Tonight after dinner, Father told my Brother and I to pack our things, it was time to take our voyage. He decided to take us outside the capital city, and into a nearby small village. It's not much of a trip. We would get to the village by sunrise, I was told by one of the guards, but I'm just happy to be finally spending more time with my family, and it would be nice just to relax, and not have to worry about war and death. Well at least war.

The attendants aided me in taking off my heavy ornaments, it was such a relief feeling the pressure of the heavy garments and ornaments come off my body. After slipping into my blue silk nightwear, I finished packing the last of my trunks, with some scrolls. After releasing a heavy sigh, as I closed the last of my trunks,  I hoped I could get a chance to read them to father, and Suliman. I always loved reading the ancient stories on these scrolls, almost all these stories in them, talk's about life as how I wish mine could be.

"Prince Suliman arrives!"
"May the Iliza Dynasty endure a thousand more years!"

"Hello dear brother, are you ready for our trip? I asked softly, after hearing the calls man in my room announce brother's arrival in it.

I can't wait! I've been practicing with my bow and arrow for months, I wanna try to go hunting. Will you also hunt sister?" Suliman said giddily as he held up his arms motioning as if he was holding the bow and shooting the arrow.

"We'll see Suliman, we'll see. But I wanna read you some of my scrolls, so you're going to have to calm the hell down, got it!" I said as I laughed.

" Besides, you're gonna be sleeping the entire time we get there and when we arrive. You and I both know, you're extremely lazy. But still I would love to see you hunt a boar." I continued.

"Whatever Alia!"Suliman responded as he lazily dropped himself down heavily onto my bed, laughing.

As I walked towards him on the bed, I admired his face, he looked a lot like father but he has darker brown skin then father.

"Can I ask you something Suliman?"I asked softly as I ran my fingers through his long hair.

"Yeah!" Suliman responeded

"Has father talked to you about what happened today at court?"

"No not as yet, thank God. Sometimes I just want a break from court matters. It's just constantly hearing about it each and everyday."

"But yet you can dance everyday?" Father said boldly as he stepped into the room looking upon Suliman lying his head down on my lap now, as he caught what Suliman was saying to me.

"Yes because it teaches discipline, isn't that what you said when your forced me to do it?"

"True, but you seem like you've come to love it, and so you'll come to love attending to the court. You must know to balance both work and pleasure, son. You can't come to just rely on discipline without reason, and in this case court is your reason." Father said before kissing Suliman and I on the lips and sitting down beside us.

"Did you pack all your things, my dears?" father continued

"Yes Papa." Both Suliman and I responded at once

"Okay, good. Both of you, go and get some rest soon. We should be gone before sunrise, for safety, ok my loves."

"Sure papa!" I answered.

"Have a good night, I think I'll go to bed now, as you speak, father. Suliman said as he got up from my lap and stood in front of father and I.

"Wait, I will leave with you too, Suliman."

"Have a good night dear, see you in the morning." Father said as he kissed my forehead, and Suliman looked on.

Papa motioned his hand forward making Suliman lead in the front as father followed behind towards the chamber screen door. As I heard the door close, I pulled the covers down on the bed and then outed the dim lantern before lying down.

As I continued to lay on the bed I felt nervousness begin to course throughout my body. Soon my body started to shake, as I hoped to God, nothing will be wrong. The summer heat was really setting in, and I could feel it with every move I made. I sat on the bed, feeling the cool silk sheets underneath me. I rubbed my hand against the stitching design, following every trace of the stitching with my finger, hoping that I could calm down without having to call out for help. Continuing to trace the stitching with my finger, I tried to think of different things to calm down. As I continued to think of random thoughts, I realized my sheets had been changed, and this design I've been feeling with my hand, was of a Chrysanthemum. I closed my eyes soon enough, and finally calmed down, eventually slowly falling into a fitful sleep, giving me the well deserved rest that I needed.

Cling! Cling! Cling!
"Ahhhhh!!"

I awoke to a cling sound, outside my balcony, as I got up from my bed, in hace, I heard some of the concubines screaming down the hall. I ran to my balcony, which overlooked a bit of the main entrance courtyard, to my horror, ropes with a sharp curved blade with a hook at the end, were thrown and being thrown all over the courtyard.

The entire courtyard looked like a spider web. It would be impossible for anyone to leave the palace from the courtyard. As I looked on, I repeatedly heard whipping  sounds from the ropes, cutting into the air, and clinging from the hooks, as it was being thrown all over the palace, to be latched onto the banisters of the balconies throughout the palace. Processing what was happening, I knew the palace was being invaded in the middle of the night.

Before I knew it, men dressed in all black with their faces covered only revealing their demonic eyes, swiftly climbed onto the ropes, balancing themselves onto it, then nimbly running onto the ropes, directly heading for the balconies, in order to gain entry into the palace. As I perched my head down over the balcony, one of the men came my way, throwing a dagger, missing me by an inch, as I shifted my shoulder to the left. I yelled out loudly, feeling as if my throat would burst open, as I ran into my bed chamber, grabbing my red silk robe, as he now jumped over the railing onto my balcony and ran towards me into the room. At the same time, three of my guards burst into my room, running in front of me, swords held high extending out from their face and chest, as one guard pulled my waist towards himself to escape.

As the guards soon started to fight the man dressed in black, I yelled out frantically, while continuing to be pulled by one of the guards.

" Who are you? What are you doing?" I screamed out in an ear deafening manner.

Without getting a response from the dangerous mysterious man, the guards attacked him swiftly as possible. He was highly trained, as one guard swung his sword underneath him, he blocked it with one sword, as he fought the other guard, with his other sword. Before I was dragged out towards the door way of the room, I heard a loud scream, I knew instantly, my guard had been killed, and I know the other one, was going to be killed. I cried out, as my guard now succesfully pulled me out of the room.

"Noooo!" I cried out, mourning for the guards that had been killed.

Trying to collect myself,  I looked around the hall. It was complete chaos. Concubines, servants, and other members ran around in the hallways, confused, like chickens whose heads had just been sliced off. They screamed in horror, as their long garments flew in the air, while they looked for an escape. What made matters worse the whole palace was in dark.

"Come Princess, we must make a move now!" The guard said roughly as he locked his arm around mine.

"Yes" I said flustered, as I tried to mentally prepare myself as to what as to come.

The guard and I started to run down the hallways, I looked up towards the roof, I could hear footsteps onto the roof. Whoever was attacking us, they were more of them. I knew we were fucked! With all the commotion going on, some yelled out the western wing of the palace is burning down. They lit the palace on fire!

"Who are they?" I managed to ask the guard.

"I don't know as yet, princess. I passed your father who has your brother, so they're fine, I will bring you to them, your brother and you will escape with some more guards."

As the guard spoked, he now held my hand dragging me down the stairs to the lower level. As we hurried down the steps one of the window screens had been smashed, it gave a full view of the entrance courtyard. I stopped running, causing the guard to pause and turn around to look at me while I froze in horror. Over a thousand arrows kept flying across the entire courtyard. The excruciating sound of the arrows cut into the air, like a loud whip. I got a clearer view from this window, looking onto the courtyard ground, I saw over 500 dead bodies on the ground. Some with their heads off their bodies. I saw how the blood flowed through the creases of the cobble ground, forming large pools of blood all over the entire ground. Looking at the mess, the  guard grabbed my attention, pulling my arm aggressively, eventually making our way to the end of the stairway. He quickly slammed our bodies against the wall, covering my mouth, as we saw one of the attackers run down the hall.