Year 20xx London, England
"You stupid Princess! Get out of the armory and get back to your room!"
"Oh please! It's not like father is going to get mad. I am simply here to inspect the armaments of our Knights."
"You call sliding that shortsword into your dress inspecting? Give me that before you hurt yourself!"
"No!"
The boisterous voices of the young people echoed in the otherwise quiet armory; one, a young man with ashen white hair wearing an ensemble of white leather coat and pants with silver spaulders and armored braces and greaves and a white half-cloak covering his left arm; the other was a young woman wearing a long black victorian dress and had blonde hair and amethyst-colored eyes.
"Jeez! This is why your dad still won't retire! You keep on acting like you're not about to inherit the throne. Like for serious! You're already of age! Stop acting like a teenager already!", the young man said in exasperation while unabashedly plunging his arm into the young lady's low neckline and grabbing the shortsword that was supposedly put inside.
"Kyaaa!", the young lady screamed, "You perverted knave! How dare you unhesitatingly grab my breasts?! Have you no shame as a man?!"
Hearing her overly exaggerated reaction, the young man scowled and simply pulled out the shortsword from the young lady's dress, "Newsflash kid, I am not even the slightest bit turned on by a youngling like you so I am no pervert. Secondly, I do not care what humans consider 'proper' and am not beholden to submit to your stupid rules and lastly-!", the young man throws the shortsword back into a shelf of weapons, "-your dad is an old friend who owes me quite a bit of favors so he won't judge me like a dumb doting dad even if I go fondle your immature breasts a bit.", he declares so with a snort.
The young lady covered her chest and looked offended, "I beg your pardon?! You dare call my perfect beauty, immature?!", her tone was obviously one of vexation.
However, the young man was unfazed, "Yeah. If you want to turn me on, at least be on the level of your airheaded mother. Though to be honest, comparing your dumb look to her effortless criminally god-like seductive form, is just plain unfair if all the men here look at it objectively.", the young man continued to spout words that clearly offended the young woman.
"Why you-!", pushed to the brink by the young man's words, the young woman angrily stomped towards him, raised her hand and was about to slap his face to kingdom come but then...
"Milord! Have you found the Princess?", the voice of another knight entered the room, causing the young woman-the Princess, to stop mid-swing.
Still unfazed, "Yeah. The damned nitwit is here. We're coming out so ready the escorts!", the young man replied before turning to the other direction and walking off.
The Princess-now suddenly without anyone to direct her anger to, shrugged in resignation as she looked at the figure of the young man walking out of the armory with dignified steps as if he was marching across the streets of London.
'Why do I even bother...', she thought to herself before begrudgingly following him out of the armory.
*****
"This sucks!", the Princess grumbled as she jumped into her bed and burying her face into her pillow in frustration.
"What does?", the voice of the young man asked.
The Princess felt a vein pop in her head and immediately, she turned to face the young man whom she saw was simply sitting without care on a chair before her dresser while reading a book.
"Why does father keep on forcing me to do those things?!", the Princess complained.
Without even taking his eyes off of the book, "Do what? Make you attend marriage interviews?", the young man asked back.
"Muu!", the Princess puffed her cheeks in annoyance at the young man's nonchalant response. She didn't like his answer one bit. His callous tone and nonchalance was already worsening the Princess' already sour mood.
Probably sensing her displeasure, the young man closed the book he was reading with a sigh then faced her, "Look kid, I'm not one to be too thrilled about it but it is pretty necessary for you right now because of the war. Since your father and I often take to the field, it is obvious that sooner or later he or I-or even both of us will lose our lives. Since you are his only child, you will have to follow tradition; you will need a king to rule beside you in these troubling times."
Hearing his words, the Princess could only look down dejectedly. She too understood the importance of what her father was having her do, however-
"Can't I just at least be allowed to choose who to be with?"
-she did not want a marriage devoid of love just like any other young maiden would wish for.
She knows she was being selfish by clinging to such an irrational thing at such times where every part of the world are in the midst of a war. But she just couldn't let go of that small wish of hers even though she could clearly see that without a king, England would be done for.
The young man stood from his seat and then moved to sit beside the Princess, "You know Princess, I've been alive for far longer than you. I've seen things you cannot imagine...lost many of the things I hold dear. For sure, you have yet to experience such things but let me tell you this now, one day, when you ascend the throne, you will need the support of a man willing to lay down his life for you at the drop of a hat. Shouldering the responsibility of a kingdom at war is no walk in the park.", his tone wasn't the same callous and sarcastic one he usually uses, "It's not that I doubt your capabilities because you're a woman, I say this because your father and I know that feeling all too well before he even became king and I became a leader of the army. Sure you are a strong and dependable woman, but there are just so many things you cannot do just because you're a Queen.", it was a tone someone who was far older than the Princess would naturally have. Something that was unexpected from someone who looked young enough to pass as a young man in his early twenties.
The Princess looked at the young man who now had a melancholic look on his otherwise indifferent face. On it, the Princess saw the face of a man who definitely did not live a normal life; one so weary she could only imagine if the young man even had a chance for a decent rest for a long while.
'Please do not make that face...', the Princess thought.
She knows all too well the harsh conditions warriors like the young man had to face on a daily basis as she had once had the opportunity to take to the battlefield at the insistence of her father and a glimpse of that hell was more than enough for her to not want to see it again if she could help it.
Just imagining the young man who came from such a hellish place make that face even though he was no longer there most of the time just makes the Princess' heart ache.
"Granted, I may not be a Knight of England, Princess nitwit; But if the time comes, and when you still don't have that 'king' beside you, I would lay down my life to protect you. Of course, only until you find that 'king'.", the young man finished jokingly.
Hearing his words, the Princess felt a tinge of relief as she saw the young man's expression soften slightly.
"Then what about when I do find that 'king'?", the Princess asked with a smile.
"I'd dodge whatever it is that's headed for you. It's the King's duty to protect his Queen not mine who is a total stranger.", the young man scoffed causing the Princess to giggle.
"Anyway, go get yourself changed already and get to sleeping. You have a long day tomorrow!", the young man ordered as he got off the bed with a harrumph.
"Would you be so kind as to help me change?", the Princess jokingly asked. Obviously trying to tease the young man. However-
"Ho~? So you're that confident eh? Very well, don't complain if you end up getting more than what you bargained for."
-the young man took that as a challenge and responded in kind.
"Eh? Wait! I was just joking! Wai-!"
"Off with your clothes!"
"KYAAAAAA!"
The regretful wail of the Princess echoed into the night and would soon be a memory she would never be able to regret.
*****
"Your Majesty, we have arrived at Lambeth Bridge."
"Hm? Oh.", Olivia wakes up from her sleep as the a Knight called out to her.
"You seemed to have a peaceful sleep, Mother.", Amber, who sat across her, teased.
"Mm. I just had the most amusing dream from a time long passed.", Olivia replied with a wry smile.
"Enough to actually make you smile while sleeping? Must be quite the memory then.", Amber chuckled.
Olivia, felt her heart warm when she looked at her happy daughter.
'How long ago was it? When I last experienced such a feeling?', Olivia thought with a bit of nostalgia as she looked out the window of the car.
Her eyes, long since lacking of its original luster, scanned the surroundings as she got out of the car and stepping unto the now ruined bridge. Everywhere she looked, pillars of smoke rose in the horizon causing her to sigh dejectedly. But then her eyes drifted down to the banks of the river.
"Mother?", Amber asked.
Olivia continued to stare at the banks of the river Thames that was now filled with many Knights who were either getting out the river or descending towards the banks. When she saw the wisps of ash-white hair and blonde hair moving along the banks, she instantly recognized the two who were obviously bickering with each other even when viewed from afar.
This made Olivia smile even more as she felt the nostalgia intensify as she looked on towards her other daughter who is now bickering with her beloved as she was being carried on his back.
"Nothing my dear Amber. I just thought...", Olivia sighed in relief, "Some things don't seem to change even after decades pass..."