The Knight's Duty

The Moon Flower

The girl was right when she said that peppermint and balm-mint would calm down his majesty. At least according to the words of Knight Noah's courier, who was sent back to the castle with a few other men to tell his majesty the latest news.

Knight Noah will be honest… He… kind of… you know… did not have the guts to face the prince again after failing for the second time. The other men found this amusing, but he knew too well what happens if Prince Finn does not get what he wants.

So he decided to take the matter in his own hands and do… whatever he will come up with at the right time. He and sir Chang tried to come up with a plan, but nothing seemed good enough. For one, they could not really run around the forest after her, because as she said, she knew her way around here, and they certainly did not. The other thing was, they could not use violence because… well, for obvious reasons… And lastly, knight Puckerman completely understood her! Why in the world would she want to marry a spoiled, brainless and very very perverted brat? And the knight really did not want to sound so rude about the prince, but… There has not been even one simple action from the prince that would prove his thoughts wrong! Not one! He was still a child, even though his age shoved otherwise.

And knight Noah really did not have any other choice but to follow his majesty's orders if he wanted to get paid… So he did what he had to…

''Don't you think that this is a bit… too much…?'' Michael whispered while trying not to inhale the small insect that was crawling under his nose on the soft ground he was lying on.

''The king said to do whatever it takes to get her. I'm just doing what he told me to.'' Noah whispered back looking over the bush he was hiding behind.

''No… What we're doing is called 'qián jìn' or 'wéi bǔ'.''

''Huh?'' Noah looked at his friend with confusion.

''Stalking, sir…'' Michael replied with a raised brow.

''We're not stalking her, Michael… We're just… observing…''

''In the middle of the night…''

''She said that she was going to work during the night, so… we have to be sure that she doesn't run away.''

''She wouldn't run away. She's the only herbalist around…''

''Yes, but I want to see what she-''

Their small talk was interrupted by gentle steps walking over the grass in front of the tower.

''How in the god's name did she get out?'' Michael whispered again, not averting his eyes from her.

The young girl was slowly making her way towards a certain direction in the forest; her small figure was illuminated by the full moon, and making her seem even smaller than she actually was.

''I have no idea.'' Noah whispered back and looked the walking girl up and down. She wore a huge knitted clothe over her small frame, preventing the gentle wind making her feel cold. Over her arm, there hung her wicker basket. Her hair was gently dancing in the wind and her small bare feet slowly walked forward.

She was like a moon fairy, traveling with the wind.

The knights started to move behind the bushes after her, but knight Noah did not order to catch her yet. He was curious about what she was up to.

The girl took her time walking and hummed a melody under her breath. She looked around herself, her steps light, while night butterflies were flying around her head and crickets moved away from her feet. Several glow-worms danced in the air and the brunette laughed softly, while reaching with her finger to touch at least one of them. Of course she was not able to, but that did not seem to anger her. If what, she smiled even more than before. She seemed to know the way by heart because although the forest was huge and the moon illuminated the ground, it was far too dark to actually see where one was. She apparently did.

The five knights were in a way glad that they were able to follow her – if not, they would have to wait for the morning to arrive to actually see where they were. They watched each step she made. They could not see her face because they were too far behind her, which is why knight Noah wanted that she stopped soon.

And she did.

Right in front of a small lake in the middle of another forest clearing. The water was illuminated by the moon and created a magical atmosphere around the lake. Crickets and cicadas were loudly singing through the night and moths were flying over the lake's surface as well as many other night insects. The glow-worms were the most magnificent – they created a hundred and one light dance above the lake. The air was fresh, but still warm; the scent sweet from the pollen and a little sour from all the green plants.

The petit girl was standing in front of the lake, staring straight ahead of her. She put a curl of hair behind her ear and put her basket down on the ground – gently and gracefully, like everything she did. She took a deep breath and took off her big knitted clothe. Then she loosened her apron and pulled it down. Her flaxen dress was next to be taken off and in the end, all she had on was nothing but her pure skin.

Knight Noah stared at her in shock. He quickly averted his eyes, as well as did his men, but it was very hard to do so. They were men; they had urges; but they also had to be at least respectful towards a woman. If nothing else, she might become the queen and staring at the future queen's naked body would be something that might cost them the head.

The moon light embraced the girl's naked beauty and the wind made her long wavy hair hug her small body. She took another cloth from her basket, started to move forward and it seemed like she was walking over the water surface. From afar, one could see her moving forward over the lake, but looking closely, it were small, smooth tops of rocks, which she was stepping on. The rocks were anchored steadily somewhere under the water and created a path for the girl to walk over the lake.

The full moon caused a high tide, which prevented anyone to see the rocks. The gentle waves glided over the smooth stone and made it quite dangerous for someone to stand on them without slipping and falling. However, the girl knew exactly what she was doing and there was no fear in her movements.

Knight Noah could not help himself but turn his head forward again and stare at the female incredibility.

She was…

She was like a goddess. She was beautiful. Fascinating. Magical. She was breath-taking.

She had the body of someone holy.

She was gently stepping from one rock to another, inhaling the warmth of the wind. He heard her giggling as she put her foot into the water for a moment and the fishes nibbled at her toes.

''Mmmm… Feels good.'' She said to herself, while feeling her toes relaxing.

All men had the problem of… you know… down there…

The girl crouched down for a moment and let her hand glide through the water surface. Her expression was calm and smiling, but her eyes were now focused on something in front of her. It seemed that she was waiting for something to happen.

And happen, it did.

The gentle and warm breeze caressed her cheek and made her hair dance in the air. And it was not only her hair that danced through the air. In front of her, a step or two away, there were some strange flowers growing out of the lake.

The flower itself looked like a white water lily; however, it was not small and it certainly was not right above the surface with small leafs around. It had a tall and thick stalk with big green leafs growing all around the stalk. One stalk had several flowers and all were pure white. They were glowing in the moon light and the wind shook them gently. This caused their pollen to rais into the air and dance above the flower.

''The moon flower.'' They heard her say.

The girl stepped further on an other rock that was right under the lake's surface and prepared the material in her hands. She unfolded it and took one end of it in one hand and the other end in her second hand. Then she started to catch the flower pollen that danced in the air. It was as if she was trying to catch butterflies.

When the wind she created by moving took the pollen to fly a little further from her, she stopped for a moment, sat down on the almost invisible rocks and pushed herself into the water. Her body was gliding through water, creating circle shaped waves around her. The hand, in which she held her equipment, was raised up in the air to prevent the loss of already caught pollen. She swam right to the middle of the lake, where the majority of those strange flowers was growing. There she waived the material in the air; slowly and carefully and gathered the pollen into the cloth she used as a net.

The men watched as she glided through water with her arms raised up in the air, holding the cloth net, full of pollen. The water covered her body completely, but her shoulders were visible and the skin, as pure as it could be, could lure any man to do whatever the girl would ask of him.

She slowly moved around, catching more and more pollen, but at the same time careful enough not to lose what she already caught. Her eyes were focused and her mouth closed, breathing slowly, while thinking over each step she made.

Once the cloth above her seemed to be full, she started to move towards the land, where she left her clothes. She climbed out of the water and tied the ends of the clothe together, so she would not lose what was in it. She looked up into the bright moon-lighted sky and nodded to herself. She still had time. Taking another clothe from her pile, she returned into the lake and gathered more pollen.

This time, she was more relaxed. She got the amount of pollen she wanted, now she did not need to be that careful. She smiled to herself and started to hum a melody under her breath. It was a slow one, slightly melancholic. The knights could hardly hear the words for she was singing rather softly, but they very well heard the sad melody.

The moon illuminated her petit body when she climbed out for the second time, tying up this clothe as well. She was satisfied with her work. She caught more than enough of the pollen right then, when the moon was full. Not wanting to go right back home again, she walked towards the lake and stepped in, swimming around freely. She plunged into the water, swam like a fish, enjoying the feeling of pure freedom and control over her body that she had in the water and then sprang out for air.

She smiled to herself and pulled her body up to the water surface so she could lie on her back on the water. The moon shined above her, stars blinking and the wind gently blowing the leaves and flowers around in the air.

She looked up, stopping in her movements and suddenly opened her mouth, singing loudly, letting herself enjoy the solitude she thought she had.

Flower, gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine

She pulled her legs under the water again to stand on them and raised her head and arms up in the air to fully enjoy the feeling the night brought to her.

Heal what has been hurt
Change the Fate's design
Save what has been lost
Bring back what once was mine

Gently letting the melody fade away with the wind, she deeply breathed in and out a few times and then swam back to the land where all her belongings were waiting for her. She climbed out of the water and reached for one of the cloths, which she used to wipe herself in it. She used the same cloth to wipe her hair in it; after that she rolled her hair into a tight bun. Of course there were some curls falling out of the bun, but she really did not care about it. She quickly put her clothes on and placed the two cloths with pollen into her wicker basket.

She took another long longing look over the beautiful lake that seemed to blink with all the little lights of insects and the moon light above. When the wind made her shiver the second time, she finally took her wicker basket and made her way back from where she came.

The knights were still dizzy from all they have seen and almost forgot to follow her. But then their leader jumped up and quickly followed the girl. Of course they were not fast enough, for she was already walking into the small house attached to the tower. Light fell through the small windows as they heard sounds of earthenware being moved and smelled and saw smoke coming out of the stony chimney on the thatched roof. They heard her hum again, but the sound was muffled by the waterfall not that far away.

The men looked around. There were no animals in sight. Except for the dog that they heard walk around the cottage the girl was in and the cat that was now lying on the window shell of the cottage.

''What now?'' one of the men asked, his voice shaking a little. Knight Noah was sure that all of them felt the mixture of sexual excitement, shock and a little fear. But he was not allowed to show what he felt.

''We wait.'' He ordered. ''We all have seen how grumpy she became after we disturbed her during her work. We should sleep a little. She's a herbalist; she'll be working the whole night, so there's no need for us to worry about it. In the morning, when she'll come out, we'll take her with us.'' He told his men calmly, while pulling down his helmet and other things and sitting down to make his bed.

The others did the same, while looking at each other in confusion. They had the best opportunity now; she was defenceless, she was distracted; and they had her where she could not run. So why in the world would they let her be?

''Sir?'' knight Chang asked his friend and leader, he, himself not really understanding the point of waiting. Knight Noah looked at them and sighed, realizing that he would have to explain. ''As she said, she is a herbalist. What she is doing now, might be an important medicine, which we or anyone else will need in the future. I won't have it upon my conscience to be guilty of someone's death just because she was not able to make the medicine. God knows that we should at least respect the work of those who heal us - if nothing else.''

His men nodded deep in thoughts, somehow agreeing. Knight Chang looked at him for a moment, trying to understand what was going on in his superior's mind. But Noah has long separated his facial expression from his mind and therefore was unreadable. They all lied down on the soft grass, under one of the big trees near the tower and cottage and closed their eyes to listen to the soft sounds of humming and wind in the leaves. Their horses were already sleeping under those bushes, where they have left them.

Knight Noah stared into the starry sky for a long time. His mind was overflowed with images of the beautiful fairy that glided over water, catching flower pollen. Her voice echoed in his thoughts and her dark eyes, concentrated on her work, seemed to swallow the air from his lungs.

This girl was a mystery. Her mind was a mystery. She and his majesty certainly were not people who would be able to live together.

So why would a prince want a herbalist for a wife? Once he realized that she really was not a princess, Prince Finn might lose his nerves.

There was no chance of her ever leaving the forest and live in the castle.

Not if the kingdom wanted to survive.