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Part 5

"May we see eachother again, Lady Kyla?" Alexander asked, as he rubbed his thigh gently. Him and I were sitting under the same apple tree again, as he wrote more poetry and I picked buttercups. It was a Monday afternoon, and the entire castle had the day 'off', in celebration of the treaty. I escaped quickly and ran down to the forest. I did not know that Alexander would be there, but as soon as I reached the apple tree, I saw the golden curls hovering over a peice of parchment.

I decided to dodge the question, with another. "How is your leg doing, Sir?" My fingers fumbled over the hem of my dress. An ant crawled up my leg and I flicked it away.

"Much better, thank you. M'lady, is there something you wish to hide from me?" His brow furrowed, and he leaned in closer, as if he would see more inside. When I did not answer, he put his hand on my knee, and looked me square in the eye. "M'lady...I...I will understand if you would rather not see me anymore...I - "

"No! It's not that! It's not that at all! It's not you...it's just.." I scrunched my face up and tried to fight back the tears. I did not know why I was getting so flustered by this, and was angering and fusturating myself by doing so. I took a long sigh to gain my breath back. "Sir Alexander...I just...it would be better, if we...did not see eachother anymore...it's nothing to do with..anything..it's just...it would be better..." I could feel every muscle in my body tense and ache as I said this. I looked into his eyes and could see the hurt I had caused him. And for a sliver of a second, I thought I saw a flash of anger dash through his eyes.

He stood up and put his parchment and ink back into the bag he carried. I looked up at him helplessly, from the ground. "Lady Kyla, it was a pleasure...to meet you." He held his hand out and I slipped mine in, nervously. He raised my hand to the tip of his lips and with a soft kiss, he let go. I almost ran after him, as he galloped away - but that wouldn't change a single thing. Instead, I sat against the tree, holding my hand close to my chest, and running my fingers over the spot he had so tenderly kissed.

"Another dinner?" Isabel spat, cleaning a silver plate which was carelessly thrown on the table. "What for? We've already got the agreement signed, who else are we needing to impress?"

"It's just a welcoming and thank you dinner, child. You should not worry so - it will not be as elaborate as the last." Miss Oriana concluded as she handed Isabel yet another dirty dish. Obviously she was enjoying this workload. The castle-maids ran around the castle once more, cleaning things that were really not in need. "You!" She bellowed, pointing a bony finger at me. "Go to the cook and ask him what else he would like be prepared. There's only so much one man can do!"

I walked briskly out of the basment and went up to the kitchen room. 'The only reason that tub of lard sticks up for that cook is because she fancies him!' I bitterly thought. It was true though! Miss Oriana and the cook, Charlie, always had some secret talk going on between them. I giggled lightly to myself, picturing Charlie and Miss Oriana going at it.

Soon the dining hall was once again filled with magnificent beauty and richness of all kinds. The family from the Gutaherm Kingdom were already arriving and were waiting just outside the dininghall doors. I could feel the excitement and anticipation, just be looking around at my fellow maid friends. They, along with I, were running around making last minute touches to all the goblets and candles so wonderfully decorated around the table. The door opened with a squeak, and in came the guests. They quickly poured into the chairs and soon demanded wine in their glasses.

'It's a good thing we have more wine in the cellar this time!' I thought, as I was pouring a goblet full to a lady dressed in a green silken gown.

Suddenly Miss Oriana came up behind me and slid her finger down my back and along the cuts, causing me to nearly drop the extra goblets I was holding. She sneered into my ear, her voice as venomous as that of a snakes. "Girl, go work in the basement...we need extra help downstairs." Slowly I put the cups down and followed orders, to go to the basement. For once Miss Oriana was not tricking me, and showed proof of that at the sight of many castle maids flying around the room trying to clean up as many dishes as possible - pots and pans and bakery sheets, all to be used for the dessert. I quickly grabbed a towel and began to join in the cleaning.

No later then a few minutes after I had begun, Isabel walked over and whispered something into my ear. "Ky...come, I have to show you something."

I looked at her and raised my eyebrow. "Isabel, what are you up to now?" Instead of answering me, she gripped my arm tightly and pulled me into the hallway, infront of the stairs to the corridor. "Isabel! We could be seen!" She still did not say a word, but pulled me up the stairs. She continued dragging me past the hallway, and down the west wing. I stopped fighting and asking question, and followed her in curiousity. She stopped infront of the armoury and weapons room. I looked at her with awe. Isabel let out a giggle and took two large gold keys out from her apron. "Where did you get those!" I whispered anxiously.

"From Miss Oriana's room, of course! She was too busy bosing some of the girls around, she left her door open. It's her fault, you know.." She added, looking at my worried face. "Don't worry, silly! I just want to show you something.." And with that, she opened the door and pushed us both in. We both stood in shock - walls upon walls of weapons and armour, from the floor to the ceiling. Immediately Isabel ran over to a long sword with engravings on the shaft. "Have you ever seen something so beautiful?" She said happily, waving it around in the air.

"Yes. I mean, no! Isabel! I'm not so sure we should be in here...I do-" My voice stopped short as we heard footsteps coming towards the door. We both froze and looked at eachother with absolute terror in our eyes. We both new what to do - we quickly ducked behind a shelf of clubs, and knelt down. The footsteps approached quickly, and soon two figures came into view.

A deep voice filled the room. "And this, is our armoury section. We have a vast amount of clubs and a smaller collection of archery sets, but our sword collection is quite impressive - if I do say so myself."

I recognized it instantly, as the King of our castle. He was obviously showing one of the Gutaherm family members our castle - a tour, so to speak.

Another voice entered the room. "Yes King Rowan, it is indeed impressive." The light shone in from the out room hall, and into the room. I moved my head beside a shield, to get a better view of the two men. Golden curls - and even Alexander's blue eyes could be seen. I let out a soft gasp, too quiet for anyone to hear but Isabel. But something told me otherwise. Alexander looked in our direction, and we did not make a move. I could see Alexander's body stay still and tense for a few moments, then relax again. "King Rowan," Alexander turned to face the king. "May I stay back and look through these beautiful pieces?"

The King's smile could be seen between the shelves. "Yes, Sir Alexander. You may. I know your fascination and obsession with swordsmanship! Go right ahead. Do you mind if I return to your parents?"

"Be my guest, King Rowan." Alexander replied, almost too quickly. Isabel and I exchanged worried glances. "I'll be with you in just a while."

As the King exited the room, Alexander walked straight towards us. He stopped infront of the shelves of clubs, and picked one up. "Hmm," he sighed. "I wonder what would happen if I dropped this heavy combat tool...perhaps...like this?" He raised the club over the top of Isabel and my head, and let go then caught it again. Sure enough, we both screamed. We stood up slowly and shamefully.

"How did you know, Sir?" Isabel asked interestedly, ignoring the fact that we were as good as dead if Miss Oriana found out about this.

Alexander smiled, and pointed to the shield my head was beside. His arm brushed against mine as he pointed to it. "Your face, m'Lady, was enlighted on this shield. If sneaking around, I'd advice you to be more careful." He gave a wink, and I blushed.

"Oh no, Sir, she is not a lady!" Isabel laughed and shook her head. "She is just a simple maid, like I!"

Alexander lifted his hand up and pushed a stray strand of hair that had fallen from my braid, off of my forehead. "Ah yes, a simple maid, but an exquisite beauty."

Isabel shifted her weight to her other foot. "Do you two...know eachother?" Isabel looked at me with a sense of jealousy, and hurt. She did not understand that this was the Prince that I had told her about.

Before I could answer, Alexander spoke. "I'm sorry, I have not introduced myself." He stuck his hand out towards Isabel. "My name, is Prince Alexander, of the Gutaherm Kingdom." Isabel just looked at his hand, and raised an eyebrow. Alexander put his hand back down to his side. "Well. Lad-...Kyla and I have met before...she has, helped me in the past." He rubbed his thigh subconciously. A smile found its way onto my face. Isabel understood.

"Well, I'm going to get back to the basement and cover for us - we've been gone far too long..." She looked at me and then squeezed my arm discreetly. "Kyla, I'll meet you behind the barn...later tonight."

With that, she left Alexander and I alone.

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Part 6

We stood there for awhile, just staring at eachother. We didn't know what to do, really. Where were we at? Did we even have something further than just a simple friendship? Alexander walked slowly over to the sword collection and pulled out a broad sword with an engraving of a vine all the way up the shaft. He smiled. "It's beautiful." He swung the sword around, and proded the air. His feet movement were elegant and graceful. "She's a hard one to handle, though. But she glides nicely...like she's got wings."

I nodded, and watched him swing the sword more. "You may have it, if you like it that much - I'm sure we've got plenty more, the King would never notice."

Alexander walked closer to me, setting the sword beside his side. "Ahh, but this one is unique. There is no other like her...I'm sure the King would...notice."

"You're not talking about the sword," I raised my head to look at him in the eye, "...are you?"

Alexander grinned, and then gently set his forehead against my own. I closed my eyes, the blue intensity too close to my liking. I could feel his hand rest on my waist - bold and impolite for a Prince to touch a maid that way. He slowly let his hand rise up, from the small of my back, to close between my shoulderblades. I gasped out of pain, the wounds still not fully closed yet. Again, Alexander pulled away. He looked at me deeply, still trying to figure out more. Quickly, I grabbed a large two handed sword.

"Don't! It's too heavy, here let me he-" He closed his mouth as I swung it behind my back and then twirled it back above my head. I silently thanked Isabel for dragging me to all those swordship lessons back when I was ten. "Well well well..what do we have here? A lady who can bear a sword?" He grinned.

I didn't say a word, but instead lunged the sword at him - his own blocking the blow. I blew a strand of hair off my face, and repositioned myself. We began a swords dance, lunging and taking blows, our feet making soft taps as we danced around. Alexander took a stab at my side, but I turned away in the knick of time and got him behind his knees. He nearly fell but regained his balance and playfully tapped me on the back with the front of his sword. I wouldn't have fallen - and I wouldn't have screamed - if my back wasn't covered in open wounds.

I fell to the ground and dropped my sword - resulting in a large clank against the cement floor. Alexander immediately knelt down and wrapped his arm around me, lifting me gently off the ground. "M'lady! Have I done something wrong? Are you alright?" He put his free hand onto my forehead. "You must be ill...I must get you to the Priest...he'll know what to do!"

"No! No, Sir please just let me be...I'm fine..." I tried sitting up but my back gave way and I fell back down. 'If he brings me to the Priest, he'll for sure see my back...I can't let that happen!' "Sir," I began, as he tried to lift me up, "I'm fine, really. Let me be."

Alexander turned me onto my stomach in one slow movement, and pushed the back of my dress aside. I could not see his expression ,but I had an idea what it was like. He lifted me up against his chest and cradled me like a baby in his arms. He kissed my forehead and rocked me back and forth. "Who did this?" He kept saying, over and over, into the top of my head. I let my tears fall silently down, without saying a word, quiet and calm in the comfort of his arms.