My Broken Knight

Chapter 9: Tricked

-William-

She was … as expected. Spoiled. Thinking she could make the rules for me, but I had been hired by the king. Not the princess herself, so the little attitude did not really bother me. I just had to watch over her and keep her safe, but it was clear she was determined to make that difficult for me. I feared what kind of trouble she would cause herself and therefore pull me into them too, but while I had been hired to protect her, I did not rule over her. If she wanted to go visit a friend, she could, and I just had to follow. Though I did not like all her questions, but she clearly did not care. To her it was her mission to annoy me, in whatever way she could. I just had to answer her with short answers, but give her enough so her curiosity would be satisfied.

Yet, it was a bit funny to see her actually believe she could get rid of me. She had no idea who I was or what I had seen. One little princess would not scare me, yet it annoyed me when she thought I was just another loyal knight, and I was so drawn by the promise of title and land. I just had to get away … away from all the lies and the death of my father. I wasn’t that interested in title and land as she believed I was.

“I expect you can ride,” she said before swinging her leg over the side of the horse’s back.

I stood in front of the mighty white stallion, she rode on and held his reins, just to be certain.

“Of course,” I said.

She pulled in the reins, so I had to let go and then she smiled at me. Cruelly.

“Good. See if you can catch me.”

I looked at her confused for a second, before she forced the horse into a fast gallop, riding out of the stables, before I even had a chance to prepare my own horse. I then understood her true intentions and cursed the little princess far away for tricking me like this.

“My horse!”

The black horse I rode on had been brought here when I arrived, but his saddle and reins had not yet been removed, and I quickly got up on his back, before I tightly grabbed his reins and urged him to follow the princess, who had already gotten a big head start.

“Come on!”

I galloped out of the stables only to continue into the market, where the princess had made a clear trail, since people were still picking themselves off from the ground, they had been rolling around on, trying to escape the fast and wild princess.

I followed her trail out of the city and inside a deep dark forest, and I felt my heart starting to beat worried. Damn that princess, I thought, as I kept looking at the ground for fresh hove prints. She was not a stupid girl, it seemed. She knew how to make men chase her …

“Princess!”

I had just turned around a sharp corner, and finally saw the hint of the princess's hair and dress blowing in the wind. I was catching up to her, but even then, she just turned around and looked over her shoulder while smiling.

“Come on!” I urged my horse.

He sped up, but hers wasn’t slow either and she was just as eager to get away from me, as I was to get to her. She continued to stay further ahead, as we rounded sharp turns and ran through narrow paths. I did not like it. Something in me felt like this was not going to end well, and just as I had thought the thought to an end, I saw it. Her horse was spooked by something on the ground.

Her horse reared and she could not hold onto him. She screamed, as she lost her grip and fell backwards down a hill. I pushed my own horse even harder until I finally reached her. I jumped off, without even thinking of a plan, and followed the princess down the hill, yet my way down was much more controlled. While she had rolled the whole way, I slid down, keeping my balance.

“Princess!” I yelled.

She finally stopped at the end of the hill, but she did not move. I feared the worse. Great, my first day, and I already had a dead princess. She was lying on her side when I finally reached the bottom. I quickly ran over there and flipped her over, brushing some of her blond hair away that was covering her face, and tried to get through to her.

“Princess. Princess Grace!”

She did not respond … No, no, no, no. This was not good. It was very bad … what could I even say to the king? Sorry, your daughter died on my first day watching her. I would end up in the ground with her! Had I just known how stubborn and wild this girl was, I would not have taken the job.

“Your highness!”

I shook her over and over, but she still didn’t respond. I rubbed my face frustrated, before trying to lean closer and listen to her breathing. This wasn’t happening … this wasn’t …

“Boo!”

She yelled into my ear and I pulled back to see her laughing at me. What in the … I now saw what was happening, as the princess rolled around laughing. She had been faking it …

“You should have seen yourself,” she laughed.

I did not say anything, as my anger flowed through me. I wanted to shake her all over and make her see how serious this all was. It was not a joke. It was my head that was on the line here, and I liked my head attached to my neck. Not separated.

“Had enough yet?” she asked, as I got up from the ground.

I brushed the dirt off my hands and clothes, but still did not answer her.

“I told you I would not make it easy for you.”

I kept quiet, but it did not seem to bother her very much. She knew she had gotten on my nerves, with her little stupid trick.

“Get up,” I simply said.

“This is how it will be,” she told me. “If you stay, I will torment you. I will be your worst nightmare. So just go home.”

I tried my best to stay in control, as she taunted me with her words. I closed my eyes and silently counted to ten before I turned away and started to walk up the steep hill.

“Hey!”

I did not look behind me to see if she was following along. I really didn’t care if she was. At the moment I really was ready to go home, but what home did I have to go back to? There wasn’t one. That was why I had said yes to this stupid assignment, not just because I had nowhere to go, but I hoped to get this land and title from the king, then I could make a new one. I could start over.

“Hey! Knight. I mean … Eh, Sir Will!”

I sighed and stopped, even though I had already climbed some of the way up.

“What, your highness,” I asked, not looking at her.

“My ankle.”

I turned around at her almost painful tone, and saw her still sitting on the ground, her face slightly twisting, but I refused to fall for her act twice.

“Ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?” I asked before turning away.

“I am not trying to trick you!”

“Her highness says, right after tricking me.”

“Please, I really am in pain!”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Darkness will come soon, and so will the wolves. I am sure you will be able to walk soon enough.”

“Sir Will!” she yelled more desperately, and this time I truly heard the desperation in her voice.

I looked at her once more, seeing the sweat already forming on her forehead, the glassy eyes and the tears starting to form. I walked down and crouched down in front of her.

“Will you let me take a look, your highness?” I asked her as softly as I could.

She was hesitant in the beginning but then nodded before removing her hands. I should not really be touching her, but this was an emergency, or at least I had to confirm it was. As soon as I lifted some of her dress showing me her ankle, I saw she hadn’t been lying to me. It was already blue and starting to swell. I groaned tiredly and looked over my shoulder to see the way we had to climb … and she could not walk.

“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly.

I looked back at her and sighed.

“Get on my back.”

“What?”

“On my back. Now.”

She looked at me confused, but then I turned my back to her, and waited. It took a little while before she finally wrapped her arms around my neck, and I was able to lift her from the ground. She instinctively wrapped her legs around my waist, and then I walked over to the start of the hill.

“Can you really climb all the way up there with me on your back?” she asked.

I looked at the hill once more. I was not certain if I could, but I had no choice. She could not walk.

“We will see,” I said, before I started to climb.