Knight

by RA. Gil

  A few seconds of silence and Valeriana whined again, the guard grunted in annoyance at her continuous bothersome complains but didn't pay attention to her demands nonetheless.

  “I need to do something or I'm going to go insane!”

  She stood up from the bed and stretched her stiff muscles. The bed made groaning noises as she popped her knuckles and squared her shoulders. She did nothing but sleep, eat, and stare into space for god knows how long.

  “Watch me whip!” she began. “Watch me nae nae!”

  The guard shot a glance her way curiously, eyeing her as if she was some sort of weirdo. Valeriana ignored him and went on with the task of entertaining herself.

  “Every day I'm shuffling!” She did some shuffling somewhere along the chorus and threw in some random steps along the way since she didn't exactly know the whole choreography.

  The guard looked away, muttering something about kids these days and crazy girls who didn't act properly. Valeriana disregarded his offending comments and continued.

  After she felt worn out from her little dance session, she slowly started to grow bored out of her mind once more. She sat back on her bed and tapped her feet impatiently.

  What was a person supposed to do when practically bored rigid?

  One answer.

  Valeriana chuckled. “Hey, Mr. Guard.” She called.

  “What?”

  “Knock-knock.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Oh I forgot. You don't know knock-knock jokes. When I say knock-knock, you say who's there, 'kay? And for example I said Mickey, you say Mickey who? alright?”

  “Will this keep you quiet?”

  “I dunno. Maybe.” She shrugged.

  “Alright.” He reluctantly agreed.

  “Knock-knock.”

  “Who's there?”

  “Banana.”

  “Banana who?”

  “Knock-knock.”

  The guard hesitated. “Who's there?”

  “Banana.”

  “Banana who?”

  “Knock-knock.”

  “Who's there?”

  “Banana.”

  The guard sighed. “Banana who?”

  “Knock-knock.”

  “Who's there?”

  “Orange.”

  The guard perked up. “Orange who?”

  “Orange you glad I didn't say banana?” Orange sounded very much like aren’t.

  The poor guard leaned back in his seat with a grunt while Valeriana burst out laughing from her seat. They carried on like that and the guard didn't respond to her anymore—although she continued talking to him, trying to annoy him. She sometimes laughed by herself maniacally although nothing was funny.

  She was going crazy.

  -*-

  When Valeriana finally got tired trying to annoy the guard, she decided to lie back down and stare at the ceiling of her cell.

  She started humming the tune of an unknown lullaby she heard from somewhere. The tune somehow made her miss home. She was wondering what kind of reaction her mom was having now that she didn't come back like she was supposed to.

  She sighed. How exactly was she going to get herself out of this situation?

  She heard a light snore.

  Her head snapped towards the guard on duty. He obviously fell asleep on that chair when everything finally quieted down. The poor man was probably tired from guarding her all day and night. He wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

  Valeriana relaxed, but then tensed immediately as a thought popped into her head. She glanced at the form of the sleeping man and saw a ring of keys hanging from his belt. He wasn't actually that far. A little effort to reach it and she was sure to get her hands on it.

  The girl rolled her eyes. “This isn't a good idea . . .” She whispered.

  It was a crazy idea . . . but it didn't feel right for Valeriana to just sit by waiting for the next thing to happen. She wasn't sure about what those weird people would do with her. She wasn't willing to stay to know about their final decision. Whatever it might be, she was certain it wasn't anything pleasant.

  She stood from her creaking bed, trying to stay as quiet as possible. When she reached the side of the cell where the guard was closest to, she stuck her arms through the bars and eyed the glinting ring that held the key to her freedom. She stretched her limb to its fullest extent until she was finally able to grasp the ring and snatch it close to her chest.

  Realizing that she hadn't breathed for a while, she inhaled heavily and exhaled noisily through her nose. The guard stirred in his sleep, making the girl flinch. She remained still from where she was and eyed his movements, hoping he wouldn't awaken just yet.

  When he didn't, Valeriana was able to relax. She went through the collection of keys and found that there were numerous of them in one ring. She sighed problematically, deciding to try and see which one would open the door to her cell.

  They clanged noisily every time she moved, so the girl tried to minimize her movements as much as possible. Eventually, the fifth one she tried worked and the door finally opened. A bubble of excitement welled up in Valeriana's chest. She couldn't help but smile at her success and jump elatedly from where she stood.

  Wasting no time, she pushed the doors open. She heard a loud creaking noise as it moved on its hinges and felt the guard on duty groan while it did. She went still for a second, staring at him with wide eyes. He woke up within a few moments and caught Valeriana standing outside the place where she was supposedly locked in.

  “Hey!”

  Heart jumping to her throat, Valeriana turned hot on her heels and bolted to a sprint. She went as fast as her feet could take her, throwing a look over her shoulder to find the guard scrambling to get up and eventually coming after her.

  She ran through the long, dim halls and turned to random directions hoping it would take her somewhere that led out of the building. The footsteps behind her grew louder. She heard the occasional demands for her to stop and their little chase apparently caught a lot of attention that a few more guards began to join in.

  “Stop! Stop right now!”

  “Oh my god!”

  She urged herself to run faster, throwing the things she found along the way towards them to slow them down. Her little tactic was old and overused, but it worked like a charm. The guards finally lost sight of her until the current path she took broke into two different directions. She took no time hesitating and dashed to the right, knowing that they would probably split up at that point to continue the chase.

  She saw a flight of stairs and dashed for it, taking two steps at a time until she finally reached the top.

  Air puffing from her mouth, she saw a door to her left. A woman dressed in a casual dress holding a woven basket entered it while humming. She caught a small peek of where it led to and saw a ray of bright light that hopefully came from the sun and . . . was that a garden?

  She dashed towards the door unhesitatingly. The door was closed by the woman right when she was in front of it.

  “Waittttt!” She exclaimed.

  She collided with her along the way, causing a bunch of fresh fruits to roll on the floor. She caught the frustrated glare of the woman, so she returned it with a sheepish smile instead. She whispered a small but sincere apology towards her before turning to face the door.

  “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!”

  “Wait! That portal is—don't!”

  She burst through the doors and was mildly shocked when the garden she thought she saw was replaced by . . . something else.

  She looked back to the direction she came from and saw that she actually came out of a gate that led inside a small structure—like a storage room. She felt her brows furrow in confusion. She just went through a maze of corridors and she went out of a small building like that? How was that possible?

  A boy strutted by with a girl under his arms. They bore the same style of clothes, but that wasn't what Valeriana noticed—it was the thing he had strapped around his wai
st.

  It looked like a sword.

  “Sorry!” She exclaimed, pulling it off along with the scabbard.

  “Wha—hey! That's mine!”

  She scrammed to leave, hearing the guards chasing her catching up. She rounded a corner and pressed herself against the wall, panting. She held the sheathed sword in front of her.

  “Split up!” He heard a yell.

  She shut her eyes close and breathed in deeply, hearing footsteps coming her way. “Breathe, breathe . . .” She told herself. As the footsteps got louder, she swung her readied weapon and hit the unfortunate person right on the forehead.

  She heard a low grunt of pain as the person she bunked fell right on his behind. Looking past the current position she considered as her safety zone, she saw a guy—who wasn't a guard—lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. He seemed . . . not himself at the moment.

  Shrieking, she exclaimed and started helping him up. “Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I was—”

  She immediately dropped the weapon and tried to lend a hand towards the man while apologizing, only to be brushed off in a rather rude manner that made her cringe.

  “I'm really sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?” She asked worriedly.

  The guy dusted off his clothes and swept back a few strands of the ridiculously long hair he had. Seeing guys with long hair was a rare sight back home, so the girl couldn't help but gawk at the man before her. Although some males weren't suited to wear a hair of that length, it looked quite fitting for him. It gave him an air of elegance somewhat.

  She looked around and saw that they were attracting too much attention. Gazes were directed their way, curious and shocked. Valeriana looked up at him with a panicked expression and she saw him narrowing his eyes at her.

  “I'm sorry.” She apologized once more.

  “I'm fine. Stop apologizing.” He said, annoyance lacing the tone of his voice as he picked up a book Valeriana never noticed. “I should’ve listened when they told me not to read a book while walking. Should I have been aware, I would’ve been able to react properly.” He muttered to himself.

  Valeriana raised a brow at his monologue.

  “And why are you indiscriminately swinging your weapon? That is a major offence against the rules!”

  “I didn’t exactly have a choice.” She said. The way he said it had been offending, and he looked at her funny. “It wasn't my fault you weren’t paying attention.”

  He looked somewhat taken aback as he continued massaging his forehead. It was starting to look really red . . . and bulging.

  He growled and made a face as if preparing to tell her off. His eyes scanned the clothes she was wearing and said, “Who are you? You do not look like a student. What are you doing here in the academy?”

  “I just sort of . . . ran in here. I didn't know.”

  He glared at her. “You didn't know?”

  Valeriana opened her mouth to explain when she heard loud footsteps and loud voices. Glancing once over her shoulder, she tried to run but was stopped when the guy's hands circled her wrist and held her in place.

  “Over there!”

  “I'm sorry . . . can we do this later?” She asked, trying to wretch her hand away from his grip.

  “Tell me what you're doing here.” He demanded.

  “Now is not the time for this!” She exclaimed. “Damn it! Come on!”

  Seeing as the man wasn't willing to let her go, she dragged him with her and began to navigate through another corridor. She absolutely had no idea where she was but it didn't matter. What she wanted to find right now was a place to hide. She was already tired from so much running and her lungs were craving for air.

  “I demand you let me go this instant. I desire not to mishandle women.”

  She ignored him and focused on finding a good hiding place. The place was scarily big that she hoped it would hopefully play to her advantage. She allowed her eyes to rake across her surroundings and found a small, open door that led to a dark and dusty-looking room. Valeriana dragged the guy with her but was halted when he refused to move.

  “What do you think you're doing?”

  “Isn't it obvious? Hiding.” She hissed and yanked him forcibly that he stumbled on his feet.

  Valeriana dragged him into the small, cramped room and pushed him into a dark corner. The girl closed the door behind her as quietly as possible before she squeezed herself in a tiny, cramped space between some old chair and a table.

  The guy didn't look pleased at all. “Why did I allow myself to get dragged into this nonse—”

  He was cut off when Valeriana clamped a hand over his mouth and shushed him to keep quiet. A crease of anger appeared between his brows and he glowered at the girl threateningly. If looks could kill, she would probably be buried six feet underground already.

  They heard a chorus of footsteps echoing outside the door. Valeriana tensed and she felt the guy glaring at her harder. She listened closely to the conversation outside until he decided he wasn't willing to put up with their little game and yanked the girl's hand away from his mouth. Fortunately, her pursuers were gone.

  “I will not get involved in silly trifles such as this.”

  “Shut up and keep quiet!” She hissed at him. “Keep your damn mouth close for a second. You're the one who wanted to come!”

  “Does being dragged and forced to keep quiet come from someone who wanted to come, woman?” He snapped.

  “Well, you obviously didn't want to let go!”

  “Because you wouldn't answer me.” He argued. “Those guards were after you. You must be a convict.”

  “I am not a convict! I was kidnapped and being held against my will!”

  He made another sound of annoyance before he stood up and began to head out. “I can bear this no longer.”

  “What the hell do you think you're doing?!” The girl stood up and seethed.

  “Leaving, of course.” He stopped before shooting Valeriana a look over his shoulder. “Each second I spend with you only gets me more agitated. Do not drag me into this nonsense.”

  “I did not ask you to spend time with me.”

  “Said the one who dragged me along.”

  “Like I said—you did not let go!” She stomped her feet and scowled at him, clenching her fists.

  He looked away with a snarl and burst through the door, causing it to hit the wall with a loud bang. “You obstinate, stupid commoner.”

  He took long strides out of the room and left Valeriana in a state of shock with widened eyes at his statement. When she finally snapped out of her trance, she went after him while fuming and almost screamed.

  “What the hell did you call me? Stuck up, idiot prick!”

  The guy gritted his teeth as his brow made a visible twitch of aggravation. “Wench!” He marched towards her with heavy footsteps, hair flowing behind him. “I'll have you learn your place! Have you no breeding? First, you hit me and now this?! You're testing my patience!”

  “I am not a dog.” She told him.

  “Learn your place. I am of noble—”

  “So that’s what you’ve been going on about since a while ago!” She exclaimed. “Well, then, tell me, oh proud one.” She mockingly smiled. “What do you think is a noble without a commoner?”

  Full of anger, his hand moved on its own. His fingers shot off in a flash and he had Valeriana pinned against the wall, his fingers tight around her neck. The girl could barely register what happened. She only felt the overwhelming impact of the wall against her back, causing her eyes to go wide from the unexpected course of pain it caused.

  “I've had enough.” He growled. “You'll stay here until those guards find you. I do not care what you're running away from.”

  Valeriana was about to open her mouth to retaliate when a sound suddenly cut her off.

  “Unhand the girl, Corvan.”

  He turned to meet the eyes of the owner of the voice.

  “Headmaster Kylon?” The guy
who held her by the neck remarked.

  “What did I tell you, headmaster? This girl has grit.” Another voice chuckled. The familiarity of it sent shivers down Valeriana's spine, making her whole body rigid in the process. “You can let her go now, Lord Corvan. Poor girl won't even stand a chance against your strength. She's very fragile you see.”

  The guy, apparently named Corvan, reluctantly released her. “Be thankful.”

  “Yeah. Sure. Thanks for nothing.” She leered at him. “And I'm not fragile.”

  She craned her neck and followed the sound of slow-paced footfalls. Valeriana found herself staring at a pair of shiny, black boots. Dragging her gaze, she spotted belted black trousers paired with a white tunic that flared loosely around the sleeves. Three buttons were undone and exposed the man's smooth chest.

  Valeriana's face heated up as she realized she was ogling him. She, instead, fixed her eyes on the face of the handsome man. He had pale-white hair, cut in layered locks that framed his handsome face accordingly. His eyes were a shade of charming pink—they were expressive and emanated some kind of seductive allure.

  The other one was a middle-aged man with ash blond hair. He wore a permanent smile on his face, making the dimples on his cheeks evident. He also had smile lines on each corner of his eyes, giving him an air of a happy-go-lucky kind of person.

  “Well, if you say so.” The mysterious man finally replied.

  Valeriana tilted her head to the side in slight confusion, trying to tap into her memory. She was sure she heard that voice somewhere before. “L-lord Aeron!” She gasped, trying to hide her shock when the realization dawned on her.

  “Grit is an understatement.” The other man said.

  “A fact.” Lord Aeron agreed. “To think that she would break out from detainment to find a way to escape . . . a daring youth indeed.”

  Valeriana looked around in panic. Guards came from all possible directions, blocking probable routes of escape. The girl was finally besieged. She gulped in trepidation, staring at their glinting weapons that were pointed at her direction.

  “I'm damned.” She whispered under her breath.