Lixinni Tidilph, of the respected house of Tidilph the smith, a brown-haired, white eyes, white-skinned knight galloped down the wooden bridge that lead to her castle; the Tidilph Hold. She raised her head to see the tall gate which she grew to know as the iron gate with history holding that it had never been breached. As she looked at the gate, she wondered if it was the strength and the tenacity of the gate that made it survive the test of time and swords or because the house was well known for the best of irons which in turn helps to produce the best weapons.
As her black horse galloped on the bridge, she danced alongside the rhythmic sounds from the horse's trots and dangled up, down and sideways. A widespread fluffy hat was atop her head to keep the hot summer sun from beating her face.
"A rider approaches! Archers? Draw!" there came a call from the tower and she lifted her voice to see. There was a balm man mounting the tower and she smiled. She remembered the face – it was Sanson the vigilante. It had been five years since she left and the harvest of Sanson's hair had been completed and he was totally bald, with his yellow head exposed to the hot sun that she was avoiding.
Lixinni opened her hat and watched Sanson go agape at her sight. She was home. The place she left as the pampered lady of the house and back as the only female knight of the house.
"Would you shoot the lord's only daughter?" she said in her tiny, long-ranged, thin-pitched voice.
"Oh!" Sanson exclaimed.
"Halt! You fool," he said and stood by the edge of the tower. Placing his hands on the bannisters, agape.
"Blimey! God's be good! Raise the portcullis!" he ordered and was seen to climb down the tower using the rungs built on it.
There came a cranking sound and the wooden gate called the iron gate was raised.
As the huge and thick wood was hoisted to the air by the means of the pulley and ropes, Lixinni remembered the time when the gates remained shut against her, barring her from walking out. She was also reminded of when she was out of the gate and it was shut again. She was about to relive her life outside the gate but the opened gate and what it revealed to her stopped her. She looked into the space before her and there was a wall of soldiers creating a path for her. A path that proceeded into the lands before her as her eyes could see.
Lixinni alighted her house and held the reigns in her hands and walked through the parade of soldiers that had formed a path for her. When she took the first step toward the soldiers, Sanson, ran towards her and Lixinni approached him with a fat smile.
He was her first mentor in fending and he created the urge to learn in her when her father, lord Tidilph wanted her to remain a scribe.
"Look who is here," Sanson said and hugged her. Lixinni returned the hug and when they detached, he placed his hands on her shoulders and laughed.
"Welcome home," Sanson said and laughed again as he went to the other side after getting hold of the reins.
"Thank you, master Sanson. You taught me well," Lixinni responded and walked alongside Sanson with her horse in the middle.
"Bend the kneel, soldiers. Here comes a knight of the kingdom. First of her name, knight Lixinni of house Tidilph the smith. Bend the knee!" Sanson said when they approached the parade of soldiers who are now on their knees.
Lixinni looked at the faces as she walked through and smiled. There were boys she grew to know as her playmates in the army and she smiled at them but they couldn't lift their eyes at her.
At the end of the line was her father; the lord of the hold, Toin Tidilph, holding his staff and standing at attention but relaxed by the smile on his face.
Lixinni left the horse's side and ran towards him and he went close when she was some yards away and lifted her in the air as he proceeded into his hall. When he was at the door post, he turned to the soldiers that were now gathered at the mouth of his hallway and laughed.
"Let wine be for all except the children. You can't eat your cake and have it, so they say. My daughter was gone, now she is back. It is time to party," he said and turned to continue into the hall as cheers roared from the outside.
***
The party was still on in the hall and Lixinni walked into her room which was one of the adjoining rooms in the upper elevations of the hall. When she stepped in, she saw two maids spreading the sheet on her bed and they cringed when they saw her make entry into the room.
"My lady," they both chorused and bowed a bit when they turned to face her. It was her room, five years ago and it felt good to see the maids setting it up for her after she had chosen to remain there.
Lixinni wanted to know the names of her maidservants but there was more cleaning going on in the bath which was blocked by a curtain and Lixinni walked close to see who was there.
When she walked in, there was a busy maid testing the waters and adding more when it felt too hot for her test. Lixinni cleared her throat and the maid suddenly turned to face her.
"My lady," she said with trembling and bowed.
"Ish?" Lixinni called and the maid slowly lifted her head.
"My lady," Ish said with a smile.
"Get up, you are a friend," Lixinni said and lifted her up.
"No, my lady. You are the lady of the fold and I am a daughter of the watchman. I am meant to serve you," Ish said and Lixinni hugged her tight. There is a lot to talk about and we will do that in due time," she said.
"How is the training?" Ish asked and just before Lixinni answered, there came a noise from the outside and Lixinni rushed to the window sides. There she saw an attack going on in the hold.
"The gate is intact; how could they possibly enter?" Lixinni asked.
"The valley. I think," Ish answered.
"My lady, assassins are in the hold," one of the two maids that were spreading the sheet said when they approached her they were with their swords.
"I am going down," Lixinni said.
"No, my lady. Stay here," Ish answered and Lixinni scoffed.
"You can try to stop a knight from fulfilling her civic duty," Lixinni said and walked towards the door while the maids followed her with their swords in their hands.
When she opened the door Toin was seen running in her direction with a dripping sword in his hand.
"Stay here, Lix," he said when he approached her.
"And do what, father? Do you know what I am now?" she said, looking deep into Toin's eyes.
"I am a knight of the kingdom and I am not taught to hide. You stay in here and watch me retrieve your hold for you from these masked men without a soul," she said, pushing Toin into the room.
Toin fixed his eyes on her as he was slowly traipsed into the room and was heaving heavily.
"Trust me, father, trust your daughter, trust your knight," she said into Toin's face when he was finally in the room and she locked the door.
Lixinni turned towards the passage that would lead her to the hall and then the street where the fight was staged and she had three maidservants behind her. She was reminded of the times past when she would be kept in the room whenever there was an attack on the hold and she would be kept in the safest room of the fold.
"Ish? Can you fight" Lixinni asked.
"I am Sanson's daughter. Do you know who he is?" Ish responded and Lixinni nodded.
"What about the other two?" Lixinni asked again.
"They are my friends. The hunter's twin," Ish answered.
Lixinni kicked the hall's gate opened and jumped to the floor. The hall was the site of attack since the lord's families lived there and there were the soldiers gathered. When she was behind the soldiers. The chief of the assassin squad who was by the tree in front of the hall shouted and his men retreated. The soldiers defending the hold paused and retreated for a regroup.
"The one we want is here. Give her to us and there will be no more death," the chief of the assassins said.