When I came to, I continued to lay still and take in what was occurring around me. My deceased mother always told me that my ears were my second greatest advantage, a close second to my speed. My ears were almost elf-like, even in appearance, where I could hear the slightest sounds of movement. The elders in my Kingdom would sometimes tell me that I was probably a descendant of elves due to my appearance, speed and the way I could effortlessly handle a bow and arrow. If only I had one during the battle.

I listened intently to my surroundings. It was difficult to concentrate on particular sounds because all I could hear were a jumble of incoherent random noises. Despite the confusing and random sounds invading my ear drums I knew that I was no longer in the presence of those goblins. The sounds of their loud screeches were long gone, replaced by the groans and whimpering of those injured, combined with the cries of women and children.

My ears pricked up to the sounds of a small child crying over what I guessed was the loss of someone close to them, their mother perhaps? They reminded me of that cold and unforgettable night my mother was on death's door. Those in the eerie hallways of the castle could only hear the wailing of a young princess at only the tender age of ten. Her final words still engraved in my mind, still as clear as the day she said them six years ago.

*Flashback*

I sat there alone on the soft sheets of my mother's bed. My father was away from the Kingdom at the time, trying to convince the surrounding Kingdoms to sign the peace treaty he had offered. When he left to visit the surrounding Kingdoms he knew not of my mother's rapidly deteriorating health. He was well aware of her poor health but my mother being the selfless woman that she was, convinced him that she was in good health so he made way to the other Kingdoms, leaving both my mother and myself behind.

I clutched her hand as she whispered consoling words. I hated how she continued to smile knowing that any of the words leaving her mouth could be her last.

In front of me was my mother laying on the bed, within mere minutes of death. Her breath was laboured as she smiled at me weakly. She knew that she was on death's doorstep as she began to reminisce about the day the we fooled my father into finding a rare herb and to end up falling into a lake, I couldn't help but give her a smile.

I remember that day, we were on one of our family outings in the forest where my mother taught me how to identify the different plants that lived in the forest. She would have my father and my full attention as she described each new plant species we encountered. Whenever a small bird or rabbit came by, she would be so gentle whenever they came close to her, the complete opposite of my father who would always think of it as a chance to go hunting.

The same day my father fell into the lake, my mother had told my father to climb up a tree where a "rare herb" was supposed to be growing. She had my father wrapped around her finger because whenever she asked him of something, he'd always follow through like a love sick puppy. His love for her was unrivalled. I found the whole ordeal humourous, watching my father struggle to pull his old body up the tall tree. Normally my mother would have given me the task to climb such a tree as she knew despite my young age I was one of the best climbers in the forest, well that's what she would tell me. When my father thought he discovered the herb, the branch underneath his foot had given way and snapped, plunging straight down into the lake.

"There. I finally see that beautiful smile of yours," my mother whispered softly when she stopped reminiscing about happier times. I could hear the strain in her voice and knew the end was drawing closer. "Don't ever lose that smile. Promise me that you'll keep smiling after I'm gone. It will be the one that will keep our people safe and hopeful. Don't forget that. I love yo-"

Before she could even finish the word I saw her head fall weakly to the side as her hand loosened its grip on mine. I clenched her hands tighter in my own as I laid my head on her stomach and wept inconsolable tears. I was, alone, in a candlelit room with my deceased mother.

I couldn't keep my promise after her death. My face was emotionless and stoic for the longest time after her death. My body had no feeling whatsoever and I remember feeling completely empty during those times. Looking back at those times I remembered that my father was able to return to his duties as per usual after a week of grieving, but my spirit wasn't as strong-willed as his, I was only a child when she died. Servants would be ordered to bring other children into the castle to keep me company but I just sat there alone. Occasionally, a child would attempt to include me in their games but I ignored them, my mind was constantly swirling with thoughts of my mother whom I missed so much.

However, it took three months until I was able to smile again. It was when I had first encountered the caring and friendly nature of my two loyal knights, Franklin and Colin. It was in the stable when I cracked my first smile after so long. It was the middle of spring, the sun shone through the gaps of the stable walls. The horses were quite lively and neighed from time to time whenever they caught me staring at them. They looked so peaceful. I would sigh occasionally at the thought of my mother because she would always come by the stable to keep the horses company.

As I sat quietly in the stable my attention was taken away from the horses when the peacefulness was disrupted by a young knight who stumbled in through the doors. His features did not resemble one of a knight's, tall and slim figured to the point where it looked like he could break in half at any moment. Another walked in a few moments later, quite the opposite of the slim figured knight. This one was much broader and well built, however, he was a head or two shorter than the first. The well built knight lifted the other onto his feet and picked out the few pieces of hay that was in the other's curly, chocolate brown hair.

They noticed me sitting on a bale of hay as they took notice of their surroundings. They smiled cautiously at me. The same smile I would receive from everyone I had encountered during the three months after my mother's death. It was a smile you would give to a small child or an animal so they wouldn't be afraid of you. I continued to stare at them unamused.

"Was there something you needed?" I finally asked after a long period of silence. They looked at each other with a look of uncertainty. I let out a resigned huff and repeated the question, almost demanding for an immediate response.

The slim figured knight quickly replied, his voice slightly trembling, "We've been looking for you Princess. We found something that you might enjoy."

I studied their faces. Was this another one of my father's plans to abolish my state of depression? If it was, I wanted none of it. During that time all of his ideas were terrible. I looked at the well built knight and noticed that his smile looked genuine. He must have truly believed that this 'something' was going to bring me the happiness that I had not felt in the past three months. I decided to give this 'something' a chance.

"Is that so? What are your names?" My voice was monotone, almost cold.

"I am Sir Colin and this is Sir Franklin, my lady," the well built knight said as they both bowed in front of me.

I grimaced at the formality. My mother always taught me to treat everyone as an equal to myself. She detested the fact that everyone would bow down to her whenever she was in their presence just because she was married to the King.

"So Colin," I said removing all forms of formality. "Where is it?"

They both smiled, realising that I had accepted their idea that would bring back my happiness. "This way, my lady." Colin led me out of the stable.

"Jasmine. Just call me Jasmine," I insisted as I followed them out of the Friardor and into the forest.

We stopped in front of a dark cave. I felt uneasy as Franklin and Colin were about to enter the endless darkness.

"Wait!" There was a hint of panic in my voice as I called out to them before they entered the unknown and were out of my sight. Immediately they climbed out of the cave and were back in my sight. "Where are you taking me?" They acknowledged the harshness in my tone and responded quickly.

"It's alright Princess, you do not need to enter the cave," Franklin reassured me and turned to Colin. "Stay with her. I'll go retrieve it." With that Franklin entered the cave as Colin walked towards me with a huge smile on his face. Whatever this gift was, they must have been extremely proud of it.

It took some time until Franklin came out of the cave and I was beginning to worry. Colin had to pull me back several times as I tried to make my way towards the cave, hoping to bring back Franklin even if it was to bring him back without their gift. I was more concerned about his wellbeing than the gift that had to be retrieved from an ominous cave.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when he finally came out of the shadows. I was so relieved, I completely over looked the gift he had along side him as I ran to hug him tightly. Surprised by my sudden embrace, his body was rigid and took him some time to process what I was doing. He mumbled something incoherently to Colin. By the way Franklin returned my embrace it was assumed that Colin had told him of my worries over his wellbeing.

As I released myself from his embrace, I heard something snort beside me. I leapt back to get a good look at what made that sound. My eyes widened in astonishment as there was a large white horse with it's mane and tail having a slight blonde colour to it. I couldn't believe how beautiful and magical it looked in the sunlight.

"I'm guessing that you like her?" Franklin asked with a huge smile across his face.

I tried to reply but none of the noises coming out of my mouth were coherent enough to produce a proper word.

Colin chuckled, "That sounds like a yes."

I slowly walked up to the horse so I wouldn't startle it. As I stroked it's mane, I realised how well groomed this horse was. This definitely wasn't a wild horse that they had found in the woods. I began to grow suspicious of how these two knights had come across such a beautiful horse like this. Before I could interrogate them, Colin answered my internal questions as though he had read my mind.

"This was a gift from your mother."

I quickly turned from the horse surprised by the mention of my mother. Colin continued as he knew that he had my full attention.

"She hid the horse in this cave so that others would not be able to find it. It was actually supposed to be her gift to you for your thirteenth birthday but when she knew that she was almost at death's door, she assigned us to give her to you once she had passed away."

Tears quickly fell from my eyes as I looked back at the horse. My final gift from my mother. The horse whinnied and leaned it's head on mine, acknowledging that I was to be it's master. I giggled as it's breath tickled my ears.

"Does she have a name?" I asked as I smiled towards the two knights.

Franklin shook his head. "Your mother said that you, as her master, should be the one to name her."

It took me some time to think of a name. I thought of many different ones. At one point I was thinking of naming the horse after my mother, but the thought of saying my mother's name to call a horse made me feel a little uneasy. There was one name that had been playing on my tongue from the very beginning. Whenever I looked back at the horse to figure out what name to give her, a slight smile played on my lips and I knew that I had finally found the perfect name for her.

"Eina. Her name is Eina."

Eina neighed as if to tell me that she was delighted with the name. I turned to the two knights who looked at me confused. I guessed that they wanted an explanation for the name I had chosen for my new companion.

"Eina is the word for happiness in the Elvish language," I said with a smile. "And she was the first to finally make me happy, apart from you two but you two already have names."

Since that day, Franklin, Colin and I were inseparable. Going on adventures and getting into mischief with Eina and their two horses alongside us.

*End flashback*

My thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar voice.

"Can you keep a watchful eye on her? I need to tend to the other villagers"

"Of course, Gaius and what of the other two?" A deep but gentle voice asked cautiously.

"There was nothing I could do for them, I'm afraid."

I opened my eyes slightly, so I wouldn't be blinded by the brightness of the room. I slowly moved my head to the side as the attack still made me feel a little light headed. I realised that I was in a grand hall room where many of the injured were being attended to. As I slowly scanned my surroundings, all I could see were bodies laid on the wooden floor or, like myself, laid on benches.

Remembering that I wasn't alone during the attack, I sat up and searched for my two friends. They had to be here somewhere, there was no way they were left back at the small village unless they were deceased. I gasped. With a hard shake of my head, the thoughts drifted away from my mind. The two strongest knights I've ever known could not have been defeated. It was an impossible thought. However, somewhere in the deepest reaches of my mind, I was still afraid that my thoughts may be true.

Beginning to become hysterical, I leapt off the bench forgetting about the fragility of my body. Someone took hold of my body before I hit the floor. The muscular figure held me up against his body, allowing the blood to rush down to my legs so I could stand properly.

"Steady. You still need some time to recover." I heard the same deep voice say.

I looked up at the man whose voice it belonged to. To me he looked rather large with my head only reaching his chest. He had curly, dark blonde hair that seemed to just glow in the light. You could tell that he came from battle as his slightly bearded face showed fatigue from the attack. Although he was a knight, one who has seen his fair share of bloodshed, his greyish-green eyes were still able to look softly into my pale blue eyes with concern written across his face.

My thoughts quickly went back to Frank and Colin. I looked away from the knight. My eyes darting around the room in search for my loyal friends. As my head grew more lightheaded from the search, my hope was beginning to diminish. I turned to look at the people who were laid behind me. There they were, only a few bodies away from the bench. Their bodies, though covered with scars from the attack, lay peaceful on their own separate benches.

Finally at ease, I turned back to the knight and thanked him. I gave an embarrassed smile as I noticed that I was still leaning on his chest. I tried to move away from him but my legs could not withstand the weight of my body and had to lean on the bench to regain some balance. The knight quickly came to my aid and lifted me to sit onto the bench. The task seemed effortless to him. Carrying me as if I was merely the weight of a feather.

"So, are you in charge of taking care of me?" I asked thinking back to the conversation he had with person I assumed went by the name of Gaius.

"Yes, I believe so. The court physician told me to keep an eye on you." I could sense a slight cheekiness to his tone, unless that was how he usually talked to people.

"So knight of Camelot, what is your name?"

"Sir Leon, my lady."

I was startled by how he addressed me. A knight wouldn't call a peasant a 'lady'. It was only noble women or royalty that they would speak to in that manner. Did he know?

"Leon, I mean Sir Leon," I quickly corrected myself. "I am no lady, I'm merely a farmer's daughter. No need for such titles." A lie I had told countless people in the village that was attacked.

A side of his lips lifted in a slight smile. "Oh, my apologies. Your beauty had me mistaken you for someone of royalty."

My face grew warm as I sat there stunned. Did this knight, Sir Leon, hint that he fancied me?