Wandering through the forests surrounding Malden, a lone knight and his steed heard a cry. The knight�s shoulder length russet hair was blown back as he raced through the forest. As he reached the edge of the forest, his sparkling sapphire eyes searched the horizon for the source of the cry. At the top of the hill to his right, he saw someone standing next to a horse. Taking hold of his horses� reigns, he began climbing up the hill. Something caught his eye. Something caught in the tall grass of the field. It was a ribbon� The knight stooped down and picked it up.
Approaching from the left, he caught his first glimpse of the figure he had seen. A young woman, her long, dark, silken hair flowing in the wind, and dressed in royal finery stood before him. Her slim figure stood tall and proud, as one would expect of royalty. What he did not expect to see was the expression on her face. The knight saw tears slipping slowly down her pain filled face. Apparently lost in her own thoughts, the woman did not hear the knight approach her.
�Excuse me, m�lady; is there anything I can do for you?�
The woman, startled, took a step back and replied, �Nay, no one can.�
�Surely there is something, I hate to see a woman of your beauty in such pain.�
�You flatter me, knight, but alas, nothing can help with this pain for it is from deep within my soul.�
Then the woman noticed her ribbon in the knight�s hand.
�My ribbon.�
�Yes, m�lady, I found this caught in the grass at the edge of the field.�
As he handed it to her, she said �Thank you. Please, what is your name?�
�I am Sir William�Pray tell me the name bestowed upon you.�
�Sir William, I am the princess of Malden, Mikaela.�
William was in the process of bowing down to the princess when something caught his ear. Before he could attempt to ascertain what the sound was, he had his answer. Three knights rode up to them on horseback. The leader seemed to be the man with a scar running down the right side of his face. Their shields bore the symbol of a black raven, but William was not sure which kingdom they came from. As the man with the scar moved his horse closer to Mikaela, William stepped between them.
�What do you want?�
The leader glared down at William and growled, �We were just passing through, but since we have the good fortune of finding the princess, we shall take her with us.�
Gazing coolly into the scarred man�s eyes, William drew his sword from its sheath and replied, �You will have to get by me first.� Looking back at Mikaela, he could see the fear in her eyes. Not that he blamed her, three against one were not the best odds, but she had not seen him fight. �Don�t worry Mikaela, everything will be fine.� He flashed a comforting smile in her direction and turned to face his opponents.
The leader had moved back to where the other two knights were. They looked at him and he nodded. Apparently they had some honor, as they dismounted their horses to fight William on foot. Slowly they walked toward him.
In the meantime Mikaela had moved closer to her horse. She knew that escaping was out of the question � the lead knight would catch her before she had a chance to get anywhere. Instead she watched closely to see what would happen.
The two knights rushed towards William now, one from each side. The one on his right reached him first. Their swords clanged together in front of William�s face. Realizing that the other knight would reach him in a matter of moments, William knew he had to act quickly. Bringing his foot up, he delivered a blow to the first knight�s stomach, knocking him back on the ground gasping for air.
William knew the second knight was coming up behind him. At the last possible second, still with his back turned, he stabbed backwards with his sword. He could feel the resistance as the sword went through the man�s gut. Turning around, William pulled the sword out of him as he dropped to his knees in pain. The knight clutched at his stomach, but brick red blood oozed around his fingers, soaking his tunic. A pool of blood started forming on the ground underneath the man as his eyes rolled back in his head.
By this time, the first knight was on his feet and angrier than ever. His eyes were wild, widened by his desire to kill. William stayed calm as his training taught him, his eyes never moved from his opponent. A loud clang of metal on metal rang out again as their swords met in mid-air. This time Mathew had a clear advantage. He took the opportunity to swing the sword around in an arc, disarming the first knight. The knight fell to the ground hard; William had the tip of his sword against the man�s throat before he could move.
�Leave now before you all die.�
The scarred knight actually seemed to consider this proposal. Seeing one of his best knights killed and another in a position to die at any moment was not what he had been expecting.
�Very well, we will go, but we shall meet again, and when we do it shall be your blood seeping into the ground.�
With that, William stepped back from the knight and allowed him to get to his feet. Once he was back up on his horse, the two remaining knights turned and fled into the forest.
Stunned, Mikaela watched in silence as William cleaned off his bloodied sword and put it back in its sheath. She was moved that he had fought to protect her � someone he did not even know. At the same time, Mikaela was furious with him.
�You could have killed all of them � why did you let them go? You�ve just given Lord Bryant two more knights!�
�M�lady, I have done what I set out to do � I kept you safe from being captured while demonstrating that I will kill if necessary. I do not, however, want any unnecessary bloodshed on my hands, do you?�
�Apparently you do not realize what is happening here. We are on the verge of war. Lord Bryant�s men have been attacking us for months now�soon they will start a siege on Malden. And you have just given him two more knights.�
�Can Malden not protect itself?�
�Under normal circumstances, yes. However, we have received reports that they have weapons that we could not even imagine in our nightmares. His forces grow in number each passing day. He sends bands of them out to capture or kill anyone they find outside of Malden.�
�If that is true, why have you left the safety of the castle?�
William could see the tears gathering in her eyes then. Not able to bear having him watch her like this, she turned away. After a few moments she began speaking again quietly.
�I could not stand being there; I had to escape, if only for a little while.�
She paused and William moved closer to her. He resisted the urge to say anything, afraid to make things worse. Instead, he waited quietly for her to continue.
�My father wants me to marry Prince Aaron of Teruel so that we will have their protection when Lord Bryant strikes. I love my people and I want to protect them, but�..I cannot marry someone I do not love. To me it would be better to die.�
�Surely you do not mean that.�
Mikaela turned and faced him then. From the look on her face, he could tell her mind was made up; she was determined. He knew that he could say nothing to change her mind.
�Have you told your father this? Perhaps another way exists to save your kingdom��
�He will not listen to me; he thinks this is the best way. I have already told him how I feel, but to no avail. I am already betrothed to Aaron and he sees no reason to change that. We should return to Malden.�
�I will escort you there, but then I am going to continue on my way.�
�You must at least come in for a little while. My father will want to meet the knight who saved me.�
�I would much rather��
�Come, I insist.�
Truth be told, he did want to go with her. He had been wandering alone for months now. Although he was lonely, he also remembered why he had left the kingdom which he had made his home. After many minutes, William finally decided to go with the princess. Maybe this would be a first step to righting what he had done.
He smiled at her and said, �Very well, I will go with you.�
| Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three |