The Knight

Chapter Two

After their guests had finished their meals, The King excused the chefs from the room and allowed the nobles to freely wander the room to mingle. Every once in a while, Phil would notice him butt into a group of people, clearly with the intent to win them over in hopes of securing a new trade partner.

The guard staff was allowed to socialize among themselves and with the maids. Phil already knew all of the guards. Because of his father's status and his long term commitment to working at the castle, Phil knew pretty much everyone. It made socializing fun nonetheless; it took the nerves away from making new friends in an already very tense situation.

Phil was about to turn back to one of his fellow guards to tell him an antidote from the day when a mop of curly brown hair caught his eye. Prince Daniel was sitting quietly by the door to the dining hall by himself, allowing his brother and father to do all of the socializing for him.

As Phil was considering whether approaching the prince in an effort to make him feel less awkward would be kind or offensive to the young boy, Prince Daniel stealthily made his way up from his chair and out the door.

Phil blinked, looking around to see if anyone else had noticed the escapee. To his surprise, no one seemed to have paid any attention at all to the juncture. Without any hesitancy in mind, Phil made his way through the slew of men and women and out the door. As soon as he stepped out, the posted guards caught his attention with a small chuckle.

"He went that way." One of them said with a pointed finger, trying to hide an amused smile.

Phil nodded and ran in the direction he was told. He didn't have to go far to notice that the doors to the gardens were wide open. Phil felt himself panic. Of course he saw the prince leave on his own accord, but what if something happened between then and now? Why would he be outside in the garden of all places?

Phil hastily made his way out the doors, expecting to find Prince Daniel being hauled over the gate by masked burglars, but instead was met with a much more acceptable sight.

Sat on the grass in front of a rose bush was the young prince, flipping a page to an old book absentmindedly.

"You know, you really shouldn't run off like that." Phil panted, trying to catch his breath. Despite being one of the more athletic palace guards, the fit of panic wore him out more than he expected.

Prince Daniel looked up at him with a face full of displeasure.

"Well perhaps you shouldn't be running at all. You look like you're about to pass out." He seemed inconvenienced by Phil's mere presence, making no other attempts at conversation. Instead he folded his legs closer to himself and held his book to his nose.

"What are you reading?" Phil found himself curious. He knew the boy would probably shoot down his question, but he was determined to make a good impression whether it was wanted or not.

Daniel closed his eyes with a huff, clearly not wanting to indulge the older man in any type of conversation.

"Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. If I thought you were intelligent enough to know how to read I would give you a synopsis but I don't think that would be worth my time."

Phil ignored the insult and continued his small talk.

"Jane Austen, huh? I never would have taken you as the romantic type, your highness. Truthfully, I can't say i'm the biggest fan. She's a little too long-winded for me."

Daniel tried his best to ignore his guard, only sneaking a small peak up at the man when he continued talking.

"You know, I can understand why you don't like those dinners very much. Everyone there seemed so stuffy. I think some of them need to loosen their corsets a bit. They must be cutting off their ability to have an enticing conversation."