𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝟗

   I got some gold and my red sword that my father gave me as a gift, it was thinner in its blade and sharper than the others I saw the guards use and it had a red rose made of crystal at the beginning of the blade and There were some golden thorns around the place where I could hold the sword without cutting myself. I wore a white ankle-length dress and put on the belt that would hold my sword and then I put on a long black cape.

   I looked in the mirror and quickly noticed my wavy hair, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to hide it and comb it myself, I always had a maid do it for me. I looked down at my sword in the mirror and decided that maybe it would be better to just cut it off, it was too long anyway. I grabbed my hair tightly and pulled it down while with my other hand I took my sword and cut my hair just below my shoulder.

   I left the letter I wrote to my parents on my desk and took the hair I cut in my hand to my balcony where I blew fire to burn it and hide any trace of it. Then I looked at the garden below my balcony to make sure no guards were passing by at that moment so I could finally jump off the balcony.

   I always went carefully and hidden in the shadows to the stable, I looked for the best horse to take me away, most of them were war horses, they seemed to be aggressive and had a more muscular body than the others, then the rest were the royal horses we used to carry the carriages. Maybe one of these would be the best to take me far, they were already used to the weight, they simply wouldn't have to carry a carriage on their back for a long journey.

   My eyes fell on a horse black as night that had its equally dark eyes locked on me. He was a war horse, I raised my hand towards him, he placed his head in the palm of my hand.

"You're the one I'm taking." I looked for the leather saddle so I could mount the horse, as soon as I found it I felt a presence behind me, I quickly grabbed my sword and in a quick movement, turning around, I placed the blade of the sword against the neck of the tall man behind me. Our eyes met and I immediately recognized my guard. "Sir Benjamin, what are you doing here?" I asked without moving the blade from where it was, just a few centimeters from his neck, from his scar.

"I came to help your highness get out of here." he replied calmly, it didn't even seem like I could kill him at any second.

"And then?" I asked, still without moving, I watched his lips move to answer me.

"I'll follow her wherever she goes. Help her with whatever she needs and protect her." His eyes never left me once.

"I said I didn't want you to come, I just asked for knowledge of another trustworthy knight to help me." My tone was harsher than I intended, I watched him bite his bottom lip in frustration.

"I swore I would always be by your side and always protect you."

"However, now you have a sword pointed at your neck by the princess you swore to protect. Maybe you should reconsider your choices, you didn't promise to protect me thinking that years later we would be in this position."

"You can do whatever you want with me, your highness." He took another step forward, his hand went to my blade and placed it against the skin of his neck, any movement of his could cut him now. "If you want to kill me now, you can do it, I won't resent you. However, I ask you not to do it as I would rather lose my life than protect it."

   Silence surrounded us allowing me to hear Benjamin's calm breathing, he had a calm expression as always, a determined look and was dressed in dark clothes, not his clothes as a royal knight. Finally I lowered my sword and put it in my belt.

"Don't say something like that, you should value your life more than allowing me to do whatever I want." His eyes roamed my face as if he were observing every trait, every feature I had. I always thought he treated me like his little sister, however sometimes there were some actions of his that made me think it wasn't like that at all.