Kremlin Knight

CHAPTER 9

Meanwhile, Mayoshka is distressed about the news of her father's death from one of the villagers calling for the name of Giovanni Donatelli, to realize that he has succeeded in carrying out his mission, which was not announced at the time, namely the death of the tsar, so her eyes were reddened with tears because she cried over him.

Mayoshka was afraid of this result that befell her family, as she was amazed at the death of her father at the hands of a noble knight like Giovanni, but what added to her confusion was how he managed to infiltrate the castle and eliminate her father and his majestic army !

Mayoshka almost went mad because of the severity of the situation, as her father's death made her crazy. She hated Giovanni blindly, especially since her father did not cause him any harm, and this increased her hatred for him, so she decided to get rid of him by any means sacrificing her only love as a noble knight that she always dreamed of to preserve her dignity and the prestige of the ruling Tsarist family as a killer of her father.

Giovanni did not inform Vasily that Mayoshka was still a captive with him in the village and that she had not been killed, as he wanted to apologize to her for his action as a result of the kidnapping and to inform her himself that she had become the ruler of Tsarist Russia to succeed her father.

Thus, Giovanni leaves the castle with a great welcome from the commander of the guard and his men, and the medal of the Knight of the Castle hangs in his chest to reflect the light of the golden sun, then he rides his meteor mare with golden whiskers towards the village to release Mayoshka and inform her that she ascended to the throne of Tsarist Russia.

Giovanni finally arrives after a long walk to his village, Ivanovka, which is still intact, where the picturesque birds sing that fill the pine trees and the smell of pollen of roses and trees scent everywhere, then he ties his mare to the side of the house and proceeds to Mayoshka's room to tell her everything and signs of shame waving on his cheeks.

Mayoshka realizes the arrival of one of the knights by hearing the horse's neighing, as she knew that the knight is Giovanni by hearing the neighing of his mare that she was accustomed to.

Giovanni opened the door of the room to make a squeaky squeak as if it has not been opened for years, and as soon as he opened the cellar door, Mayoshka stabbed him with a sharp blade that made him bleed and unable to move.

This was Mayoshka's way to get rid of Giovanni for her father to preserve the family's honor, as she was aware that he was undoubtedly the killer of her father, as she was able to express her feelings towards him before he died, so she did not suppress the feeling that filled her heart with love and hate for him at the same time, where she told him

"You should know that I love you, Giovanni, for you are the knight that I have always dreamed of by helping you to the poor, but your killing of my father made me very distressed, for he is the warm embrace and the only support left for me in this life to lean on after the death of my mother, why did you kill my father, Giovanni? Why ?"

Giovanni says to her, with eyes full of tears, while breathing his last breath, "You really love me, mayoshka, what is the value of the love that you loved me for what you did to me, Mayoshka, if you love me, you have to defend the poor and the oppressed in this country, but you must know that I did not kill your father."

Mayoshka is shocked by Giovanni's disclosure that he did not kill her father, as she tried to heal his bleeding wound to inform her of who killed her father, but it was too late, as he breathed his last breath and died.

Mayoshka could not believe what her ears heard, so is there a murderer other than Giovanni, and was he right about what he said? Or he wanted to justify his actions with those words as a kind of grief and remorse to calm his heart before he dies.

All these questions were on Mayoshka's mind, as Giovanni's words made her suspicious and confused, as she feared that he was right in everything he said before his death, so she decided to return to the castle to make sure her father's real murderer, as she roamed the villages and forests alone, confused, not realizing what dangers awaited her.

Mayoshka was exhausted and very frightened during her long walk as she showed signs of fatigue and extreme exhaustion, because the village of Ivanovka is very far from the castle in Moscow, as she was not used to walking long and was unable to ride Giovanni's horse for she had never ridden a horse in her life,

Despite her dusty clothes and hair scattered across her shoulders, she was still very beautiful, as the sun's rays reflected her golden hair and highlighted her blond eyes shiny like pearls.

Mayoshka arrived at the castle after a long walk that lasted for a whole day, where the guards were surprised that she was still alive and did not know her at first glance, so they were very happy to see her after realizing that she was dead, as she asked them to guide her to their leader with a smile and great joy by saying,

"Take me to your commander, guards," so the guard replied her with great respect,

"Right away, Princess," and shouted,

"Tell Commander Vasily that Princess Mayoshka has arrived and would like to see him."