A knight toured the land, questing for he knew not what. He only knew that he had not found it yet. He was a knight of the old school, having earned his rank the hard way, one step at a time and making plenty of mistakes. He had a reputation for loyalty and valor, and if some thought him a touch naive they would have to admit it was only because he was a knight, and knights must follow their code at heart as well as in deed.
Our knight was spending a few weeks at the castle of a lord and lady of the land. The lord was away pursuing his fortunes, and the knight found himself entertained by the lady and her court. The lady possessed surpassing wit and beauty, and the knight was charmed.
It was not long before charm grew to longing, and he came to realize that she felt the same. She would talk to him with breathless excitement, hinting that if only she could free herself of the cruel indifferent grip of her lord she would abandon her life at court and go away with him.
Utterly charmed, and bound by his own code to rescue the innocent from tyranny, the knight and his soldiers stormed the castle and routed the lord’s troops. The lord was told in no uncertain terms that his return would mean his death, and he was exiled. The lady herself closed the gates behind him and cursed his name.
The lady’s gratitude was immense. She showered the knight with love and promised him gifts and an eternity of happiness. Then she thanked him profoundly for returning her freedom and asked him to go on a quest for her. The quest seemed worthy, albeit abrupt, and with some quiet misgivings he departed.
It felt to him that he was gone for eternity, and his quest took him a very long way from his heart. His travels took him to the farthest reaches of the land. He could not, however, do other than he had been bidden. She had asked it.
Nevertheless, when his path lead him near to the castle and he saw a celebration inside, he turned from his path and entered. It was her birthday, and a festival day had been declared. He decided his quest could wait for a day if it meant seeing his love. He joined the throngs flowing into the banquet hall.
He saw her at her place at the head table and his heart leapt. He took a step to join her and stopped. She had seen him, but the look on her face wasn’t unabashed joy at his return, but cool indifference.
And then the exiled lord took his place at the table next to her, and she welcomed her lord with a smile.
The knight took a seat near the back of the hall, but did not eat.
As the celebration wound down and the crowds were dispersing and the lord was occuppied at the doors, the knight made his way to the lady and asked her simply, “Why?”
Later he would recall the look of vague surprise on her face as she replied, “You left me.”
He left that very evening and resolutely did not look back. He would spend a long while trying to understand what lesson he was supposed to take away from that place, but it would never come to him.
thanks for that, Adrian. I’ll need to think more on the lessons for the knight since, you’re right, they are not obvious. The purpose and lessons will surely show themselves in time, I believe. Glad to have not seen the word “regret” in the story.
thanks for making me think… yet again. :)
COMMENT:
hmmm. I didn’t want to assume anything of this story, hence the flippant comment above. But, now that I have confidently clued in, well, I’ve got lots more to say. I’ll ditch linux and go look for you on ICQ… *restarts the computer* If you’re not there, well, have a great trip tomorrow. ’twas good to see you for that split second today.
I have heard of this lady, or one quite similar. She was unhappy and looking for a light in a time of darkness.
The lady called out to the sky for illumination. A distant star answered her call, sending her warmth and energy. It lit up her days with hope and inspiration, and she vowed to dance with him someday, hand in hand.
She knew that the journey would not be easy, but she promised the sun to visit him soon. Some time later, the sun wondered where the lady was. In the end she had not come to visit, absorbing his energy without reply.
It turned out she had decided at some point that the star was too far away. When it came to matters of life, happiness and the heart, she had decided that a nearby Radio Shack flashlight would suffice. It didn’t shine very brightly, and she had to power it with her own batteries, but sometimes if she looked closely it gave off a glimmer of light.
“Perhaps there is a star inside of it”, she thought to herself. “If only I give it enough energy it might shine back at me someday!”
Her sun sank slowly below the horizon.
—
Bah. Some stories suck. Sorry, brother.
I can relate to parts of this, DJ.
*solemn head nod*
*kiss*
dj, well, since I can’t give you a big hug in person today, here’s a pathetic internet attempt *BIG HUG*.
aa, well written.
Well I started to write a witty and metaphorical tale but I couldn’t find something appropriate to rhyme with ‘Lady Idiot’.
Remember though, Knights are cool, and they get to do cool stuff like quests, and go on crusades! Best of all though; Knights live by their code and possess a great an wonderful thing called ‘HONOUR’.
You can’t blame the Lady though. They live a sheltered life afraid to see the real world. “What do I care what is over those hills? I have a moat and trees right here!” …*sigh*
Thankfully for the proud Knight there are beautiful Maidens and thoughtful Damsels waiting to be rescued from their oppressing environs. Of course there is the odd Mistress or Dame to keep our friend occupied on a warm summers night.
also, some of them don’t even need to be rescued.
yeah, I kinda meant that but my small grasp of the engrish let me down….beautiful maidens and ALSO thoughtful Damsels…
I wanted to portray the Damsels as being thoughtful and somewhat independent in their thought ergo the reason they were put away in a high tower (without books) where they can’t share their winning intellect.
/looks at mischiff: So does this mean we are supposed to cross Jaime off our ‘towers to be scaled’ list?
The only tower where Jaime’s concerned is the one she built herself to keep out all the jerks. She’s full of love for everyone who deserves it.
…but…but…
…I don’t have a key :(
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