The One Knight Stand

.: Late Welcome :.

08 | Late Welcome

Bo's wide frame lounged on the cushioned window seat, forehead resting on the wide glass window facing out the front of the palace.

He could see as far as the gardens, the rice paddies, and the rolling, speckled hills beyond, if only he wasn't fast asleep.

His mighty size was blanketed by innocence, and the young maids passing the quietly dozing prince tittered at now stately he looked even when doing the most mundane things.

A manifest handed down by his father lay across Bo's lap, barely missing the glob of slobber hanging from his shapely lips.

An elderly attendant sidled up beside the sleeping prince and gently tapped the noble's thick shoulder.

Bo startled awake and wiped his drool away in one inelegant swipe, blearily blinking up at the aged servant.

"Good day, your majesty." The old man croaked.

Bo's hands jumped into action before his brain could.

Oh, um... Good day, Heng. How are you?

"Well enough, your majesty."

Bo winced from the ache in his tailbone. He hadn't moved from that spot since the Festival ended three days ago in some naive hope he'd see Blue long before he heard her.

By then everyone heard of him pardoning the stocky thief and inviting her back to the palace for reasons unknown. The King might've been the wealthiest man in Anachakar, but Whispered Word was by far the fastest.

"Your majesty. A young woman wishes to meet with you. She didn't give a name."

The Prince repressed an anguished groan. The princesses Bo was encouraged (read, forcibly coerced) to dance with during the Three Kingdom Festival came to mind.

They were all beautiful, yes, astoundingly so, and they represented all the traits Anachakar nobility held dear, but they usually discounted Bo once they realized he couldn't waltz and converse at the same time.

The princesses were all intelligent, but they didn't bother learning basic sign language. Not even a sign as basic as how are you?

Or his name.

The princesses were all courteous, but they often left Bo out of group discussion either because they forgot or they just didn't care.

The princesses were all interested, but they didn't see the man. They saw the prestige.

They saw the money.

The crown.

Bo couldn't toil his life away married to a woman madly in love with quiet; his heart beat at 180 decibels every second of the damn day.

He was just waiting for the right person to listen in.

Oh? The Prince boredly turned a page in the manifest as if he hadn't almost drowned it in spit. Did she leave her coat? You could've told her to send a page. Or if she wrote, we would've delivered it to her posthaste. She didn't have to come all the way back just for that.

"I'm afraid it's not a guest, your majesty." Heng indignantly cleared his throat. "This young woman referred to you as Cutie and refused to be turned away. She says it's urgent."

Bo sat up straight in his seat.

Is it... really her?

WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? Bo signed to Heng in a flurry, jumping up from his seat like a man skipping hot coals.

Flowing down the staircase, the Prince quickly redid his topknot and straightened his sleeves, scrubbing his newly grown facial hair down his cheeks with a smile.

In the foyer, looking well fed, well rested, and freshly scrubbed, Blue scowled up at the ceiling with her mouth in a firm line.

She looked down as she noticed Bo at the top of the staircase, and her eyes widened at his state of dress.

He was wearing one of his more casual robes, still high necked but a crisp sky color trimmed with silver. His sapphire crown winked at her in the candlelight as he approached, and it took all she had to not turn on her heel and walk the fuck back home.

"Hey." She gritted out when he stopped a foot away. "I'm here for the... you know... the knighthood."

His angular eyes carded Blue's form as if he couldn't believe she was really before him.

Are you sure? Bo carefully mouthed at her. You're under no obligation.

This would mean nothing without her full, cooperative consent. He had to hear it from her lips only.

Blue's eyes, smaller than her sisters' but no less expressive, shuttered as she accepted the decree.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll do it."

Well, it was less than enthusiastic, but it would have to do.

Prince Bo blinded her with that beaming smile of his again and rang the bell in her pocket.

Pilar pushed through the side doors with the proposal under one arm and a feathered ink set in the other (does she just sit around in hallways waiting for him to call???).

She didn't look surprised to see Blue there, and the superior look she exchanged with Bo made her blood simmer.

The young woman stuck up her finger like she was testing the wind.

"But first I have some demands, your highness. I'm not gonna pick up the sword and work like a dog under you folks for just anything."

Of course. Bo grew like a tree when he was pleased. Anything you want.

"One of my sisters is finishing up school right now. My youngest two haven't even been. In addition to my pay, I want their schooling costs to be paid as long as I'm working here. For the best institutions in Anachakar!"

Done. Bo spread his arms wide in concession. Education is important.

The thief was taken aback, not expecting it to be so easy. "I also want any experts you have in the castle to help my mom. She's... she's addicted to opium, and it's too expensive of a habit for us to maintain."

A beat passed.

Bo's inky eyes softened like wet stones.

I'll take care of it.

"Good." Blue stared doggedly stared at her sandals.

She never admitted their mother's addiction before. Few knew outside the Sanlanh family.

"And I want an endless supply of good food while I'm here. Whatever you eat, I eat. Got it?"

Bo's barked laughter startled all three of them, and he quickly composed his smile behind his sleeve.

Yes, that's acceptable.

Pilar scripted the demands on the scroll before handing it to Blue on a sturdy book for revisions.

Not like she could read it anyways.

Sighing, Blue signed her name in shaking script not out of fear but poor practice. Violet taught her how to write her name about a year back and the thief enjoyed the doubled curves and sharp dips the four letters presented.

Sir Pilar rolled up the scroll with a smug, shit-eating grin and Blue was this close to snatching the paper back and ripping it to shreds.

"If you'll follow me, please." The bored knight turned on her heel and strode down a hallway leading deep inside the palace.

But before Blue could take the first step into her new life as a Knight in the Royal Guard, Bo leaned in just behind her ear and murmured words that took her back to a dimly lit dungeon where warmth lived in the space between metal cells and human ones.

Welcome back, Blue.