The Lady Knight

Chapter XXIV: Friendships and Fiancées

Unknown Person

He struggled for breath, as he tried to come to terms with what had happened. He could not believe it.

He could not believe it.

How had the Lady Knight known precisely when he was going to murder Prince Richard and Warwick? How had she known that Prince Richard was alive in the first place?

When he had kidnapped the young boy ten years ago, he had been so careful to ensure that the rumour that the young Prince was dead spread throughout the country like wildfire.

He had been so careful to ensure that Warwick was hiding the boy well, to ensure that the Army could never find any evidence to prove that the boy was alive, and to ensure that none outside the Order had any knowledge about this.

Had the Order been betrayed?

Who was the traitor?

Did Warwick inform the Lady Knight about the boy beforehand?

But that was impossible! Warwick himself had not known that Master had ordered his death, and that of the boy's.

Then who was it?

Who was betraying Master so fearlessly, so brazenly?

Beads of perspiration formed on his forehead, as the grim image of his Master entered his mind. What would Master say when he came to know that he had not only failed to kill Prince Richard, but had also allowed him and the Lady Knight to escape together alive?

He knew. He knew what his Master would do. Master would march straight to his own hiding place and murder him as brutally as he had murdered so many others before him.

Master cared not about what he had done for him in the past. At the present, he had failed in his job, and for that, he would pay as dearly as the rest had.

Indeed, he had been extremely fortunate to have escaped Master's wrath previously, when he had failed to kill Lord Lucien the first time alongside his brother. However, that had only been because Master had still needed him to accomplish something else at that time.

At the moment, when Master was trying to obliterate the whole Order and cover up all its previous activities, almost as if the Order had not existed at all, he knew his life was in grave peril. Dying by Master's hand would be worse than dying by the executioner's axe at Bordeux, because Master was fond of prolonging pain.

He had seen that first hand. And he did not wish to die either way.

He had to run. He had to escape Monrique, and never return to Master ever again. Such a move required time and careful planning without Master's knowledge, but he was determined to do it.

It would take some time to sort out his affairs here in Bordeux and make sure his disguise here was still in place when he is to run away in the future, but he would do it most definitely.

To hell with Master, to hell with the fallen Order. To him, his life was above all else.

***

The Lady Knight

"Where are we, Jules?" Richard looked around, as we cantered into the village of Limoges.

The Sun was beginning to peek above the horizon, shining down faintly at us due to the cooling effect of the winter season.

I yawned, looking over his shoulder. Limoges was an earldom tucked away in the duchy of Carcassonne, which was situated exactly in the centre of Monrique.