The Knight and The Heir [Original Story]

Ali Lake never asked to be the bastard of the King. They never wanted it. It wasn't their fault that the king of the realm decided to knock up their mother and sire a bastard. They were perfectly happy pretending that they simply had no father to speak of.

It wasn't as if it impacted their life terribly. The only difference it made was the townspeople accusing their mother of being a whore and the small amount of coin that the King's messenger brought each month in exchange for their silence.

Ali was perfectly content with living life as nothing more than a peasant and they expected that would be all they ever were.

That is, until all of the King's legitimate children were either killed or kidnapped, leaving no heir to the throne. As the King grows more feeble in his old age, an heir is necessary for the survival of the kingdom.

Which is how Ali is brought to the castle against their will and is expected to learn the ways of royalty.

Ali never wanted to rule a kingdom. They never wanted this, but now they have no choice. They've already decided that nothing in this castle could make it worth staying,

Nothing, that is, besides a knight in training with an eye-patch and a bad attitude, who might just be willing to set the whole system ablaze.