The Masked Knight

Chapter 6

The Masked Knight’s P. O. V.

I have never imagined that the thing which I have been trying to avoid for so long will come running to me to make me even more anxious without much of my will. And why am I saying that right now?

Well, something like that did happen to me and I just cannot help but think about it while I kept standing inside the royal court for nearly an hour now along with my warriors.

Yes, I have finally come to attain the assembly as per the King’s order. It is just that if I still want to keep my true intentions hidden from the King, I must fulfill a few of the royal orders in order to stay in the good list of the king, no matter how much I hate doing it. This is how I have come so far and I have no plans to offend the King at the very end, at least when I am this much close to achieve my goals.

So, this is my only reason for coming here today.

But only I know how much anxious I am becoming with each passing second as if I have been returned to my nightmares from which I can not even wake up at all.

My breathings started to become heavy that even Sabastian noticed the sudden change in my behavior, who was standing right by my side all this time.

“Keep holding yourself in, chief. It is just a matter of a few hours more.” Sabastian whispered from his place without bothering to move his body even for a little bit. Yes, except for him, no one in this entire place knows what is going on inside my chest right at this moment.

I was a complete mess underneath this ugly metal mask.

No, I did not say anything to Sabastian and kept fighting with my own self in my mind.

Today, except for us, the other warriors from different parts of the Kingdome came to attain the assembly as well. After all it is great honor to see the brave warriors for once in their lives who have returned from the seven years long battle with an unforgettable victory. And today they are going to be titled by the King.

It is indeed a glorious time for them all, and everyone must remember this day.

The entire court has been already filled with King’s men. Guests have arrived to pay respect to the King’s invitation. And the women have already been engaged to serve the men even before the assembly have started.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying this moment as this is indeed a rare moment to witness for all.

But I know the reality.

All these show off is nothing but a wicked method of the new King to fulfill his cruel intentions and nothing else. Cause over the past few years the King have never done any good for the people of this kingdom and the commoners who may be still working hard to dig out coals from the ground is the greatest proof of all.

Anyway,

I clenched my teeth tightly and kept standing at my position just when the huge bell rang making a loud sound which resonated through the entire place. Soon the guards made the announcement for which everyone was waiting ever so eagerly.

“The brave warriors have arrived.” As soon as the guards declared the words, everyone inside the royal court stood up and looked towards the entrance.

The heavy iron door got opened in no time, and there he was.

Tristen.

I saw Tristen after seven long years. It seemed like the battle have changed him a lot from the outside at least. He is no longer the boy I used to know. He is indeed grown up to be a man over the past seven years. He seemed even more taller than I remember. His skin is no longer fair as he got tanned but his eyes were still the same. They were still sparkling with the icy blue color just as I remember.

His black knights suit along with the armor was indeed making his appearance even more glorious as he entered the royal court and walked the corridor in his big strides along with his fellow warriors to stand in front of the new king with utmost pride.

I closed my eyes at last and sighed deeply.

Cause I really felt like he needs to know the truth as he has no idea how life changed for us all over the past five years when he was already fighting in the battle field.

I don’t know even if he was told the truth what his reaction will be? I don’t know what kind of man he had turned into? I really don’t know anything about him anymore. But I am still curious.

It seemed like my old habit of getting curious regarding each and every single matter related to Tristen is still not faded away.

**** flashback from the childhood ****

“Hey what are you even doing, Ana? How old are you again?” Tristen asked mockingly as he watched me play with his wooden sword and could not stop laughing.

I was wearing my tunic shirt along with the trousers for today as I felt that running in such comfortable clothes is much easier than my usual clothes. So what, it made me look like a boy, still it felt good as I could roam around freely inside the market without any fears of getting recognized by anyone at all.

Since when I realized that a boy’s attire could change my identity completely, I kept getting into such kind of clothes and run out of my place whenever I felt like.

And whenever I did so, I always came looking for Tristen in the market area, cause, he is the only friend whom I know and I must say that I quite enjoy his company since the very first day and I believe he feels the same about me.

It has been a few months since our first meeting and after that day we kept coming across one another almost everyday now.

Today is just yet another day like always. We met at the market and came to some new place to explore the mysteries of our newly found lands. I am happy.

Yes, I have never been this much happy before.

Sitting on the green meadow, under the blue and bright sky we kept watching the tulips which never ceased from gently dancing along with the happy breeze today. It seemed like they are inviting me to dance with them as well and I could not stop myself any longer.

I stood up and started to move my feet on the soft grass in a beautiful rhythm, bothering the least about the fact that I was still holding the wooden sword in my hand and it is surely making me look a bit weird and funny in the eyes of the one who could not take his eyes off me even for a moment.

Yes, Tristen was indeed mesmerized to the very extent that he ended up making such a stupid comment only to irritate me. That’s all.

And I just could not hold myself back and retorted back without bothering to stop even for once,

“Well, I am twelve this year. At least I am older than you, kid. And for your kind information this is called dancing. Because I am happy today.” I intentionally poked Tristen and it seemed like I have succeeded.

“Hello!!! Who told you that you are older than me? I am fourteen years old and much older than you, you silly girl.” Tristen argued and made me giggle out of joy.

“Is it so, Tristen? Then can you do something for me?” I asked right when I stopped dancing and went to stand beside him with wonders in my eyes. Cause I know what I was going to ask from him in no time and I just could not hold back my excitement any longer.

“What is it?” he asked even when his eyes were telling me that he was surprised too due to my sudden question but still he was willing to keep my request with all his heart. And I knew that at that very moment his eyes were not at all lying about his intentions.

So, I did not hesitate to ask him straight away,

“Would you like to be my Knight and protect me for the rest of our life?” I asked.

For some time, Tristen was quiet and did not answer. He just kept looking right into my green eyes, as if he was trying to search something in them ever so eagerly.

And then he replied at last,

“Yes. I would be your knight for eternity.”

Seeing Tristen still sitting on the grass even when he made such a promise to me, I quickly thought of an idea. I lifted up the wooden sword which was still in my hand and placed its tip on Tristen’s shoulder all of a sudden, and uttered my words,

“I, princess of the never-ending tulip field, take you, Tristen, as my Knight for eternity. Do you agree to pledge your trust and loyalty to your princess for the rest of your life?” I asked with a smile, keeping my eyes fixed on his mesmerizing icy blue ones which have always made me happy for some reason.

This time I did not even have to wait for long and heard the very word which just came out of Tristen’s mouth in no time, which made me even happier. Cause I clearly heard him saying,

“Yes, My princess.”

**** end of the flashback****

For some reason I suddenly felt my feet getting week at this crucial point of time. Maybe it is just because I have been standing here for so long. I don’t know, what it is exactly though. All I know is that I just want to run far and farther away from this place.

It is just that I can not even afford to do that either.

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