’What is taking her so long?’
At the camp, Arlan was growing impatient.
Given his inhuman senses, the prince had long known that the royal entourage was not traveling alone. There were about thirty armed tribesmen native to the Southern Jungle, hiding among the trees, lingering near the main road, observing them
These tribes would stay invisible and harmless towards travelers who respected the jungle etiquette, which included not entering marked territory or touching tribal resources.
Just then, there was a sudden disturbance. Horses neighed restlessly, as if scared of something. Arlan left his carriage and knights went on full alert, circling the camp in a defensive formation.
Everyone wondered what happened, and a few of the knights went to check on the horses.
"Ahh, snake!"
"Chop it!"
"Drive it away—"
A poisonous snake approached where the horses were tied, causing them to panic.
"Your Highness, it was just a snake and our knights —"
While Imbert was recounting the situation, Arlan’s brows suddenly furrowed. The knight watched the prince disappear from his place, but not a single change in his expression could be detected. Imbert understood something grim must have happened for his liege to use his power without warning.
With everyone’s attention on the spooked horses, no one other than Imbert witnessed the prince’s magic.
"Rafal," Imbert called out as if nothing otherworldly happened.
Rafal jogged towards him. "Yes, Commander?"
"Take the command for now."
Rafal wanted to ask the reason when he realized Arlan’s carriage was empty.
"His Highness left?"
"Do not worry."
Rafal watched his knight captain heading to one direction.
’Didn’t that pretty boy go in that direction a while ago?’ He glanced around. ’I don’t see him here. Seems he caused another problem.’
Behind the line of trees, Arlan appeared out of thin air, pulling that idiotic woman to the side, inevitably saving her body from being peppered with holes.
The next Oriana knew, her body was pressed against a tree, the whistling of arrows accompanying the sound of wood being pierced behind her.
Had Oriana been moved a second too late, numerous arrows would have pierced her body. No current medical knowledge could preserve her poor life.
A pair of eyes that were both familiar and unfamiliar glared down at her, their color flashing between gold and red for a split second.
"Didn’t I tell you to not wander around?!" he growled in displeasure.
The relief of survival diverted her attention from the color of his eyes, as well as the flickering scales on his skin that were fading back into oblivion.
"I...I..."
Under the relentless barrage of arrows, the prince continued to rebuke his pale-faced attendant. "You never listen to what you are told, do you?"
The clenched muscles of his jaw betrayed his seething anger.
Was there anything else to do but to own up to her mistake? "Apologies, Your Highness."
The onslaught of arrows eventually eased, replaced by a series of footsteps moving agilely, one of them speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.
"Mut ahay nuak uyk oh eya?"
"What language is that? What is he saying?"
"Stay still," Arlan warned.
She heard the person speak again, his tone implying hostility. Though she could not understand the language, she could guess they were hurling threats towards them.
"Is this the native language of Othinia?" she whispered.
"One of many," Arlan said simply. "These people are from a small tribe who rules this region of the jungle. You have crossed into their land that was why they attacked you."
’I crossed their land?’ Oriana realized that aside from silphium, she also discovered moss-covered rocks and animal skulls around. Could it be those were the markers indicating she trespassed their tribe’s territory?
"What should we do now?"
Arlan simply glared at her. He was not in a mood to explain, and this was not an ideal scenario to chat as well. "Do not move unless I tell you to." His eyes warned her about what she would face if she disobeyed him.
She nodded quietly and Arlan let her go .He was about to come out of hiding, but the next moment, a pair of small hands grabbed his sleeve, tugging him back to his original spot. "No! Why are you going out? Let us wait for your knights to arrive. They will surely notice you went missing from camp."
A pleasant warmth coursed through him at the realization that Oriana worried for his safety.
"I will be fine."
"No. Don’t go. We don’t even know what they are talking about. What if they plan to kill us—"
"Let go of my hand," he warned.
"Your Highness—"
"You dare disobey your master?"
Unwillingly, she let go of his hand. The moment Arlan stepped out of their temporary shelter, he was met with a sneak attack.
Swish!
But before that arrow could reach Arlan, his hand stopped it, grabbing its long, narrow body as if it was not a deadly attack but a dried twig that came and went with the wind.
Crack!
He easily snapped its shaft in half before throwing it away.
Not only the attackers, but Oriana was stunned silly as well. Arlan’s action was beyond anyone’s expectations. ’He caught an arrow bare-handed? In mid flight? Such a reflex is insane!’
Arlan scanned the group of warriors holding longbows loaded with poison-dipped arrows in his direction. With olive skin tone, hair color that was generally dark and their clothes composed of earthy colors, their bodies could camouflage well among the trees, putting into good use their advantage of familiarity with the terrain.
However, their cleverness could only be effective against humans. Arlan was never one to begin with.
Arlan could easily subdue these people using the power inside him, but he would rather not do that. In the first place, Oriana was at fault for trespassing into their territory. It was only natural for the tribesmen to attack her.
The Crown Prince of Griven might be cruel to his enemies, but he was not unreasonably bloodthirsty against ordinary people. He preferred to solve things in a civil way first. It would be for everyone’s best interest that this be solved through conversation, without harming the innocent.