The Fall of Vequera

Chapter forty-two | Ser Dawson

LOCATION: ARCADIOS, VEQUERA

YEAR: 621

DAWSON STRONG DIDN'T THINK OF HIMSELF AS A KNIGHT.

Not anymore at least. How could he? He was supposed to protect people and he failed at that. His oaths were stripped from him by the prince. He was nothing but a shell of a man playing as a knight. Barely a man. Barely a knight. Barely anything of value. He was the prince's sworn but he could not even if he wanted to care about him in the slightest.

Especially when he heard the cries of the princess during the night. Amren refused to bed the prince or even share a bedchamber with him anymore. During the night, if he tried hard enough, he could hear her pray to the saints and ask them for it all to end. She prayed every minute of the day. It consumed her as it seemed to be the only thing that she had that was hers. Her faith seemed to falter at times. Dawson could see it in her eyes. There was no life in them anymore.

The crown prince often sent Ser Dawson away, when the sunset. So, he would roam the empty halls of the palace. He found some comfort in it but not enough to feel whole. He missed his family. Every last one of them. He missed his mother's voice and how she would sing to them. Him and Sadira. It was a simpler time. Dawson brushed his hand over the wall near the princess's chamber. Her cries were the first thing he heard then suddenly, they stopped. "W-who's there?" Her voice called out. Then the door opened and he saw her disheveled look. He remembered when he first saw her, so full of life.

"Ser Dawson, why are you outside of my chambers?" She spoke in a soft voice.

He only stared at her his feet as he bowed his head. "I was just wandering the halls, Your Grace."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him, unknowingly. Her eyes red from crying and her voice was raspy. How long had she been crying? He did not meet her eyes but he could feel her sadness. It was a void. Like it had been with Princess Valia and how it was with the King. They all were just endless voids of sadness and grief. "Is the Prince asleep?" She asked calmly. He nodded.

Without saying a word, Princess Amren pushed her door open and motioned for the knight to come inside. He froze. "I cannot." He whispered. She blinked up at him with a sad smile.

"I can tell loneliness is a burden we both share, Ser Dawson. Would you mind if we...shared it together. Even for a moment." The Princess's breath hitched as he stared at her with a blank expression. He really could not be alone with her. The prince would kill him. He would kill Sadira. So, Dawson backed away, shaking his head. He did want company, though. Being a prince's sworn was a heavy burden, especially when that Prince was Nikolai Lamonia.

"I cannot." He repeated. "I must return t-"

"I am not asking for sex. I would never. I am not the prince. But a friend would be nice." She pushed on, her hands rubbed against the sides of her nightgown. Dawson inhaled then exhaled and before he knew it, he had walked into her bedchamber. A friend would be nice. The knight thought as his eyes wandered the chamber.

Amren cleared her throat and he turned to look at her. "Are you of faith, Ser Dawson?" He shook his head as he turned to look out the window. It had been left open and the breeze caressed his cheek lightly. The winter months were close. There was a round table in front of the fire and she motioned for him to sit down.

"My father wasn't either but my mother was. She would always tell me stories of the saints. Eaonis. She always carried it with her. Like it was apart of her." She had began to cry, silently. "As a child, I did not understand why she loved it so much. But I do now. The praying helps through the pain even if it might not be real. I wonder what my life would've been like if my father never married me to the prince. He did it against my mother's wishes. But he is the king. No one goes against the king. He wanted all of his children to marry royal blood. I was the last of them... Swiftly and without any thought..."Tears ran down her face, silently. Her mind wandered and she thought of something else to talk about.