The King's Collie

Part III, Chapter 6: Steadfast Love

Valentine's Day surely brought surprise for Lætitia, as she opened her door. She was so busy thinking about the prayer she had just given, the one she gave every morning to express her thankfulness for her sudden circumstances. It was always before breakfast, a privilege she was also granted thanks to Marco's constant insisting to the King.

Surely, she had a fate that any of her old acquaintances would lose an arm or a leg for. To be brought into the castle, to meet and serve royalty, and thus be given such a wonderful life. It made her infinitely grateful. What ever did she do to deserve such a fortunate fate? Cameron made such a prayer, as well, but he was still asleep at this time of morning.

It was without looking that the sparrow swept away a rose at the side of her door, one that she hadn't realized was there. The only thing that signified its existence was the soft noise it made against the hard floor. She turned, and tilted her head. Surely it had been put there, and from that realization came a rush of further ones. Oh God. It was Valentine's, indeed, and who was there to have given her this rose?

The bear guard in the armor he never refused to wear stood at the end of the hall.

"Excuse me, Sir Hadrian, would you happen to know who put this here?" the sparrow asked of him.

"The man who did instructed me only to tell you that he wasn't Iago," Hadrian spoke, "as suspicious as I told him that would sound."

"It wasn't you, was it?" she at first guessed.

"If it was, I'd have the gall to tell you. My affection lies elsewhere," he sighed in too forlorn a manner, regarding his own dilemma.

One of the Valentian knights must have put it there, or maybe one of that Narbonian Duke's handsome sons that were visiting about this time, but those ideas seemed both ever so unlikely. She knew there was only one feasible one, that swirled away in her mind. As the sun rose, she ran over to where this man surely was. She was scared, but also excited, if it was who she thought.

—

Since Christmas, all Marco had on his mind could be summed up in a list of three things; food, the Easter Mass that Cameron was composing, and...

Lætitia. Beauteous Lætitia, how even her name rolled off his tongue! Ever since that wonderful bird wandered into the castle, all Marco wanted to do was express his love for her. How? How could he do such a thing? He thought he was braver than this. He dropped a brief but somewhat noticeable flirt on Christmas Day, which she seemed to take notice of, but January came without development.

Now, the saving day! Valentine's Day, of course! A day of amorous sentiment like no other, one perfect in every way. He nervously held a rose in his hand, as he strolled the short distance down the hall to Lætitia's room, and left this flower at the bottom of the door. Was that an optimal place to put it? No, for it could get brushed aside by this very door, and go unnoticed as such. But poor Marco didn't have time to think, because the sun was already rising!

Then, after this, he pattered back to his room, and waited. It was the longest wait of his life. Would she even know it was him? Christ, perhaps she'd assume it was from one of the knights. Dammit! How would she know at all? Maybe she'd even assume it was Iago being a creep again...

Yet, in the middle of his wallowing in his own skepticism, a knock came at the door. The voice at it made Marco's heart lift.

"Hey," the tired sparrow girl spoke from outside the door, "I have a weird question. Are you awake, Marco?"

"I sure am!" the wolf yapped, acting cool. He leaned his elbow against the side of the doorway as he opened it, putting one foot against his other ankle.