Before You Go

18

Francis' Point of View
"How are things with Mary?" Bash asked as he helped me put on my armor. "She doesn't want to talk about anything romantic, we are just friends." I said putting my helmet on. No one knows about us, not even her ladies. It makes things hard sneaking around but it's kind of sexy to have it be a secret. I got on my horse. I saw Mary sitting in a throne, she wore the red dress I like. I smiled at her. She smiled back. I lined up at the joust line, holding the sword in my hand. Trumpets played and we rode towards each other. We both hit each other but no one fell off. Son of a bitch this hurts. We went again. This time I hit him off. I rode my horse off to the side and got off. I pulled off my helmet. "Prince Francis is the winner!" The announcer shouted. Bash and I hugged each other. "Way to stick it to the bastard." He laughed. I looked up and Mary's nervous expression seems to have faded. I feel bad to scare her like this but it is customary for me to do this. One of Mary's ladies, Lola, came and kissed my cheek. "Great job my lord." She smiled "Uh thank you." I said wiping my cheek. I walked up the stairs to Mary. "Congratulations my lord." She smiled handing me a gold pendant. "Thank you, m'lady." I smiled and kissed her hand. She is just so beautiful. I wish I could just kiss her in front of all women that want to flirt with me. I also wish I hadn't been such a player in the past so she trusted I only want her. I swear on my life I haven't even had the slightest thought about another woman. I went over and took of my armor and put on my jacket. "Escort me to the feast." I looked up and saw Mary. "Hi." I smiled. "Don't you dare try and kiss me out in public." She laughed "You know me a little too well." I smiled "I pride myself on knowing my lover well." She smiled "Lover?" I smiled "Come now, I have a surprise for my champion." She smiled, I walked next to her but not too close. "Where is this surprise?" I asked "If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" She laughed. We walked down towards the lake. There was a large white tent set up, but out of sight. "What's this?" I smiled "Come look." She smiled leading me towards it. We walked in and there was a mattress with blankets and pillows, along with dinner set out for two. I held her from behind and placed my lips on her ear. "What if I lost? How would you explain this?" I whispered "I would have said I have a special treat for the loser." She laughed "Oh my love I never lose." I smiled "Come, let's eat." She smiled, I pulled her chair out for her. She sat down then I went and sat down in my chair. I looked at the food. "All my favorites." I smiled "Yes, I wanted to do something special for you." She smiled, I held her hand and kissed it. "Thank you, this is just what I needed." I said "Was that Lola I saw kissing your cheek?" She asked pouring wine. She is trying to be discreet but she is horrible at it. "Yes, you saw me ignore her advances as best I could, did you not?" I asked wiping food off my face with a cloth. "Yes, she still kissed your cheek though." She said "Mary, look at me." I said, she made eye contact with me. "I love you, you know that. No one else. If it were up to me the only women I would speak to would be you, my mother, and my sister." I said, trying to make her laugh with the last part. "I just get scared." She said "I know, I have to own up to that because I have a scandalous past." I said "No it's not you." She said "Yes it is, I'll spend the rest of my life proving my loyalty to you if that's what it takes." I said "No, I trust you." She said "Come," I padded my lap "watch the sunset." I said, she came over and sat on my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on top of mine. "I hope we watch the sunset together thousands of more times." She kissed the top of my head. "We will, I'm sure of it." I said, she kissed the top of my head again.