The Princess and Her Rogue

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  “I told you, son. I couldn’t do much of anything. Standing against the king and telling him that he’s wrong is just as bad as being the Deceiver himself. It was either be exiled or beheaded. Take your pick.” Randolph was obviously disturbed by such a conversation. Kiara couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “I have a question,” she piped in, “Why does everyone call you Nathan or Nathaniel and you let me call you Nate?”

  The two men looked to her as if they had forgotten she was even there. Randolph took a few deep, slow breaths to calm down, thankful for Kiara’s intervention. Nate seemed to simmer down as well as he addressed the question.

  “I only let those who are very close to me call me Nate. Everyone else calls me Nathan.”

  “Then why do you call him Nathaniel, Randolph?” Kiara asked peaceably.

  “Because I’m his father and I like his given name rather than any nickname. Why do you think I ask you to call me Randolph instead of Randy? I hate that nickname,” he murmured, picking up his and Kiara’s empty bowls to dump them into a bucket by the door to be washed later.

  Nate eyed her with irritation, as if showing his resentment for her changing the subject. Kiara paid no mind to it and watched Randolph as he stood by the door, his back turned to the couple. He breathed a heavy sigh and bowed his head.

  “I’m sorry, son…” he said softly, “I’m sorry for not fighting harder to stay in Aleph. Will you forgive me?”

  Kiara gave a gentle smile to the two of them and waited for the response. Nate struggled with the temptation to say “no”, but there was something in Kiara’s eyes that begged him to let go of his anger just this once. It was hard to resist.

  So, with a heavy heart, Nate nodded. “Yes, I forgive you.”

  Randolph turned back around with a weak grin and walked back to the table to sit next to his son once more. Nate smiled back with just as much strength and Kiara felt proud of herself for amending this broken relationship.

  For the following hour or so, Nate told of his various experiences as an independent. There was a lot to catch up on after so many years. Some parts Kiara was aware of, like being a mercenary and living on his own in the wilderness. But, other parts shocked both Kiara and Randolph, like the stuff about Nate being addicted to women and drink for a year or so. He changed his ways, but that’s how he got mixed up with Tasha and now he was realizing the real error of the mistakes he made.

  Nate still refused to tell anything about Tasha’s cruel trick involving Danny.

  For the next hour, Randolph told embarrassing stories about Nate’s childhood and reminisced upon the glorious past they all had when they lived in Aleph together. He recalled the time that he first met Kiara and all the times the two would play together in the courtyard or stables. He talked of his once tight friendship with Malcolm, Eshean and all the members of the counsel. The three laughed, smiled, blushed and enjoyed the reminiscing on better days.

  When there came a break in conversation, Kiara looked up to Nate with a bright, smiling countenance. He looked just as happy as she was, probably the happiest she had ever seen him. Coincidentally, Nate looked back at her with the same gentle smile and sparks danced in both sets of eyes. In that moment, they fell in love with each other even more. Randolph sensed this and eyed the couple knowingly.

  “Well, I imagine you have come to visit me for a more important reason than to just talk about good times and take some supplies from me. And I have a feeling I have Kiara to thank for this surprise,” Randolph said with unwavering joy.

  Nate smirked and dragged up his sack to the side of his chair to pull out a small parcel wrapped in brown cloth and tied with leather cords. Randolph sat back in his rickety chair and watched as Nate unfolded the wrappings to reveal two particular items.

  “We stopped by the Forger’s before coming across Tsadde Creek and he gave me these things to give back to you,” Nate informed.

  One was a silvery shirt of chain mail, its metal rings slightly rusted with age and noisy as Nate unraveled it to show his father. Randolph smiled and took the shirt of metal from him, observing it carefully with craftsmen eyes while Nate pulled out the next item of interest.

  A sheathed dagger lay outstretched upon the wooden table like an old, sacred artifact. Nate peered at it curiously, but when Randolph saw the dagger, Kiara could see little droplets of water forming at the corners of his eyes.

  “My old knife… I thought I’d lost it or it was stolen,” the old blacksmith said sentimentally, picking up the dagger carefully and slowly drawing the blade from its resting place.

  “What is it?” Kiara asked, examining the wonderful detail of the leather sheath. An emblem was engraved upon it that resembled a crest of some sort. The shield of the crest depicted a spear, ax and sword crossing over each other at a central focal point, with a lion rampant on the left and a dear rampant on the right. Below the crest was carved four simple letters: HUNT. Around the whole of the crest were artistic designs that made Kiara fascinated by who the craftsman could be.

  “This is our family crest. I designed it back when I was just a boy,” Randolph admitted, testing the blade’s dullness.

  Nate looked to his father with a confounded expression. “I though our ancestors are supposed to design it?” he asked.

  “That’s correct, but I don’t know who they are.” Randolph took the sheath from Kiara and slid the dagger back into place. Kiara noticed that the crest had been engraved, also, into the blade of the knife, just above the hilt.

  “How can you not know who they are?” Kiara inquired, as Nate only nodded with understanding. Apparently, he already knew the answer.

  “Well, you see, I didn’t know my father - Nathaniel’s grandfather. I’ve told this story to him a few times before,” Randolph settled into his chair more comfortably, holding the dagger between his hands like he was explaining its story instead of his own, “My mother was a refugee from a disaster long ago. Her house was burned to the ground and her family all killed. She ran to Aleph for safety and Malcolm took her under his wing while she was pregnant with me. Her and I lived in the castle up until I was a young boy, then she found her own place to live in the city with a wealthy blacksmith. I became his apprentice and one of the first things I ever made, was this very blade and sheath.” Randolph handed the whole dagger to Kiara for her probing eyes to study further.

  “Then what happened?” she asked.

  “Well, a few years passed by, I became a man and I fell in love with a lovely milkmaid down the street from my master’s blacksmith shop. We got married and Nate was born. She died shortly after, but I started my own blacksmithing shop on the side of town closer to Malcolm’s castle. The rest, I’m sure you know already.” Randolph gave a kind smile to the two and sat back in his chair.

  “It’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, Randolph. I’m sorry you had to go without it for so long,” Kiara remarked as she placed the dagger back down in front of the old blacksmith, “Why the word ‘HUNT’ underneath the crest?”

  Randolph grinned at the question and glanced to Nate briefly before beginning. “Besides being a blacksmith and armor-maker, both Nate and I have a love for hunting wild game. You hear far too many surnames based off of someone’s profession or status and I thought I should break the mold and create one about our passion instead.”

  “That’s very clever.” Kiara smiled and looked to the two men happily. She felt so blessed to know a pair of gentlemen such as them. They were both so kind and gentle at heart. She couldn’t help but envy the simplicity of their lives and mourn the tragedies of their past. Kiara wished with all that was in her that she could restore this proud family to their rightful place in Aleph.

  “No way am I doing that!” Kiara shrieked, standing outside in front of what must have been an old shack dedicated to burning and smelting metal. Before them was the largest pile of soot Kiara had ever seen, towering up a few feet under the shed. Nate and Randolph stood on either side of her, their arms cros
sed and staring into the black dust.

  “I don’t have any clothes that would fit you, my lady. The only solution I can think of would be to disguise yourself,” Randolph admitted with just as much indignation.

  “But, it’s so filthy!” she exclaimed with a shiver, feeling her soft, clean flesh regretfully, knowing it might not stay that way for long.

  “I swear we’ll wash it all off once we get through Resh Pass. But the road to Yod is long and bound to have some of Deceiver’s soldiers on it. I’m honestly surprised that we haven’t run into any so far,” Nate replied blandly, kicking a pebble into the soot pile. The three watched it sink and disappear into the dirt leaving a puff of dust behind.

  Kiara’s face wrinkled with disgust. “All over my body or just my face?”

  “I would suggest any part of your body that would even have the possibility of showing, such as your head, neck, shoulders, arms and legs,” Randolph said, stooping down to grind a bit of the soot between his fingers to test its texture, “It should be thin enough to go on easily. When you’re done, you’ll look just like Nate’s servant.”

  Kiara didn’t like the idea of disguising herself with dark skin, but the two men had a point. So, with a timid heart, she knelt down before the pile and began scooping up the soot to plaster over her arms and legs.

  “While you’re doing that, I need to have a talk with junior,” Randolph said, taking his son by the arm and pulling him closer to the hut. Kiara was too repulsed by the action of rubbing all that dirt into her clean pores to care much about where they were going.

  Nate took one last amused glance back to Kiara before him and Randolph disappeared behind the side of the cabin.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked his father.

  He discovered how much he really did love his father and how much his father loved him. Nate didn’t blame Randolph for not fighting Malcolm to stay in Aleph. His reasons made sense now and it didn’t seem to matter anymore. It wasn’t like Nate would ever be able to become a knight anyway. He was far too old to begin training and there was no way that he could find a baron to sponsor him. Nate had finally given up the dream and there was no reason to fight fate anymore.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just want to know why you’re doing all of this for Kiara.” Randolph’s face was stern, conveying the seriousness of the conversation.

  “What do you mean? If you saw her being dragged to her death by a bunch of bandits and you recognized her as the daughter of the king, you’d be doing the same thing.”

  “Yes, I admit that I would do my best to get her back home, but I can see the way you look at her when she’s not paying attention. I’ve seen that look before and it’s a dangerous look, Nathaniel.” Randolph waved a scolding finger before his son, who only grinned and folded his arms.

  “And what look is that?” Nate asked.

  “You love her. Or you’re beginning to love her. Either way, it’s bad.”

  Nate wasn’t aware that he was giving so many clues so freely to hint that he had feelings for Kiara. But, his defiant spirit only hardened in defense. “And why is that bad?”

  “So, you do love her!” Randolph exclaimed in a hushed tone.

  “And what if I did? Why is that such a bad thing?”

  “Because she’s a princess and you’re nothing but a poor vagabond, that’s why! Use your head, son.” Randolph laid a caring hand upon Nate’s shoulder. His eyes were saddened and sympathetic for Nate’s situation, but Nate seemed ignorant to the fact that he was putting his heart in great danger.

  “I know who she is and who I am…” Nate’s defenses fell down when the hard reality hit him once again. “But, I still love her. I couldn’t tell you why, I just do.”

  “Oh, believe me, love isn’t explainable in any situation. It just happens and I’m glad it has happened to you, but I’m just not happy about who it’s with… I don’t want you to get yourself hurt. What happens when you two get to Aleph and you have to leave her? You won’t be able to stay…”

  “I know I can’t stay… But, I don’t know what I’ll do when we get to Aleph… I figured I would cross that bridge when we come to it.” Nate’s voice threatened to break under the stress.

  “That bridge is going to come up closer than you think… Will you be ready to let her go?… Can you let her go?”

  A long pause of silence passed between Nate and Randolph as they stared at each other questionably. Nate searched his heart for the answer and found it quicker than he thought.

  “No… I can’t,” he said glumly, then hung his head somberly. Randolph frowned with just as much sorrow and sighed.

  “I pray you find the strength to do it when the time comes… Will you come back here to visit?” he asked.

  Nate looked up and nodded with a half-hearted smile. Randolph returned the smirk and reached to his side to pull out the dagger he had received earlier. With no hesitance, Randolph presented the dagger to his son. At first, Nate wasn’t sure what this meant.

  “I want you to have it,” Randolph announced proudly.

  Nate didn’t know what to say. As a child, Nate was never allowed to even touch this precious relic. Now, his father was giving it to him.

  “What’s the catch?” Nate asked, carefully taking the dagger from his father’s hands, sliding his thumbs over the intricate carvings and designs.

  “When you have a son, give it to him, and give him instructions to give it to his son. I want this knife to be passed down through every generation of Hunts till the end of days.”

  Nate felt unqualified for such a profound task, but he only smiled and nodded like he had been assigned a mission to save the kingdom. Randolph smiled and little droplets of water formed at the corners of his eyes once more. The father and son embraced each other again with love and compassion.

  As Nate and Kiara rode away from Randolph’s cabin in the small wagon he had provided, they began to question if this disguise would work. Kiara did look exactly like a dark slave woman, but her green eyes were unable to be hidden against all the soot. What’s worse was that rain clouds were forming overhead and threatened to pour down on their charade.

  Kiara kept the hood of the cloak that Randolph had given her, hanging low upon her face to shield her eyes and to block out any possible raindrops that might fall on her cheeks. The two traveled along the bumpy road, using two of Randolph’s strongest donkeys to pull along the supplies. Randolph had generously given them the left over stew from lunch, even though it was less than appetizing, as well as a coil of rope, some fire wood and even spare arrows for their bow. The wagon was about half the size of Mr. Forger’s and not as luxurious. It was only comprised of a back cargo area and one bench seat, just big enough for the couple to sit next to each other. However, the bench seat wasn’t big enough for them to provide elbowroom. So, as Nate was handling the reins of the two donkeys, Kiara was forced to scrunch herself in and balance on the far edge of the wagon to even allow an inch of room between the two.

  All along the way, the two were silent, only making a few comments about Randolph’s hospitality, the scenery and the condition of the supplies and donkeys. Kiara found it very hard to think of anything to talk about with Nate. To be truthful, she felt even more nervous around him than before. He had been staring at her and giving misleading glances that made her heart flutter so much it was unbearable to meet his gaze.

  An hour or so of bottom-busting ride in the wagon, they finally came upon the city of Yod. And, just as predicted, it was swarming with soldiers and knights, patrolling the roads and the streets of the city. All but the civilians were dressed in black and red armor uniforms of metal and chain mail, with long, sharp swords strapped to their belts.

  Kiara felt her hands begin to perspire with anxiety, so she hid them under her cloak as they passed the grave soldiers. Nate kept his eyes and head down, as did Kiara, but it wasn’t enough to just appear inconspicuous. They eyed her suspiciously, but none stopped the travelers almost the entire way through
town.

  “Halt!” one soldier finally called out as lightning split the sky and thunder crashed overhead. Kiara was startled, but she kept her face down as a band of rebel soldiers approached the wagon.

  “Who are you and where are you going?” the captain of the soldiers asked with unwavering authority.

  “My name is Nicolas and this is my slave, Katana. We’re just passing through Yod to reach a trading post close to Resh Pass,” Nate said confidently, appearing very bold and aggressive, unlike the timid Kiara.

  The man looked unconvinced, then moved around to the back of the wagon to examine its contents while the rest kept their hands on the hilt of their swords, ready for battle and preventing the travelers from passing down the road. Kiara only kept her eyes downcast to her lap, hoping that no one would see her shivering violently.

  After a few moments, the captain nodded to his men and they parted to either side of the street to allow passage for Nate and Kiara. Nate smacked the reins against the rears of the donkeys and they began to plod down the road once more. Kiara let out a shaky breath of relief as the wagon passed by the blockade of soldiers.

  The wagon was just approaching the edge of the city when a huge gust of wind came wafting along the road. Nate paid no mind to it and even found it refreshing to cool off the sweat from his brow, but Kiara was the one in danger.

  All at once, the hood of the cloak came flying off and the rain began to sprinkle down. Kiara, in a panic, looked up to reveal her infamous emerald eyes to the public and groped for the hood that fell behind her neck. Her now muddy palms were showing - all of the sweat smearing the soot make up - and the rain wasn’t helping any better as it created little white dots all over Kiara’s forehead and arms.

  It was too late for the hood to save her now. Nate saw what was happening so he hollered at the donkeys loudly, making them and the wagon bolt off down the road. The soldiers obviously took a notice of this and seeing that Kiara’s true identity was revealed, they all ran after the wagon, calling out for them to “halt in the name of the king!” Of course, they meant the Deceiver, not Malcolm. Some even mounted up on horses and pursued them at a faster pace.