
Alexia looked around and searched for anything to defend herself if things would turn as bad as she expected and eventually, she spotted the plate with food that Maggie left for her at the nearest table.
And the knife next to it.
She cautiously got up and remembered just in time how to avoid the signature creaking of the floor which annoyed her so often in the past.
Slowly but steadily she snuck towards her former comrades and more importantly Margaret, armed with nothing but a blunt kitchen knife and deep down still hoped that this was just a disturbing nightmare she would wake up from any moment.
