The king looked to Justin with perpexity and was answered with a knowing gaze. Malcolm understood and looked to Eshean for advice, but the old man only shrugged and let the king make this decision.
Malcolm sighed and turned to the malignant Sir Claude, “Retrieve them, Sir Claude. We do not leave until they return.”
Meanwhile, in town, Kiara and Nate were riding casually along the roads of Aleph, smiling to each other and their surroundings.
“Has it changed much since you were here last?” Kiara asked.
Nate let out a sigh and shook his head. “Not much.”
“What’s different that you can tell?”
“Just some stores and businesses have switched owners, but the buildings haven’t changed… It’s refreshing to be back.”
Kiara grinned to Nate as they came closer to the southern half of town, where Heather’s orphanage was located. “Are you enjoying yourself so far?”
“Of course. If I’m with you, I’m always enjoying myself. Why do you think I came along with you?” Nate replied playfully.
Kiara giggled and shook her head. “No, I meant enjoying yourself in town.”
Nate chuckled and nodded, “Yes, I am… Although I never realized how many people were not as well off. I always thought of Aleph as a very rich city.”
The princess looked down in regret. “Unfortunately, that conception is half the reason why most people don’t offer any help to people here. They think that Malcolm takes very good care of them, and he does, but there is only so much he can do. In smaller towns, there is less people and more work to go around. Here, many families who lose the man of the household suffer dearly because the women do not work and both them and their children need continuous help. Malcolm is not aware of many of the families who need that kind of help, so he doesn’t give them the care they need.”
“But, you do.”
Kiara looked up to Nate and found comfort in his encouraging smile. “Yes, I do… I suppose I feel a sort of attachment to them because of my childhood and background, so I feel somewhat obligated to help them when I can.”
“So, you do this freely or out of conviction?” Nate asked, their horses still plotting along slowly down the dirt road.
“Sort of both. I love to see the face of a thankful family when I give them food or money. But, at the same time, I do feel convicted to help someone in need when I have so much to give.”
Nate gazed lovingly at his princess, admiring her kind and generous heart. “You and Sir Claude would have butted heads a lot.”
“Why do you say that?” Kiara asked.
“He’s very prejudice against anyone of a lower class than him. If you became his wife, he would probably force you to stop giving to the poor.”
Kiara paused in reflection and nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right… Although, if he is prejudice against those lower than him, he should hate me because of my past.”
“Yeah, but he most likely doesn’t know about that. If he knew, then he would probably cancel the engagement very quickly.”
That idea made the couple grin slyly. Kiara could just imagine the startled look on Sir Claude’s face if she told him about her background and real family.
As they continued along, they came closer to Heather’s orphanage, where children were playing happily in the streets. When they saw Kiara approaching upon her white horse, they screeched with delight and ran towards her with outstretched arms.
Kiara laughed and quickly climbed off of her horse so that the children would not swarm the poor animal. One by one, they all gathered around her like little dogs, hugging and begging for attention. Kiara gladly embraced each one and gave little remarks or comments to them. Nate, still on his horse, watched from a distance with a smile, finally realizing why Kiara would have had such a hard time running away from her home and friends. These people loved her too much for her to leave them.
Soon, Heather came walking out to usher the children back inside so she could welcome Kiara properly.
“And to what do we owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?” Heather asked, hugging Kiara tightly.
“We’ve come with some food and money, Miss Heather,” Kiara replied happily, untying a large pack that had been strapped behind her saddle. Nate, in turn, reached behind and pulled down his own sack. The children that remained immediately groped with their dirty hands to get to the two bags.
Nate dismounted and took the two large packs, cradling one on each of his strong shoulders, into the little home to place on the table while Kiara and Heather stayed outside, leading the two horses toward a hitching post.
“You really are too kind, my lady. Your brother, Prince Justin, took over your duties to us and brought some food occasionally. But, with his visits, he was unable to stay long. The children have missed you dearly. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that you had died as all the rest had believed. I simply told them that you were away on a quest to help more orphans in other cities. It would have crushed them to tell the truth.”
“I understand. But, the journey was much more exciting than that, I assure you,” Kiara said with a giggle.
Heather looked from the horses to the house where she could hear Nate passing out bits of breakfast to the children. “I can imagine… If you don’t mind me asking, do you know Nathaniel well?”
Kiara blushed and grinned as she looked back to the house as well and gingerly stroked the mane of her horse. “We actually were childhood friends. He and his father worked up at the castle for my father, but they were banished unjustly to beyond the mountains. As you heard, I was captured by bandits and Nate rescued me… Oh, but how I could go into the many adventures we had together. It’d be enough to fill up volumes of books. We really have been through a lot together.”
Heather noticed the whimsical look in Kiara’s eye as she talked of Nate and smiled. “Yes, I know. I was the first of Aleph to see you and Nate return.”
Kiara looked to Heather with a quizzical smile and waited for her to explain.
“Well, I had just gotten the children to go to sleep when I stepped outside and saw poor Nathaniel carrying you on his back into town. I came up to ask if he needed help and he said that he needed to get you back to your father. I was so relieved to see you alive, but you looked dreadful that night, my lady. I loaned him my cart and my neighbor let him borrow a horse to pull it.”
Kiara listened with a fanciful smile. “Oh, how romantic of him. Carrying me? Really?… I am very grateful for your help, Miss Heather.”
Heather bowed her head and lightly blushed. “It was an honor, my lady… But, when I watched you two disappear into the night, I had to wonder what connection you two had, relationship wise. Don’t think me impertinent, but I thought you two to be in love. The way he was so determined to save you and the way he looked at you, even when you were unconscious, it made me think something had happened between you two to spark a romance… Am I right?”
Kiara couldn’t hold back her smile and she nodded. “Yes, we are in love. Oh, but it is so hard to be. It isn’t right for us to be in love, but we are. I don’t know what to do, Miss Heather. My father would surely disapprove of it and none of my wealth would be carried over to him. I would become as poor as he and then I shan’t be able to help anyone.”
Heather took the princess’ hand in her own and held it tightly. “You don’t need to help us, my lady. Your presence and kindness is enough to keep our hopes alive… I know you’re not a princess by blood, but you are in the heart and that is what matters most to us. Follow your heart, my lady.”
The princess smiled, silently contemplating these things in her heart.
Kiara and Heather entered the orphanage and found a very strange sight. The children were all quiet, sitting on the dirt floor, looking up to Nate with wide, starry eyes. Nate was sitting in a chair in front of them all, in the midst of telling a very exciting story. All were captivated by his words.
“The princess was surrounded by w
olves, backed up against a cliff with no where to go. She was terrified, shaking in her boots, calling out for help from anyone who would hear her… Then, the leader of the wolf pack came up and pounced straight at her with razor-sharp fangs and claws out, ready to rip her to shreds!” Nate mimicked the wolf’s fierce posture and pretended to pounce at an unsuspecting little girl sitting near him. She shrieked and scurried out of the way, giggling as she hid behind her sister.
Everyone else was too absorbed in the tale to notice the ladies had entered the room to listen. Kiara couldn’t contain her grin at the scene.
“But, just as the wolf was about to latch its jaws around the princess, I ran up and shot an arrow straight through the beast’s neck!” Nate pretended to pull back an invisible bow and release it into the air. “I shouted to get the wolves’ attention and they all came running at me, ready to make me their meal instead of the princess. I took out my knife,” - Nate actually pulled out his knife from its sheath - “and began slashing at the animals one by one.”
The little girls swooned at how romantic the story was, while the men began dreaming of becoming as brave as him.
“But, one wolf got the better of me. It snuck up behind and bit right into my shoulder!” The children cried out in protest at this unpleasant turn, while Kiara just giggled. “But that didn’t stop me! I grabbed the beast by the scruff of the neck and slammed it into another wolf and kept slashing through the monsters until they scattered with their tails between their legs.”
Nate sat back, satisfied with the amazed faces of the children around him.
“Did you really do all of that, Sir Nathaniel?” asked a little girl sitting near him. Kiara tried to hold in a laugh as they thought he was a knight.
“Indeed, I did. Here, I’ll show you the scar to prove it,” Nate replied with enthusiasm as he pulled back his tunic collar to show the recovering bite marks on his shoulder, laced up with black stitches. The children all gathered around and gawked at the nasty wound.
“Is it true?” Heather asked Kiara in a hushed tone. The princess nodded and smiled to the lady and watched Nate and the children. She never knew that he liked kids. And even if he didn’t like them, he seemed to get along with them just fine anyway.
“Nate, I believe we need to be going back,” Kiara called out. Nate nodded and stood up, much to the dismay of the children.
“Tell us another story!” they cried.
“I’ll come back to tell you more another day,” Nate promised, stepping his way through the children to join Kiara at the door.
The princess smiled coyly at him and they left the orphanage out after bidding goodbye to Heather and the children. Nate and Kiara mounted their horses once more and trotted towards the city gates.
“You never told me you liked children,” Kiara commented as they steered their horses around to follow along the inside of the eastern wall.
“It never really came up in a conversation,” he replied with a shrug.
“Do you intend to tell them all the stories of our adventure?” Kiara teased.
“Of course… Some stories I might leave out, though.”
“Which ones?”
Nate thought for a moment. “Probably the boring ones.”
Kiara giggled. “None of them were boring to me.”
“That’s because you were in them, my lady,” Nate said slyly, leaning over and planting a sweet kiss on Kiara’s lips before turning back to their long path.
The princess couldn’t stop smiling, then an intriguing idea came to mind. “Hey, how about we have a race?”
“A race? To where?” Nate asked, glancing from the road to Kiara.
“Back to the castle. It’s a straight shot from here and no one will get in our way. And whoever wins will get a kiss from the loser.”
“But, there’s no motivation for me to win,” Nate whined. Kiara looked to him with puzzlement. “I like giving and receiving kisses from you,” he continued. “So it doesn’t matter if I win or lose, I’m still happy and I still get a kiss. Where’s the logic in that?”
Kiara laughed and shook her head at his silliness. “There isn’t any. That’s the point!” she exclaimed before kicking her horse to bolt forward, stealing a head start.
Nate called after her teasingly and followed swiftly, catching up at an alarming speed. Kiara looked over her shoulder and saw Nate getting closer and closer, so she coaxed her horse faster onward. The two raced all along the eastern wall, laughing, the wind blowing through their hair, and the rest of the world seeming so distant.
Then, when they were just about a mile away from the castle gates, their path was blocked by another rider, looking extremely angered to see them enjoying themselves. Kiara yielded her horse to a slow stop before she collided into Sir Claude. Nate trotted up soon after and received a nasty glare from the knight.
“What are you doing? Did you not hear the trumpet?” Sir Claude questioned harshly.
“We did hear it, but we thought it was just a call for the knights, not squires,” Kiara answered, placing herself between Sir Claude and Nate, knowing that they did not favor each other.
“It was a call for all fighters to assemble. We’re moving out this instant,” Sir Claude barked at Nate. “You are to go straight to the armory, don your suit of armor, get your weapons and horse and report to Justin and the king.”
Nate didn’t respond, but only stared discontentedly at Sir Claude, gave one last look to Kiara, then galloped up to the castle, upset that he did not get his prize. Kiara and Sir Claude were left alone together, but the knight still seemed furious.
Just as Kiara was about to make her way back to the castle, Sir Claude moved his horse in her way. “What are you doing out here with that rat and without a chaperone?” the knight questioned with hatred laced in his tone.
Kiara suddenly grew defensive and glared at Sir Claude for such an insult. “He is not a rat and I went into town to deliver some goods to the less fortunate. He came along to help me. Nothing more.” She steered her horse around Sir Claude, but he grabbed her arm to hold her back.
“You are not to associate with him. You’re a princess and he’s only a squire. I forbid it!” Sir Claude’s grip on her arm tightened, bruising her sensitive skin.
“I will do as I please, Sir Claude, and if you can not accept it then I will give the ring back,” Kiara glowered, twisting her arm free.
“You are to be my wife and you will do as I say!”
“I am not your wife yet and if I am to be your wife then you should know that I do not take orders from pompous, arrogant, judgmental cretins like yourself! And if you can not accept that then we should not get married at all!” Kiara shouted, feeling all the rage she had bottled up exploding all in one intense moment.
The back of Sir Claude’s hand came flying up to strike her cheek, but Kiara quickly ducked and escaped as fast as she could back up to the castle. Sir Claude was left there, so angry that he could kill them both. He had never been so insulted in his life and his pride, severely wounded by her remarks.
Back at the castle, Nate rode in swiftly, tying up his horse at a post near the stables, then squeezed through the anxious crowd of warriors to make his way to the armory. Waiting at the door, was Justin who had a very disgruntled look upon his face. The prince pulled Nate inside the armory and they quickly began the process of armoring up.
“What were you thinking?” Justin asked, free to speak in the privacy of the empty armory.
“What do you mean?” Nate replied, still frazzled by Sir Claude’s interference.
“Taking Kiara to town without anyone’s permission. You didn’t even let me know where you were going. We’ve been waiting for you to show up. Malcolm refuses to leave without everyone present,” Just explained as he pulled out a padded gambeson and shirt of chain mail.
“I didn’t take her to town. She had permission to go from Eshean and she invited me to come along. I accepted her invitation. Why is everyone getting mad at me for
spending time with a friend?”
“Because, I know that you two are more than just friends.” Justin’s tone suggested that he was growing increasingly frustrated.
Nate looked up to him in confusion. “What would give you reason to think that?”
“I saw you two in the courtyard after banquet last night. Don’t act stupid with me. Sir Claude saw you too, just so you are aware.”
“So, that’s why he’s been looking pissed off lately,” Nate remarked with rolling eyes as Justin clothed him in the chain mail.
“This is nothing to joke about, Nathan. You know the situation that you have put Kiara into. She is engaged to Sir Claude. She has given her word and her father expects her to follow through with it. You need to respect that and back off.”
Just then, Sir Claude entered the armory and slammed the door behind him. He marched up to Nate and threw a hard punch right into his jaw, sending Nate falling to the floor. Justin quickly stepped between them and pushed Sir Claude back so Nate had the chance to recover.
“She’s mine, you rogue! You hear me? I’m going to marry her and there is nothing you can do about it!” Sir Claude shouted angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Nate.
“Claude, calm down. We need to talk about this in a civil manner,” Justin scolded, still trying to hold back the infuriated knight as Sir Claude tried to push his way past to throw another punch at Nate.
“I’ll kill you if I so much as see you touch her again, you worthless bag of scum!” Sir Claude threatened.
Nate stood back up, rubbing his jaw, angry and his eyes blazing with fury. “Why? You don’t love her. You only want to control her! You wouldn’t care one bit about her if she were a peasant! You just want her as a trophy, nothing more! You can’t possibly love her! You don’t even know her!” Nate screamed back.
“I do love her! She’s a beautiful princess. Why shouldn’t I love her?”
“That’s all you care about is that she’s beautiful. Do you know her passions? Her interests? Do you love everything from the way she talks when she’s nervous to the way she laughs? How can you possibly love someone half your age? That’s just sick!”
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 51