How To Rewrite History

"She is here! Enkir! Elem! Come fast!"

The first one who found me was a teary-eyed Nadia. Upon discovering me, the girl jumped from her horse and fell into my arms, crying like a frightened cat while burying her head into my c.h.e.s.t. She trembled fiercely, so I put my arms around her and patted her back soothingly.

"I am so sorry, Daria! I shouldn't have encouraged you to a race! Or left you alone!" She sobbed and pleaded.

"Nadia, why are you so distraught?"

'Aren't I the one who fell from the horse?'

I was only perplexed until I saw Eric arriving after being called over. My whole body jolted up at the sight of him. Unintentionally, my arms tightened around the girl's body. Eric jumped off the horse in a swift motion even before the tall stallion came to a complete halt. As if he was teleporting, he already stood in front of us.

"Brother--- I am--- fine." As quiet as a mouse, I tried to reassure him, but his face, suddenly looking exactly like fathers - rigidly sculpted and frosty as if someone killed his favourite puppy. I gulped down my words and restrained myself from taking a step back. His eyes contained a mixture of wrath and fury; if he drew his sword, I was sure he would strike everything in his path. At least that was the aura he gave off. No wonder Nadia was scared into crying her eyes out! Apart from the colour of his hair, Eric was cast out of his father's mould indeed.

"You don't look fine." He gnashed his teeth and turned his cold gaze towards Nadia in my arms. With a frown, he commanded her to step aside.

He then looked me up and down to ascertain the severity of my injuries but didn't dare touch me carelessly. I could only stand still and let him examine me. The look in his eyes didn't allow any refusal, and I wanted to assure him of my safety before his mood became worse.

Now another person came up to us on horseback. Ramsis with a solemn and severe expression, stepped down from his horse in a graceful manner. When he saw me intact, he seemed to calm down visibly.

When we made eye-contact, I sent Ramsis a silent help signal as Eric occupied himself with wiping the dirt on my face and inspecting my cuts and scratches.

"Enkir... you are scaring her. It's doing more harm than good."

Ramsis tried to calm Eric down by putting his hand on his shoulders and talking sense into him. He was right. Eric's silent and forceful treatment scared me a little. There was no instance in my memories that showed Eric with such a grim expression. While I knew that his anger wasn't directed at me, I still felt like I had to defend myself.

Eric stared at me with a blank look on his face, as I nodded imperceptibly at Ramsis' words, and became more approachable at once. He murmured a sorry and stepped back to exchange a few words with Ramsis, but I could tell that his protecting gaze never left my side.

I guessed that he will never again step away from me for a minute, now that this had happened.

"Let's go back first. Leila is already on her way to call the Royal Healer and inform Her Majesty and your mother." Ramsis decided to take over leadership for Eric since the latter seemed to be too upset to think clearly.

After taking a closer look at Sina, he decided that I should ride back with Eric and that Nadia would be taking Sina along, following us at a slower pace since Sina wasn't able to run steady anymore.

On our way, Eric and Ramsis, who rode close to us, asked me a few questions. They had found traces on the road, like the big arrow that almost impaled Sina.

I told them everything to the utmost of my memories. When I told them about Xander and how he came to my rescue, both of them scrunched up their eyebrows and then exchanged wordless glances at each other. They didn't ask any further, and the rest of the ride went down silently.

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At a clearing deep into the woods, a rider on a black horse came to a stop. He had dirt all over his body; grass, leaves and dried mud still clinging to his black clothes. His face and hands were full of cuts, surprising a dozen guys who were waiting for him.

"What happened, you fell off the horse?" One of them asked bewildered.

"Kinda," Xander answered and gained even more bulging eyes.

"You fell off, trying to save that Missy?" Another guy chimed in, his voice displeased. They shouldn't have stayed behind to wait for his return.

"Her horse tripped, it was too late to pull her on mine as intended," Xander explained calmly. Otherwise, nothing would have happened to both of them.

"So you used your body to shield her?!" Darlton, the oldest of the group of dark clothed men, came up and began to pat down the dirt from Xander's clothes.

"My Lord, you must never do such a foolish thing ever again, what if something happens to you? You need to exert more self-awareness." The older man urged.

"You guys always told me to treat women with more care and now this?" Xander raised his eyebrows in amus.e.m.e.nt. These guys, one can never make them happy with anything.

"Yes, but not to put your life on the line for a girl!" Darlton grieved with a bleeding heart while counting the bruises on his master. The young Lord had collected many bruises and wounds over the years. But none of them had been gained in such a foolish manner.

"What is a girl compared to your life, my liege?" Another young man supported Darlton's principles.

"She couldn't be just some girl." Xander refuted "She must be a guest of the Royal Household. And she was allowed to ride a purebred white horse which normally only the Queen herself was allowed to ride."

"So what? Even if that was the Queen herself on the horse, you should think twice before putting yourself in danger like that. We are not even obliged to help them in the first place." Darlton had only his Lord in his eyes.

"Yeah, wasn't it enough that we helped her escape the arrow? Maybe they put her on the horse on purpose to lead others astray." A man with a crossbow chimed in. The leather quiver on his belt missed exactly one bolt.

The group began to come up with the wildest conspiracies.

Since they were just concerned about him, Xander didn't mind their excesses too much. He had also thought on his way back that he was behaving too impulsive this time.

"Nonetheless. If anything happens to the Royal Family, our trip this time would have been in vain. So it is acceptable to mingle once in a while and piss on other peoples parade." Darlton begrudgingly accepted the fact after a while. Despite being vulgar, his worlds were those of an elder, so everyone else stopped their ramblings.

Since the group calmed down a little bit, a voice that had not been heard once since the beginning, suddenly spoke up.

"But to think that our Lord would suddenly bolt forward like that to rescue a maiden in need, don't you think he looked kinda heroic?"

It was the youngest of their group, his voice still a little bit soft and childish and one could hear that he admired the Lord very much.

Except for Xander, who kept his eyes down on the ground in silence, all the men broke out in laughter.

"Stupid boy, if our Lord isn't heroic, then does he look like a villain to you? Wait until we get back, I will triple your training regime!"

"But he's right, Darlton! I've never seen our Lord bat an eye at a Lady!"

"Maybe the young Lord is finally awakening his interest in the fairer s.e.x!"

"Better late than never!"

"Bwahahahahaha"

"My Lord, let's go to the brothel once we get home! I know the best places!" An especially daring voice suggested.

"You...! You want to die, bringing our Lord to a filthy place like that!" Darlton's voice trembled in anger and anxiety that his Lord would take up on the offer.

"Darlton, you are such a spoilsport! Don't you want our Lord to become an expert in all fields of life?"

"Bwahahahahaha"

They laughed and bickered as always, those unruly big men. Worse than those gossipy market women back home. Their only good point was their strength and their absolute loyalty.

"My Lord, was she a beauty, that little Miss you saved? Did you touch her? Was she soft?" That daring voice again!

Everything happened so fast. They could only see a glimpse of that silvery hair before Xander already broke off from the group, following the person and horse. Of course, they were intrigued as to why their Lord broke character to rescue someone foreign to him.

"You, shut up for me." Xander rolled his eyes.

He tried not to listen to them, lest he got angry. Despite that, little beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, and he felt like the buzzing around him became louder and louder with every second going forth, making his head hurt.

"Don't listen to those filthy animals, my Lord." Darlton snarled, signalling everyone that they should be on their way. When the man got no answer from Xander, he turned around to take a look.

"My Lord, are you alright?" When Darlton's voice became serious, no matter how quiet it was, everyone around shut up in an instant. They stopped at whatever they were doing and turned their attention towards Darlton who had put a hand on Xander's back and asked him again if anything was alright.

"..." Xander, turning pale now, refused to answer. He wished he could swat Darlton's big bear paw from his aching back.

"My Lord, what is..." Before Darlton finished his sentence, he suddenly snapped out of confusion and took back his hand to examine it. A familiar scent invaded his nose. Darlton had thought the Lords back was damp from mud and sweat, but once he saw the red colour on his hand, everything was evident at once.

"BLOOD!" He hollered, "Fast, get the medical kit! His Highness is injured!"