There once was a kingdom that was blessed with knowledge. For a single day each century the water would dry up, the trees would wither, and the soil would turn barren; and the next day, a child made from the earth's sacrifice would appear on the hillside to shine a guiding light upon them.
It was Ackley, a pale freckly knight of the kingdom with dark curly hair, who'd been the sole person entrusted by the King to collect Madeline on the day of restoration. He'd left the castle that day at dawn, his new thick chunky armour glinting, as his legs powered up the hill. When he returned to the castle, he brought the girl with rich green hair, warm tinted skin like bark, covered in bumps and ridges back.
Born from nature, she was bound to it for life. To flourish and grow, all she'd have to do was venture outdoors. However, it was also her job to serve the King as an advisor, to stay by his side through thick and thin; and everybody knows that the King is not allowed to leave the castle. Not under any circumstances.
The King was a pale freckly man, with tightly coiled hair as dark as charcoal who didn't care much for the royal life of luxuries and diplomacy, however longed for adventure. Each day when he retired to his personal chambers, Ackley would visit him, while Madeline was free to leave the walls of the castle and be one with nature. In the morning the King would tell her all about Ackley's glorious adventures outside the tall restricting walls of the castle. One day, instead of telling her what his favourite knight had done, the King mentioned his only son.
"I'm very proud, you know," He beamed, "He always does what's best."
And although he never mentioned him again, Madeline kept a close eye out for the absent Prince without much luck. Little did she know that he was right under her nose, all along.
Soon Ackley was assigned to Madeline's personal guard as the Kings health started deteriorating, his left hand could no longer sign contracts, and his heart was fragile. The two visited him on his deathbed. He spoke to Ackley first, ordered him to be happy, to look after Madeline and to do what's best before he beckoned her towards him. She sat beside his bed, muffling her cries. "It's okay my dear," He smiled, closing his eyes, leaning back into the pillows and snuggling down "Look after the kingdom for me? I place it, and everything within it in your safe hands for the time being."
She didn't want to say yes. It would've been easier to scream the truth. That she had no strength to stay indoors, day and night, away from the grass and the birds and the raw earth like he did; her time to be free and revive outdoors was seemingly being pulled away from her. "What about your son? He's spent his whole life waiting for this moment."
He grinned lopsidedly, "Not in the way that you think."
"Then, I promise." She had no right to betray the one person who she had relied on her entire life.
As the years went on, it became more difficult for Madeline to survive merely by basking in the sunlight of the castle's windows. Leading the kingdom with her keen wit was a taxing task as the earth's lifeforce drained from her body. If only the King hadn't asked so much of her.
She consoled in her knight, "Can't I change the rules? I have the power to do so don't I?" she fell to her knees, "I can't go on like this anymore!"
Ackley clunked towards her in his heavy armour, she glanced at the royal crest printed on it as he took a closer look at her face. He was the only knight she'd ever met who had one. He could see that her skin looked light like the pale glow of the moon, her hair now more of a sickly minty shade and her voice, once light like a breeze dancing between your ears now sounded rough and baritone.
He helped her up, wrapping his arms around her now frail body "I should have noticed sooner," he whispered softly, "The King asked me to look after you, and I let this happen." He glanced down at his precious armour. The heavy chainmail and stiff iron covering the scars on his body from noble fights, "Go outside, do what you must and meet me on the hillside where we first met at sunrise."
Although she seemed relieved, he could tell that she was hesitant, "What about the Kingdom?"
Looking at her once again, He smiled a lopsided grin, "The Prince will do what's best."
When the sun rose, Ackley stood tall, looking out at the kingdom below him, his left hand gripping his sword in its hilt. He took in the feeling of the wind just as it had been the very first day they'd met. It was the very first time that he'd been considered, all in all, a regular civilian; A knight. Turning, he glanced at the girl who he'd met many years before, admiring her strength for doing what the Prince could not and acknowledging the debt that he must pay.
"I've been far too greedy all these years, standing by, letting you go on like this."
She looked surprised, "Don't blame yourself for this Ackley, if it was anyone's fault, it was not yours."
He knelt in front of her, bowing his head low. Her expression softened into sorrow, looking down at her shivering arms as she wrapped them around herself, knitting an ineffective net of warmth to huddle into.
"Here," In one swift motion he lifted his cloak from his own body, his own armour, and placed it around her shoulders "Have it."
No longer could you see her hair as deeply green as the trees of the forest, skin as warm as their trunks, nor the birthmark on her left cheek. She was a wanderer, free to believe and to waltz the earth as she pleased.
"I beg of you," she clasped Ackley's hands towards her, "Do not blame me for leaving."
He simply smiled, "Never m' lady. I'd never," It wasn't until her figure disappeared into the distance that he could bear to utter the truth, "You served my people well, gave me a luxury I never thought I'd have." He cast his gaze back over the kingdom as a humble knight one last time before returning to the castle, this time, as King.
