"The Light Of One Knight"
Chapter 5


        “Sir Taylor,” the guard outside Princess Ann’s chamber bowed. “It is nice to see you, Sir.”
        “You may rise,” Taylor instructed. The guard obeyed. “I wish to see Ann, is she in her chamber?”
        “Yes, Sir Taylor, she is. She’s been expecting you.” The guard opened the door, allowing Taylor to pass through.
        The princess was sitting at her window, starring out at the village. She was combing her brown hair and humming quietly to herself. She turned at the sound of the door closing behind Taylor.
        “Hello, my Lady,” Taylor said bowing.
        “Sir Taylor!” She exclaimed rushing towards him. “Oh how I’ve missed you! Get up!” She commanded. Taylor rose to his feet and smiled at the sight of her beautiful being.
        “I’ve missed you as well,” he said touching her arm gently.
        “I’ve missed your hands,” she said with a sly smile. She reached down and took his free hand in her own. “Nobody is going to come in,” she told him. “please, my Knight?” Her eyes were begging him. “Kiss me, please? I’ve been thinking about you for days. I’ve been thinking about your hands and your lips. Please my Knight, kiss me?”
        The young man nodded and kissed her lips gently. He smiled. “Better?”
        “Much,” she replied licking her lips. “But I think many more times will satisfy me.” He kissed her again but quickly pulled away as the door opened. He jumped quickly to a safe distance where it would not look promiscuous. He picked the sack of goods up from the floor where he had placed them.
        “Sir Taylor, it is great to see you home again,” the young boy said as he entered the room. “Father told me you would be up here with Ann.”
        Taylor bowed, “Prince Henry.”
        “Brother, is there a reason for which you’ve come?” Princess Ann inquired, quite a bit irritated that her brother had chosen this precise moment to enter her chamber.
        “Father told me Sir Taylor has returned and I wished to see him with my own eyes,” the Prince explained. He turned his attention back towards the Knight. “Did you fight?” He asked, the boy’s eyes growing wide in excitement. He noticed the sack. “You did! I knew you did!”
        “Prince Henry,” Taylor warned. “Must we speak of these things in front of the Princess?”
        The child shook his head, “sorry Sister.”
        “Leave us, please, Henry,” the Princess begged. “Sir Taylor and I wish to speak alone of the matter of going into the village today. Once we are through I will send for you.”
        “As you wish, Sister,” the boy said. “Good-bye, Sir Taylor.” The prince was gone, pulling the chamber door closed tightly behind him.
        The Princess smiled and beckoned for Taylor to come closer to her. “Last time we were together you were summoned for duty.”
        “That is true,” Taylor replied allowing himself to walk into the trap she was setting. He knew deep in his heart that he could never do what she wished to now, he was not that type of man. He loved the Princess, he would do anything for her and not just because he was bound to by law. His feelings for her overpowered anything and everything that the title he held required. There was one thing he did not wish to do, yet the Princess did. He hated to disappoint her and a few times he had almost given in but fate intervened and they were interrupted before anything happened. He loved her too much to hurt her in that way. Taylor knew that the King trusted him and to give in to the Princess and his feelings would betray his trust, he was her guardian and protector not her lover. He knew they would never marry, he would stay her protector for eternity not her husband. He was a servant to the royal family.
        Taylor also knew that she loved him but deep down she too knew that if they gave in to each other it would just be certain death for the Knight. According to the law that bound him to her he would be sentenced to execution by beheading if an illegal relationship developed. Taylor suspected the King might have known about their unique relationship for whenever Taylor was alone in the chamber with the Princess there would be an interruption. If the young man was in the village with the girl there was no danger of a relationship, they never left the sight of the square.
        “Ann,” Taylor muttered permitting himself to sit down on the bed next to her. “We cannot.” The 16 year old girl, heedless the warning, ran her hand down his arm.
        “Do with me what you wish,” Ann begged in a soft voice, wanting him very badly.
        “Ann, we cannot,” the Knight cautioned again. With each word he felt himself slipping farther into his feelings. Princess Ann kissed his neck, he felt the sack drop out of his hands and onto the floor with a loud thud. Her lips lingered on his neck as she undid the ties of his over garment. She gasped when he pulled it off, “you’re hurt!” Her hand went to her mouth.
        “It’s not that bad,” Taylor told her. He had forgotten about the wound he had received at the time being and quickly pulled the cotton shirt back over his body.
        “No, it is!” She insisted. The princess quickly rose from the bed. “I will send for rose water and clean cloths.” She eased Taylor’s shirt back off and gazed at the gash in his upper arm. The laceration was not very deep but it was deep enough, it cut across his toned muscle and she knew he must have washed it only shallowly once or twice. “Stay where you are.”
        “As you wish, my Princess,” Taylor obeyed. Princess Ann quickly went to get the dressings for his wound and when she returned she carefully cleaned and wrapped his arm.
        “How did it happen?” the girl questioned him as she finished tying the bandage.
        Taylor looked at the arm wrapped in a white cloth and carefully pulled his shirt back over his body once again. “I thank you, Princess Ann,” he said graciously, wishing to avoid answering her inquiry.
        “Please tell me, Taylor,” she begged, touching his right forearm tenderly.
        He looked into her green eyes, “some things are not to be told, especially to the ears of a women, and a women of royalty at that.”
        “You must have told Father.”
        “The issue did not arise.”
        Taylor looked away, retying the laces of his cotton shirt. He was glad that she had spotted his wound, it was an interruption in the Princess’s plans and his arm had been hurting him. He could not look into the Princess’ eyes and tell her that while he fought for her Father he had taken a slice of a sword. Taylor was her protector and to let her know that he was vulnerable was undermining his title. A Knight was to take the pain like a man, and he had done so. Sir Taylor did not have the heart to tell the Princess that the man who caused his pain was a 17 year old boy much like himself.
        The boy was the guard of the stagecoach that the scroll was in, and he had put up a good fight. It wasn’t until afterwards that Taylor learned the guard was the son of the King who had the scroll Taylor was to take.
        Taylor was able to stab the driver of the coach with ease and without a noise. It wasn’t until he entered the stagecoach where there was problems. The King, who’s name was King Anthony III, was away and guarding the box where the scroll was sat the son who acted as a guard as well. The son demanded to know who the man was who entered the coach. Sir Taylor took out his sword and declared that the coach was now property of King Henry of Concertlot and all inhabitants were to be slain. The Prince took his own sword out of his belt and pushed Taylor out of the wagon, there they fought until Taylor thought he was done for. The Prince managed to only gash Taylor’s arm before the Knight rolled away. Taylor attacked the Prince from behind, pushing his sword clear through the back of the Prince, killing him. Satisfied, Taylor waited hidden behind the coach for King Anthony’s return. The King never expected a thing and was lifeless in less then a moment.
        “Sir Taylor, you have lost your color.”
        Taylor looked back at the Princess. Her face was full of concern. He stood and faced the bed where she was still seated. “I must go now.” He glanced towards the chamber door. “You have saved me pain, Princess Ann. I will call for you again tomorrow morning. We shall go to the marketplace.” He picked the sack of goods up off the floor. “These are for you, your Highness.”
        Princess Ann took the sack from his hands and held it close to her. “Good day, Sir.”
        “Adieu.”


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