One
~Aderyn~
"Don't wander too far now, the both of you! I promised Your Majesty that I wouldn't let you out of my sight!" Lady Catherine called after us, but her voice was soon carried away by the wind. I was with my Brynn and nothing was more important than our play time.
I ran through the tall grass, little flowers getting stuck in my wild hair as I chased him. He was much faster than me and within a few minutes I had lost track of him.
"Brynn!" I called but heard only silence. "This isn't funny!" I screamed but my eight-year-old voice couldn't sound menacing or threatening at all. "As princess I command you come out!" I stomped by foot on the ground for emphasis that I wasn't joking but still no sound was heard.
Sighing, I began to walk further into the field, towards the opening of the meadow that I knew was just a few paces in front of me.
I stepped through and-
"Hah!" Brynn jumped out of the tall grass and I fell backwards, omitting a piercing shriek as I fell. He was at my side in an instant, laughing. "I gotcha!"
I scrambled to my feet and shoved him back.
"You're not supposed to shove a lady!"
"You're not a lady," He said, still smiling.
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"Shows what you know! Lady Catherine is always telling me to act like a lady," I retorted.
"That's because you don't act like one. See? I'm right!" He stuck his tongue out.
"Fine. Then I guess I won't knight you some day," I said and dusted myself off, preparing to go pick some flowers. He was at my side in an instant.
"I was only kidding!" He said and blocked my path. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," He said and held out a beautiful flower to me; one that I had never seen growing in the fields before. I graciously accepted it and smiled at him; my truest and best friend.
"Well, in that case," I said sniffing the sweet, bright purple flower. "I guess I forgive you." I stepped around him and tucked the flower in my hair, the stem resting behind my ear. I saw to my right a bushel of small white flowers and headed in their direction with Brynn rushing to catch up to me.
"So, you'll knight me then, right?" He sounded worried and I smiled to myself.
"Oh, well, I'm not sure."
"Aw, come on, Addy!"
"That's Princess Aderyn to you, good sir!" With my back to him he couldn't see me trying not to laugh. I heard him stop following me and I turned to him; his face fell.
"Hey," I said softly and rushed to his side. "You're not the only one who can joke." I said. He looked me in the eyes, completely serious now. "You know I'm going to be the one to knight you."
"Promise?"
"I promise," I said and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
TEN YEARS LATER...
The thought of the scolding I was bound to receive when I returned back to the castle covered in mud stains was pushed to the farthest corners of my mind as I climbed on the wooden fence to watch Brynn during his last few days as a squire.
Suited up and ready to try horseback riding wearing an entire suit of armor was quite a comical thing to watch for me. Despite the strong wind and gray skies I still sneaked out to watch him; to laugh at him mostly. He turned to me just before he shoved his helmet on and shouted into the wind.
"Ready for this?" He called and I cupped my hands around my mouth.
"I'm ready to watch you fall on your ass!" I called back and he laughed and shook his head, shoving the helmet into place. I smiled widely and bit my lip, holding back a laugh.
A younger squire who was about twelve or thirteen stepped up beside me to watch.
"Is there anything I can get for you, my lady?" He asked and I shook my head.
"Has he gotten any better since last time I watched?" I asked the boy.
"He's much better than I am, your majesty," The boy commented politely and I turned to him and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Outside the palace walls, I'm just Aderyn. Alright? None of that royal talk, understood?" I patted the empty space next to me. "Take a seat and enjoy the show."
He nodded quickly and scrambled up to my side.
"Do you think he'll fall?" he asked and I smiled again.
"God, I hope so." I said and the boy looked at me quizzically. "When there's something Brynn can't do it's a rare treat," I explained but the boy still looked confused.
"It's harder than it looks riding in all that armor," the boy said and I had to take that into consideration.
"All the other knights have no problem," I commented.
"Not that you know of," he said.
I cleared my throat and turned my attention to Brynn, who firmly grasped the reins to his horse and gave it a swift kick.
Off he went across the long patch of dirt spread out in front of him on the training grounds. All looked well as he flew passed me and headed towards the opposite end. Now it was almost time for the moment of truth; the turn to head in the opposite direction.
The last time Brynn had tried to manage this task, he had successfully slid right off of the saddle and had promptly gotten the wind knocked out of him.
I held my breath this time, waiting for the inevitable. He shifted his weight and leaned towards the direction he was turning and...
Was soon heading back in the opposite direction.
The boy and I both clapped wildly as he sped by and back to the other end once more. After successfully turning that corner too, he raced towards us and urged his horse to come to a halt.
Climbing down quickly and pulling off his helmet where tufts of his dark hair swirled about, his face shone nothing but sheer bliss in it's expression.
"How was that for a ride, my lady?" He asked and firmly grasped me around my waist, helping me to the ground. The boy jumped down next and casually walked away to give us some privacy. I threw my arms around Brynn's neck.
"You were wonderful! Congratulations!" His firm arms were around me in a moment as he returned my embrace.
"And here you were thinking I was going to fall," he said after the hug ended.
"Well, I got to see you mess up once," I said. "That's good enough for me." I joked. He looked down and frowned.
"Lady Catherine's going to kill you when she sees your dress," Brynn commented and I waved my hand dismissively in front of his face.
"The woman can work miracle with laundry," I replied and brushed passed him to gently stroke the nose of his beautiful chocolate brown stallion. "Is this the horse you'll be given?"
"I hope so."
"What are you going to name her?"
"Well..." He scratched his head. "She does have the same color hair as you do. I was thinking about calling her Aderyn." I slapped his shoulder and he laughed. "What, you don't like it?"
"How about just Addy? If you must name her after me," I suggested and he smiled.
"Well, Addy it is then," he resolved and I rested my cheek against the horse's jaw.
"She's beautiful," I complimented her and closed my eyes as I felt her warmth against me.
"Yes, she is," He said and I opened my eyes and smiled at him.
"Let's take her back to the stables and you and I can go celebrate!" I grabbed the reins and handed them to him. He obliged and we lead Addy back to her stall in the horse stables.
"Sneaking out to the stables again to see Brynn, did we?" Lady Catherine's voice didn't sound too surprised at all when we ran into her rounding one of the many corners that lead to my chambers.
"It's his final week of training, Lady Catherine, you know that," I smiled at Brynn and he took a step away from me; he had always been a little intimidated by Lady Catherine as he knew she told my parents everything that I did.
"Yes, I know. And I also know that if the queen sees you dressed like this she'll have my head for it."
"Well, then we should probably steal away quickly then before we're discovered," I gave Brynn a gentle push and grabbed his hand; he seemed all too eager to get beyond the castle walls.
"Not before you change into more suitable clothing," Lady Catherine said, grabbing Brynn by the collar of his shirt, which caused me to halt as well. I sighed and turned to face him. Brynn laughed.
"Go on and get changed. I'll just meet you by the flower cart," He said and released his hand from my grasp to start down the halls. I turned to Lady Catherine.
"Well, let's get this over with."
"I really don't see how you're not embarrassed being around such a fine looking young gentleman and dressed like such a heathen," She scolded as we entered my bedchambers.
"Brynn doesn't care about that," I said, wondering how she didn't know this by now after all these years.
"Even so," she continued as if I hadn't even spoken. "You have a duty to the king and queen to uphold and it's my job to make sure you honor that. If you don't care about how you look at least care about how your appearance makes me look, if you don't mind."
I took that into consideration. Lady Catherine has been a good lady-in-waiting to me after all these long years; I can admit I did owe her as much. She stared at me, waiting for an answer and when I nodded she smiled and handed me a deep red velvet gown that looked brand new.
"What's this?" I asked.
"I've gotten better with a needle and thread, my lady," She said proudly and I had to hand it to her, the dress was spectacular. Long, straight and flowing, the soft fabric was the dark color of paprika and was even rather comfortable to wear. There were no over-bearing and blinding embellishments spun into intricate designs that drew far too much attention to specific parts of my body, it was just a simple red dress with long bell-sleeves.
I adored it.
"You made this?" I asked breathlessly once I slipped it over my head. "It's beautiful."
"Well, I knew how much you hate wearing the gaudy dresses your mother picks out for you. Consider this a kind of truce," She said and winked at me.
"Thank you," I said and admired the dress in the long mirror on the wall. Lady Catherine hooked a tiny garnet necklace around my neck and it hung an inch below my collarbone.
"You're welcome," she answered at last and held up a brush. "Let's just brush through these tangles and you're on your way." I pulled back and grabbed the brush from her hands.
"I can do it," I said. I never really cared too much for people doing all of my work for me, after all I wasn't an invalid. I was perfectly capable of wielding a brush and even a sword thanks to lonely afternoons with Brynn.
I passed the brush through my hair until it looked decent enough to Lady Catherine and then all but bolted out the door, walking as slow as need be when I passed someone in the halls. Everyone within the castle walls already felt unsure about my upbringing since I was often found with the men out in the stables rather than the women in the music and dance halls learning how to sew and translate French poetry.
I draped a black shawl around my shoulders as I stepped back outside into the rushing wind and made my way passed the many rows of carts to where the flower cart stood.
There Brynn was, as promised, thanking the woman behind the cart for his purchase of a very familiar bright purple flower. When he turned around and saw me, he offered me the flower and I accepted it, welcoming in it's delicious fragrance and twirling it between my fingers.
"New dress?" he asked and reached out to touch the hem of one of the sleeves.
"You like it?"
"It's different from what you usually wear," He said and smiled, teasing me.
"Lady Catherine made it for me," I said as we began walking. "So, where shall we go to celebrate?" I asked and stole a quick glance at his face.
"I haven't had a good crepe in a long time," he hinted and we headed around the back of the castle to where the back entrance to the kitchen's were. Leading Brynn through the busy crowd of maids and servants, I found my dear friend, and personal favorite chef, Henry, pouring over a recipe book.
"Henry!" I stepped up to him and he nearly jumped out of his skin! He looked like he was about to become upset until he saw my face and his features melted in delight.
"Princess! Welcome, welcome! What brings you here? I haven't seen you in a few days!"
"My apologies. I've been rather busy around the stables with Brynn," I said, motioning in his direction a few steps behind me. Henry chuckled and stuck out his large hand to shake Brynn's.
"I hear someone's finishing his last few days as a squire," Henry winked at me and smiled warmly at Brynn. "Congratulations, my boy!"
"Thank you, sir," Brynn said and took his place at my side.
"That's actually the reason we came, Henry," I said. "I told Brynn I would take him out to celebrate and he just happened to mention how he hasn't had a decent crepe in quite some time now..." I hinted and let my voice trail off.
"Of course! You two just go wait in the dining hall and it'll be out before you know it!"
"Thank you, Henry," I said and flashed him my biggest smile before turning and leading Brynn out of the kitchen and through the servants doors that lead to the dining room.
"Thank you," Brynn said quietly and I had to laugh at him.
"What's your problem? I've never seen you so quite in my life. Are you keeping secrets from me?" We sat down at the table and I took my seat at the head of the table with Brynn to my right. I leaned towards him and noticed that he did not answer. My stomach instantly tightened into knots. "Brynn?"
He looked up at me and smiled weakly.
"It's nothing."
"You'd better not be lying to me," I warned. Without making eye contact, he stared intently at the designs in the woodwork of the large table at which we sat. He opened his mouth to speak and his words came out slowly and deliberately.
"I spoke with Sir Robert of Wilkshire yesterday morning," he said and still refused to look up at me. "Do you know him?"
"He had a council meeting with my father not but two days ago," I recalled and my eyebrows creased in worry. I had heard whispers of a war waging somewhere along the coastline. I swallowed hard. "What about him?"
"He wants me to travel with him next week after I've been knighted. We'd be heading to the port at St. Andrews and then up to the Shetland Islands."
"St. Andrews? Shetland Islands? In... Scotland?"
He nodded.
"For how long?"
"Who knows?" he shrugged. "A couple of months, maybe more. I'm sure you've already heard talk of a war."
"I heard my father talking to him about it, yes," I stuttered. "But... do you want to go?"
"I can't exactly say no to my very first assignment, now, can I?" He tried to laugh, catching in my tone that I wasn't happy about it at all.
"No, I guess you can't."
The room grew quiet and I drummed my fingers on the table, trying to figure out in my head just how far away St. Andrews and the Shetland Islands were from our home here in Wales. The next thing I knew, Brynn reached out and grabbed my hands, taking them gently in his.
"Hey," he said finally looking my straight in the eyes. "It'll be alright."
I sighed and tried my best to put on a convincing smile, although I knew it wasn't fooling either one of us.
The crepes arrived a few minutes later and Brynn quickly let go of my hands, letting them smack against the hard table. I had noticed that the older we got, the more embarrassed he became of public displays of even the smallest kind of affection. I found it rather strange since neither one of us thought anything of it and I wondered to myself on many occasions if it bothered Brynn that maybe others thought a different story.
I thanked the server and asked him to convey our appreciation to Henry before taking the first heavenly bite into my crepe. I think both Brynn and I entered our own little strawberry and cream-filled world just then where not even the threats of war and the pain of saying goodbye could break in.
If only such a world really existed.