“Are you kidding me? Cedar! How did you manage to shoot faster when I aimed before you? This was the third time!” Theodore sounded like he was slowly getting upset. That was understandable to some extent, but in the end, it had been his fault for not shooting first.


    Cedar had barely let go of the string, and the arrow already hit the target. He couldn''t help but grin in satisfaction when he heard a frustrated growl next to him. He looked up and lowered his bow while replying. “Maybe you are just too slow. Besides, I told you already. If you finally get away from me, we might be able to hunt without stealing each other''s kills. We''re not supposed to team up.”


    Theodore sighed as he watched how his brother already took another arrow from the quiver. “I''m not following you on purpose, you know. I just see you every time I find an animal. It''s almost ridiculous. I''m pretty sure that you aren''t doing this intentionally either. It seems that we are just both good at spotting animals around here. And unfortunately, we both target the same kinds as well. Since when have you chosen to leave alone rabbits and go for the dangerous animals?”


    Cedar didn''t reply to that. He didn''t need to mention that he had heard Lucille say that she liked rabbits and that he refused to shoot them because of that. If he needed to kill some to win later, he would do it, but at the moment, he found enough other animals that gave him more points. “I don''t think that we have enough time for that. You should hurry if you want to keep up. I will go ahead.” He turned to look around and tried to estimate where he should go first.


    Most likely, the animals would run away from the noises. So, he needed to go to the place that usually was the quietest. And maybe checking the river would be good too. He might be able to catch some animals off guard while they were drinking water. The prince moved immediately.


    His horse had only taken a few steps, and Cedar felt the same strange queasiness in his stomach as before. He tried to ignore that. His mind was playing tricks on him today. He couldn''t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Even if he had already checked and hadn''t found anyone thrice, he still couldn''t calm down. That was annoying. Cedar gave in again and looked around once more. There was no one here. At least he couldn''t see anyone. Yet, he got more skeptical with each passing second. His intuition was usually right when it came to such matters, so he was hesitant to dismiss his concerns just like this. But on the other hand, he hadn''t spotted a single person that didn''t belong here. He only found royal guards that patrolled the forest in the distance. There was no danger here.


    Cedar was just being paranoid. He should try to ignore that, but normally, his paranoia was always right. Damn it. He slowed his horse again and pretended to check the bag near the saddle as an excuse to look behind his back. There was no one there. Why had he expected someone to be there? Unfortunately, he had already messed up by showing that something had unsettled him.


    Theodore came closer to him and stopped next to his brother. Concern was painted onto his features. “Is there an issue? You slowed down all of a sudden.”


    Cedar showed him his typical bright smile. He was already prepared to deny that he was worried, but he stopped himself in time. If he was on Theodore''s side, he needed to talk when important things like this bothered him. During the last hunt, he hadn''t said anything, and that had led to a catastrophe, so he should probably speak. Cedar waited for another moment to confirm whether he had just been mistaken, but he was sure. He was used to waiting for attacks every single minute of the day, but he could tell the difference. This made his hair stand on end. And at the moment, he was definitely shivering. Something was wrong. It felt like someone was watching them with murderous intent, and he was certain about that. “I have a bad feeling about this.” That was all he needed to say.


    Theodore''s expression became grimmer within a single second. He lowered his voice to ask. “Did you notice something odd?”


    This whole day had been odd. Normally, Cedar hadn''t been so nervous even while he needed to compete with Theodore. At first, he hadn''t been certain, but now he was. Something bad was happening in the background. But he couldn''t explain his reasoning. Cedar was just about to say that, but he was stopped. As soon as he caught a glimpse of something white in a tree right behind Theodore, he froze in place.


    The uniforms of the royal guards had two different designs. One was navy, and that uniform was used when the men expected to fight or when they would get dirty, much like the knights that accompanied the emperor and the prince would today. The typical design for the more elegant daily attire was white with navy and golden decorations. That one was worn when the guards were visible to the guests of the palace and when they were patrolling the royal estate.


    Cedar was almost sure that he had just seen a glimpse of the latter. But why would a royal guard sit in a tree and wait for the emperor to pass by while wearing a white uniform? No royal guard would put on a white uniform while climbing up a tree. That made no sense.


    And the fact that this guard was slowly moving and reaching behind his back made it even worse. He wouldn''t try to grab an arrow, would he? Possibly not, but the option was there, and that probability was too big to ignore it.


    Cedar didn''t hesitate for a single second. If he was wrong here, he might end up killing an innocent person. He knew that. However, if he didn''t do anything now, that man might end up hurting someone else, and he couldn''t risk it. As long as he aimed properly, he should be able to go without killing him. Cedar had barely thought that when he already needed to change his mind.


    The guard in the tree was moving as if he wanted to pull back the string of a bow.


    Cedar cursed himself as he hurriedly lifted his own bow and aimed at the man. He knew that this looked rather unfavorable since Theodore was between him and the guard and he was holding up the bow as if he wanted to shoot at his brother''s head. But he would have to do this now, or Theodore might be hit by an arrow. He only gave one warning. “Don''t move.” He had expected shock and indignation, maybe even rage.


    But Theodore just frowned and gave his silent approval by not moving a single bit. He really was an idiot, wasn''t he? In this case, it was good though.


    Cedar only took a second to let go of the arrow, which promptly flew a hand-with past Theodore''s head toward the target.


    Another second later, a huge commotion arose around them. The royal guards realized that the prince was supposedly aiming at the emperor now and began yelling. “Your Royal Highness, what are you-” They stopped as quickly as they had drawn their swords.


    The moment the man fell down the tree and landed on the ground, everyone got quiet.


    Cedar didn''t want to be convicted of treason, so he quickly gave an explanation. “That man aimed an arrow at Theodore. Check whether he is still alive.”


    The royal guards still seemed to be in a state of shock, but two of them rushed over to the man who had fallen out of the tree. Unfortunately, said man was very much dead as the arrow that stuck out of his neck told them.


    Cedar inwardly cursed. Now he could forget asking that man who had ordered him to do this. The answer was obvious anyway, but it would have been nice to have a witness. The prince stared at the corpse for a moment before he turned to his brother and showed him a radiant smile. “You just avoided death by a hand width. I didn''t believe that you would trust me that much.”


    For some reason, Theodore didn''t look like he was very shaken. He was more angry about the attack. “I am very much aware that your aim is steady enough to take care of this. Thank you for acting so quickly.” He glanced down at the unmoving body. “What do we do with...this?” That wasn''t the most important thing now.


    Cedar knew that his intuition had been right once again. So, he would trust himself and his logic when he announced the following. “We have a much bigger problem now. This person probably-” Wasn''t here on their own. That had been what Cedar had wanted to say, but he was cut off in a rather unpleasant way.


    He barely realized that something was flying toward him and just a small movement from the corner of his eyes had triggered his reflexes. He let himself fall off the horse and dove to the side. The impact on the floor was harsh, but he didn''t care. He jumped to his feet and whipped his head around. He had been right about reacting so quickly.


    An arrow was piercing the tree next to the prince. That would have hit him if he hadn''t been lucky. Damn it. This was exactly why he trusted his intuition.


    “Theodore!”


    The emperor had already understood. He raised his voice to address the guards around him. “Prepare for a fight this instant!”


    The guards acted immediately. They changed their positions and circled the prince and the emperor to protect them while scanning the area around them.


    Cedar chose not to climb onto his horse and just stayed next to the tree while pulling out his sword. At the moment, they couldn''t avoid a fight by running away anymore since their speed in this kind of terrain was limited. So, he would rather be prepared to fight properly. He already braced himself for a new wave of arrows that hit him while also waiting for what else those people could come up with.


    Theodore jumped off his horse and drew his sword as well. He analyzed their surroundings and what they could use to win when the fight began. He stayed in that position, and the guards around him held still as well.


    It was completely quiet in the forest now. No animals were moving around, and as if nature wanted to remind them of the dire situation they were in, no wind sounded. This was good though. If someone moved to attack them, they would hear it in time and could react. This position was perfect in that regard, but it was horrible in every other.


    The thick trees offered their enemies enough chances to hide, and anyone could jump down there at every second. An unlimited amount of fighters could be stationed in the forest like this, and no one could know. Since these were the hunting grounds, many people with weapons were inside as well. It would be easy to take away those from these hunters, so the attackers had a good supply of swords and bows as well. Certainly, the fact that only a few royal guards accompanied the members of the royal family and that the rest of the people were spread out in the forest also helped the mercenaries.


    Cedar had to admit that this position was pretty bad. So, when it stayed quiet for the next minute, he was about to propose that they should leave. But upon seeing his brother''s expression, he couldn''t help but add the first thing they both had thought about. “This is ridiculous, isn''t it?”


    Theodore looked like he was about to slaughter the responsible person, who might or might not be Camille. If a warlord was personified, he would probably gaze at his enemies like this. Even his voice sounded as welcoming and warm as a glacier. “It''s the hunting festival again. This is the third time.”


    Cedar knew that this wasn''t the time to discuss this, but he clarified it anyway. “Mother didn''t give orders to my guard two years ago. That was on him alone, so this is the second attack here. But I agree that it''s getting repetitive. See it in a positive light. You can finalize your plan now.” As expected, Camille had made her last mistake. She had tried to murder her son again, and now Theodore would crush her. Cedar had to admit that a part of him would be relieved when this was finally over.


    And yet, a bitter feeling rose inside of him too.


    His mother would get executed right in front of him. Just because of some stupid grudge that didn''t even make sense. Why did Camille need to do this? Why did she have to insist on hurting those around her this much when she suffered as much as everyone else? Cedar couldn''t tell, and he wouldn''t receive an answer. In all honesty, the reason didn''t matter either. Camille would die for her crimes. There was nothing that could be changed about that now.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The brothers didn''t say anything after that. Of course, the royal guards didn''t dare to speak either. It was completely silent.


    There still was no one else attacking them though. That could only mean one thing.


    “They are getting closer to aim better. We need to move.” Theodore had given his order quietly and signaled the guards to retreat. Apparently, he had decided that getting to the glade was safer than staying here.


    Cedar would still favor hiding and waiting for their enemies instead of moving first, but he couldn''t argue with Theodore. He just walked back to his horse and prepared to climb up. But in this case, his intuition had once again been correct. He had barely reached the horse before he heard the rustling of bushes.


    The noises didn''t just come from one direction. They came from all around the group. The people that had followed them were attacking, and seemingly, they were clever enough to use tactics to confuse the group they targeted. Cedar tried to listen to the steps and did his best to figure out from where they were coming. Unfortunately, it seemed like people were moving around rather loudly while running in strange patterns. This was a distraction. It would be much too uncoordinated for actual fighters. Cedar tried to focus on one person, but that was impossible in this situation. He could only assume one thing.


    The main target was Theodore alone. The attackers would try to get close without arousing suspicion and then kill him as quickly as possible. An archer might be helpful in such a situation.


    So, Cedar positioned himself behind Theodore and lifted his bow to be ready to shoot when necessary. He scanned the bushes and trees there, but he couldn''t see anyone. If he was unlucky, he had overlooked someone, but he tried his best a few times.


    A few seconds passed, and no one shot at Theodore nor didn''t anyone jump forward to kill him. At that point in time, Cedar was pretty sure that the issue was greater than they had expected it to be.


    The attackers actually were patient enough to create a surprise. It meant that there was more planning involved.


    At the very moment that Cedar thought that, he was reminded that he should always be prepared for the worst. A rain of arrows was shot at the same time and forced the royal guards to back away. The arrows fell to the ground with barely any force behind them, and that confirmed what the prince had expected. Another distraction.


    Cedar raised his voice. “They''re here!” He had barely given the guards an advantage.


    Seconds later, the attackers came into view. They had swords, and their usual black robes were replaced with white uniforms, which didn''t blend in well with the environment. Usually, these kinds of people would put on something that helped them hide. Why would they give up that advantage when they didn''t have any benefit now after revealing that they obviously weren''t royal guards?


    Cedar had a bad premonition, but he couldn''t say anything now. He had to focus on fighting. He would warn his brother when it was time to deal with this. They had to fight back with all they had. Luckily, Cedar was good at that.


    Unfortunately, their enemies seemed to know that. Most attackers moved toward Theodore and tried to hurt him, but still, it was odd how few targeted the prince.


    Cedar saw that as a personal challenge. He got involved in any fight he could get into to help. In their current situation, it was impossible to avoid violence, so Cedar forced himself to ignore how much he hated hurting others even in a fight. He just swallowed his emotion and defeated everyone he could force into a battle with him. When he didn''t do that, he tried to find archers that were hiding in the trees around them. Surprisingly, he only found one or two of those and got rid of them before they could shoot.


    It was odd.


    Why weren''t more archers here? Normally, Camille avoided archers to try to make it seem like the attackers could have been random bandits that wouldn''t aim as well as her assassins did. But she had given up on being that careful a while ago, and now killing Theodore should be her main goal. Why wouldn''t she send more archers when those had the best chances of winning here?


    At the moment, Theodore was fighting like a personified war god. He slashed through his enemies without a trace of sympathy and only got colder with each person he rendered immobile. Along with the royal guards that backed him, this made it almost impossible for anyone to get close. Archers would have been the best option.


    Camille couldn''t know how good he was, but she should have understood that her son was talented after the failed revolt. So, why had she sent in people who were dying for no reason because they hadn''t had a chance in the first place instead of archers? This strategy made no sense. No matter how Cedar put it, he couldn''t understand what this kind of sloppy planning was supposed to do.


    Or maybe Camille had been sloppy on purpose. In that case, this attack would seem like it had been planned hastily and not like it had been prepared a while ago. And it might even seem like this had been a fight that had begun because of a thoughtless decision instead of a plan.


    Cedar had to push these thoughts aside each time a new fight began. Those ended quickly each time though. The people that attacked him weren''t skilled. These men probably weren''t assassins but just some random mercenaries who didn''t even seem to know whom they were up against. With each person he defeated, the question came back to him.


    Why?


    Why would his mother send such people and make them wear white uniforms? This was a completely one-sided fight, with Camille''s men clearly losing. This made no sense, or did it?


    Cedar had a vague idea of what might help his mother. Fighting alongside Theodore could prove that he was on his brother''s side and erase more of the bad memories some of the people in the capital connected with him. This would make it seem like he had redeemed himself and could possibly ascend to the throne without many issues. But if Theodore was alive, this whole plan wouldn''t give anyone an advantage.


    Cedar did his best to stop thinking about that, but it was hard. This fight was too easy. Even for mercenaries, these people were quite bad. He would almost guess that some of those didn''t fight regularly at all, and that only made it more concerning. He attempted to keep the people he fought against alive, but that was rather hard when a dozen others stood somewhere close to him and might attack him soon if they defeated some of the royal guards. So, Cedar rendered the people immobile when he could and only killed when necessary, but it felt like none of the attackers even expected to get out of this alive. They just kept advancing despite their losses.


    That made Cedar even more worried. By now, most of the mercenaries had been defeated, and yet, none of the skillful assassins had made a move. Why would Camille plot something like this?


    Cedar got more upset and tense with each second. Only a few attackers remained, and defeating them was easier than it should have been, so he waited for some kind of secret attack from behind his back. He parried an attack, took a step to the side and then pushed the man away from him. One of the royal guards took over, and the mercenary fell to the floor.


    Cedar spun around to check whether someone else had shown up, but there still were the same people as before. Only five measly attackers were left. Why weren''t those people giving up? They would be arrested now that the fight had cooled down. Cedar considered staying out of it, but he chose to help arrest at least one of those men since he stood the closest to him. He raised his sword and announced what Theodore had told those people a hundred times already. “Give up, and put aside your weapon. You-” He cut himself off when the other man lunged toward him.


    Cedar jumped to the side to avoid a sloppy attack before dashing forward. He slammed his fist into that man''s stomach so that the mercenary doubled over. Then he lifted his sword to end it. He slammed down the handle on the back of the other''s head. The man fell limp onto the floor, and Cedar jumped away to avoid a possible follow-up attack. Everything should have been over with that. But he noticed something moving past him at a speed that wouldn''t even allow him to do anything.


    Cedar immediately followed the object with his eyes and realized that this had been another arrow, which had been shot from right behind him. It seemed like someone had recognized his weak spot. His reflexes were great, but even he couldn''t avoid what he couldn''t see. Cedar had just escaped this one by pure accident.


    So, the attackers did know that fighting against the prince directly was almost impossible, and yet, those bastards wanted to seriously hurt or kill him. That was new. Why hadn''t they begun earlier then?


    Cedar gritted his teeth as he turned his head to check his surroundings. He couldn''t see any archer or another mercenary. A small voice in the back of his mind began yelling at him and told him that this couldn''t have been it. They needed to get away from here now. He made eye contact with his brother, who seemed to think the same.


    Theodore''s clothes had quite a few bloodstains on them, but luckily, it seemed like he was unhurt. He confirmed whether someone was still charging at them, and when no one came, he hurried to speak up. “We will withdraw immediately.” He climbed onto his horse and quickly addressed his brother. “You will stay right next to me. We need to expect archers.”


    Cedar had guessed that. He got onto his horse as well and didn''t waste even a second to catch up with his brother. “Let''s hurry up. I don''t want to get shot by one of those idiots. Did you send someone to spread the news of what happened already?” He was pretty sure that two of the royal guards had disappeared during the fight.


    Theodore nodded as he lifted his reigns and gave the horse the signal to move. “They will get us support, but if we are lucky, we can reach the venue without anyone else showing up. Though...” His expression darkened. “I doubt that. Those men were even more unskilled than anyone I ever fought before. I can''t imagine that this was it. Why were they confident that they would win like this? They didn''t even try to hide the fact that they didn''t want to fight you. They probably want to make it seem like we were attacked and you barely survived the attack. So that you would be the innocent new ruler.”


    That would be too easy. If Camille had wanted that, she would have sent capable assassins. Surely, she might not have much left, but she would at least have chosen people who could aim properly and shoot Theodore.


    Cedar scanned their environment while they moved forward and tried to understand what this unstructured attack should have done. It somehow reminded him of the revolt, which had been planned badly since it had been supposed to fail in the first place. Had Camille done the same again? Had she plotted an assassination attempt that was so awful that it would fail immediately? Why would she do that? Did she want to lure them somewhere?


    Cedar went through the fight in his mind again. He needed to do it twice before he noted that the most important detail here could betray the truth. “Those men...had white clothes. Usually, they wear darker ones. No one who wants to sneak around would put on such attires for no reason. They are imitating the royal guards. From afar, they might look like them, and we could confuse friend and foe.” And this led to a few very unsettling thoughts.


    Theodore''s face scrunched up. “Are you joking? What is she trying to do now?” He glanced over his shoulder. “The color makes sense in that case, but how is that supposed to help her? Why would we believe that royal guards suddenly...” His voice trailed off. His gaze snapped back to his brother. “What if they...wanted to make it seem like I want to kill you? Because the alleged royal guards suddenly attacked you.”


    Now that he said that...


    Cedar nodded. “The official story is probably supposed to be me killing you in self-defense after you attacked me because you worry about my claim to the throne. That is a stupid plan but just logical enough to make sense to Mother.” He replied to his brother but kept looking around in fear of finding some other archer in the trees. He had escaped two arrows today. His luck was used up, so being targeted again wouldn''t be good for him.


    Theodore let out a huff. He narrowed his eyes and sped up his horse a little. “But how does that make sense? Those men were too unskilled to even harm me. If questions arose, the royal guards would all attest we fought against outsiders, and this matter would be cleared up. Her plan won''t help her.” He was right about it seeming like this.


    But Camille had probably not just thought this far.


    Cedar could find one logical explanation for this whole issue. “She still thinks that I''m on her side. She might have hoped that I would kill you in the middle of this fight. Maybe she thought that I would use the confusion to get rid of a few royal guards. Then I could have stepped to the side and pulled out my bow, and it could have been over in a second. Surely, people would have seen me, but...” Some archer had aimed at Cedar twice already. That proved that some attackers were hidden and might just have waited for the prince to act in their favor. “I don''t think she planned on anyone but me leaving this place. But I presume that this wasn''t everything. She has to have set up something else.”


    Theodore slowed down a bit when the men in front of him did so first. He only got tenser when they were forced to avoid a big hill and looked around thrice before he dared to continue the conversation. “I know. We''ll stay on guard. I don''t trust any of this.”


    Cedar used that opportunity to chime in. He lowered his voice so much that only his brother would hear it. “As you should. Since these men all have uniforms that resemble the ones of the royal guards, we basically can''t trust any of your knights. We can''t let anyone close except for the people you recognize.”


    Theodore clenched his jaw. He carefully looked over his shoulder and scanned the guards that followed them. That thought was even worse than what the prince had considered.


    Cedar felt how a cold shiver ran down his spine. It was very much possible that the confusing fight before had only been staged to get a traitor into their group. “Theodore.” He only dared to whisper now. “Did you see whether some of our guards were exchanged during the fight?” The mercenaries had previously only worn white uniforms, but that meant that they could have gotten their hands on some navy ones too.


    Theodore was silent for a moment too long. Then he whispered back. “I didn''t pay attention to that. I''ll try to find out.” He did his best to make it subtle while he scanned the faces of the people next to him. Then he focused on those behind them by carefully glancing over his shoulder.


    Cedar wasn''t certain whether he could remember the people that had accompanied them, but he tried to confirm whether he recognized some anyway. He turned around and scanned the people he saw there. He didn''t find much that caught his attention more than the fact that someone with a white uniform was sitting on a branch of one of the trees next to them. Cedar barely registered that that man was aiming at Theodore before he already moved. “Theodore!” He steered his horse toward his brother''s in hopes of getting him out of the way of the shot like that.


    Apparently, that had worked out well since Theodore didn''t get hit. But just because the man in the tree hadn''t shot an arrow at all, lowering the bow instead.


    Cedar could only stare at him in panic while his mind raced to figure out what was going on. If that man hadn''t shot the arrow, then why had he-


    The answer had already hit him in the form of something very sharp and very painful meeting the back of his shoulder. The impact almost pushed the air out of his lungs, and he lost his balance.


    Cedar voiced a thousand silent curses as he realized he was about to collide with the floor again. This was the second time he had fallen off his horse today, and this time, it had been much more painful than before, maybe because of the damned arrow that had hit the shoulder he landed on. Apparently, a second archer had waited for him to be distracted by the one that had hidden in plain sight. What a cheap trick this had been. This was much more like Camille than whatever had happened before.