Attack

**Natalie POV**



Shion escorted me to the banquet. The first thing I saw was a large rectangle table with a royal purple tablecloth. The air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and beef. Tiny ravens were stitched near every chair placed. Twenty-Two chairs, most of them occupied, surrounded the table. Two additional smaller round tables were close to each corner of the feast chamber.

Shion tugged on my arm. I followed him to a seat four down from the King himself. I had never been so close to King Ulrich in all my years here. He was just as intimidating as rumored. The aura around him commanded respect.

Little Kalum pulled a seat out for his Mom next to Shion. Kalum himself sat closest to the King. Both boys stared at the food, holding back drool. Aileen gave her children a stern look that had them acknowledging the nobles gathered to celebrate their return rather than mentally devouring the food laid before them. Still, the kids did stick their tongues out at their Mom while she was engaging Krennan's advisor about some important port I've never heard of.

"Our final guest of the evening, please welcome the Princess Lydia of Krennan." So much for forgetting about Lydia and Trevor. Just one look was enough to send more pictures of Trevor, and I's encounters through my head.

How had he kissed her? Sweetly? Hungerily? The way he did me in the courtyard?

The King brought a hand down as the princess took her seat. All conversations ended. Even the toddler princes straightened their backs and became mute. From what I'd seen, their silence was rare.

Behind the golden chair, with his head lowered, a young scribe appeared. He wrote as King Ulrich spoke.

"I would like to take this moment to officially welcome Princess Aileen of Vernen back home, as well as announce a new order of succession, blessed by Father Merino. Shall anything ill befall me or I retire; my dear grandson, the crowned prince Shion Vernen-Lutz will be your next King. God forbid anything to happen to him; his younger brother, named after the deceased old captain of my guard and great man, Kalum, shall be gifted my throne."

King Ulrich paused until the chattering ceased.

"Many odd circumstances happened while I was in another dimension. One of those being finding the lost princess. She was adopted into a family I feel indebted to. Their son has honored this kingdom with his expertise in investigating, fighting, and training. Well, to return their favor and what he has already done for this country I have adopted Trevor as my own son."

What?! I didn't have much time to think about his words or add what he said to my theories about his precious daughter and my previous master.

"Trevor of the Hemmer household has been adopted into the family. Shall the unspeakable happen to Kalum, may Prince Trevor wear my crown and we continue to prosper."

There were many gaspings and mutterings among the crowd. Directly in front of me, Lydia's grin grew wider. She obviously had already known he was a prince now while bragging about their engagement…Engagement.

"Prince Trevor has come down with an illness, but he did give me permission to make a truly joyous announcement." Lydia giggled lightly at her confused audience. "We are engaged! Prince Trevor and I are to marry at a date to be discussed further." Her cateyes found Aileen. "I am oh so delighted we can finally unite our kingdoms. It is such a shame my brother was lost in a different dimension. I've heard his replacement was a low-born Princess Aileen?"

"So what does Krennen offer for Lutz?" she smiled sweetly, "Devon has brought the elementally blessed to our dimension. No other countries would dare challenge Lutz with them protecting us." Aileen took a sip of water. No wine had been given to her.

Lydia hid her anger behind a cloth she wiped her lips with. The princess then took several bites figuring out an answer about her homeland. A few noblemen also hid their chucklings by cleaning their mouths.

"We can easily trade wool and timber."

I was surprised Aileen didn't laugh based on her response. "Your country has requested timber trade from the city of Vernen. There was a massive fire before you left your country. I do not see what commodities are needed in this alliance."

"Enslaved people! We have slaves."

"We don't need slaves. Lutz is prosperous enough without the use of free labor." The King raised a single hand again. "Do not speak ill of my country."

"They aren't people. They're slaves! Our country isn't poor for having them." Lydia shouted, failing to hide her embarrassment. It didn't take her brain long to register her mistake. "Sorry, you Highness. That was out of line."

"I'm in love with Natalie!" Shion kissed my cheek...

"I have to go pee!" Kalum shot up out of his seat. Aileen took his hand to head for the commode.

Lydia snickered, delighted by the outburst. "How inappropriate! Her kids have zero manners. I guess when a whore has sex with a commoner, that should be expected."

King Ulrich got to his feet. Fire melting the ice usually in his eyes, but his mouth stayed shut.

"At least what these kids said was informative, and ya know they're still toddlers." Even as the words left my lips, I couldn't believe I had spoken. All attention was on me, something that was never supposed to happen. It was like I was reverting back to my teenage self, the old me. That couldn't happen.

Aileen may be innocent...or a skilled actress, fooling my insticts, drowing that voice. Damn, do I need to get some research done before everyone near Trevor is killed… or I go insane.

At least Aileen never lost class like Lydia. Did the spoiled brat realize how dumb she was sounding? Here she was promoting her engagement and possible allegiance to Lutz, so she insults the King's daughter and heirs? She figures out her mistake just to make one again! I doubt her fiance would be too happy with her either.

Aileen grew uneasy next to me. I'm embarrassed it took me longer than her to sense why.

Aileen flung out of her chair just as a massive wind sliced the table in too. Blood from a nearby woman decorated the destroyed table. A guest's guts splashed up my arm while I chucked a piece of wood in front of the royal family, blocking the next blast. Aileen held her arms out, taking her kids with her to the floor. The Princess of Lutz covered their bodies with her own, protecting them from the deadly elemental.

*"Blend in. Don't let others see how strong you are."* Mom's voice rang true in my head. There were many witnesses here. Not to mention all my possible enemies.

Ahead of me, the King was fuming. A large iron sword was in his right hand as he stared down at the assassin. The killer had already taken the lives of the woman near me and the herold at the banquet's entrance. A cold tempestuous wind swirled around the entire room. Dust followed in the wind's wake stinging everyone's eyes. Through a small slit, I saw the King continue his charge. The song of blades clashing rang in the air. The dust became thinker, and it became next to impossible to keep my eyes open.

The song of swords ended. A thud from a body hitting a wall at high speed came next, followed shortly by a low grunt.

Below me, a toddler pulled on my leg. Red gashes dripped from an extended cut along the child's arm. Shion left the safety of his Mom's arms to tug me down along wit his family. Some of the elemental's attack reflected back away from Aileen, assumingly by Shion. After seeing a blurred image of Aileen's back slashed up with several deep nasty gashes, I added to his power.

While Shion and I fought back against the elemental, the ground below Shion shot up. A gust of wind caught Shion mid-air and sent him flying towards the assassin. Aileen started at that, but broken pieces of wood formed above Kalum, forcing her to cover the smaller child. Tears of frustration and pain ran down her cheeks as she protected Kalum once again.

The dust finally cleared. Others rubbed at their burning eyes as I focused on the assassin holding Shion by his throat.

Forget it! Let everyone in this dimension think and see what they want. A secret identity isn't worth a child's life. It was time to fight.

"Let me leave unfollowed with the boy, or I'll snap the Lutz heir's neck!"