By late morning, the royal convoy was set to leave the palace. It consisted of three caravans - a main one with two smaller ones behind and in front of it. Each was driven by two guards, and more flanked either side of each caravan on their own individual horses with a couple more guards trailing behind the convoy. Mathazar and a few other servants of the palace were present to see the crown prince off, and the younger prince pulled his brother into a firm embrace as the latter was about to leave.

"Have a safe journey, Eliezer. I shall do my very best in standing in for you during your absence."

"I trust nobody else to do so. Farewell, brother," Eliezer responded, before stepping into the caravan.

Following behind the crown prince was Sir Aldebrand Ward, a loyal knight of Dainia and Eliezer's personal guard during the journey. He addressed Mathazar with a "Your Highness," before stepping on board and shutting the caravan door.

As the convoy took off, Mathazar went back inside and up to a private room where Robynne was working. "So, my lady, I assume you have a little surprise planned for my brother this day?"

Robynne stopped her work and walked up to him with a smirk, briefly pulling a red [url=https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61yWvX8eO4L._SL1000_.jpg]carnival mask[/url] from her pocket to let him see it before hiding it back in. "But of course, Your Highness. The 'Red Robin' has assigned the task of the crown prince's assassination to the perfect group down at Gloomvale Tavern. If it all goes well, nobody in that convoy will be returning alive."
[hr]
The first few hours of the journey were uneventful, with the convoy moving along the dirt road past rivers, farms, plains, and rock formations at a consistent speed. Words exchanged among the guards riding aside Eliezer's caravan could be heard on occasion, while the prince himself struck a conversation up with his personal guard every now and then. However, most of the trip was spent gazing out his window, taking in the sights between the two kingdoms.

It was near evening when the convoy came to a small forested area that it had to travel through. The entire group slowed down and continued on past the trees, now with less Sun to light their path which had also gotten narrower. Suddenly, several spinning knives shot out from the thick leaves on both sides of the path and hit majority of the guards who were driving the caravans precisely in their necks, killing them on the spot. A rain of flaming arrows then followed and pierced the sides of the caravans, setting the vehicles on fire. The flames frightened the horses in the convoy and a few of them started to rear up, throwing their riders off. That was when two groups in black with masks on emerged from the forest on either side and engaged the remaining guards in combat.

Inside, Aldebrand and Eliezer immediately picked up on the commotion. First came the startled cries of a few of the guards before a flaming arrow was shot halfway through the wall of their vehicle, nearly hitting the prince. Aldebrand swiftly pulled Eliezer away from the side of the caravan while closely avoiding the arrows that came through the other side. Smoke could be smelled and seen through the windows, and knowing that the vehicle was on fire, the knight kicked the door open and quickly ushered the prince out while shielding him. However, multiple enemies caught sight of Eliezer and rushed to attack them.

Aldebrand pushed Eliezer away and attempted to hold the attackers off. "You have to leave this place, Your Highness!"

Eliezer could tell that the knight was not going to win, but he knew better than to argue at such a time. He was the one that everyone else was fighting to protect. He caught a glimpse of Aldebrand's throat getting sliced right before he turned to escape off the path, but there was no time to process what he had just seen. Unfortunately, the prince had not gotten very far from the chaos when he was intercepted by a couple more assassins. Eliezer instinctively reached for the grip of the sword at his waist, drawing it from its sheath. The assassins looked at the prince's gleaming rapier and one of them laughed.

"I see that you wish to make this difficult, [i]Your Highness[/i]. No matter, you shall still die today!"