Legends & Fairytales (COMPLETED)

Forced by Honour

Eldrich & Erin

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He was a knight

Who made a plight

That all should join the ranks

For the kingdom’s protection

A girl with ambition

Fighting for her position

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Eldrich was the head knight and commander of the kingdom of Etheria, being the prince of this kingdom he prided himself on keeping the kingdom safe. He was so serious about his job that he got an idea on how to keep everyone safe and protected and especially the smaller towns. He decided that all young and old men that were capable should be trained in the art of war and sword fighting. He made the declaration and sent it to all the towns in the kingdom. Everyone that fell in the specifications was to report to the castle training grounds in a fortnight.

Erin was on her way to her father, the local blacksmith of their small town, when she saw the emissary of the king, Tiberius, entering their town square by nailing a royal declaration to the notice board after he read the declaration for all to hear. Erin’s heart bounced in her throat as she heard that all men were to report at the castle within a fortnight to be trained as soldiers. She knew there was no way her father was going to be able to go, he had a bad leg and an idea formed in her head. This was like a dream come true, she always wanted to become a knight and now her chance finally came.

She rushed to her father to share the news with him, when she entered his shop at the edge of the town she saw him staring at a golden ring, not any golden ring, but her mother’s wedding ring. She died a few years back, but her father still mourned his loss every day, even though he put a brave face on for Erin.

“Papa,” she said gently.

He looked up at her, and gave her a sad smile. She immediately started to tell him of the news and her father saw the giddiness, it was no secret that his daughter wanted to be a knight so he knew she was going to seize this chance.

“You really want to go?” He asked and she nodded eagerly.

“Then we should make you look more like a boy,” Her father spent the rest of the week helping his daughter to look more like a boy, cutting her hair, giving her old clothes that looked like a bag on her and hid all her feminine features and helping her to walk more like a boy. At the end of the week, the day of departure, Erin was hardly recognisable. Her father gave her a bone crushing hug before he watched his daughter leave.

Erin followed her father’s instructions to the castle and with three hours she arrived at the castle. Once Erin arrived the head knight directed her to a tent, luckily it was a small tent and she didn’t have to share. She was grateful for that.

The next day the training began and she had to work extra hard to prove herself all the while keeping her identity a secret. Her endurance caught the eye of Eldrich and he was impressed by this young lad’s motivation to become a great soldier. Eldrich started to train him personally in the wee hours of the morning, until Erin became one of the best soldiers in his ranks.

After 6 months they were all allowed to return home. Erin felt a bit sad for leaving, because she grew close to the prince and even had a small crush on him. Her father was very grateful to see her. They spent the whole night discussing her adventures. The joyfulness of the night soon faded when Erin woke up to the war drums ringing in her village. She got dressed quickly and went outside.

“Sir Rupert, we need you to join us,” she heard a familiar voice talk to her father in the middle of the square as she pushed her way through the people. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Eldrich talking to her father.

“Father?” she said in her gruff voice she made to seem more manly.

Both Eldrich and her father looked at her bewildered.

“Erin?” they both said simultaneously.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she looked at their exchange.

“There is a war, we need your father,” Eldrich said.

“I’ll take his place,” she said and Eldrich agreed.

And that was how Erin ended up in a middle of a raging war. She was tired and covered in dirt, blood and sweat as she brought another enemy to his knees. She took a moment to look around her when she saw Eldrich a few paces away from her in an intense battle with one of the enemy soldiers. He was so focused on the enemy that he didn’t see the other soldier making his way to him. Erin saw the other soldier and knew he was going to attack Eldrich from behind. Something she wasn’t going to allow.

Eldrich was in an hard battle with one soldier and was so focused that when he heard the small cling of metal behind him, he lost concentration, allowing the soldier to get a hit in, but he quickly took the soldier down before he turned around to see Erin in a battle with another soldier. He immediately realised what must’ve happened. Erin saved his life.

Erin was distracting by Eldrich to make sure he was fine, but that moment of distraction caused her enemy to stab her with his knife in the stomach. An immense pain formed on her abdomen and she gasped in pain as she clutched her stomach. She faintly heard her name before she fell to the ground. She saw a blur over her and it took her a moment to realise that it was Eldrich fighting off her attacker. Her vision started to get blurry. The last thing she remembered was Eldrich’s face looking down at her with concern etched in his face, she could faintly hear him calling her name and begging her to stay with him, she tried her best to stay awake but slowly she succumbed to the darkness, welcoming its warm embrace…

Erin woke up with a pounding headache, it took her eyes a few moments to adjust to the bright light and once it did she was shocked to find herself in a beautiful room. The room was a dark blue colour. She was on a four poster bed under a blue cover. She tried to sit up but pain shot through her stomach and she let out a gasp. When she looked down she was surprised to find herself night gown. Fear gripped her as she realised that everyone must’ve known by now that she was actually a girl. She needed to leave. She didn’t want to stick around and find out what her punishment was going to be.

Just as she was busy trying to get out of the bed, the door burst open and a disgruntled looking Eldrich stepped inside before closing the door behind him. When he turned around and saw her busy climbing out of the bed his eyes hardened, she mistake his concern for anger and shrunk into the bed hoping he won’t punish her to severely.

“Where are you going?” he asked as he walked closer.

“Your highness-“

“Eldrich, Erin. Call me Eldrich,” he said with a smile. Her mouth dropped open in shock. This was not what she was expecting.

“Aren’t mad?” she asked.

“Mad about what?” he asked.

She indicated to herself, “you know, me being a girl?”

“I was shocked at first, but then my shock turned into pride. You’ve showed me that woman are this as capable as men. So when you’re ready, I want to make you the trainer of a new elite women knight group,” she stared at him in shock and before she knew what she was doing she reached up and grabbed the prince around the neck in a hug.

Eldrich chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“And if you feel up for it, I would like to court you?” he asked once they pulled away from each other.

Once Eldrich looked down at her he knew he finally met his match…

Hey guys

So here is another update for you guys, I hope you enjoy it!

I must say that this one is my favourite and I would love to hear your thoughts on it;)

I'll be posting the rest today as well!

Happy reading!

Amorie