I had only been in the tower for a year or so— just long enough to become comfortable with the solitude and begin appreciating it— when the men came.

I heard their voices hours before I saw them, of course. Four men, one clearly in charge of the others, and a pack of dogs that indicated they were a small hunting party. When I sighted them from my window I could see the crests they bore on their shields, marking them as noble. I couldn't resist a smile. Noblemen were exactly what I needed.

The leader, a stout, red-headed man with a loud bellow of a laugh, spotted the tower first. Despite his comrades' protests, he insisted on exploring it. I prepared myself, setting the stage I had long planned should this day ever come: quietly embroidering by the fire, oblivious to the world around me. I would be as surprised as they when I saw them, a helpless, lonely maiden trapped by an evil curse in a tower far from home. The leader, I knew, would believe me in an instant; he was the sort to crave an adventure like those in tales. A maiden in a tower would be irresistible to a man such as he.

Only a few moments later I heard the door creak open. I could hear surprise in their voices at how easily it opened— surprise and worry, on the part of one of the men. He wondered what sort of evil could inhabit this tower, but the leader merely laughed.

"There's no evil I and my three best knights can't handle," he said. I repressed a smile.

The worried knight insisted on leading the way up the stairs, though the leader mocked him for it. I heard swords drawn, echoing in the stairwell, and the slow clunking plod of armor-shod feet on the stone stairs. I schooled my face into a bland expression of concentration. I was a lady, after all, and therefore quite engrossed by activities such as embroidery. Men such as these, particularly men such as the leader of this group, would dismiss my inattention as appealing focus on womanly tasks.

The sharp intake of breath behind me caused me to jump out of my chair, startled. "Who...who are you?" I asked, my voice breathy with fear.

The dark-haired man in front regarded me suspiciously, his grey eyes seeing through my act, but the leader pushed his way to the front and bowed low.

"My lady," he said, "I am Prince Charles of Ineria, known to my closest friends as Chuck. I saw your tower in the wood, and a voice within me told me I would find something precious within, but never could I have imagined the precious something would be you."

I curtsied gracefully, seemingly pleased with his flattery and lofty mannerisms, but I was thinking, Chuck? What sort of prince is named Chuck?

"I thank you for your kind words, my lord," I said, keeping my voice soft and ladylike. "My name is Elise, and I have been locked in this tower for nearly three years. I was beginning to think I would never be rescued."

"How did you end up in this tower, my lady, if you don't mind my asking?" asked the grey-eyed knight.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Chuck cut me off. "You must forgive Laurence; he has a most suspicious mind. He would suspect even the birds in the trees of conspiring to murder me."

The knight flashed a tightlipped grin. "It is my duty to protect you, sire. Surely you cannot protest my doing my job."

"I don't think it's your performance he's protesting, Laur," said another of the knights, a blond man with a friendly expression. "I think he protests that you do it too thoroughly."

Laurence frowned, but said no more.

"I would answer his question, my lord, if you would have it so," I said softly. When Chuck motioned for me to proceed, I did: "Three years ago, I was stolen from my castle and brought here, to a land far from home. I was closed in the tower, lost in a foreign woods, unable to go for help, until the day I was rescued. Which has, it appears, come at last."

My story woke a light in Chuck's eyes; this was exactly the manner of story he had been hoping to hear. "Who has done such a horrible thing to you, fairest lady Elise?"

"More importantly, why?" Laurence muttered under his breath before the blond knight elbowed him.

"I'm afraid I don't know," I replied with a stricken look. "I can think of no witch, sorcerer, or fairy who would hold such a grudge against me or my family. I was taken in the night, while I was sleeping, and therefore was unable to see the face of my attacker. I wish I could tell you more."

Chuck, his blond-haired knight, and his fourth companion, a tall, lean fellow with mousy brown curls and without a chin, believed me completely, but I could still see doubt in Laurence's eyes. I dismissed him for the moment. There would be plenty of time to convince him later.

Chuck ordered the mousy-haired knight to help me pack my small trunk, despite my protests.

"A lady as fair as you should never be required to do her own work," he said. "Thomas will have to do as well as a lady's maid for the moment."

I flashed him an apologetic smile, but he merely shrugged.

"It's not the oddest order he's ever given," he said. "He insists we call him Chuck, for example."

I took the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity, "Why does he go by Chuck?"

"We were riding through a village one day when a couple of young boys ran into our path. We almost ran them over, and Chuck insisted on getting to know his citizens as part of his penance. One of the boys said he was named after the prince, but his friends called him Chuck because Charles was far too fine a name for a baker's son. The prince thought it quite hilarious and decided we should all refer to him as such."

"Does everyone call him Chuck?"

Thomas laughed. "It took a while to catch on, I'll admit, but now even the king will call him by his nickname. It suits him far better than Charles, anyway."

I couldn't argue with that. Though I barely knew him, I struggled to see him respecting formalities, including his own name. He would be uncomfortable in such situations, as he had been when he met me. I had to make him more comfortable around me, I realized, if I wanted him to marry me.

Thomas noticed my frown. "Something worrying you?"

I shook my head quickly. "Everything's changing so fast," I replied. "I think I just realized that in a few hours I won't live here ever again."

"Aren't you happy to be leaving?"

"Of course I am. But at the same time...this has been my home for nearly three years now. It will be different being elsewhere."

He smiled in understanding, then lifted my now-full trunk. "Are you ready?"

I took a deep breath and nodded, then followed him out of the tower.

This is my entry for the ACA Ficathon 2011, inspired by a prompt from FaylinnNorse: "Write a story involving knights and enchanted castles in the forest with a cynical male lead." Obviously I completely bastardized this prompt, but hopefully she won't mind...

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