The Head Knight Part 1

A man with dark purple coloured hair approached the cliff overlooking the Mist Kingdom. He slumped to the ground exhausted. He has lost count of how many days he has spent fighting at the border. Even when the enemy Kingdom's Queen secluded herself, he still had to make sure the borders and the areas around it were safe before returning home.

Ever since he was younger, he has always dreamed of becoming a Knight that would one day serve a Princess. No, his dream of becoming a Knight only started because he wanted the power and status to protect what was dear to him. However, the girl he wanted to protect had no interest in her status. She even went so far as to staying at a boarding academy far away from the main castle.

With her father in retirement, and the disappearance of her mother. Princess Shaarya, the third Princess of the Mist Kingdom completely withdrew from her royal duties. The girl had wanted to return her 'title' too, but the current Queen refused saying she should still have it just in case.

Ark understood what the Queen meant. The title would be a shield that would protect her, just in case something goes wrong with Shaaraya's new life.

'Ark, I know you have always wanted to become a Knight. Now that we have graduated, you should be free to fulfill your dream. I'm sorry, I can't be the master in your story. But, I am sure if it's you. You will find someone.'

Afterwards he left the girl and wandered around for a few months, and then he met the current Queen, Shaarya's sister fighting and protecting innocent villagers that had strayed in the forest. He continued to watch her like that for a few days and before he knew it, he was fighting by her side. So, when she asked him. 'Will you, come with me?' Ark ended up agreeing.

'The loyalty I have towards her and Shaarya are different. But, Shaaraya is correct. The master he has always wanted, the one from his dreams as a child was Lyn and not her.'

He sent an abrupt message saying he would be returning since the border seemed clear, and Teo sent a message saying that the Queen was out obtaining a legendary sword. Not wanting to arrive too early, he took a few more detours.

Ark frowns hearing the approaching footsteps from behind him. A man with midnight blue coloured hair wearing a magician robe.

"It's unfortunate I had to run into you." Ark grumbled.

During his detour, he ended up bumping into the person he disliked the most. When he first became Queen Lyn's Knight, he struggled to fit in due to the different customs. There were many times where he thought to himself, that he would never be able to fit in and that maybe he should quit and return to Shaarya. However, the other Knights were very friendly. To his shock, he discovered that all of Queen's Lyn's knights came from different backgrounds and not everybody was from a noble household.

It made his already growing respect for the girl grow. The Queen doesn't discriminate and she treats everybody as her equals. But, the first person who had actually helped him was this man beside him. The person who took over sir Rhys position Raven. Yet after an incident, they grew distant from one another.

Sometimes Ark missed his old friend, but when he sees how the current Raven deals with court matters, he feels disgusted. He is no different from those nobles.

Raven only laughed and looked down at the Kingdom. "Hmm, there seems to be more shops in the central. Is it because she resolved the famine issue in the north?"

"If you knew what was causing it, you should have told her sooner."

"Then she wouldn't learn. The Queen is never going to become the Empress, if all of you baby her."

Ark's eyes twitched annoyed. "We aren't babying her, we are protecting her."

Raven scoffed. "That's exactly what I meant by babying. The Queen relies on all of you too much. Rather than distribute the work to the entire council, she leaves all the important matters to her Knights. When she becomes the Empress, she cannot do that no matter how many trust issues she has."

"It's because of what the former Queen did. Or have you forgotten what that woman did to you?"

Raven had been one of the nobles that supported Lyn and ended up being thrown in the dungeons and tortured by Queen Lethia.

"It's a bit hard to forget." Raven points to the visible scar on his neck and he rolled up his sleeves showing the black marks.

For a second Ark felt ashamed blurting those words out when Raven continued.

"It's exactly because of that incident. The Queen needs to distribute the power evenly otherwise people will go out of control again. It would be different if all her knights were members of the nobility, but there are commoners mixed in."

"In the future she wants, there will be no status-"

Raven interjected and laughed. His gaze dimmed. "Don't be stupid, even you understand that's impossible. Deep down, she must know that too."

Ark couldn't say anything to that. Raven is correct, if Lyn wants to become the Empress, she cannot continue like this. Moreover, King Kazuya's issue is already causing problems and friction in the court.

"That matter aside. Raven, sir Rhys has returned."

Raven's lips curved to a smile. "I am aware."

"Your relationship with the Queen-" Ark didn't know how to phrase it.

He never truly understood Raven and Queen Lyn's ambiguous relationship. Were they just fooling around? If so, it's nothing to worry about since it's natural for nobles to have a fling or two. But, sometimes when he watches them, no when he sees the way Raven looks at the Queen he thinks differently.

To his surprise Raven didn't say anything and started to walk off. "Let's go, we should show up to the morning assembly."

"Yeah."

Ark frowned recalling the expression of his old friend just now. This, isn't going to cause a problem is it?

8Unedited*