Crystal hadn't even made a dent in any of these guys armor, but she was already so exhausted from struggling, screaming, being chased by a hornet...and on top of that Irina may be dead. Her chances of escaping were slim to none, and she knew it. If by some miracle she managed to make it out, then the King would have to be alerted to Vaross evil plans, though he might not believe that Vaross was actually an evil snake even after something more precious than any of the gems and gold in all of the land. Still, she didn't know the man to be that vile, but surely he at least wanted to interrogate her about it. That was the only conclusion Crystal could come to about why these knights, assuming from Narsil, had kidnapped her. Why now?
Beads of sweat dripped down the side of her face as she imagined all of the horrible things that were going to happen once they reached their destination. She wriggled her hands against the rope restraints, finding she had barely enough room to pull one hand free. They would know though, and Crystal didn't want to risk it. An opportunity would present itself and Crystal would take it. Right now, she just had to stay calm...
Aldo heard the thundering hooves of Argo in the distance before Crystal did, and swiftly turned to see the intruder. He picked Crystal off of his shoulder like a bug and dropped her on to the ground before engaging the female knight. Everyone was shocked, but Crystal... She was more surprised by Irina's presence than anyone. A stream of emotions washed over her as she saw Irina engaging in battle with Aldo. Her knight was already wounded, badly from what she could tell. Crystal inched away from Leif, who seemed to be more focused on Irina than anything right now. She began the painful process of slipping her wrists out of the ropes, it helped to keep her mind off of all of the chaos surrounding her, the clanging swords, screams... It was all too much at a time like this. She just wanted Irina to make it out alive so they could get as far away from this mess as possible.
The sounds of battle stopped, but Crystal was too afraid to see who the victor was. She stopped fiddling with the rope and turned on her side, hesitantly looking up as the sounds of crunching leaves drew nearer. "Irina!" She shouted, her eyes watering at the sight of her Royal Attendant's battered and bloodied body beside her. Crystal cried to herself and began panicking, trying to break through the last bit of rope around her wrists. "Oh Goddess, please! Help me..." She begged, never giving up her attempt to get free. A whole ten seconds passed before Crystal finally broke free. She managed to calm down a little and stop crying, for Irina's sake. "Argo, come boy... You have to help me!" Crystal said, taking Irina's dagger and slitting the rope around her ankles, quickly rushing to her feet and lifting Irina from under the arms.
Argo walked over to The Princess and laid down on all fours beside his injured master, low enough for Crystal to get Irina on his back. It was a lot of hard work, but Crystal managed to get Irina on Argo. She was laying sideways, but if Crystal held on tight, there wouldn't be any trouble."Yaa, boy!" She said hastily after getting on his saddle and securing Irina with an embrace. Argo rose and bolted through the forest toward the castle. He too was worried about Irina.
The ride back to the castle seemed to take forever, and Crystal was truly convinced Irina only had seconds to live. "GINGER! CALL ROSIE! HURRY!" She screamed as they rode through the courtyard. Ginger jumped as the two of them rode into the courtyard, a hand covering her mouth in horror at Irina's condition. The petite maid nodded and rushed to fetch the nurse, nearly losing her breakfast at all of the blood. She wondered what had happened, Crystal looked almost as bad as Irina covered in the lady knight's blood, but it was obvious that Irina was the injured one.
Argo lowered himself to the ground to allow Crystal to climb down. Nurse Rosie was already descending the stairs with several other nurses and a stretcher. She didn't say anything to the Princess, only glancing her way as she and the others lifted Irina onto the stretcher. They were gone as fast as they came, but Crystal didn't even watch them leave. Midway through the process, she fled through the courtyard and stopped in the gazebo, falling to her knees. She needed to get away before people starting asking questions. Crystal pressed a hidden pressure plate underneath the bench, and suddenly the platform was lowering underground.