It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Kingdom of Silas. A great day to go out to the market. Laura looked out the window of the carriage and hummed cheerfully to herself. "You're pretty lively for someone who was throwing up not too long ago," Carmilla commented. Laura just glared and returned her eyes to the outdoors. "Do we really have to go to the market?"

"Yes, and there is nothing you can do about it. Wherever I go, you have to go," Laura said playfully.

"Oh joy."

Carmilla stepped out of the carriage first, and subtly scanned the surroundings for any signs of trouble. When she deemed the environment safe she turned around and offered Laura her hand, which the Princess graciously took. Laura smiled up at Carmilla then made a small noise of happiness as she looked over to the market. Carmilla shook her head at Laura's antics, as the girl practically skipped towards the first vendor. Carmilla kept her eye on Laura as the other guard that drove the carriage hopped down, then they both proceeded to follow after the Princess.

"Your highness stay close!" The other guard called out to her. Carmilla glanced at him in annoyance. She wasn't good with people, Laura discluded. She had grown to tolerate the tiny human over the past few weeks. "I'm sure she'll be fine." Carmilla said with a huff, but subtly picked up her pace because she was a little uncomfortable with the distance between herself and Laura. When she caught up with her, the Princess was looking at some jewelry. She picked up a small gold chain with a topaz pendent and held it up to her neck, "How does this look, Charles?" She said turning to Carmilla. Carmilla regarded her seriously, then shook her head, staying silent. She looked down at the table and found a pretty gold chain, similar to the one Laura was holding now, but with an emerald pendant. She picked it up and handed it to Laura, "How about this one?" Laura eyed it, and had to admit that it would go beautifully with a dress she had back at the castle. "That one is very pretty," Laura said smiling. Carmilla nodded and said lowly, so only Laura could hear, "It would compliment your eyes very nicely." Laura's cheeks burned with embarrassment then she turned to the vendor and said, "I'll take this one please."

The vendor blushed and shook her head, "No, for the Princess it's free." It was Laura's turn to shake her head, "No I cannot accept this without payment." Laura turned to Carmilla and extended her hand. Carmilla knew what Laura wanted, and reached into her breast plate to retrieve her coin pouch. She placed it into Laura's palm, and watched carefully around her as Laura paid for her new piece of jewellery.

After the transaction was done Laura absently handed Carmilla the pouch, while she carried on her conversation with the vendor. What they were talking about Carmilla couldn't tell you. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a figure in a dark brown cloak with the hood up covering their face. They were standing at the edge of the market, watching them. The cloak was dirt filled and torn in a few places. It was probably just an old beggar, but they gave Carmilla an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Charles?" Laura said questioningly. Carmilla shook her head a bit and looked down at Laura.

"I'm sorry, what was that Princess?" Laura squinted her eyes at Carmilla, then looked in the direction that she had been staring. All she saw was a woman trying to sell a few rugs. She looked back at Carmilla and said, "I was saying that I'm ready to move on to the new vendor, but if you would rather look at carpets-"

"No, I'm sorry, it's just… I thought I saw something. We can move on." Carmilla gestured forward and Laura smiled, taking Carmilla's arm in hers. Carmilla was taken back at first, but quickly found herself smiling down at the Princess. Laura smiled back up at her, "You've certainly warmed up to me." Carmilla nodded her head, "As you have with me, cupcake." Laura giggled at the nickname.

They were walking towards the next vendor that Laura wanted to visit when suddenly the cloaked figure grabbed at Laura's arm. "Princess, ye be in danger! You need to run! Run, run, run~. That Black Knight will be the death of thee! His hands are stained with blood, they are! He'll end up filling your castle with blood! He will, he will, he will!" The old woman screamed hysterically. Laura stared down at her in horror, trying to break free from her grasp. "Please, you're not making any sense!" The old woman's talon-like nails dug into her arm. "Blood will pour! Pour like rain! Run as fast as you can, Princess~! Ding, dong, the Princess is dead~ The King no longer has a heart~ Everyone is dead~!" She sang and began to cackle uncontrollably. "He'll be the end of ye and the baby, too!" Before Laura could ask what the woman was even talking about, Carmilla smacked the back of her head with the hilt of her sword. The woman's grasp loosened and she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Laura let out a gasp and covered her mouth. "What did you do?!" She shouted, slightly shaken up from the woman's rambles. "Come on, we need to leave," Carmilla replied sternly and led her out of the market.

The carriage ride back to the castle was a quiet one. Laura clutched the emerald necklace that was now around her neck and stared out the window. Finally, she broke the silence. "She called you the Black Knight. Why would she do that?"

"I am wearing black armor," Carmilla replied. "But the Black Knight is just a bedtime story told to scare children."

"Yes, it is. She was a crazy old woman. It probably meant nothing." Laura unconsciously placed a hand over her stomach and mumbled, "Yeah, probably."

As soon as they walked through the castle doors, King Hollis was demanding to see Laura. Her heart sank. It had been weeks since she had actually faced her father, and she didn't want to start now. Reluctantly, she went to the throne room with Carmilla and approached her father. "Yes, King Hollis?" She didn't even want to call him father or papa like she normally did. She could see that her words, or lack there of, hurt him, but his actions had wounded her severely. "Perry informed me that you've been ill?" He questioned. Dammit! She should've cleaned out the chamber pot before she left. "I threw up once. I feel perfectly fine now."

"Have you bled this month, Laura?" She bit her lip. She knew exactly why he was asking. She glanced over her shoulder at Carmilla, who seemed to be confused about what was happening. "No . . I haven't." King Hollis leaned back in throne, his face blank like a statue. "Then this means we're expecting an heir. You'll marry William at the end of this week. We can't have the kingdom thinking that my daughter's having a bastard child."

"It is a bastard," Laura muttered under her breath. He clenched his jaw and seemed to be fighting back any cross words. "Laura, you left me no choice. Now I won't have any back talk about this. You'll marry William, pretend you and him are a happy family, and you'll raise the heir to the throne."

"But what if it ends up being a girl?" Laura retorted.

"Then you'll just have to try again, won't you?" She couldn't believe her father's words. How could he do this to her?

"Fine," She replied, surrendering to her father's wishes. It wasn't fair but it was her duty as Princess. A duty she greatly despised.

"You may go now, Laura," He dismissed her. Without another word, she turned her back to her father and left the room.

Carmilla stared up at the king for only a moment before she quickly followed behind Laura, staying silent. She could practically feel Laura's anger radiating off her small body. When they got to Laura's room Carmilla locked the door, she had a feeling Laura wouldn't want to be disturbed. "So now you know the whole truth of it." Carmilla looked over at Laura and again stayed silent, knowing that wasn't the only thing the Princess was going to say.

"Even after everything, the thing that I'm most curious about is how the old woman at the market knew." Laura looked over at Carmilla, as if she would know the answer. Carmilla could only shrug, "Maybe you have that 'glow' everyone is always talking about. Who knows?"

"Then why did she say what she said about you? Like you're that awful Black Knight everyone wants to tell stories about. My father told me those stories when I was little, I know what awful things they say that Knight has done." She paused, "She said you'd be the death of me..." At this Carmilla shook her head and took a step forwards, "I am here to protect you, the exact opposite of being the death of you." Laura contemplated this statement for a moment. "You did protect me. When that lady became too much to handle you took care of it, and you got me home safely. Thank you." Carmilla looked down at the ground and nodded, keeping her eyes on the tile of the floor.

This didn't go unnoticed to Laura. "I'm pregnant," She stated, as if after the entire conversation in the throne room didn't make that obvious enough. Carmilla's eyes lifted from the tile to Laura's stomach. She focused her hearing just right, and she heard something far more incredible to her than any other sound. Three heart beats. Carmilla usually didn't have the need to breath, she mostly did it out of habit, but she found herself holding her breath. She regained her composure and nodded her head, "It would seem so Princess. Why didn't you tell me before?" Laura looked up at her from a spot that she had been staring off at, "I didn't want to believe it. Not after what William did. I didn't even want to think about it." She said with a humorless chuckle. Carmilla strode over to Laura and placed a hand on her shoulder, quite pleased that she didn't flinch away. "Tell me what happened." She said in a low stern voice. Laura looked up at her and narrowed her eyes, "You know what he did..." Carmilla shook her head, "I know only what you have told me and what I can prove with my own eyes." Laura swallowed. She didn't want to say it outloud ,but she assumed that it had to be done. "He came to my room one night, only wearing a pair of trousers. I've seen him that way before, many times. I've known him since I was a little girl, I trusted him . . ." She paused, "He said . . . Well it doesn't matter what he said. What he did was what matters." Carmilla was growing antsy. "And what exactly was it that he did?" Laura teared up, but this time Carmilla was not going to let her have a break down. Not after all the progress they had made. She led Laura over to her bed and sat her down, then knelt in front of her, taking her hands. Laura gave Carmilla a watery smile, then removed one of her hands from Carmilla's and rested it on the guards face. "Thank you for being so sweet to me." Carmilla kept her face stony, though she would never admit it, she felt the sweetest of burns under Laura's touch. Laura took her hand from Carmilla's face, and set it on her lap limply as she whispered out, "He raped me."

The day of the wedding finally arrived, and Laura was dreading every minute of it. She was in her bedroom, letting the handmaidens adjust her long, flowing white gown. One was busy tying up her corset and the other was fixing her hair into a crown braid. The dress was beautiful, Laura admitted. It was long and even trailed behind her. The sleeves were long belled sleeves with lace fringe on the ends. Laura's favorite part though was the lacy design on the corset and the white ribbons used to tie it up. The dress was the one her mother wore when her and her father had gotten married. Laura had never gotten to meet her, but she imagined how beautiful she must've looked when she had worn the dress herself.

"There," One of the handmaidens spoke. "You look beautiful, Laura. Absolutely stunning." She nodded a thanks before she picked up her emerald necklace. "Charles?" She asked, looking over at the knight who was polishing her armor. "Hm?" She responded, looking up from the shiny black plates. "Put this on me?" She asked. One of the handmaidens eyed the necklace. "Do you really think that necklace will look good with the dress?"

"Of course it will," She answered and handed the necklace to Carmilla. She carefully placed the necklace around her pale neck and clasped it. "Lookin' good, cupcake." She whispered and winked at her.

Perry walked into the room and said, "Laura? Everyone's waiting on you." Laura let out a long sigh. Let's get this over with, she thought and exited the room, Carmilla following in suit.

"Did you hear about the wedding?"

"Yes! I did! Wasn't it so unexpected?"

"It was! Princess Laura and a knight? William at that."

"I was hoping it would've been that handsome knight that's always with her. What's his name again?"

"Charles."

"Yes! Him! Isn't he the finest creature you've ever laid eyes on?"

"Mm, yes. He is! If I wasn't married . ."

"Oh, I know what you mean! The things I'd do with Laura..."

"..."

"I mean Charles!"

"Too bad it isn't them getting married. They'd be an adorable couple."

"Charles, I think those women are talking about you..."