The prince returned to his kingdom with the black knight by his side. The people stopped and stared as they passed through the streets.
"Has the prince done it?" he heard the people whisper. "Has he captured the heartless black knight?"
But there was not only awe in their voices. "Why didn't he slay him on the spot?" they whispered, "Why is the heartless knight not in chains?"
The prince ignored them and held his head high. The knight did not falter. The prince took the knight back to his castle and suited him in armor of pale gold and knighted him anew as his champion.
Even the prince's trusted adviser, his physician, protested, "How can you trust a knight without a heart? He stands beside you like a stone that could just as easily fall upon you as your foes."
"He was cursed to be heartless, but that curse is now broken," the prince answered with a grin.
"How?" the physician demanded. "It doesn't seem broken, and there's only one way-" the physician stopped short as he realized the truth that lay behind the prince's mad grin. Then, all he could do was shake his head in exasperation. "Only you would find a heartless knight…" he grumbled to himself.
But the physician knew the prince would heed no warning.
The prince was strolling through the palace gardens with his champion by his side when the knight spoke up, "All your people can see that I am heartless. Why have you granted me your protection?"
"Because I can see that you are not heartless," the prince said with a small smile, but he was growing tired.
"I am a danger to you and your kingdom," the knight insisted.
The prince stopped in his tracks and turned on the knight. "If you are a danger then strike me dead," he exclaimed.
The knight froze and stared down at him with dark eyes. "I refuse," he said at last.
The prince gave him a pointed look.
"However," the knight continued, "it is only because I have no reason to do so."
"What reason would you need?" the prince demanded.
The knight hesitated in thought. Finally, he said, "I can think of none."
"Do you resent serving as my champion?" the prince asked.
"I would serve you in any way I can," the knight spoke almost reflexively.
"Good," the prince said as though he expected nothing less. Then his voice grew softer, "Because somehow I know it would be difficult to rule without you by my side."
The knight quirked an eyebrow at him in disbelief.
Instead of arguing, the prince insisted, "And do not say you lack a heart because I can feel it beating."
He raised a hand and gently placed it on the center of the knight's chest, where his heart ought to have been. Slowly, he moved his hand over the knight's torso until he reached his side. There he could feel the steady beat of the knight's heart.
Their eyes met. The prince grinned and the corners of the knight's lips twitched upward.