Nathaniel was raging. He got out of the tent and asked a soldier that was passing by to bring him his horse. Then, he told a general to gather a party of their best 30 men. These men were well-trained warriors who could sneak on someone's back as quietly as a cat or bring someone down in 1 minute or less, in a face-to-face confrontation.
On the road to the castle, Nathaniel rode his horse and led his men as if the fire of hell was chasing him. He feared that he will reach the castle to late to find her, the princess, Alexander's sister.
When he arrived at the castle, some of the horses collapsed from fatigue. Luckily, the riders had already dismounted, so they weren't hurt.
Before storming into the castle, the king ordered his warriors to search every inch of the court, every room, check every woman. They knew how she looked like because he had already shown them her portrait. While watching his men spread in all directions, the King's eyes caught a movement at the southern window of the tower.
"Can't be! whispered Nathaniel to himself.
Impatient and excited at the possibility of capturing the princess, Nathaniel entered the large and cold hall of the tower and started running up the stairs, eager to reach the top chamber as soon as possible. Time was of the essence becaise he was well aware of the fact that the princess had already noticed his presence and intentions. Short on his breath, Nathaniel reachddd the top of the stairs and, with all his might, he threw himself at the wooden door of the chamber, in order to break it and be able to step into the room. Again and again, but the door was unbreakable.
"Plese, stop, Your Highness! Or else you will hurt yourself in vain." The voice was soft and gentle, suited for a princess.
The sound of her voice made him freeze. Carefully, he pressed his ear against the door and listened: he could hear birds- which meant that the window was open and he could also her the rustle of her dress, which could only mean the fact that she was in a continuous movement. It was obvious that she was planning something.
Nathaniel straightened himself and said, loud enough to be heard by the young woman that was pacing in the room behind the door.
" Just open the door. I won't hurt you, I just want to speak with you, to..."
His words were interrupted by the sudden sound of a door being unlocked. When the door was finally open, Nathaniel and Princess Noura, for that was her name, stood, facing each other. For a time, none of them dared to make any movement. They just looked at the one in front of them, trying to guess their next move.
" Call me Nathaniel." The voice was cautios and nervous at the same time. His rosed eyebrow showed curiosity. And impatience.
"Noura. Princess Noura." The voice was calm and sweet.
" What do you want from me, Nathaniel? Or, should I say, King Nathaniel?" The tone of her voice was low and calm. She looked at him straight into his eyes. When their eyes locked, his heart began pounding like crazy while her inside began to stirr. It was obvious. They knew it.
" I do not know", answered the man, in an hesitant manner. " I haven't thought about it. I have no plans. I just wanted to meet you. And talk to you...."
"You did.What will happen to me now? Will you parade me on the streets to humiliate me, or kill me, or imprison me for life?" The woman' s voice trembled as she said the words.
Nathaniel was looking at the window behind Noura, that stood open. He could hear the birds and the wind.
" No, no, this is not what I..." his voice was tense and low.
" Or maybe, you want to turn me into a slave. YOUR SLAVE! simply added Noura, looking daringly at him, forcing him to look at her. When she met his eyes, a wave of shock, followed by fear, washed her body. His eyes showed that, even though, initially, he had no intentions of enslaving her, when she opened the door, things were very different now: the expression on his face conveyed desire and, above all, new opportunities.
She looked desperately around the little room, trying to find a way to escape captivity. The room was small, round, empy, with no furniture in it. But it had windows. Three windows. And one was open.
Nathaniel caught her stare and realized what her intentions were. Slowly, he took a step towards her, and another, and another.
"Please, stop! Noura begged him, almost crying. She seemed to be very scared.
Nathaniel ignored her feelings and took another step forward.
For each step forward that Nathaniel took, Noura took another backwards. Step by step, until there was nowhere left for her to go. And Nathaniel was already in the center of the tiny room.
"Few more steps and I will be a slave forever", thought the princess. And the mere thought of this prospect, brought tears of humiliation and fury into her eyes.Her eyes sparkled with determination.
"You will never have me! yelled the princess, right before throwing herself out of the window.
With his hands reaching forward, his eyes staring into nothingness, Nathaniel stood, dumbfound, in the empty little room, unable to make a move. Eventually, he managed fo get a hold of himself and went straight at the window and leaned over. He did not know what was it that he expected to see: a dead woman, a woman barely living, people screaming for help. Anything but the silent and undisturbed view that was laying in front of him. He leaned more, trying to spot something, anything. But it was in vain. A dense blanket of fog covered the base of the tower, making it impossible for anyone to see anything.
While running down the stairs, guilt had inserted itself in his mind. The princess, the beautiful princess, had died because of him. He killed the princess! The thought of him being the killer of fhe princess was unacceptable! He flew doen the stairs as if all the demons of hell were chasing him. He had only one thought: to save the princess! When he reached the bottom if the stairs, Nathaniel started screaming like a madman, alarming the soldiers that were guarding the entrance in the tower. "The princess...dead...help....go....dead....me....me...window..."
At first, the soldiers were unable to understand what he meant, but, alarmed by his words, they followed him, without questions. For a few moments, the soldiers had lost sight of their king. Shortly, they saw him again.
"Bring me some torches!" ordered Nathaniel in a hasty tone.
The light of the torches revealed a significant amount of blood that stained the ground, continuing, toward the forest, in a small trail formed of small drops, of the same blood, apparently. But where was the princess?
She couldn't have survived the fall. That was obvious. And where was her body? Nathaniel was running around, torches in both hands, searching, observing, listening. Especially listening. And he was, after all, a very good listener. And a very skilled hunter. For she had turned him into one. A hunter. And she was the pray. And the pray had escaped. Again.
"Prepare for the hunt! Gather the best archers and hunters! And bring me the fastest and fiercest hunting dogs! As many as you can find!"
The order gave the men shivers down their spine. Although they were men hardened in bloody battles and had seen numerous acts of unspoken violence, they couldn't help but feel as if they were preparing for a huge injustice and a deed of unimaginable cruelty.
As soon as the hunting party had gathered, they all headed towards the woods, following the little drops of blood that were sparkling in the light of the moon that was now, watching them from above, surrounded by twinkling stars.
The hunting group, wich moved as a single person, slowly, quietly, almost undetectable, was formed of: the king, 10 huntsmen, 10 hunting dogs, 20 soldiers. The dogs were so well trained, that they moved as soft as a cat and were as quiet as a mouse. And their senses were hightened. They were sniffing for the pray. They were moving in the following order: the huntsmen and their hunting dogs, 10 soldiers with their bows prepared, arrow waiting, followed closely by the other 10 soldiers who had their spears drawn and ready. Nathaniel was closing the group, alert,eyes wide open, with his sword, barren and cold, in his hand. The sight was frightening: all that manpower to hunt down a mere woman. One might suspect that she was a witch, a bloody murderer, not a princess.
Occasionally, the stillness of the night was interrupted by an owl, or a howling wolf or some scared bird, flying away, scared by the danger that was filling the air. After each unexpected interruption, the men regrouped almost instantly, well aware of fheir mission.
Two hours had passed without finding any sign of the fugitive. Nathaniel felt helpless. And furious.
After 4 more hours, Nathaniel was ready to give up when, the dogs started to bark, heading toward the river. The moon was bright and the light was enough for him to distinguish a female figure, running down the river, closely followed by the dogs. Nathaniel smiled with satisfaction and rode to follow them, nudging his horse to run faster and faster. He got close enough to realize that the woman they were chasing was Noura, who ran quite fast for a wounded woman. And he was right. It wasn't long until the dogs managed to suround her and imprison her, as she was unable to move outside the circle they formed, for fear that she might be bitten by one of them. Sure of his victory, Nathaniel whiped his horse to run faster. He was eagger to catch her. And have her. To own her. But, all of a sudden, everything went dark: the moon disappeared in a blink of the eye, making the men and horses to fall blindly and bump helplessly into each other. All previously existing order had disappeared. Men were shouting out of their mind.
"Hold still, hold still, don't move!" screamed Nathaniel in desperation. "Do not move!"
Men stopped moving and everything went quiet again. And the moon shone again. And there was light again. And there was NO TRACE of the princess. AGAIN!
Under the moonlight, the men saw the dogs hurt, beaten, bleeding, dead on the ground. Only one was trying to get on his feet, but was unable to. Nathaniel came closer, with his dagger out, prepared to put the dog out of its misery. He lifted the dagger, ready to hit, when he noticed the strand of long black hair that the dog kept in his mouth, unwilling to let go.
"What do you have here?" asked Nathaniel in a hoarse whisper, taking the strand from the dog's mouth, with gentle moves. He could tell who it belonged to.
"Who owns this dog?" yelled the king.
"Me, my king." The voice belonged to Daniel the Witty.
"Now it is mine", announced the king. " Lift it carefully and put it on my horse. Let us go back to the castle. The hunt is over."
The men were releaved. They didn't have to kill anyone tonight.
Back at the castle, after being cared for and fed, the wounded dog was brought to Nathaniel's chambers as ordered, and placed on the rogue that laid on the left side of his bed. He could see that the dog was still weak and hurting. He didn't know why, but he was quit fond of that dog. He stroked it, blew out the candle and fell asleep almost instantly.