May's POV

I heard everything happen and saw everything. But I'm sure I was the only one that actually saw the murder. I had gone through the vegetable section of the market and to the fruits but I watched as a hooded figure murdered the guard right in front of my eyes.

I saw in horror as the arrow pierced the guard's heart and the snap of bone as he fell hard on the ground. Whoever did this wasn't too professional since they left some footprints behind. I eyed the piece of paper in the guard's hands and left it there for someone else to pick up.

I ran off into the forest after the guy who killed the guard. I felt fury surge through me as I followed him swiftly. I had a knife in my hand which I carried everywhere for self defence.

My eyes shone in determination as I sped after the man at full speed. I tackled him on the ground harshly making him roll over. I held the knife on his neck and snarled at him with hatred.

"Why did you murder him?" I spat in disgust.

He chuckled as if I were a complete joke causing me to glare at him.

"It was a warning honey. Now I suggest you let go of me before I get your pretty face bashed up." He smirked.

I glared at him and punched his face, withdrawing the knife.

"Little girl with such big punches." He grinned weirdly.

I pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and shoved him into a tree. He attempted to punch back only to have me duck, completely avoiding the attack. It was my turn to smirk. I kicked him in the face swiftly and he flinched while I had time to kick under his legs and sweep him off the floor.

"Now who's face is bashed up?" I questioned triumphantly.

He groaned on the ground then glared at me. His nose was bleeding continuously while he held his leg from the kick I had delivered earlier. He threw a punch but realised too late that he was too weak to fight and ended up punching air.

"Huh?" He gasped dumbfounded.

"Look up douchebag!" I called to the murderer from on top of a tree.

He gazed at me in surprise as I had been standing in front of him only moments ago.

"Tree branch time." I smirked evilly.

I picked up a loose tree branch and examined it before nodding to myself in approval. Before the guy had time to react, he got smacked in the head by the falling tree branch I threw at his face. He took a step back and circled before falling flat on his back with a thud.

I grinned at myself in satisfaction.

"Another win for May!" I cheered before dropping out of the tree gracefully.

I approached his unconscious body cautiously just in case he was pretending. I poked his face and realised he was truly passed out. Something on his jacket caught my attention. It was a symbol of some sort. One with a Dark Lily Flower on it. I tried recalling something like this and thought for a long time.

Dark Lily, dark lily, dark lily, dark lily.........

Then it all clicked. They were a kingdom that was very far away from the kingdom of stars. The Kingdom of the Lily Flower was what they were known as. Their symbol was this specific Dark Lily. They hadn't been heard of since the end of the Great War.

I took away the mans knife and any other weapon he owned including a royal broadsword which was a prized possession. Since I was familiar with this specific area of the forest, I strode off until I reached the little stream nearby.

I found the bucket that we hid under a roof and scooped up some water inside it. I made my way back to the man who was unsurprisingly still unconscious. I hid the broadsword in its sheathe that it had come in and stuffed it in my bag that was luckily just large enough to carry it in.

I stuffed his knife in my secret sheathe in my boots where I kept my other one then I approached the man.

With the bucket of water in my hand, I threw the water over the top of his head until he woke up with a gasp.

"What happened?" He asked rubbing his head in pain.

"You became a murderer." I growled with anger.

"It was all worth it." He grinned finally coming back to his senses.

As he got up from the ground, I slapped him hard in the cheek until a hand print appeared on his face from the impact.

"What the heck!" He snapped at me in anger.

Before he could lunge at me, a loud voice was heard behind us.

"Oh no." I gasped as I realised who it was.

Making sure I didn't look like a murderer myself, I looked up.

It was King Cilan and his several guards surrounding him.

"Stand down now!" He commanded.

If I was any average person, I would've flinched in fear. But I stood up tall and held the man by his collar and threw him forward.

"This man murdered one of your towns guards." I yelled as King Cilan approached the man.

"Is this true?" He demanded to the guy who now lay on the floor.

"It was all worth it." He repeated with a devilish grin.

"I assume you are the one who wrote the note?" The King asked him with a deadly tone.

The man nodded, not wiping the grin off of his face.

"Chain him up." King Cilan snarled.

Few of the guards marched over to the murderer and bound him in chains made of iron. He stopped squirming and looked the king in the eye.

"The Lily is rising." He spoke before being silenced by one of the guards.

I stared at him in confusion.

What does he mean by The Lily rising? I thought deeply.

I was thinking for a while until I realised the king had called me.

"Excuse me miss, what were you doing out here?" He asked with suspicion.

"I caught the murderer your highness." I spoke with a clear voice.

"Do you happen to know of any thieves in this particular area?" He asked, switching to a calmer tone.

"I'm afraid not sir. I haven't been in this area for long. If I see any thieves, I'll report it to your guard immediately." I answered smoothly not once stuttering.

"I trust you on that miss. Thank you for capturing the man. The Kingdom of Stars is grateful. Now we must go." He dipped his head while I bowed in response.

He got on his white stallion and road off with the man chained up and on a pony, his mouth was tied with a cloth to prevent him from speaking.

Before the company could go any further, the king stopped them all. And once again he got off his horse with a raised hand to silence the guards.

"Someone's watching us." The King announced.

I snapped my head up and looked around. He was right. There were about four of them here. But why?

"We ride on. Miss, I suggest you head back now." King Cilan looked into my eyes.

I nodded in response as I watched them disappear from view.

"Come out you morons. I know you're there." I called out to the bushes.

I saw four heads poke out and my eyes widened in recognition. I saw the grasshead look at me with curiosity.

"I'm sorry, it's just we were very curious to see what was happening." Spoke one of the boys.

I snorted. "You aren't very good at eavesdropping. Next time if you want to do that, don't step on twigs."

They rubbed the back of their necks sheepishly while Paul just scowled as I strode off. I felt the eyes of the four of them on the back of my head as I continued to walk away.

"Wait where are you going!?" I heard Gerald call in curiosity.

"Back to town." I yelled back not turning around.

When they finally looked away, I spun around and hid in a few bushes and made sure no one knew I was there.

I was so glad that they didn't know who I really was or else Paul and Drew would kill me after our last meeting. That whole tree branch situation was a big mistake. I shivered as I remember the ice cold glare Paul gave me and the reddened face of Drew who was both embarrassed and mad.

"Guys, if we don't make it back now, it's double punishment!" Alf said panicking while interrupting my thoughts.

"Don't you worry Alfy, we'll get there very quickly." Gerald answered back but I could hear some mockery behind his voice.

I heard Alf growl in annoyance then stomp away as the other three chuckled.

"Let's go Gerald." Drew said with a smirk before pushing Gerald forward.

As they left the clearing, I sprinted off to find the other girls. That's when I saw them all standing together on the concrete pathway rubbing their heads.

"Um hi?" I asked as I approached the girls.

Their eyes widened as they immediately ran to me and squeezed me in a tight hug.

"You'll never guess what we saw!" They all shouted at the same time.

"The dead body. Yeah yeah I know that already." I sighed.

They stared at me and then looked suspicious.

"Where did you go then?" Misty asked.

"I chased him. The guy who murdered the guard." They gasped and scolded me for being so stubborn.

"I'm fine though!" I reassured them as they checked me for any injuries.

After deciding that I was alright, they dragged me back to our new home.

"Don't do that again." Leaf repeated for like the one hundredth time.

"I won't." I sighed in exasperation.

Drew's POV

After we all left the forest, I was stuck in my thoughts.

That girl sounded familiar but I'm so sure that I've never seen her in my life. Then it clicked. She had the same voice as the girl that whacked me with a tree branch the other day. What a coincidence that they have the same voice. And same personality now that I mention it. That's so unfortunate though. The girl I met today was much less annoying and bratty.

"Dude, we have to go before the king sees us." Gary whispered to me as he pointed at my father who was entering the castle stable on his horse.

"Through the window." Paul muttered and pushed us toward my bedroom window.

I nodded while Ash looked scared.

"What happens if we get caught? I knew it was a bad idea to even sneak out in the first place." He said quickly and then stumbled over his own feet.

"Quiet you idiot. They will spot us if you keep talking like this." I nudged Ash who just gulped and nodded.

We snuck through my bedroom window and sat down on my bed. Then Iris walked in at the same moment we got back.

"You have a lot of chores to do after that little stunt you pulled." She glared at us but mainly Ash before shoving the four of us out of my door and into different directions.

"We still have a few hours of daylight left. Ash and Drew, training. Paul and Gary, to the stables. You two will be taking care of the horses for now. Have fun." She pushed us and hurried off without letting us utter a single word.

She didn't even call me by my full name which was usually required of a maid.

Ash and I just shrugged while Gary and Paul hugged in annoyance. I watched as Gary's eyes widened and he got excited.

"She said stables right? Gary Junior here I come!" He screeched while dragging Paul by the wrist in the direction of the stables.

I heard Paul grumbling a few profanities as he was dragged away by the energy-filled Gary.

"Let's just go." I sighed while dragging Ash along with me.

Training was the usual hard stuff. We did some sparring at the beginning to warm up then we had moved onto he sword fighting. We had our practice sticks which we used in replacement of real swords as that was too dangerous to train with. He deflected few attacks that I threw at him with my fake sword and managed to dodge a few as well.

I was about to finish him with the final blow when we were interrupted by clapping. I ended up pointing the fake sword at Ash's neck instead in a sense of victory while Ash lay down panting with a sloppy grin on his face.

I looked up to see a whole crowd of castle workers had formed around us and were now applauding our efforts.

"Great job son. You've become a worthy warrior." I saw my father look at me with approval.

I sighed in relief. Compliments were good. That means Iris hasn't told him about what happened earlier. She had allowed the four of us to escape since she felt sympathetic only to get angry when we left since Ash had stolen some of her breakfast.

"I'm proud of my own son as well. He's finally improving in his fighting skills. Soon he'll be a great prince that no one will ever forget!" Ash's mother Delia said with praise as she approached her son with a warm smile.

The gathered people all cheered then parted ways leaving just Ash and myself. The King and Queen had left with the crowd. With Iris arriving in the hallway with two towels.

"Princes, the Kingdom of Sapphire's King, Queen and Prince should be arriving by tomorrow morning." Iris explained then she turned to look at me.

She spoke once more with a small smile at me.

"Amethyst will finally be moving in."

—-

Just to clarify, Paul, Gary, Ash and Drew are not related. Since they're kingdoms united, they live next to one another in the same castle.

Can you guess who Amethyst is?

She's one of my OC's pretty much but you'll see.

Okay goodbye now! Thanks for reading.

- April

14th Feb, 2018