After watching Winter be dragged like a common criminal to the dungeons, Xic knew something wasn't right. He had spent his entire childhood watching the king wait for the day he could bring his daughter home, to give her the kingdom that he had saved for her coming. Xic couldn't help remembering the very first time he had met the king.

"I have a very special job for you," the king had said. As a boy, Xic had been apprehensive at first, glaring at the king without knowing who he was or why he had taken Xic from his home on the streets many months before. But the king had been kind to him, understanding of his wary ways. He had knelt down to Xic's level, signaling equal standing in that moment. "I can see true bravery in you, boy, and many years from now a day will come when that bravery will be needed."

That was the first time Xic had heard of the princess, and from then on he spent his every-waking moment training for the time he would be asked to venture out and bring her home. In all those years, despite the many mistakes Xic had made, the king had kept his faith in Xic. In that same way, he had always kept his heart with his only daughter. The king loved her more than anyone Xic had ever known, and he would never, never treat his daughter the way he had just treated her in front of the courts. She meant more to him than the entire kingdom and realm combined. This man was not the man Xic had grown up to know.

"Your Highness," Xic said when Winter had gone and it was just the two of them and prince Christopher left, "I don't believe the princess has any desire to marry me. If you would only choose someone more fit-"

"I have chosen who I believe to be the greatest fit for her," the king replied, voice like ice in a way Xic had never heard from him before. The king turned to Xic. "Are you questioning my judgement as King?"

Realizing he had made a mistake, Xic hastily knelt with his head bowed. "Of course not, My King. I apologize," he said.

Prince Christopher seemed less apologetic though, and he crossed his arms. "I mean no disrespect to your judgement either, sir, but you know what this decision will mean for our two kingdoms," he said. When they king merely scowled at him, Christopher turned to a sort of pleading tone. "My father will declare war, Your Highness. Please, at least consider more thoroughly before you decide to break our peace treaty."

The prince had a point, but still, the king refused to see reason. "Declare your war then," he said. "For my kingdom is the largest in the land. My army will crush yours with a single blow."

With that, the king left the room to attend to the courts. Xic and Christopher stood in silence for many moments, both unsure of how to proceed. However, with every passing second, Christopher was growing more angry. "Your king is a fool," he told Xic with a frown. "He will devastate the entire realm."

"I know," Xic said, in deep contemplation.

"Can't you do something? If he has chosen you for this honor, surely you have a good standing with him," Christopher urged.

Xic did not look at him. "You know as well as I that a king's order to a knight is final. There is nothing I can do."

The air in the room chilled as Christopher pursed his lips. "For the most notorious knight in the entire kingdom, you have less balls than any knight I've ever met," he said crossly, his royal upbringing cracking. "This is the fate of two kingdoms, but you can't even muster the courage to defy your own king."

"A knight's entire purpose is in his loyalty to his king!" Xic burst out, furious with the prince. "Far be it for you to speak out against my devotions to His Highness who all but raised me when I had nothing. I owe him my obedience if not my life."

The sharp words did not scare Christopher. he merely nodded to himself thoughtfully before walking past Xic towards the door. Before he left the room, however, he stopped to let Xic hear one last thing. "From what I heard, you weren't always so obedient," he said. "I heard you used to follow your morals more than your orders."

Though Xic did not show a reaction to the prince's insinuations, that comment left him with a lot to think about. He did used to listen to his morals. But he had been a child then; he had not known the gravity of his situation. It had taken him many years to learn that he was not in danger when he was in the palace. The life the king had given him was real, and he truly was a trusted knight of the king's court.

But as Xic made his way back to his chambers, Christopher's comment bounced around in his head like loose coins in a satchel. As a knight, his loyalty told him that the king was right in every decision, but as an independent human being, his mind told him that something was wrong. The king would never want this much pain for his daughter. Something deep into the very center of Xic's mind whispered to him. "Am I really going to just let this happen?"

Xic didn't even make it to his room. Instead, he found himself in the armory where he chose a longbow and a quiver full of arrows. He ventured out to the pastures where the knights often trained together. There were no other knights out when Xic arrived, so he took the opportunity to shoot the majority of his arrows as far as he could, something he had been forbidden to do after he almost hit a young shepherd in a nearby field many years before.

Shooting arrows was something that Xic had enjoyed doing since the moment he had felt a bow in his hands. Some called him a coward for preferring such a safe way of fighting, but Xic thought of it as more of a precision sport. He didn't do it to stay safe; he did it to get a good look at his opponent before he took their life. If he was to kill, whether it be an animal or man, Xic wanted to know what kind of soul he would be sending to the realm of the dead. He wanted to know the life he was claiming.

With that in mind, Xic's thoughts cleared like fog after a storm. There was no more thinking to be done. As the last arrow in Xic's quiver splintered into the stump of a tree several yards away, Xic knew what he had to do. Solemnly, he walked across the pastures to pull the arrow from the tree and place it back in his quiver. Then he turned back to the castle. "Forgive me, Your Highness."

*******

Subscribe to my YouTube at: Melanie Eberheart

Donate to my Patreon at: patreon.com/MelanieEberheart

Buy my a coffee on my Ko-fi at: Ko-fi.com/melanie_eberheart

Tweet me on Twitter at: twitter.com/MelanieEberhea1

Check out my Facebook at: www.facebook.com/melanie.eberheart.1

Or follow me on Tumblr at: nekosaysmeow333

-Nekoco