The Masked Knight

Chapter 10

The Masked Knight’s P. O. V.

“Sabastian!! Make sure, no one comes looking for me anymore, tonight.” I ordered and left him behind to stay posted right outside my tent, so that people believe that their chief is still inside.

No, this time he did not at all insist to follow me like the other times, as he knows very well where exactly I am going. So, he just nodded his head quietly and kept standing at his spot while I passed my tent with my big strides.

I crossed the entire land which we use to build tents so that we could stay and sleep inside during the nights in order to escape into the warmth from the deadly coldness outside. But tonight, I have no intention to get in there any time soon.

So, I kept walking until I reached my destination.

It is a beautiful lake in the middle of the woods and is located far away from the main land. Warriors come here often in the day time to wash themselves clean whenever needed. But no one comes here at night ever. Cause atmosphere of such a place turns into freezing cold at night most of the days.

And this is the only time when I could freely allow myself to come out of my cage which I wear all the time as if it is my second skin. I usually take a quick bath at night and go back to my regular life.

Yes, it is only a few minutes that I could grant myself once in a week and this routine is going on for the past five years now.

“At last, at last you can be free Ana.” I muttered under my breath as I was saying those words to no one but myself only. It seems like the long journey for five long years is already making me forget my name. Still, I accepted that too.

Taking in a deep breath I took off my armor at last and then slowly started to undo my suit carefully. In no time I came out of my black skin only to stand naked underneath the vast night sky full of stars that never stopped twinkling even for once.

I lifted up my arm and slowly took off the iron mask in the very end. All of a sudden, my head felt very light after so long and I could relax finally. After which, I let my hair down that has been tied up into a bun underneath the mask since the last time when I came to clean myself up. The sudden wind brushed passed my skin, letting my hair flutter freely in the air as if they got the opportunity to breathe freely in the air tonight at last.

And when I was all done, I stepped one of my feet into the lake water but only to take that step back right away.

You see, the weather here is extremely cold tonight, but the surface of the water is even colder than that. It is like almost freezing.

But the interesting thing is that no matter how freezing the outside is, the water underneath the surface is always much warmer than the outside and that is what I need at this moment.

I waited for some time and attempted to step my foot in the water once again and this time it seemed like my skin had already started to comply with the temperature of the lake water and so, I kept going in.

Under the starlit night sky, my pale skin kind of glistened with the reflection of the lake water while I allowed my hair to get completely drenched in order to feel a bit relaxed from my head to toes tonight.

In such a little span of time I try to breathe freely only to remember that I am still alive, otherwise I had died long ago since the very day I have chosen to spend the rest of my life underneath the ugly iron mask. Sometimes I even have problems with breathings as well cause to hide my identity I always had to wrap my chest tightly with a large piece of clothing so that no one could see the tenderness underneath the hard armor that I wear often.

Tonight, I am free once again. I am allowed to breathe at last which is enough reason for me to lighten up my mood in no time, and I just could not help but felt extremely satisfied, no matter how hard the entire day was for me.

For quite some time, I played in the water, swam across the lake and came back and even dived deeper into the water. Like each and every single time whenever I came here, I feel no different than a mermaid. Just as the idea of being mermaid brings the joy back to me, it also brings the sadness along as well. Cause I know very well that from the moment I step out of this lake, I have to return to the same cruel world where except for the Masked Knight, I am no one.

Anyway,

I just can not afford to regret for all the sacrifices that I made in my life as this is what I chose for myself in the first place.

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Tristen’s P. O. V.

**** flashback from the past ****

“Tristen!!!! You are stepping on my foot every single time. Please calm down first and try to focus. And just do what I say. You know, dancing is not that hard to learn.” Ana kept saying without any intention to stop unless she makes me learn all the steps of her dance lessons in just one day.

And if it comes to her, I just can not say no. Rather I am not allowed to say no to her.

“Yes, it is. It is even harder than sword fights.” I uttered casually while my mind was focused only on the steps of our dance as I was afraid that I might hurt Ana by stepping on her feet unintentionally. But it seems like no matter how much I tried to avoid the accident from happening, I ended up doing the very thing for so many times which I specifically wanted to avoid with all my heart and mind.

“No, you silly. It is just like your sword fights. In both dancing and fighting, you have to take care of your steps first and then you are supposed to move with your arms. Just like this.” As soon as she said, she let go off my arms at last and stepped back a little bit, giving a little bit more space in between us now.

“What are you trying to do?” I could not help but got even more curious at this instant, as I saw her lifting up her sword from the ground which she received as her gift at her sixteenth birthday, just a few days ago.

“Have some patience, Tristen.  And now lift up your sword as well. Fight with me.” Pointing at my sword which was lying on the ground as well, and invited me for a fight. She knows it very well that I have been training for quite some time now and have already acquired all the skills of sword fighting, so that I could join the warriors of our Kingdom to make us proud of our strengths one day.

But still, she did not budge from challenging me.

Tsk.

When will she grow up, at least a little bit? After all, she is already sixteen this year.

I wonder if she would even listen to me if I try to stop her, but then I remembered that she is no one but Ana, whom I am talking about. And I know her very well. No, I know her even better than herself.

Seeing that she has no intention to stop, I finally lifted up my sword and stood in front of her, just what she has asked me to do.

“Do we really need to do this? What if you get hurt somewhere?” I asked as I just could not stop worrying.

“Shhhhh…. Don’t talk much and show me your skills. Show me what you have learned.” Keeping me at the vicious point of her sword, she declared a battle.

Sometimes I really wonder what is she made of. How could she be so brave and fearless?

No, I have no idea.

So, in the very next moment I did what she had just asked me to do. I took a step forward to take my first strike but it did not reach Ana at all. Instead, she kind of moved along with me. Her steps were pretty much similar to what I was doing and kept synchronizing with one another, throughout our sword fight.

Even for the slightest moment I did not have to clash my sword with hers as she always made sure to take a step back just when I was taking a step forward. I don’t know what exactly is she trying to do, but I kept going on as she never asked me to stop until now.

We both kept moving in such manner for some moment and then something happened all of a sudden which completely blew my mind.

Cause all of a sudden Ana came so close to me. And even before I could react, she snatched my sword away from my hand and threw it aside along with hers. For a moment it felt like my heart kind of jumped out of my chest without much of my awareness. I could not breathe properly.

Slowly I felt her touch on my skin and I realized that she lifted up my hand and placed them on her waist while she kept both of arms wrapped around my neck without giving me any prior warning.

It is no wonder that my entire body got stiff all of a sudden and I just could not help but let out only one word out of my throat without even realizing,

“Ana!!!”

And she smiled.

I can’t even believe that it just took only a few seconds for her to make me go completely insane with just a smile. And in no time, I felt the need to do something else with her as I just could not look away from those thin lips which just invited me for another kind of battle once again.

How could she do this to me?

How could she ignite a fire inside my chest without even doing anything at all?

How could she make me enticed even when I have never felt anything towards her until a moment ago like how I am feeling right now?

No, I don’t have any answer for these questions, but Ana does.

Soon, I felt myself leaning towards her so that I could touch the softness on her lips with mine but even before I could do so, she whispered in a low voice which made me stop in an instant.

“Now move along with me just like the way you did earlier with your sword.” Ana’s words pulled me back to the reality once again and I just could not help but sigh.

Ughh….

You are the cruelest one in this world, Ana.

I wanted to say it to her but for now I decided to keep it all inside my chest until the right time.

**** End of the flashback****

Lying on my bed, I could not help but think about the past. I wanted to know what exactly happened after I was gone, but I don’t have any idea whom should I ask.

Clenching the strands of golden hair in my palm, I kept thinking of some way which would definitely lead me to her. And every time one single name came to my mind, who could help me in this regard.

And that is no one but Sabastian.

After all, he made a promise to me long ago, and now is the time to keep it.