The Knight's Duty

Her Own Little Self

And so the brave knights were again send into the bewitched forest. They were only ten men this time. Although his majesty wanted a whole bunch of men to go, Knight Noah decided that it would be a waste to do so. So he gathered nine of his best men and took them with him to find… the (not)princess and bring her to the castle. He was kind of sure that she will not change her mind, but he could kidnap her this time as his majesty said.

He knew that he will not do that - most probably, but he had to make a backup plan to at least be able to threaten her. The prince will cut his head off if he does not bring the girl this time. But he understood him in a way – being horny and all.

He and his men could be lucky to be able to have fun with a woman every now and then. Females just loved the shiny armour and wanted to see what one hides under it. So why not give them the pleasure they want?

Anyway… It has been too long. Even for him. He would be happy for a shag or two, but he had no time now.

Searching for a princess and such.

Damn those rich bastards always make him and his men do the nasty work.

The knights were already deep in the forest and the tower was right in front of them, who knows how many miles away. It did not look that far actually and Noah was not one who believed into magic and such – but these woods were really strange. Huge and strange.

He was already thinking of where the girl would be this time, when his horse made a strange sound that made him look to the side and he suddenly caught the sight of long brown hair a bit further from them.

There she was.

Walking around with a big wicker basket in her hand, looking for some plants and digging them out of the earth to put them into her basket. She sang while she was walking, smiling to herself like she had no worry in the world.

Her long and thick hair was bound in a messy bun with many curls sticking out; her cheeks had a healthy blush colour; and her knee long flax dress was slightly dirty at the edges above her knees. Her bare feet gently slid over the forest's ground as if she needed to be careful where she walked.

She was quite beautiful if he was honest. Like a forest fairy. She would only need a pair of wings and maybe less clothing – he might try not to think about that too much. It had been quite a long time since he and his men were allowed to have fun with some girls they would get to know during their adventurous traveling.

And watching the pretty girl in front of him was slightly difficult without getting some nasty but completely natural thoughts. The lass did not have a pale skin like those ladies in the castle; no, her skin was slightly brown, the proof of hard work outside in the sun or any weather for that matter. Her cheeks had a healthy rosy cast, meaning that she must have been out for quite some time, being out of breath. Her small figure seemed like one with nature, almost invisible, but still there, creating a perfect picture where nothing is missing, and nothing is catching one's eye.

Her movements were slow and careful, almost graceful; and even her fingers were touching the plants delicately and gently, almost as if she was afraid to hurt them. Her eyes were concentrated on what she was doing and he was asking himself if she even noticed them yet.

Yes…

She was a natural beauty.

He could not help but think that way.

However, he had work to do and thinking about a female's beauty was the last thing he had time to for.

He and his men watched her in silence and awe for some time, slowly riding their horses in her direction. When they were just a few feet away, Knight Noah decided to open his mouth and start the – most probably terribly tormenting- conversation.

''Ahem…'' he cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

The forest girl turned around in surprise, almost letting go of her basket. She blinked when she saw the group of men in front of her and scratched her nose.

''Oh, hello there… again…'' the girl straightened up and faced her visitors. Her confused expression soon turned into a big and warm smile, and she waited for them to speak.

''Uh…'' started Knight Noah, but had to clear his throat. He moved in his saddle, feeling far too uncomfortable for this conversation and opened his mouth. ''Hello. Again…'' He cleared his throat again. ''We came back on the order of the king himself. We have to make you change your mind.'' He explained shortly and saw the girl rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Brat.

She turned around and started looking for some plants again.

''I already told you that I'm not going to marry the prince.'' She calmly said and picked a violet flower, most probably a lungwort. She observed it for a moment, then smelled at it and finally put it into her basket. She picked some more of those, smelling at each one of them.

''The king allowed us to use violence.'' Was Noah's short reply that made the brunette look up in surprise.

''And how in the world should I pleasure his majesty if I'm hurt?'' she innocently asked and made the ten men blush.

Michael cleared his throat and mumbled a ''she got us…'' under his breath.

The brunette on the other hand was not at all embarrassed and continued with her elegant steps through the fern. She observed the ground on her left and right and picked a herb here and there.

''Look, lady-''

''I'm not actually a lady, your knightnes.''

''Would you stop calling me that?'' knight Noah finally lost his temper.

''I don't know your name and I'm just showing respect towards your position. Why do you take everything as an insult?'' she exclaimed and turned around.

''Because it is one!'' exclaimed Knight Noah, finally losing his nerve. God… This woman is making his job harder than it actually was – if of course, people he had to deal with were afraid of him. And she was far from afraid.

''Yes, well…'' she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. ''I don't use the mock-voice, so you're not supposed to know that it's an insult.'' She huffed.

''The word itself tells me everything…''

''Oh, shush…'' she waived her hand, turned around again, kneeled down and pulled at a small shrub. She could not pull the plant out, while she huffed and puffed and in the end she looked at the men behind her with accusingly and gave them a sharp stare.

''Some help, please…'' she told them in annoyance as if it was something they should come up with themselves and not make her ask.

''Oh, yes…'' said Michael who seemed pretty scared of the girl, although she was at least two heads smaller than him. He jumped from his horse, walked towards her and made her take a step away. Then he pulled at the (actually pretty small) shrub and got it out.

''Thank you!'' she smiled at him like the sun when he gave her the plant and made him blush. She put it in her basket and continued with her walk.

Michael just stared after her, while Noah stared at him.

''What?'' asked the Chinese when he noticed his friend's look. He jumped on his horse again and blinked at the girl.

Noah just shrugged his shoulders and gently kicked his horse to follow the girl.

''Why wouldn't you at least come with us and see if you liked him?'' he called after her and reached her pretty quickly. She on the other hand did not look at him but concentrated on her work.

''Your knightnes-'' she sighed when he glared at her. ''-or what your name is-'' she looked at him with a raised brow and laughed sarcastically. ''I'm not that naive if you haven't noticed. I may not have much company, but I do know how living beings behave.'' She told him, rolling her eyes. ''I'm surrounded with animals and believe me when I say that the behaviour regarding libido and other needs is quite similar to the one of humans.'' She explained and turned her head away. ''I know that the moment the prince will meet me, regardless of my not so gorgeous exterior, he will want to have sex with me.''

Knight Noah gulped at the way she said it – like it was a completely normal thing. Well, it was, but Christianity became quite strict these days.

His men listened intently and realized that sitting on horses became quite uncomfortable. They decided that it was a waste to ride the pore animals, making them tired with their weight and slowly got down. But just standing there will not get them the girl to come with them, so they all just simply pulled their horses into a slow walk behind their superior and the strange girl.

''And I won't let that happen.'' The determination in the girl's voice and in her eyes when she looked at all of them made the men insecure and embarrassed. They looked around, not able to look into her eyes. They knew that what she was saying was true, but no one has actually said it aloud until now.

She continued with her wandering, her expression quite serious. Noah scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what to do.

''Miss-''

''Sir!'' she turned around fast and with a hard expression on her face as if she was expecting him not giving up. ''I gave you my answer. I'm being respectful towards you. You could try and be respectful towards me. I will not give my body to anyone I don't know. And that's final.''

There was silence for some time and the girl used it to kneel down next to a beautiful yellow flower. She put her basket down and started digging around the flower, trying to get it out with the root still on.

Knight Noah realized that he had to change his tactics. He finally jumped off of his horse and stepped to her, curiously watching her work.

''What are you doing?'' he asked from behind her and she turned around in confusion. He knew she could not know what he was actually referring to, so he asked further.

''Why are you picking up plants?''

''Oh…'' she blinked. ''I'm collecting herbals to make medicine for the kingdom.''

''So you're…''

''A herbalist. Yes, that would be me.'' She nodded her head and continued. ''Where do you think do all the syrups, tinctures, ointments and other things come from? If it wasn't for me, the king and people of the kingdom would have died a long time ago.'' She explained with wide eyes and rolled them again.

A long time ago? The knight was confused. The girl did not seem older than 14, maybe 15. As he had said before, she looks ready to get married. Looking at her like that, he could not imagine that such a young girl would be so smart and on top of that bigmouthed. But her face seemed a little older than he would give her. Maybe all these years of living in the middle of nowhere made her that way.

He did not notice that his men were quietly following them, amused at their conversation.

''That's another reason you can't take me with you. If I'm not here, there will be no one to make medicine for the kingdom.'' She slightly glared at him but continued looking for plants. ''And before you accuse me of being a witch or something, I will have to tell you that I am not. I can swim, but that's because I had to learn it to be able to look for some water flowers. And my hair is pretty brown if my eyes haven't gone bad.'' She explained, holding a blue flower in front of her eyes, inspecting it carefully, sniffing at it, making a disgusted face and the putting it into her basket.

''And if you still want to get rid of me just because I refused the prince's hand, you have to be aware of the fact that my death means the death of the majority of people in the kingdom. No one here can survive without me.'' She took a huge breath after that, looking at the men in front of her and challenging them to do something.

''You're quite confident with your words.'' The knight spoke after a few seconds of stunned silence.

''I am. They are true.'' She crossed her arms, the basket hanging from one of them.

''Do you have any prove for it.''

She looked at him incredulously and snorted. ''I'm really trying to hold my temper here and not say that you are behaving like a brat.''

''You just lost your temper.'' It was his turn to roll his eyes. He gave up being serious in this conversation after the third sentence already.

''Oh… It was no intention of mine.'' She told him sarcastically.

Now it was Noah's turn to snort and laugh. ''Lady…''

''Not a lady…'' she sang teasingly.

''Alright… Girl… How old are you anyway? Where are your parents? You don't really work alone, do you?'' he finally asked, incapable to hide his curiosity.

''Why would I answer your questions?''

''Just small talk.'' He shrugged his shoulders.

''I'm not sure if you're capable of it.''

''I'm already doing it.''

She sighed then, giving in. ''I went through 17 springs and this year is my 18th spring. I work mostly alone.''

There was silence for a minute.

''That can't be true.''

''What can't be true?''

''You're 17?''

''Yes, that would be right.''

''But- but… You look way younger!''

''Ah I know I know.'' She waived her hand as to brush the matter off. ''I get that whenever I go to the town to sell my products. You don't need to do it too, you know... I'm not sure anymore if I should be flattered or just offended…''

''But, shouldn't you have been already married. Like, three years ago?'' he exclaimed, looking her up and down again.

''I don't really know if you have noticed or if you have forgotten what I said last time, but I don't really have much company here.'' She defended herself.

The knight was more than shocked. A 17-year old girl, unmarried, educated and living alone, producing medicine. That was the first time he met a woman like this.

''I'll have to be honest, lady, but I'm quite shocked.''

''I can see that.''

''But don't you want to get married? And have children?''

''I think I will have all these when I'll have time. I'm far too busy with all this work to worry about other things.''

''But, you're 17! Girls have children at 15!''

''Yes well… I'm sure that people don't really know that, but a female's body, although it becomes ready for sexual acts at the age of 13 or 14, it's still not ready for pregnancy. Of course it all might go well, but the earlier the girl gets pregnant, the earlier she might die. And I want to live for a long time…'' she explained without looking at him and picked up a few flowers.

The knight was staring at her in bewilderment. And curiosity.

''Explain that.''

The brunette looked at him in surprise and stood up. ''The pregnancy part?''

He nodded.

''Why would you want to know that?''

''Why would you know that if you don't have experience.''

Rachel snorted and laughed. ''I apologize for my behaviour, but I forget that people don't understand what I'm saying.''

''Is this an insult again?''

''No no no! I'm sorry. It's just… I know that I tend to talk about not understandable things.''

''I still want to know what you meant by what you said. It's actually normal that girls get married as soon as they- um- become-''

''When they get their menstrual circle.'' She nodded in satisfaction that he knew something most men probably did not. Impressing – if she was honest. However, he was as embarrassed about it as every other man.

''…Yes…Blood…Ahem…Now…What-''

''I meant that it's not good for a girl to bear children at this age. It's true that when females get their menstrual circle, they become somehow ready for sexual intercourse – it's the same with the animals, apart from the menstruation – a female's body needs time to readjust to the changes that start to happen in her body. And if the female gives birth before that, her body is not strong enough to endure such pain for too long. She dies approximately at 30.''

The knight was silently watching her. Most women did actually die before they turned thirty.

''Isn't that a bit too much knowledge for a woman?''

''What? You're going to say I'm a witch? If you haven't noticed, I do have actually time to learn about things that other people never will.''

''You're ideas of humans are quite-''

''They're not just ideas, sir.'' Her stare was hard and it pierced him through completely. She did not just believe what she said, it seemed that she knew it was true.

''I know it's far too early to spread my knowledge to the world because frankly, I'm not that stupid to be declared a witch and be hanged like some kind a monster. I understand this society too well and I know that if there is something people don't understand, they start to fear it. And when they fear it, they take it as a threat. And a threat has to be removed.'' She explained, not once looking away from him. She was challenging him to prove her wrong, but she knew he had no chance. She was right. In all aspects.

''This is a dangerous path, you're taking, miss…'' he told her with a serious tone.

''I know.'' She replied, glancing at him. ''That's way I'm walking it alone.'' She turned away then, kneeled down and pulled at a yellow plant the name of which the knight did not know. He watched her filling her basket and ignoring his presence, not once being scared that he might do something to her. When she straightened up and started walking again, he decided to find out about her more.

''What's that knowledge of yours? I'm sure you didn't talk about pregnancy only…''

She turned her head around for a moment, her eyes boring into him. He felt as if she was looking him up and down, checking him up maybe, but then she rolled her eyes and turned away.

''It's not like you're actually interested. You just want me to say something that might possibly bring me trouble and bring me into the castle of the king. I'm not sure if you want me there to be punished just to claim your position as a dangerous knight again or just to feed your ego.''

He blushed at that.

''So it's the last one…''

''That is not true, my lady!''

''Of course it is. Just look at your face. It tells me that your pride is quite hurt being out brained by a girl.''

''You're really asking for trouble…'' he stayed calm because he assumed that this was her way of communicating again – because she does not have much company, like she said the other day.

''I know I know.'' She waived her hand and walked forward, looking around for more herbals. The knight followed her right away, having a feeling that she will tell him what he wants to know if he just cooperated.

''You see those birds there?'' the girl suddenly asked, looking up into the air. Noah followed her stare and noticed three birds flying above their heads. What does this have to do with my question, the knight thought to himself.

''What are they doing?'' she asked him without looking at him. The man watched the animals and realized that firstly, there were three birds, two of them flying around the third one and making strange noises. He immediately knew that this was about winning the female. Two male birds were trying to win over the female bird and were doing…whatever they were doing.

''Mating season?'' he turned to the brunette and got a smile from her. ''Exactly.'' She replied and went on.

''See those wild pigs there?'' she then asked again, pointing at a mother and her children a bit further away. Luckily the animals did not see the humans watching them, then if they did, bad things would happen. Like a pig running after a knight.

''Yeah…'' Noah started and watched the animals. ''They're eating if my eyes haven't gone bad.''

The girl nodded and continued to walk. ''And those there?'' she pointed at something and the knight laughed when he saw what she meant. ''Rabbits and the multiplication work.''

''Yep. Those two are one of the rare ones that don't care if another animal sees them. They're quite stupid, it can be dangerous.''

''Yeah well, when the deed's got to be done, the deed's got to be done. Humans do the exact same thing.'' The knight laughed again, making the girl in front of him smile. She stopped for a moment and turned her head back to him: ''That's exactly what I mean.'' She told him, stared at him for a few seconds and then started to walk again.

The knight did not move for a few seconds, too confused about what she meant. He thought about what he has seen and what she said. He did not understand her. What did she mean by t-

Wait a moment.

That cannot be true.

The idea was absurd.

She could not mean what he thought she meant.

He quickly caught up with her and walked next to her.

''You can't be serious.'' He told her, looking at her as if she was crazy.

''It depends on what you think I think.'' She told him calmly, gripping her basket a little stronger, for it was too full for her small frame.

''I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to say it out loud. God will punish me!''

At this, the young girl stopped and turned to him completely: ''You're a knight.'' She started, her eyes serious. ''You've seen far worse things that I will ever be able to imagine.'' She looked around, noticing the attention she got from the men, but then stared at the tall knight in front of her.

''You know that it's hard to believe that there is someone who watches over us. Maybe something that enabled life to be created, but certainly not in a shape of god the church tries to make us think it exists.'' She explained and turned away.

''And I do think that humans are animals, by the way.'' She concluded and started to walk again.

Shocked of her words, the knight froze in his movements and stared after her for some time. Never in his life has he heard something like this. A person who does not worship god. A woman that does not even acknowledge god.

She…

She must be a heretic!

''Miss…'' he started, but she did not turn around. ''Are you aware of what you just said?''

''Yes I am. And I don't expect of you to approve.'' She glanced at him. ''I'm convinced that if it were anyone else, I would already be tied on a stake, burning. But I know that you know what I'm talking about.'' She looked away. ''There is no priest anywhere near, nor is there a frightened commoner who would accuse you of false doctrine just to flatter the king. You can say it out loud. No one is going to punish you.''

He was silent for a long time. The girl did not mind it actually. She was happily continuing with her work and hummed a melody under her breath.

He was not allowed to think about such things. God would punish him! But having witnessed so many cruel actions, one can hardly believe that there is something like god out there. Men beheading other men; thrusting swords through a boy's heart; rapping innocent girls; hanging small children; and set villages on fire – in the name of god; who is supposed to be merciful and kind.

People were using his name for their own insane purposes; they put the blame on him or on it, however you look at it. But it was also people who invented the name 'God', so how ca-

''Watch out.'' The girl suddenly interrupted his thoughts. ''You better not trample that flower.'' She told him warningly and looked at him intently. He blinked at her in confusion, and then looked down, noticing some blue flowers and obediently stepped aside.

This girl…

She cares a lot for all these plants…

''I don't understand you…'' he suddenly blurred out.

She glanced his way, but did not turn completely. ''I'm sure you don't.''

''No, I mean… You treat all these plants like they were holly, but you don't believe in God…''

''These plants are holly. Using them the right way, they can save lives. God on the other hand… You can only pray and even that's not a guarantee for help.''

''But isn't he the one w-''

''It's the human that does what is needed to be done. If you help yourself, then God will help you, remember? You know what that means? It means that it's you who does all the work and he just takes the credit for it.''

''That's quite mean, lady…''

''I know… But people are the ones doing whatever they do and nature is the one that creates the world as it is. God is just a name for all this.'' She glanced at him. ''So I do actually believe in higher powers . I just name it nature and not God.''

''You could say it like that…''

He watched her with interest while she was walking through the forest elegantly, like she was a princess in her castle, looking around what is going on around her. More and more plants were in her basket and he started asking himself it was not too heavy for her to carry.

''How did you come up with al these ideas?'' he asked her instead of offering assistance which would certainly bring up some more complaining about being not weak as a woman or something.

She shrugged her shoulders. ''I live in the forest my whole life. I am able to observe everything around me and I have time to discover what it all means.''

''So you learn by observing and trying out things?''

''How did you become a knight?'' she suddenly asked.

''Huh?... Um… I had to go through some kind of training for a few years and fight in different areas.''

''Mhm… Which means that you learned through experience. That's how I learned about herbal plants and ways to heal a human or animal.''

''You're something like a doctor.'' He stated. ''But people might mistake you for a witch with all this knowledge, as mentioned before.''

''It is true that I'm the one using products that heal a wound, but it's nature that does all the work. This, of course, takes time and mysterious ways that people don't understand and are consequentially afraid of.''

''You're quite philosophical…''

''That, I am. But it's the truth. People are really like animals. If they don't know something, they become afraid of it. And such things have to disappear. Violence is something natural, caused by our survival instinct. But it's one's choice how he or she will use this power. Nature is powerful and it's up to us how we are going to handle this knowledge.'' She explained, making Knight Noah stare at her and the other men blinking in confusion. Not that they actually heard everything their superior and the strange girl were talking about… They were a little too far behind. Michael seemed to have heard the most of it and was quite engrossed into the topic – although he did not utter a word.

''That's true… I never thought about it this way. I didn't know-'' The knight thought out loud, not knowing that his fellow Michael was nodding his head in agreement.

''Of course you didn't know that.'' The forest girl told him seriously and made everyone stare at her.

''You live to fight, to destroy, to kill. I live to learn, to create, to save. That's the difference between us. That's the difference between many people.'' She told them all, her eyes darting from one man to another. After a moment she sighed and looked around. ''But I'm aware that many don't do it because they want to, but because they have to. Most of you do it to protect people, but I just… You know, I'm a little sceptic when it comes to fighting on command.'' She told them, her eyes darting away to the ground, frowning a little, seeming to remember something unpleasant. She sighed after a moment then and stepped forward.

She walked in between two huge trees that made her look like a child and marched out into a clearing. The men followed her and stopped at the beginning of the clearing in amazement,

There it was.

The tower.

A cylindrical, tall building with a sharp cone-shaped roof.

The other thing that made the men all stare in awe was actually… That it was not that tall as it seemed from afar.

And of course several other things made their mouths hang open.

The tower was in the middle of a large, green clearing, with huge cliffs a little further away behind it. Those cliffs were green at a few spots, overgrown by ivy. Left from the tower, those cliffs were still continuing and had a huge waterfall falling into a small lake that continued as a river into the forest. The sound of the waterfall was slightly stifled by the thick trees around the tower and the small house, attached to the tower in front of which, there was a wooden table with two long benches on each side and vine growing around three, small, wooden columns around the table, creating a soft wall of green.

The tower was approximately 30 feet tall, most probably less than that. How in the world could people see it from beyond the forest, knight Noah had no idea.

And what he and his men were staring at, really looked like a fairy-tale home.

Three cows, two goats and two sheep were being tended on the meadow next to the small house and near the waterfall – a beautiful, brown-haired dog was sleeping near them, most probably watching over the animals. A bunch of chickens were cackling and running around with their small chicks, just making a lot of noise; there were even a few young, white bunnies moving around in front of the building, nibbling at the grass; and a cat, black as the night, was lazily napping on the huge window shelf of the tower. This window seemed as the only entranceway into the tower and there were no stairs in sight to be able to reach the opening. Ivy covered most of the tower and there were some red blossoms growing around it.

To make matters even worse, the birds were happily singing and warbling some birdy songs and flying around the fairy-tale-like place.

The men walked with their horses a little further and stopped near the tower, admiring the view.

The sun was shining, the wind was gently blowing against the skin, birds were singing and the waterfall sound created a soft melody, waltzing through the ears.

It could not have been more cliché.

''It's quite breath-taking, isn't it?'' the men heard the girl speak again, but were not able to spot her right away. They looked around in confusion, but she was nowhere in sight.

''Uh… Up here!'' she called in amusement and they all looked up the tower. And there she was. Lazily leaning her elbow in the inner windowsill and stroking the black cat's fur.

''How in Mary's name did you get up there?'' Knight Noah exclaimed in annoyed surprise, wishing this woman would not be full of strange surprises.

She just blinked at him dramatically. ''Oh, good lord, sir.'' She giggled then. ''Even if you were someone trustworthy, who you're obviously not, I would never tell you.'' Was her calm explanation as if she was talking about the weather. ''How do you think I survived for so many years?'' she asked rhetorically and smiled. ''You will never know…'' was her last reply before she winked at the men under her window.

Noah scoffed and his men watched the girl with amusement.

''Oh, come on! Why are you making it so hard!'' he was obviously frustrated.

''I'm not making anything hard, your knightn- uh… my lord… I'm just making myself comfortable at my home. Obviously, I can't play a good hostess if you're my uninvited guests and I cannot give you anything but herbals.''

''You! … I'm going to-! Michael!'' he turned to his friend who was still gaping at his surroundings and jumped at the call of his name.

''Yeah! Uh… Um… Why does… the tower look taller from afar than it actually is?'' he asked instead, making his superior glare at him, other men nod their head and the girl smiled sweetly at him.

''Oh, I know. It's quite a mystery, but it's actually just a … bizarre phenomenon, typical for mother nature.'' She told him and looked to her right and their left towards the waterfall.

''You see that waterfall there?'' she asked, not looking at them when they nodded. Even knight Noah became curious.

''And those cliffs behind the tower?'' the men looked at the cliffs and then back at the waterfall.

''I needed a few years to understand this, but it seems that the water of the waterfall creates a reflexion of the tower on the cliffs and from afar, people see an image of a tower instead of those cliffs, which are actually that tall.''

She looked at them again thoughtfully, her cat purring when the girl's hands gently caressed her tummy.

''It's quite interesting, don't you think?'' she asked the black-haired Asian and he nodded, while still trying to understand what she told him.

''And how did you find out about the cause of this reflexion?'' another man asked.

''To be honest, when I was younger and was walking around the forest, I also noticed how huge the tower seemed. But I had no idea why that was so. It was only when I played at the waterfall, trying to make a wooden house for my dog, that I noticed that the fog of the waterfall created was reflecting the image of the small house on the cliffs and made it look bigger when watching from afar. That's how I somehow got it.'' She explained, breathing in the warm wind.

''I kind of can't get this idea into my mind.'' Another man said.

She waived her hand and nodded. ''Yeah, I know. I, myself, hardly understand it. But that's how it is. Nature is mysterious.'' She smirked. ''And very interesting.''

''You know… You're making trouble for me, lady.'' Knight Noah suddenly regained his voice, his men understanding right away what he mean and getting serious again.

''Oh, don't worry.'' She brushed the matter off again. ''The king won't let anything happen to you. If I'm not wrong, you men are the only ones knowing where I live, so there is no chance of you having any problem. And anyhow… I don't have time today for the prince – I have to go and work on something during the night…''

''But the prince…'' he sighed in desperation, already knowing that his majesty will most probably go off his rocker.

''Oh, right!'' she happily exclaimed and disappeared for a moment, but quickly came back to the window, throwing out a flaxen bag. Noah caught it of course and unfolded it.

''It's peppermint and balm-mint. They will help to calm down his majesty. Give it to the cooks and they should prepare the tee and serve it after dinner.'' The brunette explained while she was leaning with one of her elbows at the inner windowsill, supporting her head and lazily examining the nails of her other hand. Her cat opened one green eye.

The five men looked at each other and then back up at her. Knight Noah sighed again, finally becoming reconciled with the situation, nodded his head and observed the girl's face with interest.

''We thank you for your gift. But we cannot promise not to come again. His highness might become even more interested.''

''Oh don't worry.'' She waived her hand as if she expected him to tell her that.

''You don't need to tell him it was from me. And even if you come again, I don't mind anymore. It's nice to talk.''

The men chuckled and Noah gave out a sharp but short whistle as a sign for departure. All of them jumped on their horses, taking a final look at their surroundings. The horses slowly turned around and Noah gave the girl in the window a last nod in goodbye, still glaring at her.

She just smiled and waved her hand enthusiastically. Michael laughed as he saw her good mood and glanced at his friend.

''She really doesn't have much company…''

While riding back to where they came from, Noah turned his head, looked at the still smiling girl and chuckled under his breath.

''It seems so.''

I apologize if the topic of this chapter was inappropriate or offensive. However, these ideas are important for the next chapters.

Ellikanellika