The Royal Knight Academy

Chapter 8: Runaway

From that moment on, I decided to do extra chores to earn money every day up until my sixteenth birthday. I was still in trouble though with my dad, so getting the money was harder than I thought. You might be wondering, what I was going to do with the money that I saved? Well, the answer is that I was going to buy myself a set of armor.

After many days of saving every cent I could, I secretly went out and bought a set of armor from the "Go n' Get Out" store. One problem with my plan (and there were many things that could go wrong) was that the only day of the year to sign up to become a royal knight was on my birthday. My dad would surely be devastated if I mysteriously disappeared on my special day, but I had to do what I had to do because I knew that somewhere out there, my mom would be proud of me.

On the day of my birthday, I woke up early in the morning. As soon as I saw light peaking through the typical cloudy morning sky, I quickly changed into my clothes and put my suit of armor on over it. I grabbed the helmet and some essentials. I also packed my favorite book and my mom's ring (of course I couldn't forget the one thing I treasured most). When I was ready to leave, I suddenly realized, "I would feel horrible if I didn't leave a note. I at least want to say goodbye." I set my bag and helmet down, grabbed a piece of parchment, and quickly wrote at my desk:

Dear Father,

I am writing this letter to say goodbye. I know you will not approve of what I am planning to do, so I must do it alone. This is more important to me than you will ever know and I hope someday you will understand. I love you with all of my heart.

Lindsay

When I finished writing the note, I set it on my bed, hoping someone would see it if they came into my room to wake me up. I picked up the heavy black bag filled with my belongings, grabbed my sword, and walked over to the door. I turned one last time before I opened the door and quietly whispered, "I'll really miss this place." I quickly and quietly walked down the stairs, trying to not make a sound. As I stepped on the final stair, I could smell a sweet aroma coming from the kitchen. On the table, I saw a small blueberry tart with a note beside it that read:

Happy birthday! Maria and I can't be there on your special day because I have some work to do in a neighboring kingdom and I have taken your sister along with me. I made this to help you celebrate. Hope you enjoy it!

-Father

It felt so nice knowing that he had made that special treat for my birthday. It was also a huge relief that I didn't have to be so quiet sneaking around inside the house. I picked up the small treat and quickly ate the bite size tart as it filled my senses with a sugary yet tart taste of the blueberries and the crumbly butteriness of the crust. After I had finished eating the scrumptious delicacy, I ran out the backdoor and went into the yard where the animals were still sleeping. I grabbed the bag of horse feed next to the horse pen and filled Molly's trough up to the brim.

As I poured the food, Molly quickly opened her big beautiful black eyes. She immediately started hungrily eating her breakfast. "Good morning!" I greeted her and pet her back as she ate. After she took her last bite, she let out a loud neigh (that's Molly's way of saying thank you for a delicious meal).

"Hey, Molly. Today we are going on an adventure, just you and me." Molly looked like she was eyeing up my outfit, then my sword, and finally me. She tilted her head as if she was confused. "You're probably wondering about all this," I said motioning to my belongings. "We are going to the castle so I can do something important for my mom." I felt strange explaining this to a horse but Molly looked at me like she understood.

I opened the pen to let Molly out. She seemed to be hesitant about leaving at first. She pawed her front hoof on the ground and looked down, clearly showing that she wanted to stay. "Come on. I don't have all day, besides you know how important this is for me." After a few minutes of just standing there, she finally looked up and made a noise that actually sounded like a groan. Molly was telling me that she would do it, but would not be happy about it one bit. She walked out of her pen, trotting ever so slowly to me. I hoisted myself on top of her back along with my bag and sword, getting ready to leave for the castle.

Just as we were about to leave, I heard a strange noise coming from the chicken coop. I assumed that it was the chickens waking up and decided I should feed them before I left. I got off of Molly and filled their food containers to the top because I would be leaving and no one would be able to feed them for a while. When I was done pouring the food, something emerged out of the dark little house. It was Flame the rooster of course.

The creature stared at me with his black beady eyes and screeched, "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"

"Oh no," I thought, panicking at the sound that I had heard. "I'm in big trouble all right." That crazy animal charged right at me. It was rather ridiculous that I wanted to be a brave knight, but was scared of a chicken. Even so, I ran away from the rooster as fast as I could, sprinting over to the backyard gate. There, I quickly opened it so I would be able to get out. I ran back to Molly, climbing up on her back once again and yelled frantically, "YA!"

Molly started moving at my command, galloping quickly through the open fence. She was still running when we entered the town and I turned my head around to see my house once more. I saw our quaint little house becoming smaller in the distance as we moved further away from it. I then turned forward to the sunrise that was dimmed by the thick cloudy skies, riding off to my destiny.