Crowned

Chapter 5 - Derrick

Derrick's muscles ached. He was mentally fatigued. He could hardly drag himself back to the main dining hall. The day had already come and gone. He had spent most of it following his assigned his knight. He cleaned his armor. He mucked out the stables. He had spent a long time in the tack room, polishing his knight's saddle.

He hadn't even done that much except sit in the tack room, cleaning and polishing.

The lights in the castle had been snuffed out except for the torches hanging on the wall. Long shadows followed Derrick around as he passed each light.

I think this is where I was supposed to go. Derrick turned a corner. Aha!

In front of him were the large doors leading to the large dining hall. He quickly slipped through the doors and found a fireplace still going and a plate sitting out for him. Along with another surprise.

"Katherine?" He hurried over to the table. It was indeed Katherine, asleep with her head on the table and sitting across from his plate food.

He sat down in his seat and began to eat as quietly as possible. He didn't want to wake the sleeping Princess. He stuck a bite of cold food into his mouth. He hadn't eaten for over seven hours, making the food taste delicious - even though it was cold.

It had taken him longer to finish his assigned tasks than he had anticipated. Now it was probably past nine.

Katherine stirred and rubbed her eyes. She sat up and blinked rapidly. "How long have I been asleep? Why didn't you wake me? Did you just come in? I don't snore, do I?"

Derrick grinned. "Only slightly."

"No!" Katherine covered her mouth with her hands. "Really? In truth?"

Derrick laughed. His day had been too exhausting and he couldn't stop himself. He knew he shouldn't laugh, but he did. "No, I'm kidding you. I just came in and you weren't snoring then."

"Oh thank goodness." Katherine held a hand over her heart. "I would have died of embarrassment if I did. Anyway, how come you're back so late? And this morning you were gone before I awoke for breakfast!"

Derrick shrugged. "I suppose it's all a part of the accelerated training to becoming a knight."

"But from sunup to sundown?" Katherine shook her head. "You are going to waste away if you always work that hard. No one has the strength to work that long."

He shrugged again and forked in another bite.

"How come you decided to become a knight?" Katherine asked. "You could have asked for a different reward. To own your own land or have a castle. Any number of things."

He stopped chewing for a few seconds, contemplating whether to tell her or not. Her father already knew. She might as well know. It wasn't like it was secret information.

"I'm going to pay off my father's farm," Derrick said.

Katherine waited patiently with her chin on her hands.

He should have known she wouldn't be satisfied with that. She didn't seem like the type to leave answers half answered.

"My family has lived our entire lives in subjection to Lord Bedivere. Growing his crops. Paying his taxes. Bowing down to him. I'm sick of it." Derrick frowned at his plate. "I'm going to pay off the farm and then have my own land. Then once I'm in charge, I'll let people work their way to freedom. Let them pay off their farms. Let them move up in life. Give them a chance at life."

Katherine nodded. "How come your father can't pay it off? Does Lord Bedivere not pay you for your farming?"

Derrick stared at his food. "We don't have that much land and the money from the crops goes either to Lord Bedivere's pockets or to pay for my mother's doctor bills."