The Queen and The Knight

The Knight

*The Knights point of view*

I watched as the queen walked hurriedly down the hall with me close behind. At some point, she came to a rough stop and quickly turned to look at me. The dress she had on twisted and smoothly fell into place around her legs. I slowly looked up and watched as she used her hands to straighten up her dress around her waist. Then my eyes finally landed on her emerald green eyes. She was giving me a stern yet curious look.

“You have never seen me before, have you?” Her voice was soft and silvery. It was nice to listen to.

“My Queen, I am fairly new to working within the castle as I finished my training mere months before your wedding.” I wasn’t going to lie to her. I was stuck with her until god knows when due to the threats that loom over her head.

“I hate that lu…The King blindly assigned you to work with me. I guess we will be stuck with each other for quite some time.” She was looking at me with that frustrated look she had given me back in the war room. I couldn’t tell why she kept looking at me like that but it was odd.

“M'lady, why are you looking at me like that?” She looked down at her hands then back up at me. She was clearly nibbling on her lips. Ari looked around us, then once again her eyes landed on my helmet. She made a face once again.

“Take your helmet off.” I was shocked by her command. Which made me hesitate, but I wasn’t going to disobey a direct order from the queen. I reached up and placed my hands on my helmet, then took it off. I watched her face as she studied mine. Her lips moved into a slight smile and I suddenly felt embarrassed.

“M'lady, why did you want me to remove my helmet?” She tilted her head and my curiosity grew.

“I don’t like it when I can’t see someone's eyes. Everyone's eyes tell a story. I can easily find out if you are lying or if you are sad just by looking at your eyes.” I could understand that but they always taught us to keep our helmets on as it was essential for our safety. “We have rules, boundaries, and schedules to go over. Come with me.”

“Can I put my helmet back on?”

“No.” She gave me a firm answer then motioned for me to follow her, so I did.

Not long after we started walking, I realized where she was leading me. The King and The Queen both had private studies. The only people that were aware of them were the same knights that were allowed in the war room. The ones with special training. The Queens were hidden behind a wall in the library, whereas the Kings were hidden within the throne room.

I watched as Arianna looked around. She was making sure no one was in the library besides us. Once she was sure, Ari pulled on a book and I heard the familiar sound of a latch unhooking itself. She gently pulled the bookcase forward and signaled for me to enter. Once I did, she followed me in, pulling the shelf shut behind her. The sound of the latch going back into place echoed around the small room we were in.

I could barely see as the only light source was a small window at the back of the room. Ari stepped towards a stand near the desk that rested in the center of the room. I heard the familiar sound of someone striking a match. The small flame lit up the room. Ari used her hand to gently block the flame as she lit a few candles. Once they were lit, she shook the match in her hand and it went out.

I looked around at the room we were standing in. It was like we never left the library really. She had shelves full of books in this part as well. The only difference was the desk with neatly organized papers and a reading chair.

“There's more to this place than what you can see, but for now that's not what's important.” Ari took a seat in the chair behind the wooden desk and pulled out a few papers.

“My Queen..” Before I could continue she cut me off.

“You can call me Arianna, Ari, M’lady, madame, or anything besides My Queen. It's the one thing that I don’t like. I didn’t ask to be queen.” I nodded, not daring to pry. “You can sit in my reading chair.” I looked over at the chair.

“I am okay with standing M’lady”. She looked at me.

“Well, okay.” She slid a few papers in front of me. “That is my daily schedule, upcoming events, and more. You’ll need that so that we can discuss when you can take breaks to get some sleep. It will probably be during my morning meetings when I am surrounded by guards.”

“Understood.” I looked through the papers in my hands. It was clear she was a busy woman.

“Now for rules.” I looked back at her. “1. Don’t wear your helmet around me. 2. Don’t tell me what to do. 3. In front of The King you will only call me My Queen even though you know I hate it.”

“So I can’t wear my helmet at all?”

“I would like to be able to see your eyes at all times, knight.”

I didn’t like the idea of being without my helmet, but I wasn’t going to disobey her.

“Okay now, boundaries. 1. When you guard at night you must stay outside of my room unless Lucas or I state otherwise. 2. When the King and I bicker, you will ignore us. 3. Do not tell the King every little thing I say. You are a knight not a spy, and as it stands, you are my knight not his.”

It was clear that her marriage wasn’t what everyone else had painted it to be. They weren’t madly in love. It was clear they didn’t share a room, they bickered, he barely listened to her even. Despite all of this, they were married and he mainly controlled what happened to her. It was concerning but I couldn’t say or do anything about it.

I turned my attention back to her. She was making her desk look just as neat as it did when we entered. Once she had all her papers in order, she looked out the small window.

“It's getting late. We should head to the dining hall now.” I moved to pull her chair back. “Thank you.” I watched as she stood up and straightened her dress. Ari stepped out from behind the desk, giving me room to put the chair in its place. I heard her unlatch the door then push it open. I quickly put out the candles and followed her out.