The Princess

A long time passed. Cut off from the rest of the world, the Book Keeper studied the Book of Knowledge with impassion. He had been given nothing else to do but eat, sleep, and defecate, studying the Book became his only pastime, and he had gone years like so.

One day, however, an occurrence never seen from his previous days in this dungeon came to pass. He had a visitor. He knew who it was, without even seeing the visitor's face, he knew, and he knew this day would come as well, and he had waited for it with a little less indifference than certain other days. How could he not know? He alone held the Book of Knowledge and all are known to him.

"You are the Book Keeper?" a voice called from beyond the bars, clearly it belonged to a woman, but her face could not be seen in the dark halls.

"Yes." he answered to the darkness.

After answering, the door to his cell swung open.

"Come with me then, I require your assistance." said the voice.

Promptly, the Book Keeper got up to his feet, the thought of finally being under the sun again brought him some excitement, as the only lights he had in this cell of his were from candles and torches and lamps. He had missed the sun very much, and that was reason enough for him to want to step out, he would not even care if this were to be his execution, though he knew that it was not.

The moment he stepped outside, he was blinded, and his eyes were stung red by the brightness. It has been too long, and he could not help but shut his eyes. But then, a shade came over him, dimming the brightness, and after slowly opening his eyes, he realized that a parasol had been helpfully held over him and hid him in its shade.

He turned to see the one holding the parasol, and he saw a face he recognize, or rather, one with features he recognize. She had the gentles eyes of the queen and the caring smile of the king. Even after all these years, he recognized those features, and even after she had grown, he knew who she was, even if he hadn't known it from the Book.

"It has been a long time, uncle, I hardly recognize you." she said.

"It has indeed, Your Highness, and I see you've grown well." He bowed formally to the princess. "You said you needed my assistance?"

She explained to him the situation, that when she was named the heir to the throne, her brother, her twin, rose up against her and attempted to take the throne by force. Already, he had successfully taken the royal palace and the princess was forced flee for her own safety.

All of it was, of course, known by the Book Keeper, who listened in silence. Even if he said anything, it would mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"And so, uncle, I need your help, your knowledge to be exact."

"You mean that of the Book."

"Correct."

"Then I have to decline."

As he spoke those words, a young knight came forth, and he too had a face the Keeper recognizes. One of the knights that had journeyed with him for the Book had a similar face. "How insolent can you be!?" he said with fervor, "I could have easily pried the book off you and let you rot in that cell as you should. You're only here, under the sun, now because the Princess insisted that you should be freed. How about you show some gratefulness?"

"You're quite right. It is good to be under the sun again, but the Book is off limits. No one should see the contents within."

"No one but you, you mean to say."

"That is correct."

The young knight was glaring down at the Keeper now, furious at this man who had murdered the late king and had lead one of the six knights, his father, to the grave. All for what? For this book that may or may not be what it is said to be? The young knight was convinced that this Book Keeper is a fraud and his Book just as much a fraud, and all of this was a waste of time, time that could have been spent to get the Princess farther away from the clutches of her brother.

"Uncle, please." The Princess tugged on his ragged and torn sleeve, reminding him of how she would behave when asking for something when she was younger. "I do not wish to harm my brother nor do I wish for him to stain his hands with the blood of a kin. If there is a way to settle this peacefully, if there is a way I could convince him to do so, I must know. I am inexperienced uncle, there's still so much I must learn but I have none of the time. I need you and the Book to teach me."

"This will not end peacefully. There will only be one outcome." the Keeper said with finality, knowing how it would all end before it even began.

"That... can't be."

"Forget about him and his book Your Highness. We will find our own way, we-" but before the young knight could finish, he was stopped by an arrow that had struck his neck. He fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from his neck and mouth, seemingly trying to scream but could not make a sound, horror on his face as he clawed at the arrow buried within him. Helplessly, the Princess cuddled him, comforting him as best as she could while life fade from him. Soon, the knight died within the Princess' embrace.

Throughout, the Keeper watched with indifference. He knew all this would happen; the young man was doomed to die as soon as he was conceived. No matter what he did, or what he did not, death would be his lot, and all of it would lead to this death.

From a short distance, footsteps were closing in, and the Princess was pulled out of her sorrows and quickly got onto her feet, regrettably leaving her knight's not yet cold body on the ground.

"Uncle, we must go."

The Keeper nodded, and they went off.

The dungeon confining the Keeper was located within the woods, tucked away from civilization. To escape their pursuers, the Princess led both of them into the bushes, and for a moment, they had indeed lost them. However, as she began to breathe easy, she was faced within another obstacle. On the day prior, there had been heavy rain, and due to that, the usually gentle creek that ran through the woods was flooded with rushing water and dangerous to cross.

"We better find another way." she said.

However, the Keeper paid no attention to her as he watched armed figured emerging from the bushes. The pursuer she had thrown off for but a moment had caught up, and to her surprise, the man leading them, was someone she knew very well, or thought she knew well.

"Brother? Why are you here?"

There he stood, the usurper of the throne, the Prince, and along with him were at least twenty men armed to the teeth.

"I'd ask you the same thing, sister, but I suspect that we're here for the same thing." The Prince turns his sight towards the Keeper and then book he held in his hand. "The Book, uncle, hand it over."

"There's nothing in it for you, Your Highness."

"That's Your Majesty to you, king slayer."

"No, I'm afraid not, Your Highness."

The Prince felt anger rising within him, as he came to believe that the Keeper was mocking him even through his impassionate tone.

"So you've chosen to side with my sister then?"

"I choose no one, and even if I did it won't make a single difference."

"Is that what the Book told you?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

"No, no you don't."

There was an urge for the Prince to draw his sword on the Keeper as he felt nothing but mockery from him. It would be so easy, to just cut his head off and pry the Book of Knowledge from his cold hands. However, the truth is, the Prince quite liked his uncle, he was under the impression that if anyone could understand his position, one of inferiority to his sister, his uncle would. So the Prince pushed aside his irritation and proceeds to ask again. However, before he could open his mouth, he saw the most unbelievable sight.

The Princess had move to the front, attempting to shield the Keeper with her own body, but as she does so, she was caught from behind by the Keeper, and he dragged her into the rushing waters of the flooded creek, and they both disappeared into the muddy torrent.