Chapter 2: The Knight's Oath

There was a great clattering as the knight took a knee before the prince. Jacket too came to bow before the prince, head hung low and ears drooping. A sign of respect for the greater presence in the room. Yet, the prince seemed mortified, hands held up in defense as if he might push Marion away at a moment’s notice.

“No, no- Don’t! Do not kneel! Don’t kneel, get up, get out… You didn’t see me!” he cried out, taking several frantic steps away from the knight. His back hit the wall, his slender form pressed against it as if he meant to sink into the faded paint.

“But… Your Highness! Your Highness, please, you must understand–” Marion started, springing right back to their feet. The blade was forgotten about. “Oh, what wonderful news! You live! You live and breathe as clear as the sun does shine.” The knight took some steps towards the prince, though paused right after. “Where is Ganymede, Your Highness? Where is Ganymede so that I might smite that foul beast who took the nation’s pride from it?”

Eris’ fingers twitched, fidgeting with the rings decorating his hands. His pearl-hued eyes shifted from the blade laying on the floor, to Marion, then further yet to Jacket. For several long moments, he held eye contact with the creature and knew her for what she was. He knew, as well, that the creature knew him for what he was. The prince swallowed the lump in his throat, breaking his gaze with the knight’s companion to look back at them.

“I do not know where Ganymede of the Lowlands has gone,” the Prince muttered, though the words were strained. He spoke with a frightful gentleness that put pain into Marion’s heart at wondering just how long he had been here alone. “He is sporadic in his presence and chaotic at best, I do not know when he might return,” he offered, glancing about and shifting uncomfortably in his spot against the wall.

“Your Highness, why have you not yet made an attempt to let your father know you still live and breathe? Why have you not tried to make your way back to us, to your home?”

“I am not capable of such feats, gentle knight. That is magic and strength I do not possess in my age or studies, but might one day yet. You mustn’t stay though. Oh, the dragon will be so furious to find a knight with kingsteel at their side. . .”

“It is kingsteel given to me by your father. Kingsteel meant to pierce the silver hide of that great, overgrown worm!” Marion cried out, reaching to seize Eris by his hands. “Oh, please, you must let me help you return home.”

“And endanger the crownlands again? I think not. Please. You must leave, go. Tell the world I am dead to them if you must. I cannot leave, for leaving this place will endanger all the rest,” Eris begged softly, wrenching his hands out of Marion’s steel-bound grip.

“I have a duty, Your Highness. My liege lord bid me to slay the nuisance that terrorizes the Lowlands and spits on the memory of his late wife by taking up residence in the Queen’s Palace!”

Eris shrank away from the armor-clad knight, stooping to collect his lyre from the floor. He bit his tongue as he examined the damage it had taken. Some of the strings had come off their pegs where the pegs had come loose.

“Look what you made me do. Didn’t anyone tell you that you shouldn’t throw open doors without care?” he lamented quietly, setting back into his chair to see if he might fix the strings that had come undone. Marion’s gaze flickered from the prince, to the rosewood lyre he so tenderly sought to repair. A relic of the Queen’s life, once held in the Prince’s Tower.

“I am glad that you were able to rescue that. Very little survived Ganymede’s arrival and his subsequent crashing into your chambers,” the knight offered quietly, hoping some quiet condolences might ease the other.

Marion had never been good with emotions, not their own, or others. Everything they had done with their life had been because someone had told them they couldn’t or shouldn’t. Spite was a motivator like no other, but there was no room for spite in this moment.

No, there was only room for compassion and worry. Marion had come to worry for the prince’s wellbeing. He was a slender individual, with very little muscle to his body. His pearl hued eyes were ringed by shadows, a sleepless prisoner in a defiled place. He was not underfed, by any means, but he certainly seemed like he could do with a few meals more than he might have been able to make for himself. Despite it all, he was as beautiful as Marion knew him to be and knew deep in their heart that precious things ought to be restored to where they belong.

“How about this,” the knight offered, coming to crouch beside the armchair that Eris set himself in. “How about I stay here with you for a few days and we can see if Ganymede comes back during that time? In the meanwhile, you’ll have Jacket and I to keep you company. Most importantly, I know how to cook, and we can get you a good meal. Won’t be anything like the luxuries of the palace kitchen, but it’ll fill your belly.” The words were spoken tenderly, a hand brought to rest on the Prince’s arm.

Eris’ gaze lifted from the rosewood lyre, pearl-hued eyes drifting across Marion’s face. Ruddy blonde hair fell in messy, unkempt spools around the elf’s face, but their bright blue eyes betrayed their heart. A heart full of hope for what may yet come to pass, even if it was grim. The unwavering strength in the hand that rested on his arm betrayed the softness of the soul.

“And what it is I shall call the noble knight brandishing kingsteel and a driven heart that has come here to slay Ganymede of the Lowlands? To whom do I owe the pleasure of sharing their meals with?”

Marion almost could not contain the outpour of adoration that they felt for the prince in that moment. Truly, he had always been the nation’s pride. The kindly, wonderful Prince Eris, with the gentle eyes and hands of Queen Adalina.

“I am the Noble Knight Marion Kirscient, now at your beck and call until you are safe once more, Your Highness. The dragon is far less important now, you are alive. That matters far more to me than anything else.”