The Lady Knight

I was utterly touched. A gentle smile unfolded upon my lips just then, as I held his gaze.

"I am very sorry for worrying you, Nick," I answered softly, "but I cannot promise you that I will not put myself in danger again. I am an army officer, and 'tis the nature of my job."

Slowly, but surely, he returned my smile, tinged with sadness.

"I understand," he blew a breath through his lips, "and I admire you for pledging your life to protecting and defending our country, I truly do. Not many people are prepared to make such a sacrifice, and I respect you for that."

I was surprised. "Thank you."

"But I am not going to lie. Waiting for you to come back was...shit hard," he ran a hand through his hair, "I have faith in you, but it so happens that I also have an overactive imagination." He sounded resigned.

I patted his shoulder. "Most unfortunate."

He chuckled faintly, as he lifted my hand from his shoulder, and cradled it in his. "How are your hands?" he asked in concern, as he examined it with caution, before looking up at my face, "and your cheek?"

"They do not hurt so much now," I assured him, "I am still learning to lift small things, and make proper use of my hands again, but it will be all right soon. The physician said I will be fine."

He nodded absent-mindedly, still tracing the burns on my hand as gently as possible. "The scars?"

I shrugged, nonchalant. "They will be there forever."

"And your brother?" he asked after a moment of hesitation.

A small, soft smile lit up my face. "Until he had come, I had not realised truly how much I had missed him. You made me very happy by bringing him from Cavarriere," I confessed quietly, "it was very thoughtful of you. Thank you so much."

He was surprised for a moment by the amount of sincerity in my voice. "It is no problem," he grinned, before, "but by the Lord, your brother is truly frightening. He had all but threatened to murder me in the most painful way possible if your condition deteriorated by the time we reached Vareniol together. Or if I caused you any pain at all. Safe to say, my Lady, it was the most perilous journey I had undertaken."

I laughed softly. I could indeed imagine Max threatening Nick with that eerily dangerous expression of his, although the latter was at least half a foot taller than he was.

"Your father sends his regards, and he was very sorry he was unable to come," he added, rubbing his neck, "but he had pressing matters to deal with Lord Jasper."

My eyes narrowed. Had Max told him to say that?

I offered him a twisted smile. "My father cares not a whit in the first place, let alone send any sort of regards for me," I rolled my eyes, pretending that it did not affect me, "there is no need to lie. I know."

His face showed plain shock. Before he could comment on that, I turned away from him and picked up the wet blankets from the ground, careful to use my arms to carry them instead of my hands.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have to put these out to dry now before Lady Violante comes after me," I shot him a small smile, peering above the stack of blankets at him, "I will return in a few minutes."

He stepped forward. "Give them to me, Julie," he stretched out his hands to tug at the blankets I was holding, "I will dry them for you. You can go inside and rest in the meanwhile."

I shook my head. "I am perfectly all right. I can dry them myself, thank you."

"You cannot even hold them properly as it is," he pointed out, tugging them towards him, "and wet blankets are ten times heavier than the dry ones."

"I am well aware," I rolled my eyes, pulling them towards myself, "and I can carry them, no problem."

He crossed his arms and stared down at me sternly. "Julie."

I imitated his stance, not willing to give in. "Nick."

There was a beat of silence, before we both reached out at the same time to engage in a violent tug of war with the blankets. Whatever thoughts I had of us being friends again vanished into thin air, as I attempted to regain my hold on the blankets.

"You are being annoying! Release them, Nick!"

"And you are being stubborn! You are only beginning to learn to hold a mug, and now you want to carry heavy blankets? What if it disrupts your recovery?"

"Release them!"

"Nay!"

This repetitive argument ensued for a long while, before I lost my feeble grip on the blankets.

"Nick, look out!" I cried, as I let go.

The inertia caused by the amount of force he was using to pull the blankets caused him to topple backwards and caused me to pitch forward as well. I squeezed my eyes shut on instinct, fully expecting and preparing myself to come face-to-face with the snow-covered ground and freeze on contact.

But I did not.

Instead, I found that I was pressed up snugly against something warm and hard. The scent of fresh pine trees wafted up my nose, and a pair of arms was locked tightly around my waist.

I froze, surprised. Had I landed on top of Nick?

My eyes flew open at the thought, and I jerked my head up at once, only to stare straight into a pair of huge grey eyes.

At that moment, I vaguely remembered my beret falling off my head, but I was past caring. His eyes held mine in an almost hypnotic manner, and slowly but gradually, a silence wrapped itself around us, a silence that was heavy and comfortable at the same time.

In that one instant, time came to a standstill, as all thoughts fled my mind. We were so close, that I could count exactly how many freckles there were on his nose, and exactly how many lashes framed his almond-shaped grey eyes whose irises were visibly darkening.

He raised a trembling hand to the side of my face, brushed back a few stray locks behind my ear and held it there, his gaze never wavering from mine even for a moment. Without conscious thought, I found myself leaning into his palm, as his thumb briefly brushed across my cheekbone.

I did not know what was happening, and neither did I know how to make sense of the unfamiliar myriad of emotions that were coursing through me all at once, overwhelming my mind completely. They were as intense as anger, yet as soft and wonderful as peace and happiness.

They were a strange motley, and I did not know how to give them voice.

My cheeks burned bright red, much to my embarrassment, but apparently, not to his. A breathtakingly crooked smile lit up his features, as he gently drew my face down even closer to his, until my lips were a mere hairbreadth away from his.

If I tilted my head even a little, I would be kissing him.

That thought did it. I felt as if someone had doused me with a huge barrel full of ice, cold water.

I rolled off him at once and stood upright, slamming my back against the tree trunk behind me as I did so. My breathing was heavy, ragged, as I struggled to compose myself.

Nick sat upright, confused, as he ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought.

But I dared not meet his gaze.

"If...you truly want to dry those, you may," I stammered badly, gesturing to the blankets that were lying around him, "I shall return inside, if you will excuse me."

Without waiting for his response, I fled.

***

Prince Nicholas

One moment, we were arguing over those damned blankets. And the next moment, we were both on the ground and I was almost about to kiss her.

There was no point in denying it. I had been mere inches away from her, moments away from pressing my lips to hers before she had pulled away from me.

I slammed a fist to the snow-covered ground, beyond infuriated with myself.

What had I been thinking? Not only was Julie my Potential Quest Advisor, she was also my friend. I had absolutely no right to have done what I had.

No wonder she had run away from me as if I had the plague. Indeed, I was rather surprised that she had not run me through with her sword there and then before she had fled.

But that did not mean I regretted it.

I could not help but recall how she had fit so, exactly right in my arms. How she had smelled of vanilla and roses. How her beautiful brown irises had been filled with confusion, and even a little uncertainty. How soft her golden curls had felt between my fingers. How a warm, faint blush had infused through her cheeks when I had held her face in my hands. How –

Cease, Nick! I put my head in between my knees, appalled at myself.

Those thoughts were beyond inappropriate, and I knew it. And since they were all regarding Julie, of all people, they were absolutely unacceptable.

And even bewildering.

I could not understand what had compelled me to hold her, to touch her like that in the first place. The gesture had felt so natural.

And that silence.

It was almost as if I could have held her in my arms forever here, and not worry a whit about the cold. That silence would have sufficed, so entirely content I had been in it, so easily could I have drowned in it and not resurface.

I sighed, letting my fingers brush through the layer of snow on the ground, finding some respite from my heated mind in the coolness of the snow.

As I did so, my eyes fell on Julie's beret beside me. I reached for it and absent-mindedly traced a thumb over the royal crest of Monrique that was stitched on to its front. It must have had fallen off her head when she had landed on me.

Even from a distance, I could smell the scent of vanilla and roses wafting from it. I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated with myself.

I swear to the heavens above, I had no idea what had initiated this. But try as hard as I might, I was finding it extremely difficult to be rid of a certain pair of innocent, wide hazelnut brown orbs out of my mind.

***

The Lady Knight

Get a hold on yourself, Jules! I scolded myself, staring hard at my hands, it was merely an accident. You fought over the blankets, lost your balance, and fell. That is all. Nothing else.

Aye, another voice, the devil's advocate, in my mind put in snidely, but you left out the part you were about to kiss him in your skilfully summarised recount, poppet.

I was not about to kiss him! I argued vehemently in my mind.

Then what were you doing so close to him? Counting the freckles on his nose? she snorted disbelievingly, if you truly believe that, then even I can declare you insane.

You do not exist. You cannot declare anything, I taunted back.

The fact that you are even talking to a non-existent being is evidence enough for anyone to declare you insane, she retorted at once.

The devil's advocate had a point.

I knew not what to do at this moment, or what to think, or what to feel. It was not every day that a person I used to hate, and then came to a truce with, and then became friends with, was about to kiss me.

It was not every day that I ran away from the very same person with an addled mind and incoherent speech merely because I had been staring at him for a few minutes.

Like every other unexplainable instance in my life, I decided to shove this confusing incident to the back of my mind and handle it later, when I was calmer.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed my hair back and tied it up into a bun, before I reached out a hand towards my study table for my beret - only to find it missing. That was when I remembered that it had dropped on the ground when I had fallen on Nick.

I felt my cheeks burn once more merely thinking of his name.

Cease this, Jules! I yelled at myself in my mind, forget all of this for the next few hours and continue with your work.

With that, I shook my head hard, stomped over to my sack with unnecessary force and pulled out the small stack of letters that Lieutenant Raleigh had sent me, that had been found hidden in Lord Lucas' wall in Derelia.

Sitting down on my chair, I pulled at the strings and proceeded to decode the letters.

29 December, Year 20 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Dear Lucas,

Welcome to the Order of the Serpents. I am pleased to welcome you into our ranks. Your tasks will be few, but of utmost importance. Please be aware that you are sworn to secrecy, and your commitment to this organisation is lifelong. I will inform you if I need anything to be done. Be prepared at all times.

Black Sheep.

24 January, Year 21 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Dear Lucas,

I heard that your brother Lucien is going to accompany Crown Prince Nicholas, Lord Evoric and Lord Raymond to Osterlund to stay with Princess Charlotte and her fiancé Crown Prince Giovanni, and study there. Your first task will be to go with them to Osterlund in their entourage and remain above suspicion. I will tell you what needs to be done when you are there.

Black Sheep.

14 April, Year 21 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Dear Lucas,

One of the members of the Order, Lord Pierre, has arrived in Osterlund with a group of my men. They have the necessary weapons for your first task. I would like you to meet them in secret at the town square and acquire these weapons. You will cause a commotion at the Welcome Ball held for the Crown Prince in Bagnoregio Castle and injure the Crown Prince as badly as possible – but you will not kill him. I need him to be alive for a little while more. Please ensure none of you are caught in the process and do be sure to plan well before you embark on this task.

Black Sheep.

My chest tightened, as I continued to decode the rest of the letters. Lucas was mostly instructed to injure Nick at every opportunity possible in Osterlund, and seemed to be well-informed indeed about Richard's kidnapping.

I could not believe that I had not heard about any of these attacks on Nick over the ten years he had spent in Osterlund - attacks that Lucas was no doubt responsible for.

But then again, I was certain that the Osterlundienne government and the Monriquan government would have done everything in their power to keep the news of these assassination attempts from spreading around, in case the people grew alarmed and other scheming opportunists thought that there was a chance for them to kill Nick.

Truly, I was extremely saddened to learn that Nick had spent most of his life in Osterlund in fear and danger, defying the whole point of the King sending him to Osterlund in the first place after James' death and Richard's disappearance.

Taking a deep breath, I continued to decode the remaining letters. The letters grew steadily more demanding as the years progressed, to the extent that Black Sheep wanted Lucas to assassinate Nick once and for all by the end of Year 29 - which was last year.

That was when the letters truly became threatening, for Lucas had appeared to have refused to follow orders from Black Sheep from that point of time.

27 December, Year 29 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Dear Lucas,

I heard of your wedding to the ever-lovely Lady Francesca. My heartiest congratulations to you both. I do not believe I need to remind you that the lives of your existing family, and now your wife, are in my hands. If you do not murder the Crown Prince soon, certain members of your family will start to disappear. You have made a commitment by joining the Order, and I expect you to abide by it.

Black Sheep.

14 May, Year 30 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Dear Lucas,

Clearly, you are becoming stubborn. Mayhap this is your way of requesting me for a small sample of what I do to Order members who defy my orders. Very well, then, I shall oblige.

Black Sheep.

My hands shook with grief. Following this letter, the then pregnant Lady Francesca had fallen down the stairs in Derelia Manor and had almost lost her life in the miscarriage that had followed. Everyone assumed that it was merely a tragic accident, but she had stubbornly maintained that someone had deliberately pushed.

Now I knew that that had been no accident.

This letter dated 14 May was the last letter Lucas had received before his wife's miscarriage, and his own death in September. Mayhap Black Sheep felt that threatening Lucas was wasting too much time, or that he was no longer needed in the Order.

Either way, he was murdered. Was this why the other four Lords before him were also murdered? And Lord Anthony as well? Because they refused to follow orders from Black Sheep?

But what about Lucien? Why had he been killed? And how had he known about Richard being in Lord Anthony's care? He was clearly not in the Order, as he had not been branded with the serpent symbol on his shoulder blade.

Then how? How had he known?

The answer came to me at once. Because he had been prying into his brother's affairs, I realised sadly, he must have found out about the Order, and had gone upstairs to confront Lucas in his chambers. However, the true murderer had already been in a fight with Lucas in there, and Lucien had tried to defend his brother.

Somehow, the murderer succeeded in killing Lucas, and he must have tried to kill Lucien after that. However, hearing the Captains and I rush up the stairs, he had put the knife in Lucien's hands and escaped out the window.

I closed my eyes, regretful. Captain Dupont had been correct all those weeks ago. Lucien had been wrongly framed for a murder he had never committed. Here, in my hands, was the undeniable proof for it. Lucas was the true traitor, along with Lords Pierre, Louis, Francois and Anthony.

Lucien was merely killed because he had discovered too much.

How many of such people were out there among the nobility? Who else were betraying the Crown behind the King's back? The men who had been murdered were all respected, trusted, and were high standing members of the society. Yet, all these years, they had been working against the Crown in secret.

What was the motive? Why were they trying to harm the royal family?

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. I was receiving more and more evidence regarding this case these, and yet, I kept coming back to the same question that had plagued me from the beginning.

Why?

Why were all these happening? Richard's kidnapping, Nick's attacks, and all the other murders? What did they stand to gain from the death of the royal family of Monrique?

The back of my neck prickled as I contemplated the grave danger that Nick was in at the present. I no longer needed to worry about Richard as much, as Jackie was protecting him, and I knew her to be an able fighter. She would keep him safe and sound until the time arrived to bring him to Bordeux.

However, it was Nick who was the most vulnerable now. There were dangers from every angle, and they all seemed to be waiting for me to slip up, to let my guard down and then murder him like they had Lucien.

Nay.

The very thought filled me with white hot fear that swept throughout my body, consumed me whole in its intensity. I could not lose Nick. Never to argue with me again, never to speak to me again, never to see that crooked smile unfold on his face again –

It was beyond unbearable. This was no longer merely about my job. It was so much more than that. So much more.

By God, I would not hesitate to kill every last one of them before they could touch even a hair on his head. In fact, I doubted they would even cross me if they knew how I would torture them to insanity if anything were to happen to him, how gladly I would castrate them all alive.

If they knew exactly how much I cared for him, I doubted they would dare face me at all.

***