Twelfth Knight

Chapter 1

Of all the things in the world, Emberly Dern could easily say that her favorite thing the woods. There was something majestic about forests. The world was quiet, not filled with the daily demands of life. It was simpler, it was better. And, if given the choice, Emberly Dern would gladly live in the forest.

But Emberly did not have that choice.

The world was quiet now as Emberly skipped rocks in the small creek only a little ways away from her home. She was sitting on the most uncomfortable log known to mankind and idly wondering if she should move from her seat. Alternatively, there was no better place to sit and skip rocks in the water. So, there she sat.

Her once beautiful dress was nothing more than rags now. Maria had made the dress new for her only a month prior. Yet, with Emberly’s constant desire to dance around the woods, the dress held no similarities to its former glory. Maria was certainly going to tsk when she saw Emberly later. Perhaps she would even mutter, “This is why young girls should notbe playing in the woods.” A speech that Emberly heard more times than she could count.

Having run out of rocks, Emberly shifted on the log, tearing the bottom of the once-blue dress a little more. But Emberly didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about anything right now. She just wanted to sit and be miserable and wish for a life better than the one she had.

Thunder resounded across the sky suddenly. All day long, Emberly had been able to smell the glorious scent of impending rain. Oh how she loved that smell! It would permeate the air in its perfect fragrance. This had been her first indication that she was meant to be outside, instead of locked away in the library learning the language of the Cyrans.

Her second indication, of course, had been that the language of the Cyrans had to be the dullest language on earth.

The flash of lightening appeared in the sky, causing Emberly to smile. Somewhere, it was probably raining. Not here, though. Not yet.

If asked, Emberly would say that she lived in the woods. This wasn’t completely accurate, though. She lived near the woods, close, but not in the trees’ gentle embrace. She lived in Northem Manor, the closest manor in the whole kingdom to the Cyran border.

The manor itself was surrounded by the gorgeous trees that Emberly believed to be her true home. This was where she escaped daily. This was where she felt most alive. This was where she wanted to be on the day before everything would change.

It wasn’t as though the events of tomorrow came as a surprise to Emberly. She had known for months that this dreaded event was going to come to pass. Still, there was a lot of difference between those months and now. Then, this whole thing seemed so far off, but now, it was only a few hours away.

And then, everything would change.

The wind blew Emberly’s dark auburn hair into her face, annoying Emberly as she pushed it back behind her shoulders once more. She despised her long hair. It was a point of pride among noblewomen to have long, perfect hair. Emberly wasn’t like those dreary women. She just wanted short hair like the boys. Not, that she would voice this opinion. She would never want any of her actions to reflect poorly on her father.

Her father was the Earl of Northem. Like Emberly, he loved the fresh air that only nature could bring. He loved the trees that surrounded their land. And if he were anything less than an earl, he might have been sitting beside his daughter throwing rocks into the water. He certainly would not be shipping her off to her grandmother’s instead.

The earl had thought long and hard about his decision to send Emberly to her grandmother’s. He didn’t want his only daughter to leave, but he had Emberly’s best interests at heart. She certainly was not comparing with the other girls her age at court. She was crass when they were polite. She was barefooted when they wore fancy shoes. She was not ready to appear at court and inevitably meet the man she was to marry. The earl needed her to have some sort of guidance in this area. He needed her to learn to be a lady, even if that meant pulling her away from her favorite place on earth.

And then, of course, there was the matter of her twin brother.

Kyler was everything that the earl’s wife had been. He was idealistic and passionate about all the wrong things. The earl knew from the moment that Kyler had been born that he was going to become a knight. It was the law now, while the kingdom of Etrusca was at war with Cyra. The king needed men in his army and each noble family had to send their sons at the age of sixteen to learn what it was to be a knight. All peasants were to offer up their first-born sons as foot soldiers when the boys turned eighteen.

Unfortunately for the earl, he was gifted with a son who despised the idea of war and becoming a knight. Knowing his son, Kyler would cower in the back and inevitably die because he didn’t have the killer instinct that was attributed to the King’s Knights. This was an attribute that the earl saw more in his daughter than his son. But, of course, there was nothing he could do about it. This was the law. So, his son had to go to war. And his daughter to her grandmother.

Truth be told, Emberly had often wondered what it would be like to be a boy. To have even the chance to learn to fight and become a knight. It was strictly forbidden for a woman to learn any sort of defensive technique. But this was what Emberly dreamed of the most. She dreamed of the bravery and courage that could only be found in the King’s Knights.

But this was a chance that Emberly could never have. It was nothing but an unreachable fantasy.

A twig snapped behind Emberly, causing her to jump out of her daydreams. She wasn’t supposed to be alone in the woods because the forest was often crawling with bandits. Generally, they would leave her alone. But then again, she was usually with her brother or one of her maids. She wasn’t supposed to face the bandits alone.

But here she was. Facing two bandits. Because she never listened to her father’s directions.

One of the bandits was tall, taller than most of the men in Etrusca. He had dark hair that resembled his equally dark skin. His eyes, though a dull brown, held a piercing look at Emberly. Beside him was his shorter companion, a man with skin so pale it was almost unhealthy. His teeth were rotting as he smiled viciously at Emberly.

Emberly rose to her feet, a cool expression on her face. One thing she had learned from being a nobleman’s daughter was how to control her emotions. She refused to give these men the satisfaction of scaring her. She was better than that. “You are trespassing on the lands of Northem Manor,” she said with a clear voice. “Leave now and the transgression will be forgiven.”

The men, predictably, laughed at her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” said the rotting-teeth man, “we’ll be leaving soon.” If possible, his disgusting grin only grew larger, his thoughts clearly shown on his face. How would a woman of her stature ever compare to the might that these two bandits possessed? They took steps towards her. Fear ignited inside of her chest. A million thoughts of what these men’s intention fluttered through her mind. But Emberly forced herself to stand her ground. She would not fall prey to these fiends.

The tall man sprang at her. Emberly jumped out of the way, ducking behind a tree to her left. Without hesitation, Emberly bent down and drew as many rocks into her hand as possible. She turned back to the men, both of whom had drawn closer to her in her distraction. She pelted the rocks at the men. Her aim wasn’t perfect, but she was able to do permanent damage to the shorter man’s eye.

She began running then. While she ran, her dress snagged on the various elements of the forest, slowing her down considerably. The tall man, with his long strides, was able to catch up to her quickly.

Emberly grabbed the closest stick she could find and swung it at the man. Unfortunately, the man blocked her attack easily and quickly took the stick from her hands. But Emberly refused to give up. She tried running again, but this was no good either. He was considerably faster than she was.

Emberly knew that she wouldn’t be able to reach the manor at this rate. Instead, she was hoping to be closer, so that if she screamed, her father’s men would coming running out of the manor to help her. This was her goal. The only problem? She was still much too far for this.

She put all her might into running. She could easily dodge the trees in the forest, knowing the forest better than herself. She put a tiny bit of distance between herself and the tall man, enough that was able to buy herself time to grab a rock from the ground.

It was a large rock, so much so that it could almost be classified as a stone instead of a stone. Taking this stone rock, she pelted it at the only place that she knew would dissuade him from following her for a minute. And that spot was the man’s groin.

The rock flew at him, landing directly at the place she had targeted. The tall man, surprised, doubled over in pain. Emberly didn’t stop to assess her work, instead, she took the opportunity to race to the manor, leaving the men far behind her.

The moment she reached the manor, she called out to the guardsmen and her father. She relayed the story through jagged breath. Without having to give orders, the guardsmen marched towards the woods, willing to defend the earl’s daughter no matter the cost.

Emberly’s father drew her into the parlor room, ordering a maid to bring Emberly a glass of water. “What were you doing out in the forest alone, Emberly? You know the rules,” he said. His voice was gentle, but Emberly could see the rage hidden in his green eyes. She had always been to read her father’s emotions. Perhaps it was because they were so alike in many ways, or perhaps, it was because she knew her loving father so well. Regardless, she knew how truly upset the earl was because of her actions.

“I only wanted to be alone for a few minutes, Father,” she replied. She looked away from his gaze. “It won’t happen again.”

“Of course it won’t,” her father said, standing up and pacing. “This is why you need to spend time with your grandmother. I was having my doubts, but this just shows that I was correct in thinking I needed to send you to her in the first place.”

The Earl of Northem sat back down with a sigh and put and arm around his daughter. Emberly was able to read this action, too. And she knew that she would miss her father just as much as he would miss her. “I’m glad your safe,” he whispered after a moment’s silence. “I do love you and your brother. You must know this.”

“I know this, Father,” Emberly answered without hesitation. Unlike most noble families, her father had always been very straightforward in his love for his children. He told them nearly every day how much he loved them. “We love you as well.”

“What did you do now, Em?” a new voice called. Emberly smirked as her twin brother, Kyler, entered the room, an eyebrow raised. Emberly had been told numerous times how similar she and Kyler looked alike. Their similarities seemed to go farther than facial resemblances. The way they walked and talked were even vastly similar. Even their father confused them from the back. Emberly didn’t mind the similarities so much. It was just something else that drew the siblings close to one another.

“I had a little adventure today, that’s all,” Emberly replied. Her father scoffed beside her, a reaction she chose to ignore. “Where’ve you been? I have haven’t seen you all day.”

“Emberly,” her father reprimanded. “Speaking like that will only anger your grandmother. You must not slur your words together.” This was a constant argument that they had.

“Don’t you think I should get it out of my system now? From tomorrow on, all I’ll want in the world is to slur my words together, but won’t be able to. If I use up all the slurred words today, then I won’t have to worry about it. Don’t y’think?” Her father shook his head in defeat, murmured something about returning to his work, and left the twins alone in the parlor room together.

“What really happened today?” Kyler inquired.

“I went into the woods alone and got attacked by bandits,” she answered.

“Oh, that must have been where all the guards have gone, then,” Kyler stated, as though suddenly having an answer to this problem was the most important issue at the present time.

“So, where have you been all day?” Emberly wanted to know.

“Em, the most amazing thing has happened! You know that physician in Verlent that I have been conversing with?” Emberly nodded. Kyler had been writing the old man for almost three months now. Nothing could come from it, of course. Kyler had to be a knight, not a physician. “Well, he’s asked me to be his apprentice!”

Emberly stared at him. “Why are you so happy about this? It’s not as if you could ever actually do this.”

Kyler smirked at her. “It’s alright. I’ve got a plan.”