Her prison was made of cold stone. There was no light to be had here. It was made with no door. It was intended that she starve to death here. There was an overhang, but it was three heads taller than her. All that came through was rain and skin numbing drafts. She was to die from the cold if she didn't starve. Detestable insects from centipedes, to maggots, and more crawled along the floor. She whimpered then began to cry. This isn't how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be the saving grace of her people. All those years of back breaking work in the heat. Countless coins spent on improving the land. It was for naught. It was all undone by a single dragon swooping into her kingdom, slaying her knights, and taking her away to this tower. She hugged her knees for warmth. Cold wind swept in from the overhand and glided across the floor to pierce her skin with daggers of ice. She prayed oblivion would come to her gently.
A young man clad in armor climbed a stone wall. His scar and cape blowing squirmed in the air as he ascended the tower. The wind slapped against his helmet protecting his face and trapping his warm breath inside. His silver locket flew out from underneath his breastplate. He caught it under threat of falling, but he remained steady on the wall he climbed. He went back to stabbing his knives into the stonework pulling himself up. His footing was not to be found here on the frosted tower. He'd been climbing for at least an hour now. Stopping for a short break he looked out to the distance, he saw twenty other towers in the distance. They were farther than they appeared. Illusion to trick those unprepared. Only when you came within fifty feet of the tower would the perspective become appropriate. He looked down. One hundred feet was a long way to fall. He was not afraid of that. His main concern was making sure the princess was safe. He neared the top of the tower.
Her tears were freezing on her face now. It had only been getting colder and colder since she got here. The wind screamed as a hawk would as it swept into the room once more. Snatching the remains of her warmth. The screaming did not relent and it threatened to pierce her ear drums. Then something came over the scream, a thud, then a clacking. It reminded her of a miner striking a stone. Was the tower breaking apart? Surely, the dragon wouldn't have gone this far to just build a shoddy tower. Then the striking cracks stopped and the wind continued to knocking started. She was beginning to lose her mind.
He stopped where he thought the princess's room would be. He let of his right dagger to fumble through the pouch the wizard had given to him. He fiddled for a moment, hanging from one hand as the wind threatened to slap him against the tower. He pulled out his key to the princess, a chunk of chalk. One you would find in schools all around. Carefully he drew the outline of a door.
"Ok, here I go."
He put the chalk back into his pocket and then grabbed his sword. He inhaled quickly then freed his hand from the dagger holding him and dropped. Using all the speed and strength he had left he stabbed the tower right below the door with his sword. Getting at least a foot length deep hoisted himself up and stood on the embedded sword. He grabbed the dagger he stabbed into the tower and yanked it out. Using the rest of the chalk he drew a door knob in the outline of the door.
She heard another crack and then something crumbled. The dragon must have come back, she thought. Was this the end? She didn't know. The princess got to her feet and a door appeared. This surely had to be the work of the dragon. She wiped the tears off her face. If she were to die she would do it standing on her feet. Her legs shook out of fear and from the cold.
He inhaled.
"Ok."
The boy burst through the door faster than the wind outside.
"Princess, I've come for you."
Standing before him was a raggedy kobold. She squealed in delight.
"What."
There had to be some mistake. This was the princess's tower. That's what the wizard had said. He pulled out the map he was given once more. He was to save and marry the human princess making him the king of all the land. He knew the wizard would pull something like this. The wizard and he were going to have words when he returned.
"My hero!"
Her little arms wrapped around his waist like a weak girdle. She was hugging him with all her strength. Unfortunately the door was still open. He latched onto the door frame to stop them falling to their death..
"Woah, woah, WOAH!"
He nearly tackled the kobold when he yanked himself back up.
"Sir knight, this isn't the right place. We have to be married first."
The kobold put her hands to her cheeks,
"I'm getting too chivalrous for this shit."
He mumbled under his breath then pulled the kobold off of him. He closed the door behind them.
"Where is she?"
He sighed. It was dark now that the door was closed. He reached into his pouch and pulled a candle and lit it.
"What do you mean?"
The kobold said. Given the size of it's mammaries it must've been a female.
"The princess. where is she."
He asked once more. Kobolds were slow, but not this slow.
"I'm the princess."
She said, She reached into her bosom and produced a small crown. He brought the candle over to it. He wiped a smudge off. PROPERTY OF KOBOLD PRINCESS KOKO BOLDHORN. This was a princess alright. Not the one he wanted though.
"Thank you, Sir Knight .You're my hero. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you."
She buried her head into his chest.
"This isn't right, only humans have princesses and royalty. Beastfolk know nothing about civilized governments.."
He didn't hide the agitation in his voice. There was none to begin with. In fact there was no excitement, pride, joy, frustration, anger, or even fatigue in his voice. Not even the slightest hint of emotion. Any other princess would have noticed immediately, but Koko Boldhorn was just happy someone came to her rescue.
"Oh, Sir Knight, you must have been living underneath a rock this whole time before you got here. There is a princess for every people of the land. We all, after all, need someone to look up to."
She didn't even notice it. He got up with a 'hmph' and put his hand to the door.
"Well, regardless, we should go now. Take my hand Princess Boldhorn."
He extended his hand, reluctantly, to the kobold. She took his hand only to collapse as she stood up.
"I'm sorry, I can't move, I'm too cold."
She fell to her knees and then sat on her butt as her knees bruised themselves upon the floor. The knight sighed then crouched down to the girl.
"Just until we can get down, please princess, use what strength you have."
She fell down once more as she failed to stand.
"If you cannot stand then let me carry you."
She took his hand once more.
"Alright, let me on your back and we'll be off."
She said put her arms out. He hoisted her up and brought her into his chest.
"Oh, will this be fine? I'm sorry, I don't know your name."
She said. Without furs armor should freeze skin to it like glue. Yet, a calming warmth seemed to seep through it and comfort her as she clinged to him.
"Timothy. My name is Timothy. Don't worry, you said you are cold. It'd be better if you stay here for now while you warm up."
He pulled his cloak around and tied it into a makeshift hammock around her. He picked her up and placed her in. She hugged her knees and wrapped her tail between her legs. "Are you ready?"
He grabbed the door knob.
"Yes, Sir Timothy."
She said from the bundle. He opened the door and stepped out onto the sword he left.
'Just call me, Sir Knight for now."
He crouched down, grasped the blade and hilt with firm resolve. He stabbed his knife into the tower and began to gently crawl down the frozen walls.
"That's an odd thing. Why do you not want to use your name, don't you want your name spread around like every good knight?"
She breathed into her hands. It has been the only warmth she'd felt since she was taken from her kingdom five days ago.
"It is nothing. How does a kobold learn common, aren't you supposed to be incapable of higher thought."
He was climbing down faster than he made it up.
"Oh you must have heard some very tall tales, we kobolds are just like humans. Well, save for our scales, tales, and dragon heritage. We can think and feel like everyone else. My father thought it would be very important for me to learn the common tongue. That way when we manage to gain some power people would take us more seriously. ."
He was only half the way down now. His arms cried for him to stop, but he continued on. He was almost there. The wind howled once more. The knight hugged the tower wall and let the wind pick him up to bash him against the tower or throw him off. He stabbed the tower but failed to pierce the stone.
"That's-"
He slipped but managed to keep a grip on his other knife. Had the wind been quieter he would have heard a familiar whizzing sound. An arrow took the place his head once was a moment ago. It pierced through the ice and was halfway deep into the stone. He let go of the knife drawing his sword as he fell. Two more arrows found the place where he once was.
'Knight what are you-"
She stopped to scream as she felt them fall. The knight stabbed the tower with his long sword forcing them to a halt. He dropped and left his sword and knife where they were. They were replaceable. The heart and lungs the next three arrows would've hit were not. Landing on his shoulder to spare the princess the brunt of the fall he rolled towards his cart which was only ten feet away. Misjudging the height he fell made him yelp in pain. His left shoulder was dislocated now, he made it behind the cart. He imagined the archer had a bead on the driver's seat. The knight peaked above, his shield riding coach. His horse was still alive and tied to his cart. Seems they intend to kill him and steal the princess. They must have followed him. Following a knight, killing him, and taking the princess hostage was a favored for him to die to traps or monsters was a common one as well. Can't protect his loot then. Perhaps they were another knight hoping to steal the princess for himself, or worse yet, a knight from one of the kobold's enemies. They hadn't been aiming for the princess so they probably weren't an assassin.
"Sir knight, what is going on now?"
Koko asked. The princess wrapped herself up in the cape praying for protection.
"We're being shot at by someone. I think they want you. I'll protect with my very life princess."
The knight crawled to the coach seat. He wrapped his left arm around the wheel of the cart. Inhaling he gave the arm a sharp tug and put it back into place. He undid his scarf and looked at the princess still cradled between his arms.
"Koko Boldhorn. That is your name."
He said.
"Yes, and yours is Timothy the Knight."
She said. Her faith in him felt familiar. Timothy threw his scarf up into the air lunging for his shield. He landed on his side grabbing the reins with his right hand and stirred the horse.
"Hiyah!"
The knight cried. He raised his shield up in time to stop two arrows from slipping through his visor. They exploded against the shield. His left arm strained from the force, it was like blocking a cannon ball.
"Look out, Sir Timothy!"
The princess tugged his hands. The horse ran for a tree stump, the knight tugged the reins with the kobold princess. The horse sped off untouched. Whoever they were, they didn't seem to care for anyone but him. He blocked another couple of arrows before the horse ran and broke into the cover of trees.
"We made it."
The princess poked her head out of the hammock. Rising dislodged the arrows in the knight's shoulder. She looked down and saw that four arrows had pierced his legs.
"Yes, we did."
He hefted forward a bit, a reflex of pain. Koko's mouth hung open.
"Sir Timothy, you-'"
"Just-."
He lurched forward and lost consciousness.
Timothy awoke to a sharp stab from a cane.
"Wake up. You need to wake up."
He looked around, snow still blanketed the forest floor. His legs were bare too, yet he still had his tent he packed was set up. The sweat on his chest was freezing, he wasn't wearing his breastplate. All he had was a shirt, something seemed off. Like a weight was absent from his heart. He shot up ready to scour the wagon trail.
"Looking for this?"
A man said. Before him sat an old man in a grey robe blending in with the twilight. The man's beard stretched to his belly and his hair past his eyes hiding them. He had only a dark gloom where his nose pointed out. A broom of a moustache that merged into his beard. A thin layer of frost had accumulated on his beard and hair. A pointy hat that was too small to properly fit a dwarf let alone the wizard's massive head. Smuhg, the wizard who took Timothy in years ago. The cane in Smuhg's right hand dug into Timothy's brow. In his left hand he held a small silver locket. Timothy snatched it out of the wizard's hand. Smuhg nodded while Timothy searched for any blemishes or scratches upon the metal surface. Pristine as it always was and will be.
"You nearly died right there."
Smuhg pointed to the blood streak frozen down the coach to the ground. The wizard's tone wasn't that of disappointment or that of a teacher or parent. He said like a man would point out a note the color of leaves, or a squirrel that seemed to be missing it's tail. Timothy put the locket around his neck and rested it underneath his shirt.
"I know that Smuhg. How did I get here? Where is the princess? Who attacked us? Where's my horse?"
Timothy said. He needed to get more distance from the archer they ran into. Smuhg pointed to the other side of the cart.
"Your horse is over there tied to the tree resting. He's not a young stallion anymore."
Timothy looked. Apple, his aging horse, was sleeping. His coat and blanket had been wrapped snug to prevent the cold winds from stealing his warmth.
"The princess is in the tent."
The wizard stretched his staff from Timothy to the tent flap pushing it open. The knight peered inside. She lay in his bed roll.
"You roused her to keep going on, you rode for about an hour before starting to become cold yourself. She stopped the horse, set up the tent and tended to your wounds."
The wizard poked Timothy's shoulder. Wax had been spilled all over the arrow wounds.
"Whoever fired upon you did so with poisoned arrows."
The wizard produced one of the arrows. The tip of it ended in three vicious spikes.
"They were dipped in manticore venom, it congeals blood quickly. Your veins became akin to jelly tubes. I cannot tell you who they were, but they came prepared. "
The wizard drug his staff to Timothy's legs. They too were covered in dried wax.
"Because I'm supposed to figure it out on my own?"
Timothy snorted.
"Because I don't know everything, I do not know everything and I don't just babysit your ignorant behind all day."
Now he was beginning to like a mentor.
"You sure act like you do."
Timothy said. The wizard's reprisal was a smack from the staff.
"Hush up boy, or I'll take more than lip from you. Princess Boldhorn used her red candle. A candle said to be made from the Kobold god Krealt's blood. A gift so divine and revered that only Kobold princesses may use it has powerful life magic giving the princess a lifespan closer to a humans, and curing any wound the wax is melted on. Including venom, you're lucky she did it or your heart would've been filled with jelly."
The wizard crossed his arms.
"She will die soon from hypothermia, her body cannot retain heat as we would. She would throw on four times the furs a human would need."
The words sunk into Timothy's mind like a stone. He threw his hands into the air.
"Wha-. No. I can't fail here. I just started, I can't. I was ready, I did everything right. Why would she do something like that? She's supposed to run away and return to her people. My life should mean nothing to her. No, she was supposed to be the human princess. You promised me I'd find the human princess and unite the lands.'
He picked up a bit of snow and threw it at the wizard. The wizard swatted it and the rock inside the ball out of the air.
"I'd bring peace to the lands, I'd be the knight-"
The wizard smacked the staff on Timothy's head like a judge gavel.
"Hush now, I said you'd save a princess and unite the lands. This is only the beginning of your journey. Thinking you need to save the human princess is folly, was it not her family who brought ruin to all who rejected her fathers 'civilization'? You'd simply become another tyrant as you are now."
Timothy rubbed his head.
"Regardless, you will not save just the human princess. You will save every princess that has been taken. Only then when they all follow with their hearts and souls will the land be unified. Now you will save the Kobold princess. Not only because she is a princess, but because in her moment of pain and suffering she decided that your life mattered more than hers. Lighting it would've allowed her to run all the way to her kingdom. Burning that candle for you burned down her chance of escaping without you. For that you own her your duty not for her royalty but her selflessness. There is more I would discuss with you, but you need to save the princess."
The wizard pulled a lit pipe out of beard then put it where Timothy assumed a chatty mouth was.
"How am I supposed to do that? Start a fire, I'm being chased. Speaking of which, how do I know our hunters aren't almost upon us?"
Timothy looked back to the tent. The princess wasn't moving much aside from breathing puffs of smoky frost.
"You doubt how much I do for you Timothy with what little I'm allowed. I've made sure you are hidden, but a fire wouldn't heat her up fully. She'd just be dethawed. She's in a deathless state like that of hibernation. You need to share your magical energy."
The wizard puffed out blue clouds of glowing smoke. Timothy swatted them away and sighed.
"I just nearly bled out, I can't give her my blood."
Timothy said, looking at the frozen blood stain. The wizard shook his finger at Timothy.
"Not blood, the other source of magic."
The wizard hit his pipe.
"You don't mean for me to, you know. I have kept my vows of innocence. I can't consu-"
Timothy's mouth was closed by the wizard's staff. The wizard was always able to swing that thing faster than Timothy could block..
"Not that either, you know what you must do. Use the bright to warm her, you dog."
The wizard removed his staff. Timmy shook his head.
"That's absurd. I can't do that."
The wizard was speaking nonsense again.
"No, it's not. I'll whack you again if you begin to think like that. You've spent all this time cultivating a power to protect and you don't use it. You must focus the bright in your hands and-"
The wizard began to make rather obscene gestures.
"I-I can't do that!"
Timothy tossed snow at the wizard. The old man needed to cool down a bit.
"You must or she will become as solid as ice. Her eyes will become cross and hard like marbles. Her tongue will fall out and stick to her skin. Only you can save her from such an ignoble death."
Timothy looked back to the tent. His mind drifted.
"Why can't you do it?"
He asked with slight tension.
"You really want me to…"
He made gestures again.
"Stop that. Fine, I'll fix the princess."
Timothy pushed into the tent. The wizards withered hand drew into the left of his head.
"Take this."
It was an oil lamp.
"You won't start a fire with this. You'll be hidden for at least a day. Only two weeks to save three more princesses with your cart. I have to go to wizard stuff like talk to rocks."
Timothy took the lamp and pushed the wizard away. There was nothing there to fight, the wizard was gone.
"Wizards, no sense of reason or answers."
He buttoned the tent flap closed. He pinched the wick, thought of fire and lighting the wick.
"Ok. Let's begin;"
Timothy lifted the blanket covering the princess. Her skin was a nice green like that of vibrant trees. Her rag top was hanging loose, much the same with her skirt. He removed both as they were drenched in frigid sweat. He closed his eyes. He removed both. He thought for a moment of all his hopes and dreams. Then a warmth took him and her.
Koko opened her eyes. She had dreamed a strange dream, of suns wrapped in part of her felt warm. If she ran outside right she was sure the snow would melt under her feet. That was a foolish idea though and she settled with just poking her small head out. It was still the same blue grey outside. She did not know if it was day or night. She picked it up and poked her head out of the tent. As far as she knew no sunlight touched this frozen land. Never becoming brighter or darker, the land was always twilight covered in grey clouds sprinkling snow like sugar on a cake. A small fire had been built with a pot above the flame. The burning pops of the fire and rolling froth beneath the pot's lid prevented it from being truly quiet. A log was left to the side presumably for sitting or for when the fire got lower. The trees around the campfire looked darker outside of the light than before, lumbering behind one of said trees was a shadow. It was the Knight Timothy.
"It's good to see you awake princess."
Timothy came back with a hare in hand.
"Sir Timothy!"
She waved her hand like a flag in a parade.. He covered his eyes.
"Princess, please cover yourself."
Her soft flesh hung out for him to see. Realizing she was bare to his bare eyes, she pulled the blanket to her breast. Though there were no details in the grey his mind filled in the rest much to his annoyance.
"Oh, did you, did you-"
Her face got hot and she darted back into the tent. He had saved her so he would have the rite, that's what she thought at least.
"You were freezing to death so using my magic I warmed you up. Your clothes were drenched in sweat and were making you cold, I burned them.I left you a few furs off by your head."
Timothy set the hare down on the ground before hopping into the cart. He reached beneath the seats until he found his chest. The princess appeared on his shoulder like a freshly sprouted second head.
"What is that?"
She asked.
"It's my travelling chest. I have a few of them in here, all full of different supplies I would need on my journeys. Please take this one."
Timothy slid her a smaller chest. He picked up the bigger box with one hand and hopped off the cart. He looked at the princess wrapped in all the furs. She looked more akin to a sasquatch than a kobold. He stopped her when she tried to jump down.
"Your feet, you have no shoes."
He pointed to her scaly feet that were tough and hardened with long claws. No signs of cracking. Yet.
"I walk barefoot all the time."
She said curling her short toes.
"It's not enough to keep your feet protected in this climate. Let me carry you."
He said.
"How will you carry me if I hold onto your back?"
Timothy wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her to his side. He sat her on the log then grabbed the cold hare. Opening the chest he first pulled out a flat board of wood. He placed the hare onto the block. She opened the chest to see one side with pouches and the other with cutlery and cooking wares.. Tentatively she tugged the string keeping one of them open. She sniffed it and coughed a bit. It had a strong crisp smell to it like the tobacco elders smoked at home, but fresher.
"That's for when you're sick. You don't want it otherwise. It's very strong. Hand me the red pouch inside there."
The knight had already skinned the hare and was now in the process of separating the meat from the bones. Koko's eye wandered to him and the knife. Her head twitched to watch as he snapped the spine of the first rabbit. Had she not been looking she would have thought it was the fire popping. He cut what little held the back together. The knife slithered around the bones and separated the legs from the body.
"Are you not disgusted by the butchering?"
Timothy broke the silence.
"No, my nursemaid was the cook. She never used a knife, she used her hands to separate the meat from bones."
Koko said. Timothy noted that he would not anger Koko's nursemaid if they ever met.
"One moment."
He went back to the cart and grabbed another box. He tossed the cuts of meat inside and rubbed the contents of the box onto them. She put the chest down and walked to his side.
"What are you doing?"
She said seemingly unaffected being knee deep in snow without boots.
"I'm salting them so they last longer. It- Please stay on the log or in the tent, I do not want you to get frostbite."
He closed the box.
"Oh fine."
She sat on the log again. He took the cutting box and salt box back to the cart and came back with another one.
"How many chests do you have back there?"
She asked. He opened the new one and offered her an empty bowl.
"Many chests you cannot see thanks to the wizard that aids me. Have this bowl."
He opened the chest at her feet and produced a ladle. Removing the top he dipped the ladle in and poured the contents into the bowl. It left a fog trail from the pot to the princess's hands.
"It's rabbit stew. I managed to get one earlier, and I went to get more for the trip."
He handed her what looked to be a cross between a fork and a spoon. A spork.
'Thank you, Sir Timothy."
She blew on the first sporkful to cool it down.
"Please, just call me Sir Knight."
It was the first meal she had eaten in days. While her nursemaid's cooking was superb, hunger was the best spice. In her case starvation. It warmed her to the core. But something did not sit right with her as she ate.
"Sir Timothy, why haven't you eaten yet"
She stopped eating. There was a little less than half left in it. He was back in the cart sorting through his things.
"I'm not a hungry princess, I ate some jerky a bit ago."
He said pulling a long purple bundle out. Undoing it revealed the many halberds inside. A warhammer, a spear, a halberd, and a flag. He inspected them for any possible faults. He did this many times when he was finished with his general tasks.
"I would like it if you ate with me. You caught the hares. I like to share with my people."
Koko said.
"Your people."
Timothy mumbled. She did not hear him say this.
"It is fine to help yourself to what's in the pot.."
He said as he opened up another bundle of items.
"But Timothy, it's quite lonely over here, would you keep me company? Not to mention it is too much for a girl like me to eat while sitting."
Without looking back he could feel the princess's eye bore his skull.
"Fine."
He rolled the weapons back up and slid it under the seat.
"So you mentioned a wizard, did he help you find me?"
She asked. Timothy sat at arms length from her.
"Yes, his name is Smuhg. He is the one who trained me in the ways of chivalry and knighthood. He also thinks speaking in riddles makes him wise."
A rock flew out of the woods and smacked Timothy in the head. It did nothing to his helmet but the sentiment was felt.
"But he has his uses. He also mentioned that you burnt a very special candle and poured the wax on me. One reserved only for royalty. What does that mean."
He she finished her bowl as she just now lost her appetite.
"I burned the candle for you Sir Timothy. It is a gift from Krealt the god of kobolds. It is said to be made of her blood. Whoever lights it will live as long as it burns. The longest record being one hundred years. I used the wax to heal your wounds, it gave you all the years whoever burned it would have had."
She put her bowl down.
"But! I didn't do it out of naivety. I think you are a truly brave and noble knight. I know you'd save all the other princesses no matter what. After all you came to my rescue, even if you thought I was to be the human princess, you still saved me regardless.I know the other kingdoms think of us kobolds as nothing but hardy vermin. You still carried me and risked your life taking those arrows for me. I trust you would have saved them. Yet again you saved me from freezing to death. You are a noble knight Sir Timo-"
She stopped as he placed the other bowl on her head.
"Please, call me Sir Knight."
He said.
"But thank you."
She removed the bowl and looked at the pot.
"Why haven't you eaten yet?"
Looked at her bowl of scraps.
'I will eat after you. I have been cursed by the fae. Anyone who sees my face will fall madly in love with me."
He knocked on his head.
"It's made of cold iron, it helps keep the curse at bay as well. Without it people still feel a strong attraction to my face and try to take my helmet off."
He said.
"That's unfortunate, I was hoping I'd get to see the face of my saviour. I'll have my shaman councilor's work to break the curse."
Koko grabbed his hand. Timothy pushed her away.
"The wizard has tried to break it for me to no avail, whatever was placed upon me will not come out so easily. There will be no need for that, once I save the human princess it will matter very little, it could even benefit me."
He chuckled at the words he said. He didn't really mean it and Koko didn't laugh. Instead she looked a bit glum.
"Well, alright. We should get going now. You said there are more princesses to save."
She didn't move. The princess waited for the knight to first move.
"We can stay here for a bit longer. It's only been half a day. I suggest you go sleep a bit more, it'll be harder for you to rest on the wagon with me."
He took the bowl and poured himself some stew from the ladle.
"Go on. I'll keep watch and eat. I'll wake you when we need to leave."
She listened to him and retreated to the tent.
"If you need to get out of the tent let me know and I'll put my helmet back on."
Timothy got out a spoon and put a pinch of salt in the stew.
"Wait."
Koko said. She ducked out of the tent. Timothy met her gaze.
"Thank you for saving me, Sir Timothy. You're the bravest knight I've ever known."
She winked at him then went back inside.
"It was only my duty, and just call me Sir Knight."
He said. He waited until he was certain Koko fell asleep to remove his helm.
"You would do well to rest yourself, Timothy."
Smuhg's voice carried itself upon the now soft winter winds.
"Do not call me Timothy, you of all people will not call me by that name."
Timothy put the spoon down.
"Well, Timothy, I noticed something odd. You always took care not to talk to beast men. I thought you hated them all. Why talk to her majesty Koko?"
Smuhg's voice came like a creeping chill up the knight's spine. Timothy ignored the wizards initial taunt.
"You answered your own question. She's a princess, and even if she is a beastman. I can rein them in and introduce them to proper culture. She seems to be one of the mythical good ones I heard about. She is of use to me."
The chill up Timothy's spine became colder than ice. His skin tingled and his hairs stood up. Smuhg's voice broke the ice.
"I hope for you that is not the case, you do not need to be your father, nor live up to his ideals. Yo-"
"My father is exactly why I do this! It is ideals that made me the man I am. Do not bring him up again wizard, leave me alone. Just point me in the direction of the next tower then go back to your senile hut."
Timothy barked back, careful to not raise his voice. The feeling of tension left. The general snow blanket calmness of the wizard returned.
"It lies east of here, go there. The next princess will be there underground."
The cold voice receded into the night.
"Take care, Timothy. His ideals were his unmaking, do not let them be yours boy."
The wizard was gone. Timothy's appetite was gone. He shook his head and ate. He needed to eat. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
A dark figure inspected the knives embedded in the tower. Short, iron daggers meant for fae. They were his alright, they were the knights' daggers. The dark figure put them in new sheathes and carried on after the cart. It was long out of sight now. He marched on and on through the winter night. He did not rest nor did he eat. Knowing the knight was still alive kept him going. Eventually the figure realized that the tracks were going in circles and settled on resting in a large tree hollow he found. He was colder than the snow around him and more still than a frozen lake. He would rest only for a short time then he would go to the nearest tower. He had been later than he hoped but it was enough time for him. The figure rubbed his chest, a weight was missing. He wished it was there once more.