To my readers,
I find myself unhappy with my current prologue. I have created a new one, but I must know... well, I shall ask once you read the new idea. It is as follows.

    It was midday. It was also murder. A male body, slumped on the floor of an elegant, yet impenetrable castle. An empty drinking glass. A flask of wine. And no witnesses. Sherlock Holmes, eat your heart out.
    A man is in the room. This man is the killer. He is tall, with raven black hair, shoulder length, and has a imposing build. His eyes are grey, and they coldly eye the body on the floor. He kicks it, as so to make sure it's dead. The man on the floor does not respond. Clearly dead. The killer claps twice, and a handful of guards, as cold and heartless as the man they serve, enter the room and roughly remove the body. The killer watches, but says nothing as the guards take it out a secret passage, leading to the rear of the castle. As soon as the guards have left the room, the killer summons the commander of an elite branch of his army. The commander enters and bows.
    "All is in place, I trust?" The killer asks, eyeing his commander.
    The commander smiles cruly. "Yes... all in in place. Come tonight, the Queen and Koman's only heir will be as dead as he is." He chuckled humorlessly. "Then..."
    "There is no need to recited to me my own plan. Just get your part done, and you will live to see my victory." Said the killer with a icy glare. The commander bowed low and averted his eyes, unable to meet the look he was given.
    Night. An army of men in dark armor move soundlessly across sleeping contryside. They move toward a silent castle with one purpose in mind- to kill the queen and her child. They had yet to breach the walls of the Castle Jaylon, but it was only a matter of time. The lines of defenders was growing thin, and the enemy, whoever they were, had sent more then enough men to overrun the small fort, one not even build for defence, but rather as a summer home for the High King.
    A lone man hurried down a castle corridor, taking no notice of the sounds of battle outside. Here was a man on a mission.
    He quickly turned into the Queens bedchambers, finding the High Queen dressed in riding clothes, hardly her normal attire, and scared, listening to the sounds of battle outside. She was holding a small boy, her only son, who was just over a year old. He was whimpering, clearly scared, yet not wailing. For that, the man was thankful. The High Queen looked up upon his entry.
    "Forgive me for intruding like this, but time is against us. We must fly." Said the man (whom we shall call Rescue, for his name was lost to history). The High Queen nodded. Rescue was in a hurry and impatient. It was an impatience born out of urgency. "Come. We must move, less they fall upon us before we leave." Again the High Queen nodded, and she, still holding her son and hurried after Rescue, who was moving quickly down the corridor, his staff tapping against the stone floor.
    They moved quickly to the stables, where Rescue had come earlier and prepared horses for the group. "I shall take the boy. He will be more safe if he rides with me." This brought a few tears the the High Queens eyes, but she nodded and handed Rescue the boy. "We will stay to the plan. If we become separated, you know where to meet me." She nodded again, tears running freely now.
    "May I say a quick goodbye? I may not see him again." Asked the Queen, still crying. Rescue gave no thought to the matter, merely handing the boy back to his mother for a few moments. The Queen wiped the tears from her eyes and face, holding her son close.
    "Hush, little one. Everything will be fine. No need to cry. You shall be fine." She looks up at Rescue. "You'll take good care of him?" Rescue nods solemnly. The Queen returns her attention to her son, holding him gently, trying not to cry. "It is going to be okay, sweet child. It will be okay."
    After a few more minutes, waiting until the boy was sleeping, Rescue gently removed the child from his mother arms. The boy slept on, undisturbed. Rescue gently placed the child in a made basket that had been made for this moment by his own hands. After making sure the child was secure and would not fall out in the rough ride, Rescue mounted himself.
    "Quickly now. Out the servant entrance. It's the only one that isn't guarded." Said Rescue. He turned his horse in that direction himself, and pushed his horse into a fast trot with the Queen following closely. As soon as the entrance was cleared, the horse broke into a gallop, and Rescue made no effort to slow it. The Queen was not far behind.
    It was then that a small portion of the attackers were circling around the back of the castle, and caught sight of the fleeing horses. They shouted for more troops and took off in pursuit.
    It was a hard chase. The horse of the attackers were faster, but tired. The horses of the Queen and Rescue were, on the other hand, fresh, and could run for a while yet without tiring. Yet the attackers were relentless in their chase. They pushed their hose to the brink of collapse, but it payed off. One of the men had a crossbow at hand, and began firing. Several shots went over the head of the man. A few more landed a short distance behind ether horse. The crossbowman muttered a few choice curses and took aim once more. This time, he was more careful in his aim. After a few moments of aiming, he let the arrow fly.
    Moments after the shaft was let lose from the crossbow, the Queen gave a cry of pain. The arrow had hit her in the back. A moment later, her horse gave a cry of pain, for it had been shot in the flank. It lost it's balance and collapsed, throwing the Queen to the ground.
    Rescue, paused for just a moment. He looked at the Queen, unable to tell if she was dead or not. Well, if she wasn't yet, her attackers would soon be on her, and then she would be. There was no time to turn around. The attackers were closing fast, and Rescue had to worry about the child. It was time to fly.
    Rescue stopped his horse and turned him around as so to face the oncoming attackers. They had galloped right pass the Queen, now thinking only of the man ahead of them. The crossbowman took aim once more. Rescue raised his staff in the air and muttered something that no one, even the boy in front of him, heard or understood. There was a sudden flash of light, and the attackers horses reared and whinnied, startled and a little scared by the sudden light. Then, as quickly as it came, it left.
    The attackers were startled by what they saw, once their eyes had readjusted to the dark. The boy and the man were gone. There weren't even tracks to tell where they had gone. They just... disappeared. They conferred briefly about how they were going to explain this, then turned their horse around and headed back for the castle.
    In another place, far, far away from the attack and the dark knights and attacking forces, a similar flash of light occurred, this time outside of a modest sized house. All the lights were off, save one- the residents were just waking, and the child slept sound. Again, Rescue was thankful. He turned toward the east. It was almost dawn. The man of the house would be coming out the door in a matter of minutes.
    Rescue dismounted and removed the basket from his horse, and made his way toward the front door of the house, moving like a phantom, making no sound at all and blending with the shadows. He gently placed the basket, with the sleeping child inside, on the doorstep, and then retreated back into the shadows, to watch and wait.
    Within a few minutes the man of house opened the door, ready for work. It was at the very moment that the child work and began crying. Startled, the man stared at the baby for a moment in a stupor. Then, his senses returned, in force. He shook himself as if waking, then checked the street for anyone who may have left the child on his doorstep. He did not see Rescue.
    Seeing no one, he quickly took the basket inside and called for his wife. Rescue smiled. Mission success.


So tell me, which do you like more, this one or the other? Please comment!

Hubert Baldar