The Knight

Chapter 4

The garden was amazing.
     It was filled with magical flowers, glowing orange, yellow, pink, blue and purple. Pixies added extra multi-colored light. There were pools of water with koi fish swimming lazily through the waters and patches of deadly Venus flytraps- deadly to bugs, at least. They had grown huge- the heads were each about 8 inches long.
    In the very center was a twisted old tree, the tallest tree I'd ever seen. I hadn't seen it in the darkness when we were walking towards the garden, but it seemed easy to see in the light of the flowers.
     "This is beautiful." I whispered.
     "Come on!" Anne laughed, running towards the tree. I laughed and ran after her.
     I started out behind her as we climbed up, until she pointed to a higher branch and said, "I've always wanted to be able to get up there but I never could." 
     I glanced up, squatted and leapt, grabbing onto the branch with my arms  and hoisting myself up.
     Shakily, she stood up on the branch. I watched her wobble and start to fall before grabbing her hand to steady her. "Thanks." She said sheepishly.
     "You're welcome" I laughed, pulling her up. We sat on the branch, looking out over the garden, enjoying the peace and quiet.
     "So, how do you like life at the castle so far." She asked finally.
     I shrugged. "It's so crazy here, there are so many people, so many things I've never heard of before."
     She laughed. "How long did you spend in that little hut?"
    I shrugged again. "Once a week, I'd go to the market. The last twelve years for me have mostly been training. We have our own armory pretty much at the house. My parents were off on quests and missions a lot, and my sister wasn't much help."
"Wasn't your sister going to become a knight too?" Anne asked. "Why did your parents only train you?"
"My sister hated it." I said. "She absolutely refused to train. To them, she was a disgrace. That's why they didn't exactly say anything when she got married at age 17, when I was 10. She couldn't take the loneliness of us constantly training or our parents being away. They probably should have said something though." Why was I already telling her all this?
"Why?" She asked.
Maybe it was because she was so easy to talk to. I didn't know what it was about her, but she was. "Because he- he m-..." I stopped and took a deep breath. "He murdered her.
She gave a little gasp. "How do you know it was him?"
"His friend found her body hidden in his house. When he recognized it and told my parents, they gave him a piece of his own medicine. It was....gruesome."
"You were watching?" She asked.
"Yeah, my parents decided it would be a good lesson. That it would get me used to doing that kind of stuff while I was a knight."
"Do you plan on doing that?" She asked, sounding worried.
I sighed, trying to choose my words carefully. "Not unless it's absolutely necessary."
     "What do you mean by absolutely necessary?"
     "If he's trying to kill someone, especially one of us."
     "How do you know it's a 'he?'"
     I shrugged. "I guess I was just going with the situation. It can be a she."
     For a few moments, there was silence. Finally, Anne spoke up. "I'm a princess. My life is almost perfect compared to almost everyone's. But for some reason, I've always wanted that dark past. I've always wanted to have a life that was worth remembering, that when I rule, I won't just be that princess. I'll be the princess who made it through getting beaten or hating myself. I want to be remembered."
     "We all do." I said softly. "The ones that are truly remembered are the ones great enough. When you're a queen, you'll be an amazing role model, I'm sure."
     She nodded, staring down. "I want to inspire people. I want to help people through tough times. I want to be the princess people look up to."
     "You will." I said. She looked at me. "And through all of it, I will be here to help. I promise, you will be the princess everyone loves, and I will be your knight."