Chapter 04: Princess in Ditress
Riding with their horses at the muddy trail towards the foot of the mountain was strenuous. Adding that they wore the heavy armor for training almost made the steeds submit to exhaustion. Yet for her, it was a journey as memorable as the time they went to the steaming lake yesterday.
Morrigan and she rode alongside each other. Chatting about anything they could think of. From different birds flying high above them to the lore of the old kingdom. They only noticed the time when the sky began to darken.
The Lord Knight halted his horse and turned to them to yell, "Alright, men! We camp here for the night. We will continue our journey tomorrow when the first light breaks down."
They decided to set up camp a little farther than the other trainees with them. After the novices teased them both that they sounded like little girls blabbering.
The Lord Knight called them all to gather in front of the fire and gave them a task to hunt for animals as part of their training. With daggers in hand, they stepped into the wilderness.
Facing the danger of meeting a wild cat or a wolf did not frighten her. The aspiring knight followed her closely as they searched the ground for holes to catch a wild rabbit. Deep into the nearby forest.
"Princess Matilda…," Morrigan whispered.
"Sshhhh! Don't call me that! Someone might hear you," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but you will never be a queen…,"
"W-What?" she asked, baffled by the novice's words.
Turning her head, she saw the shimmering dagger glisten as its sharp edge reflected the light of the moon. Held by the knight-to-be while aiming at her neck.
"Morrigan?"
"I apologize, your highness, but I was ordered to kill you," the novice's voice was cold as the night.
"By whom?"
"By my father."
"Sir Wulfric? Why?" she asked, bewildered by the knowledge that the hero she hailed wanted to end her life.
"The Lord Knights don't want to serve a queen."
"They want my cousin, Sir Stephen, to succeed to the throne?" she asked.
"Yes, your highness."
The betrayal felt like a sharp knife lunged on her narrows. Yet, even if she felt her throat constrict, she made her voice confident for her knight.
"You promised to kiss me when I become a queen. How will you do that if you kill me?" she reminded her of the promise.
"Then, I have no other choice but to kiss you now, and wish that you would be a strong queen in your next life, like you dreamed to be."
"Thank you, Morrigan."
"For what, your highness?" the novice asked, puzzled.
A smile brightened her face as she conveyed her sentiments, "You are going to fulfill one of my dreams."
"I dreamed about it too, my queen."
The aspiring knight dropped the dagger in her hand and softly touched her cheeks moistened by the tears flowing from her blue irises. The heart that used to twitch frantically at the sight of the woman's face was calm as their bodies drew closer with each passing moment.
Accepting her fate, she thought, 'This would be the sweetest end. To be killed by the one who gave you the first and last kiss.'
As she waned her eyes to close, a shadow behind the knight-to-be drew near. Before their lips could fulfill their dreams, blood splashed into her face from the stab of the sword that penetrated the novice's heart.
"NNnnnooooo!"
The mystic eyes that gaze at her a moment ago quickly shut. The lady full of life that stood before her, fell lifeless in her arms. They both drop down on their knees as the startling sight weakened her will.
"Never send a woman to a man's duty," Sir Stephen quoted, holding the blood-stained sword in his hand.
"M-Morrigan…," she called out the aspiring knight's name while tears continued to stream down her face.
Grasping for the cold hand of the knight-to-be and setting it on her warm cheeks, she closed her eyes in deep hatred and waited for her heart to stop beating.
@——————>>><<<——————@
[MODERN DAY]
"Morrigan…," she mumbled, gritting her teeth.
The anger of watching her opponent accept the award for winning the fencing tournament at the academy made her body tremble. As the daughter of the renowned fencing master, she was expected to win by her professors and peers at their school.
Yet, when the final game begins, the girl proceeds to attack her rapidly, losing her momentum and defense in the process. Unable to recover from the score of her opponent, she lost first place to the novice of the fencing tournament.
When the granting of awards ended, the black-haired girl turned to her and offered a hand.
"Be a sport, princess. Don't expect yourself to win every time at the same old game you play," Morrigan snickered.
With a hateful stare, she accepted the soft hands of the lass named, Morrigan Knight. A sense of electricity from their palms touching made her body quiver and her heart pounding inside her chest.
"You cheated," she announced.
"That's a grave accusation, Bridgette. I hope you can support that to the board of directors of this competition."
"Don't worry, I will," she challenged her opponent and let go of the hand before she crushes it.
Before the fencing event ended, she asked the judges of the tournament to review their duel. Inciting that she trust their judgment but the novice's footwork was too fast to be captured by anyone at a distance.
In fencing, footwork is the utmost component in duels as they can only move forward and backward on a strip or "piste" laid on the floor. They were not allowed to turn or step out of it. Once one of the players gets cornered, they either attack to push back the opponent or defend until a "touche" was done by one of them.
Inside the hall, one of the judges sprinted towards the referee to announce the result of the review.
"After careful consideration of the judges who reviewed the Épée fencing duel between Ms. Bridgette Henry and Morrigan Knight, they concluded that a few rules of engagement were overlooked."
With a smile of triumph, she glanced at the lass holding the award tight in her hand.
"The victor for the duel and holder of the title as champion will be given to, Ms. Bridgette Henry!"
@——————>>><<<——————@
[PRESENT DAY]
"Ms. Henry, what can you say about the latest cyber attack on your company?" the female host asked.
"I have full confidence about my C.A.S.T.L.E. program. They can't break it. No one can," the guest answered with pride.
"That's exceedingly enthusiastic."
"No, that's stating a fact," Ms. Henry reacted and explained, "My cybersecurity network is number one in the world. That should be proof enough for the other hackers trying to wreak havoc on my system."
"Speaking of number one, congratulations on becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world according to Forbes."
"When you're accomplishing hard labor and appreciate every moment of it. Counting how much you earn becomes superficial but of course, we all work hard to earn, right?"
A smirk unintentionally flashed on her lips as she watched the woman on the television answer the question of the host in a condescending manner.
"You haven't changed, Bridgette?" she scoffed.
After the woman stole the fencing tournament title from her due to technicalities, she lost confidence competing again and tried to focus on other hobbies like computer gaming. Once she became a skilled gamer at a young age, she decided to learn how to make games of her own and became a full-time program engineer.
In addition to that, she became wildly interested in hacking other systems to show the loopholes in their programming. In a matter of minutes, she could bypass the security systems of banks in any country without being caught by the police or any cybersecurity agency. With her expertise she became widely known as a hacker with a codename:
LANCELOT
01100 | 00001 | 01110 | 00011
00101 | 01100 | 01111 | 10100
And now, the well-off brat Ms. Bridgette Henry crossed paths with her again when the woman started a cybersecurity agency that acquired a contract with the government. A deal that intrigued many hackers from the white hat to the neutral grey and malicious black hats.
The raspy laugh of the arrogant CEO on the screen caught her attention. In an instant, her heart stomped wildly on her chest as her eyes gazed into the woman's unfading elegance.
"That's enough for business, how about we talk about your life, Ms. Henry?" the host queried with a teasing stare.
"Uh-oh!" Bridgette reacted and laughed.
"You recently broke up your engagement with the actress and model Morwen Caddell, can you share with us little details about that?"
"I'll leave the details between us. When it comes to my relationship, I like it to be kept out of the media," the guest concluded.
"Everyone was guessing it was about you being caught kissing another woman, the recently named best female program engineer, Morrigan—"
"Pfffft—," she quickly sputtered coffee out of her mouth.