The Princess and Her Rogue

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  The two travelers led their horses into the coral, and then set off to begin walking around to the booths and merchant tents. Kiara, finally feeling confident in her own skin, stood up tall and proud like she would in Aleph. Nate, on the other hand, hunched his back and tried to not look too intimidating, lest someone grow suspicious of him. He stayed very close behind Kiara and kept his eyes down for fear of their judging glances.

  Kiara busily roamed from one tent to the other, examining exquisite jewelry, gawking at lovely dresses and playing with handcrafted toys. Everyone was kind and obliging to her, letting her take samples of the food that sent delicious smells throughout the festival grounds. Everything was more than appetizing, but she never begged for seconds despite her hunger. And even though the merchants, venders and cooks tried to lure Nate out of his shell, he kept his head down, denied any services and tried to seem inconspicuous.

  Nate and Kiara browsed through two lanes worth of the festival tents when she finally came to a lady vender who was a seamstress, selling delicate and beautiful garments. Kiara, drawn in by the radiant colors and splendid craftsmanship of the designs, wandered up to the lady’s tent. She browsed through the many articles of clothing, finding herself engrossed in the excellent simplicity and intricacy of several garments and wishing that she had money enough to buy a few of the dresses that caught her eye.

  “Ah, that dress is very lovely. You have good taste, my lady,” the woman greeted as Kiara was eyeing a pure white gown with green trim around its bell sleeves and hem. Kiara turned around to her and smiled.

  “Yes, I love dresses. Did you make all of these yourself?”

  “Indeed I did. Years of diligent practice has allowed me to be a very blessed woman among seamstresses,” she said with a proud, gentle smile. The vender didn’t look a day over thirty-five, but when there were so few things to entertain the lower and middle class citizens, sewing was one way a woman filled her hours. The woman was a few inches taller than Kiara, with soft chestnut hair that fell just down to her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She was dressed humbly in a plain green dress with no frills or anything attractive. It was obvious that she felt unworthy to wear her own works of art.

  “It certainly has. Why don’t you go to work for the king and his princesses? I’m sure they would put your talent to good use and the king would pay you very handsomely for such masterpieces,” Kiara said, wishing to touch the silky gown that she longed to wear. Near the entrance of the tent, Nate took note of her affections towards the garment.

  “Oh, believe me, I would love to go to Aleph and sew for the king. It is my dream, really,” she paused in thought, stroking the smooth fabric with shaking fingers. “But I’m not good enough to make dresses for princesses

  “Nonsense!” Kiara blurted out, placing a caring hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I have never seen dresses so fine and believe me, I’ve seen a great many fabulous dresses. None of them even compare to your works. You keep the designs simple, but within simplicity lies true beauty. I know some people in Aleph and I’ll refer the king to you. What was your name, my lady?” Kiara desperately wanted to help this kind woman, but she had to remember herself and her identity. It wouldn’t be any harm if she was discovered, but she wanted to delay going to Aleph as long as humanly possible.

  “My name is Gwen and I would very much appreciate it if you did put in a good word for me. And thank you for your doting upon my dresses…” Gwen paused and peered curiously at Kiara with a kind smile. “You know, you look very familiar to me. I can’t think of where, but I feel like we’ve met somewhere before.”

  Kiara gave her a reassuring smile and shook her head. “I assure you that we’ve never met. But, I have been mistaken for other people before.”

  “I know whom you resemble,” Gwen exclaimed, grabbing Nate’s attention enough to make him walk over and stand just behind Kiara to steal her away at any moment. “But, it would be impossible for you to be her, I’m sure of it.”

  “Just out of curiosity, who do I look like?” Kiara asked, a small droplet of sweat rolling down the back of her neck.

  “You looked just like Princess Kiara,” Gwen said with a hint of melancholy that made Kiara even more.

  “Why do you say it so sadly?”

  “Oh, it’s just because of what happened. Haven’t you heard?”

  “No, we’ve been out of reach of gossip for some time. What happened?” Kiara grew worried that perhaps she had been unknowingly banished out of the royal family or worse. She donned of look of anxiety and stepped in closer to hear what Gwen had to say.

  “She disappeared from the castle in Aleph almost two weeks ago. No one has seen or heard of her since. All the king’s knights and soldiers have scoured over the land, but there is no sign of her. King Malcolm suspects that the Deceiver has done something to the poor princess. There are rumors of an oncoming war, but I suspect nothing will become of it. The king has too many wise advisors than to do something foolish like going to war.”

  Kiara had a surreal experience as she heard about herself as if she were not in the room. She lowered her eyes and tightened her jaw a bit, wishing she could speak up and reveal the truth.

  “What do they suspect has become of the princess?” Nate asked, seeing Kiara was speechless at the moment.

  “Many people suspect her to be dead already. Others still hold onto hope that she is just rotting in the Deceiver’s dungeon or being tortured by his men. Either way, some harm has come to her and the whole nation has mourned her loss. It was said she was going to attend this very festival today. Everyone wishes she was here. She was such a kind, gentle girl from what I’ve heard”

  “And how is Malcolm?” Kiara piped in with a broken voice, hoping that he is fairing better than most.

  “Oh, the king and all of Aleph is seriously grieved because of her absence. I’ve heard that the king would refuse to see anyone but his son and chief advisor for days. I do not know how he is now, but I feel it will take many more weeks, maybe even years for everyone to recover from this loss.” Gwen finally bowed her head in respect for the supposed dead and sighed deeply. Kiara took a deep breath and held her stomach in nervously.

  “I’m sure things will get better,” Kiara muttered, then looked up with a weak smile, “Can you tell me if the archery tournament is already over?”

  “I believe it takes place tomorrow, my lady. Do you plan to enter?” Gwen looked up with refreshed joy as the conversation was changed.

  “I would like to, but we shall see. We don’t plan to stay here for long. Staying another day may be difficult.”

  Kiara did want to stay and enter into the tournament, but she couldn’t bear to put the kingdom in anymore sadness. She wished they could leave right now and dash off to Aleph and be there by nightfall. But, she wanted to spend these last few hours with Nate so badly she almost felt like never returning home. Once again, he heart was torn two ways.

  “What tournaments are taking place today?” Nate asked, probably feeling awkward in the silence between the three.

  “I believe jousting will be occupying most of the day. The competitions should be starting soon,” Gwen said, giving them a comforting smile.

  Nate and Kiara bade the lady goodbye and left her tent to continue browsing, but Kiara’s heart felt heavy in her chest. After a while of slowly walking along, Nate noticed her pain stricken face and leaned over a little to try and make eye contact.

  “Are you alright?” he asked softly.

  Kiara was tired of hiding how she felt. She sighed, glanced around for a hiding place, then took Nate by the hand and led him towards a little space in between two merchant booths. She stood before him, staring up with aching eyes.

  “No, I’m not alright,” she admitted.

  “Well, what’s wrong?” Nate placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder and felt a surge of worry shoot through his mind. Whatever was wrong, he wanted to fix it.

  “I didn’t realize so many people missed me. All this tim
e that we’ve been traveling, I’ve been tempted to be selfish and never want to go home. I’m angry at myself for wanting to stay away from Aleph and remain lost, but at the same time, the idea of never going back is hard to resist. But, at the same time, I miss my father and brother terribly and want to see them again. I’m so confused and I don’t know what to do!” Kiara managed to get everything out in the open before succumbing to a fit of crying, tears streaming down her face like two trickling waterfalls.

  Nate almost didn’t know what to say. He stood there, listening and watching her break down so suddenly. He felt like crying himself, but held back the urge. He wanted to ask why she desired to stay away from home, but he thought the question impertinent at the moment.

  Kiara wiped away her tears and sniffled loudly, avoiding meeting his stare, knowing it would be even harder for her. Instead of saying anything, Nate simply pulled her into his arms and embraced her in a tight hug, letting her cry into his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers, one hand rubbing her back soothingly as she sobbed. Kiara held him, wishing with all her might that things would be different. She couldn’t bear to leave him and he couldn’t bear to leave her. But, it was only a matter of time until they had to.

  When Kiara’s sobbing subsided, Nate unfolded his arms from around her and cradled Kiara’s face between his two massive palms, his thumbs brushing away any remaining moisture from her cheeks.

  “Why do you want to stay away from home so badly?” he asked, gazing into her eyes as his own glistened with threatening tears. Kiara let her hands rest on his forearms, her fingers grazing over the tense muscles underneath his tanned skin.

  “I don’t know… I just don’t know.” The truth was that Kiara did know, but she didn’t want to tell him. If she told him the truth, he might have run out on her. “All I know is that I need to go home for the sake of my family and friends, but I know if I go back I’m going to be miserable. I don’t want to marry Sir Claude. I don’t know him and I don’t love him, but I’ve already given my vow and I have to keep my word. If I go back, I feel like I’ll die of sadness if I don’t kill myself first.” As she spoke, tears came flooding back to the creases of her eyelids, but Nate wouldn’t allow that.

  “Hey, hey, shhhh, shhhh… Look at me… Kiara, look at me,” he said, wiping away the fresh tears as she tried to blink them away, looking the ground. At his beckoning, she looked up, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

  “What does your heart tell you to do?” Nate knew that didn’t exactly solve the problem for either of them, because the heart does go astray from obligations and responsibilities. But, he just wanted to comfort her in anyway he possibly could.

  Kiara paused. “I want to stay with you,” she muttered, knowing she had just ruined everything. He would surely leave now. A herald suddenly shouted from a high podium in the street right as she was speaking, masking her confession.

  “The jousting tournament will now begin! All audiences please make your way to the arena!” the herald proclaimed to everyone.

  Nate didn’t hear a word she said and glanced off towards the street as the crowd changed directions to walk towards the jousting arena. He looked back to Kiara, who looked terrified for some reason. He peered at he curiously, then gave her a tiny grin.

  “Hey, I‘ve got an idea. Let’s go watch the tournament to take your mind off of things, ok? It should be fun. What do ya say?” Nate invited encouragingly.

  Realizing that he didn’t hear her, Kiara let out a sigh of relief and nodded in response. Nate smiled and offered his arm to her like a noble gentleman. She gladly took it and they followed the crowd of eager spectators to the arena.

  The arena was nothing fancy. In the center was a large, rectangular field, called the list, with a three foot tall wooden fence running down the middle most of the way. And on both long sides of the list, were the stadium-like bench seats that were less than comfortable. Being that it was a sunny day, no awning was necessary. On both of the short sides of the list were the preparation areas for the jousters and their squires. Knights and nobles were the only ones able to participate in the jousting tournaments and the seating was segregated between the nobility not participating and the peasants. For the first time, Kiara got to experience the contest from another point of view.

  Nate and Kiara took a seat in the exact middle of the peasant seats and had a perfect view of the field. Kiara was unfamiliar with the rules of the game, but only knew that the point was to hit your opponent with as much force as possible. There were a few long moments of waiting before a herald blew his trumpet and announced the first two competitors. Kiara didn’t know their names, but as they sat in their seats, a new thought occurred to her.

  These knights were probably all loyal subjects, if not good friends of the king. Most have visited the castle or at least stayed in Aleph for a time. This would mean that a few or small handful were bound to recognize Kiara as a daughter of the king. That thought made her cringe. And, as always, Nate’s watchful eye saw this and he hoped she wasn’t about to burst into another fit of tears again. His heart couldn’t bear to see her cry any more.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “It just occurred to me that some of these knights might recognize me and make a big spectacle of pointing me out to everyone and give me with way too much attention,” Kiara muttered, shrinking in her seat and edging closer to Nate in hopes to maybe conceal most of her form.

  Nate only smiled and watched her with loving eyes. “I doubt that those knights could spot you all the way up here. And even if they did, their helmets and this sun would keep them from really seeing who you are. Don’t worry about it and just relax… Oh, there they go!” Nate said, pointing back towards the list where a squire stepped out with a large flag, ready to wave it and signal the commencement of this match.

  The squire waved it, then ran off the field as each knight, mounted on their horse, from either side came bursting out in a full gallop, coated in full armor and wielding a very long stick with a blunt at the end in front of them. Kiara winced when the blow came and, not of her choice, ended up closing her eyes just as the two sticks made impact upon the knights.

  When the shards of wood fell to the ground and judges examined the scene, it was determined that both knights received one point each for a breaking their lances against each other’s body. Kiara watched as another squire placed one flag under each of the knights’ coat of arms as a way to keep track of the points.

  The second round began. The knights ran with their lances extended. This time, Kiara forced her eyes to stay open to watch what happened. The knight that came from her right broke the lance on his opponent’s helmet, while the other knight lost his aim and didn’t even break his. The right knight was given two points and the victory for this match.

  “That seems unfair. The other knight didn’t have a chance to make a comeback,” Kiara commented to Nate as the next round was prepared for.

  “That’s how the game goes. One point for a body blow, two for a head shot, and three if you knock him off his horse,” Nate replied with an amused grin. Apparently he enjoyed this kind of sport, which came as no surprise. He probably played this game by himself as a young boy.

  Kiara sighed and watched the next round. One knight was declared the victor the hard way, by breaking the lance on his opponent’s body all three times. The loser was very inexperienced and didn’t break a lance even once.

  The next match, the knight who won immediately knocked the loser off his horse. It was a short match. The next five or so matches were very similar, with the previous winners competing against each other to see who was the better out of the lot. Kiara became inexplicably bored after the first few matches, but stayed for Nate’s sake. It was some way they could spend time together and she was not willing to let that opportunity pass her by.

  This period of boredom gave her a lot of time to think as well. She weighed the options of what to do, she measured her heart and tried to come to
some rational solution. If she went back to Aleph to fulfill her duties to her father and Sir Claude, she would surely die very unhappy and possibly be miserable about the love she lost for the rest of her life. She didn’t know if there was any possibility of her getting over losing Nate. She couldn’t be with him because of his lower class ranking in society and of the oaths she had taken before ever meeting him. And even if she had never met him, she felt that she would have been unhappy with Sir Claude anyway. She could learn to like him, but she doubted she could ever love him.

  But, if she did run away with Nate then the consequences would be just as unpleasant. She would leave her family, friends and kingdom in a long period of mourning over her that was not necessary. She didn’t want to be selfish like that. She cared for her people too deeply. And if they didn’t return to the castle and warn her father of the impending attack from Deceiver then her kingdom would be in much more danger than she could imagine. If only there was a way she could break her vow to Sir Claude, but still go to Aleph to be with her family, reveal that she was not missing, tell of Deceiver’s plot to take over the territory and still be with Nate everyday… She couldn’t think of any way to do all of those things without hurting her father’s feelings and being taken as a lying, cheating, disloyal subject to her king. It seemed hopeless, but she tried her hardest not to let on how she felt. She could tell that Nate was already becoming unsettled about her melancholy behavior and any more crying fits would probably drive him nuts.

  An hour or so passed by of getting sore bottom blisters before the tournament was over. The knight, who had the most talent from the beginning and was the first to knock a man off his horse, was declared the tournament champion of jousting. Everyone cheered him on. Even Nate gave a shout or two. Kiara knew that Nate must have admired these knights for their skill and bravery. The glimmer in his eye was a testimony to his unspoken admiration for the men in armor. Kiara wondered if this was an answer to her problem.