69. Noble
Sitting beside a small fire, Len and his fallen queen rest quietly next to one another. Her delicate head is placed softly on his shoulder, and he can hear her deep, even breathing.
Only a few days ago, she was willing to give up breathing. His beautiful, kind Queen Rin was willing to give up her kingdom and her life for peace between the warring countries. She cared so much for the wellness of her people, that she would sacrifice everything.
"Please, for my sake… Smile."
Rin had asked so little of her loyalist knight. She had aimed that falsely happy expression at him, and asked him to remember her with a smile.
To his utter disgust to remember, Len almost did.
Like the coward he was, he had almost allowed her to die.
Not long before her execution, Len had realized just how much she really meant to him. Surely, it must be wrong to fall for the queen you serve, but by then he was too far gone in his emotions to turn back.
Over a hundred men fought him as he raced to her side. Men he knew, men he had once befriended; bloody at his feet and at the mercy of his unforgiving blade. He had lost his arm, and his eye, but in the end it was all worth it.
Seeing her, a noose tied around her neck and that sweet, accepting look on her face, had almost done him in.
Rin had almost begged him to leave her.
Len had betrayed her wishes, and strongly refused, because he could see it in her eyes. Rin didn't want to die.
Even with the fates of several countries hanging in the balance, Len made the final decision for them. Cutting her loose and holding her shaking form in his embrace, he ran with her, far from the execution, running away.
He turns his head to look at her now, as she lightly sleeps. His good hand reaches up and gently strokes her gold strands, noting how beautiful she looks even now. He knows how straining this is for her, having the full weight of many destroyed countries on her shoulders. Rin has tried to hide it from him behind her cheerfulness, but he knows her much too well.
Which is why he vowed to share her burdens, making them his own. He vowed to never leave her side, to protect her and serve her until the very end. He made a strong promise to her that day. No matter how battered his body becomes, how frail his mind turns, how tall the obstacles may be in their path...
...Always, he will be her noble, loyal knight.
A/N: Based on 'Chivalry'.
Wow, guys, I felt so loved reading your reviews! Like seriously, do you have any idea how much I appreciate it? You're all such sweet people! I couldn't ask for better readers~!
To the lovely Lalala: Now it's you who made me blush! That review literally lightened my entire day! I'm so glad to know you enjoy my stories so much that you reread them. I try my best, and I'm seriously glad you like what you've read. It means I'm doing pretty good, and that means the world to me. Thank you so much for your kind review, it's one of the longest and best I've ever gotten. :)
To the amused Guest: Len can be pretty malicious when it comes to his cooking, eh? Hate to see what he does to the other vegetables... Thanks for reading~!
To the sweet OrangeBananas: 200 reviews is a dream of mine, haha. Maybe one day? I'm afraid 500 is a little- um. A lot more than I could do, haha, but I'll keep writing one-shots and what not, and who knows how many of those I'll create? Stick around, maybe? :) Thank you so much, and read on!
Thanks to everyone else for reading/reviewing~!
~Disclaimer~ I own Len's noble nature, and Rin's kindness. That is all~.