It was a nice sunshiny day and Princess Crystal was out in the courtyard practicing her archery when the call went through the halls. The castle was under attack. One of her personal guards grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her towards the throne room and safety. She willingly went with him, her bow in hand and sword at her hip.<br/><br/>Everyone thought the king was being way over protective of his only daughter, teaching her how to sword fight and shoot a bow, but he wanted to make sure she could protect herself should anything unexpected happen. Like now. Even though she had a twin brother, willing to protect her, she practiced hard everyday.<br/><br/>The Princess and her guard ran through the halls towards the throne room, he stopped dead in his tracks. She turned to see what was happening and saw an arrow sticking out of her guards back. She shrieked and turned to run. Her father was coming towards her to help her. Hands shot out from somewhere covering her mouth and pulling her close to them. She tried to scream but got no sound past the bandits hand. She watched as another bandit came forth and began to battle with her father.<br/><br/>King Darren had already lost his queen, her body lay beside the throne, he wasn't about to lose his only daughter as well. He fought with all his heart to try and save her, but it was a losing battle. One moment of weakness in his stance spelled his doom. A sword was thrust forward stabbing the king in the chest. He fell to the ground as the bandits took the Princess away kicking and screaming for her father who in turn reached for his daughter, calling her name as he lay there dying.<br/><br/>She fought with her captors until one of them held a sweet smelling cloth to her face, she tried to hold her breath but to no avail. The last thing The Princess saw was her father lying in a pool of blood as her hands were tied behind her. Then she saw nothing as she grew sleepy and passed out. A gag was tied tightly around her mouth should she wake up screaming and she was carted off to a waiting wagon.<br/><br/>Waking up hours later she tried to move only to find thick ropes tied around her wrists and ankles. Crystal could hear voices talking somewhere behind her and she turned toward the sound.<br/><br/>"Can't believe we got to the throne room."<br/><br/>"Seems too easy almost, the adviser sure earned his weight in gold."<br/><br/>"We never would've gotten inside. At least we got the princess now. She'll bring in some good money when we sell her."<br/><br/>"Hey, but not before we have some fun, eh? Let's not waste something good." Then both of the men laugh and fall silent.<br/><br/>Crystal tried to remember what had happened. How did she end up here? She thought back over the days events. 'THE BANDITS' the thought slammed into her mind making her wince as her arm jerked at the ropes. She tried to reposition herself, her head throbbing from the bruise that had formed. She bit back a scream as the ropes bit into the flesh of her wrists. Dizziness swept through her as she fought to remain conscious. She struggled against the bonds that held her hands and feet.<br/><br/>The wagon kept moving along the rough roads leading Crystal to believe she was somewhere far from the Capital City, most likely the outer farms and villages of the kingdom's frontiers. Which meant they might even be taking her out of the kingdom entirely, and who knows where she might end up at that rate!<br/><br/>She closed her eyes as she fought the nausea that tried to claim her. Suddenly, the carriage jerks to a stop causing her to slam, head first, into the back of the wagon seat. She heard the two drivers talking with someone, their voices rising into a shout. She can hear scuffling as the two guards start moving around. The back of the wagon opens, and one of the guards reaches for her feet, aiming to pull her free of the carriage. "Alright missy, here's your stop. Gotta put you on a new carriage. To your new home." he chuckled.<br/><br/>The second driver stood nearby, hand on his sword. "Awww, do we have to give her up just like that? She's the perttyes thing we've ever had to steal. A waste really."<br/><br/>The guard pulls down the gag around her mouth. "Well girlie, any last words to your old home?"<br/><br/>As he pulls the gag from her mouth she spits in his face. "You'll pay for this." She says with a horse voice. "Father will send someone and make you pay with...." Her voice is cut off as she feels a weight upon her throat.<br/><br/>"Oh, I don't think your father will be sending anyone my dear. It'd be rather hard due to his...current position." the man pulling her feet grins. "Being dead and all." The man drags the princess to a small hill right off the road, and looks her over with an evil grin. "Well, maybe we can have some fun..." he says, tapping his chin.