Knight in Shining Armour

Chapter Two: Farewells

4 years later...

The light coming from the crack in the curtains nearly blind me as I awake. The chirping of birds from outside was clearly audible. But not as audible as the sound of a blade slicing through the air being directly towards me.

Instinctively I roll off the chair and onto the floor, feeling a sharp pain shoot up both my arms as I land on my elbows. I look up just in time to see the knife hit the wall, right where my head would've been if I were still sitting there.

I quickly grabbed a dagger that I had placed under the chair, in case something like this were to happen, and rolled over. The tip of my dagger was perfectly aimed at Landon's Adam's Apple. But the blade of his sword was nearly touching my neck.

Moral of the lesson: I would've been dead.

Landon and I drew our weapons back. He placed his sword on the table and shook his head, his dirty blond bangs sweeping into his eyes. He lazily pushed them back and took a seat in the chair opposite from the one I was sleeping in.

"Morning," he spoke, raising his eyebrows at me.

"That's a lousy way to say 'good morning' to someone, if you ask me," I muttered, stifling a tired yawn.

I had gone to bed late due to training and studying. Landon said that it was important not only for me to be strong, but smart. He wanted me to maintain some sort of knowledge of language, maths, arts, and science. There was no point in being a knight if I was going to be an uneducated one.

"How are you feeling?" He plainly asked. If I was still that same ten year old girl he met 4 years back, I would've described him as blunt, rude, and impossible to please.

If you asked me that question today my answer would still remain the same.

"I'm feeling quite irritated. Why?" I asked, running a hand through my hair. Which was cut very short. Landon and I had both agreed on two things on our first year of being together:

1) I was an ugly girl.

2) But I could pass for a boy easily.

So we chopped all my hair off and left my bangs as they were, since they weren't very long to begin with. My voice was leveled enough to pass as a boy's voice; and my chest wasn't developed much either. I actually liked the new look. It made me feel masculine and strong.

"I'm pretty sure you won't be feeling irritated after listening to what I have to say," Landon coaxed.

"Fine, I'll bite," I grunted, plopping down into the chair, slumping slightly as I folded my arms across my chest.

"Thought you would. Anyway, word's been going around in the Eralia palace that the Queen and King's son has been kidnapped-"
"You're lying," I interrupted, dropping my arms and sitting up straighter. "Kidnapped!? With all of those imposing guards around?! Impossible!"

"It's the truth," Landon insisted. "That's not even the most bizarre part. Turns out, all of the secret knights they've hired to rescue their son have all been bloody murdered. And the palace guards aren't any better. They've searched the whole kingdom from top to bottom. No such luck."

"Murdered..." I whispered, questions already starting to form in my head. Then my eyes narrowed at Landon.

"What's this got to do with me?" I suspiciously asked, ceasing my eyebrows together.

"I was just about to get to that part, kid," He answered, a sly grin playing at the corner of his mouth. "Not only will you receive a mighty reward for finding the boy, but you'll also be near Rosalind during your journey, if I'm correct. I heard that the boy's captors couldn't have gotten far and are probably hiding out within her kingdom. Or at least somewhere near there like Three Streams Village."