Serys had no idea what that had been. A dream? A vision? A moment of desperate madness? Normally, she would shake it off as a mere delusion. However, something felt familiar to her. That name. Blenshire. She had heard it somewhere before, but she was positive there was no such location within the kingdom. So, was it just a dream after all?
Serys awoke early, readied by her maids for the royal family's long journey to Svensik. The royal family traditionally made a tour of the nation's borders under the guise of inspection and to boost morale. For the princes, perhaps it would be so. However, for Serys and her sisters, it would be an endless stream of entertaining border nobles and from time to time a dignitary from another nation. Not for hospitality purposes, mind, but in order to evaluate possible future consorts for the princesses in order to stabilize loyalty from frontier nobles or to make a political marriage to a neighboring country. They were goods to be shown off.
Standing on the terrace, Serys watched as her brothers and her father oversaw the organization of the convoy and the placement of the knights. Her eldest brother, Crown Prince Carlyle, the presumptive heir, was naturally by the side of King Aarvin. Prince Edvin and Prince Fley were riding up and down the line, ensuring the readiness of the knights to deal with any threats. Serys' mother and her younger sisters had already made their way to the carriages and were boarding with their ladies-in-waiting. The only member of the royal family not present was Serys' older sister, Princess Dalice, who had been married off two years ago to the Kornsted Duchy. At this rate, a similar fate would soon await Serys.
While it might seem a family outing, in reality, King Aarvin was getting older. Crown Prince Carlyle might be considered the heir, but each of the princes had their own factions, and who could tell what would happen when King Aarvin showed any sign of weakness. Each of the members of the royal family held their own interests, and none of them were particularly close. Sentiment would not get in the way of the quest for power.
Serys sighed and boarded the carriage in her uncomfortable attire. It would be a long road to the aristocrat's fief where they would spend the night, and a tedious amount of schmoozing and socializing when they did arrive. Moreover, each night she would be plagued by a voice in her dreams, calling out to her, always demanding she find Blenshire. By the third day, Serys could not help but approach her father.
"Father, please may I be allowed to travel on horseback rather than in the carriage? I would feel much better in the open air, and I can ride and defend myself as well as the knights," Serys begged. However, before King Aarvin could reply, Prince Edvin broke in.
"Hah, a royal princess riding among knights? This is why it's so hard to get you a fiancee," Edvin snickered as his other brothers looked on in amusement. "Shall we get you a sword and a suit of armor as well?"
"My dear, you must set a good example," King Aarvin brushed her off, much to her dismay.
Serys' brothers were aware of her fondness for the knighthood, as much of her childhood had been spent sneaking out to stalk them around the training fields whenever she could lose her governess in the depths of the castle. The king had allowed her to train in swordplay merely as a means of self-defense, and as a carrot in order to force her to focus on her studies in proper ladies' activities, needlepoint and the like. Neither the king, nor the princes, nor the rest of her family knew just how proficient she had become, much less how much she longed to be a knight.
"Where does she think we're going?" Serys heard Edvin snort behind her as he mounted his horse, kicking the horse into a gallop. "The Bloody Battle of Blenshire?"
Unfortunately, Edvin was too far away by the time Serys turned around in shock. The battle of Blenshire? Was that where she had heard of Blenshire? She had read up on military history as much as possible when she was younger in her quest to familiarize herself with knights, perhaps that was why it sounded familiar? But what was the battle of Blenshire? There was no option except to continue the journey and look it up when she arrived at the next lodging.
Except everything would be different by that evening. As the royal convoy neared the deep forest along the border, a strange sound was suddenly heard. Field of vision being limited by the trees, it was too late when the convoy realized that the sound was caused by a dense rain, not of water droplets, but of arrows. All fell into chaos.