Chapter 31: How to Break a Bond
****
When the Black Knight absconded with the princess, the deed did not go unnoticed.
A man with black curly hair and a mischievous expression watched for a few seconds as the pair disappeared and then gloated, “I told you something was going to happen tonight.”
Tempos glanced at him briefly before lifting his eyes once more in interest. “Well, what d’you know--you were right, my magic-using friend. I think that means we’re due to make a little celebratory visit to someone, though somehow I don’t think he will feel there’s much to celebrate.” His mirthless laugh sounded almost inhuman.
The other man smirked.
****
Tempos found Alexander in the royal bedchamber, which was no surprise, as he had specifically expected him to be there. Tempos had even ensured there was a diversion of sorts that had led to the need for assistance from the Regent’s guards, which meant no one was watching the room. Well, there had been one man who remained on guard--and he was quickly disposed of.
Inside the room, Alexander was staring down at a handheld mirror, studying his face, and he seemed less than happy that his brother was interrupting him. “What do you want?” he said irritably, not looking up.
“Was the princess displeased with your features at the ball?” Tempos asked him, standing in the doorway. The man who called himself “Imp” was behind him.
Alexander finally glanced at his brother in quiet fury. “Leave me.”
Tempos moved closer. “Or are you depressed that you’ll have to say goodbye to your little throne?”
Alexander looked upon him coldly. “I intend for it to become mine once again. I shall only be relinquishing it temporarily.”
“There’s just one little problem with your plan, brother,” Tempos told him in a casual tone. “It appears the Black Knight has taken off with your future wife.”
“What?” Alexander growled, lowering the mirror.
“Actually, I lied--there are *two* problems with your plan.” Tempos looked pointedly at his brother’s chest.
The color drained from Alexander’s face as he lowered his chin to stare down at the dagger now embedded in his heart. “You wretch,” he whispered, dropping the mirror to the floor, where it cracked.
“I intend to be the one to marry your bride and become king,” Tempos informed him matter-of-factly. “It’s such a shame that the Black Knight snuck in here to kill you while everyone was busy. You’d think he would have better manners than to crash a party.”
Alexander pulled the dagger out of his chest and lunged at his brother, who sidestepped him. Imp came in from the hallway and smashed him on the head with his magician’s staff, sending him sprawling to the floor.
Tempos knelt and pried the dagger from his brother’s hand.
“Monster,” Alexander whispered, jamming his eyes shut with the pain, blood leaking from his chest.
With an air of boredom, Tempos used the dagger to slit the Regent’s throat. “You really shouldn’t bleed so much, brother. It’s unseemly.” He laughed and then pulled out a handkerchief, wiping the dagger clean of blood before hiding it on his person. Then he instructed, “Burn that,” and he handed the now-scarlet handkerchief to Imp.
While the magician did as requested, Tempos picked up his brother’s mirror and stared down at it. Then he spoke: “Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who’s the most villainous in the land?” The mirror didn’t change; it simply continued to show his image. He smiled to himself. “Well . . . duh!” Then he let out a dry laugh.
After giving himself a moment to appreciate his burst of humor, Tempos turned to look at Imp, who was putting the ashy remains of the handkerchief in the Regent’s fireplace. “Come on,” the knight ordered. “We need to go find some guards and gossipy servants.”
“What will you be telling them?” the magician asked in interest, gleefully bringing his hands together.
“Simple. I’ll be telling them a sob story about the Black Knight. It really was nasty of him to murder my brother and then kidnap the princess with the intent to marry her himself.” He smiled and then tilted his head, thinking. “I’ll tell them we need to band with the Barbarian Kingdom to destroy him. My brother has let this disgusting do-gooder roam free for far too long. I don’t mind lowering myself to work with some *Barbarians* if it’ll rid us of that vigilante. People like him make me sick.”
“And what about me?” Imp asked, crossing his arms.
“You’re right, Imp,” Tempos said as they left the room. “There’s one other thing we need to do. We need to send someone to find Peregrine the White . . . and tell him he’s fired. The Mystical Sorcerer’s back in town.”
****
Clarkent followed the dark form that was James through the woods, remaining hyper conscious of his captive’s movements. Every now and then, the princess would shift in place a little, as if she were supposed to struggle some just on principle. But these movements made Clarkent nervous--he didn’t want her to accidentally fall off Phantom and get hurt. He would never forgive himself if that happened.
As they went through the forest, the trees seemed to close in on them, and Clarkent couldn’t help but uneasily recall the Garms he and Gawain had seen. Was another monster going to rear its head and attack?
Finally, however, James flew down and landed on a branch, and Clarkent knew that was the cue that they had arrived. Halting Phantom, Clarkent muttered--in a low voice, so the princess wouldn’t hear him speak--the word “reveal.” He saw the telltale shimmer, and then the cottage appeared. It was a simple wooden building--perhaps just the tiniest bit weather-beaten--but it was built to last and looked as if it kept the elements at bay.
He dismounted, and after tending to Phantom and ground tying him, he brought the princess down from the horse. Because her legs were bound, she couldn’t walk, so he had to carry her in his arms into the cabin. Peri’s eternal flames could be found burning in each room, so Clarkent had no problems seeing what he was doing. After closing the front door with a foot, he went into the cottage’s small bedroom and set the princess upright on the bed. He hated that it had to be this way--she must have been so uncomfortable--but he had no choice. He couldn’t let her escape.
He heard a flapping noise as James came into the room. The bird perched on one of the bedposts and let out a “rep rep.”
Clarkent allowed himself a moment to breathe and stare at the princess, and he froze as he saw something at her neck gleam in the flickering light. She was wearing the pegasus necklace.
How had she found it? The room had been filled with people, and she had been inundated with partners. Under what circumstance could she have retrieved it from the floor where he had dropped it? Could she . . . have been watching him?
A feeling of warmth flood his body at the thought that she might have been interested in him at the ball--but that warmth quickly turned to guilt as he saw the look of fear on her face. How he hated that it had to come to this!
****
Loisette was frightened. Right now, the unknown was looming before her. What did the Black Knight intend to do with her? She was alone in a bedroom with him--whatever he wanted couldn’t be good. She knew that much at least.
But there was one thing that was confusing her--the bird with the Black Knight . . . was he *James*? And if so, what was *he* doing with the Black Knight? There were so many things that didn’t make sense to her. She wanted answers, but she couldn’t even speak to ask them thanks to the cloth stuffed in her mouth.
When the Black Knight started moving toward her, she flinched, scooting backward on the bed to press up against the wall. He hesitated for a second before continuing. She tried to lean to the side away from him, only to relax just a fraction as she realized all he was doing was removing her gag. The thought of having her voice was enough to make her feel a little bit better--after all, as a princess, her voice had enabled her to control people for years. She probably wouldn’t be so fortunate as to have real control in this case, but even if she was simply given the *illusion* of control, she would not feel so helpless. At this point, she was willing to take anything she could get.
When the cloth was out of her mouth, she immediately blurted out, “What do you want with me?”
Rather than reply, the Black Knight just stared at her.
Loisette narrowed her eyes. Was he mute? Deaf? Or was he just refusing to talk to her?
“Are you going to hurt me?” she tried again.
This time, she received a negative gesture from him. So, he wasn’t deaf. Maybe he didn’t want her to hear his voice. But why would that be? Nothing was making any sense. If he wasn’t going to talk to her, why had he removed the gag?
“Why did you bring me here?” she asked, but he just looked at her, his helmet pointed in her direction. She sighed. Obviously, she would only meet with success by asking questions that could be answered with gestures. She modified her question: “Did you kidnap me for a ransom?”
He shook his head.
She frowned. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he didn’t want money. Either he was lying, or there was something strange going on that she didn’t know about.
After thinking some more, she asked, “Did you kidnap me to . . . do something bad to me?”
Again, a negative.
Loisette sighed. It was obviously going to take a while for her to get any answers.
****
Clarkent wasn’t sure whether to be amused at or abashed by the princess’s queries. He hadn’t even considered bringing writing supplies so he could communicate with her--he had just taken her away in desperation without really thinking it through. There was still the option of speech, of course, but he didn’t want to go that route, so he just let her ask more questions. It wasn’t like she could force him to answer them if he didn’t want to.
“Did you kidnap me to save someone else?” she inquired.
Clarkent almost snorted at that one. Her questions were getting slightly ridiculous, but he couldn’t exactly blame her, so he shook his head.
She hesitated. “Are you wanting to . . . marry me?”
Clarkent froze, the question causing a spike of *something* to shoot through him. Then he slowly shook his head. He hadn’t brought her here for that purpose. He was trying to keep her from marrying Alexander against her will. That was all.
She began spouting off several questions at once: “Do you want someone else to marry me? Or to make someone mad? Are you trying to keep me from becoming queen? Is someone making you do this?”
He shook his head adamantly. Despite the wide range of things she was asking, the truth wasn’t going to be revealed this way, and he doubted she would believe him even if he did let her know what was happening.
But it was late in the evening--before long, it would be morning--and he was tired. He was certain she was, too. They could play the question game after they got some sleep.
He walked over to the bed and indicated that she needed to lie down. She gave him a confused look, and he gently lifted her legs up from the floor and sat them on the bed. He touched the pillow behind her, and she twisted to look at it what he was doing.
Confident she would figure out what he meant soon enough, Clarkent moved to the other side of the room and placed his sheathed sword on the ground. Then he sank down, fatigued after all the day’s events. It wouldn’t be easy--or comfortable--to sleep in his armor, but he wasn’t about to reveal his identity to the princess. He could sleep in a different room, but he felt his absence might make the princess worry. A foe in sight was better than one out of sight . . . . Not that he liked thinking of himself as her enemy. However, she had no choice but to see him as such since he’d kidnapped her, so he would have to deal with that annoying truth.
He leaned against the wall, intending to sleep upright. Before his eyes closed, he saw the princess lower her head to the pillow, and he let out a contented sigh.
****
Though Loisette was lying down on the bed, she had no intention of going to sleep yet. She lifted her hands to scratch her nose--at least her bonds weren’t tight enough to hurt her, though she certainly wasn’t going to be squirming out of them anytime soon--and then glanced across the room at the Black Knight. Whether he was asleep already or not, she wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t be able to understand the words she was about to speak, much less hear them, so she ventured quietly, “**James, is that you?**”
The sharp-eared bird, who was still perched on the bedpost, hopped down and walked toward her head. “**Good evening, Your Highness,**” he chirped.
She narrowed her eyes. “**It *is* you.**”
“**Yeah,**” he replied sheepishly.
“**Why are you with *him*, James? He’s one of the bad guys--have *you* been one of the bad guys all along, too?**”
“**No,” the Peregrine Falcon answered firmly. “He’s not one of the bad guys. Neither am I.**”
“**Then who *is* he?” she asked in frustration. “**Do I know him?**”
“**I’m not telling you anything, Your Highness. I’m sorry. I can’t.**”
Loisette growled beneath her breath. “**Why are you helping him? Can you tell me that?**”
James tilted his head. “**Sometimes, Your Highness, you have to do what is right--even if it doesn’t always make sense to everyone.**”
“**Like you’re one to talk about what’s right,**” Loisette said grumpily. “**Was it ‘right’ for you to leave your parents and never talk to them again?**”
“**Why are you bringing them into this?**” James asked, seeming irritated and a bit confused.
“**I don’t think you can understand anything about what’s right,**” she told him. “**It’s not right for you not to see your parents again--just as it’s not right for you to withhold important information from me when my life’s in danger.**”
“**Your life isn’t in danger,**” he told her. Then, he amended, “**Well--not exactly. Not right now, anyway.**”
“**What’s that supposed to mean?**” she huffed.
“**You’re not in danger from the Black Knight. I can tell you that much.**”
“**And you’re not in danger from your parents,**” she returned, her eyes flashing.
“**Would you stop talking about them?**” he asked in exasperation.
“**I will if you’ll tell me more about the Black Knight,**” she told him.
The bird paused and then fixed his beady eyes on her. “**If I promise to go see my parents sometime, will you stop asking me about the Black Knight?**”
She stared at him. She had intended to annoy him into telling her something--but it was obvious his beak was shut on this issue. She might as well get something out of it--even if it wasn’t for her. “**Fine,**” she agreed. She would just have to get her answers another way.
James turned his head. He seemed upset. “**I’m going to go hunt now. I haven’t had much time to myself lately.**” Then, he raised his wings and flew from the room.
She gazed after him, wondering how he was going to get outside since he lacked opposable thumbs. But that was his problem, not hers. She had other things to worry about.
She looked at the Black Knight. The steady rise and fall of his armored chest seemed to indicate he was asleep. After watching him for a moment, she turned her eyes to his sword, which was in its sheath on the floor beside him. Her forehead crinkled in a frown. And then she smiled to herself. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.
