The Lady Knight

Chapter XVII - Distresses And Desolations

***

"Say that again, Your Royal Highness and I swear, I will - "

In the gardens, behind a bare tree, two men were wrestling with each other. A slightly shorter man, whose back was facing me, was shaking the Prince by the collar, his voice ringing with a mixture of fury and loathing.

"What will you do to me?" the Prince cut him off, mocking him in return.

The shorter man punched the Prince in the face for an answer. Camille and I both winced upon hearing the small, yet sickening crunch, as we hurried towards them.

Who was this other man, and how did he dare handle the Prince this way?

The Prince burst into derisive laughter. "Weak, Andrew," he taunted, "all these years, yet you still punch like a child."

His companion raised his fist again, growling, but I reached them and caught his arm from behind before he could strike.

"Cease this foolishness!" I swung him around none too gently to face me, and glared ferociously at him, "what in the world do you think you are doing?"

I trembled in indignant fury before him, as I vaguely wondered how had I not recognised him earlier from the way he conversed with the Prince.

The Prince had very few enemies apart from me, and the eighteen-year-old Lord Andrew of Rortaine was one of those very few.

"Julie?" the Prince frowned in confusion when he noticed me, holding a hand to his bleeding nose, but I ignored him.

In the meanwhile, Andrew's baby blue eyes, so like those of Anna and Sophie, twinkled with wry amusement, as they eyed me up and down insolently.

Quite unlike how a Corporal should be looking at his Commander General.

If he were among the other army officers, he would not have dared. If he were back at Bordeux, at training, he would not even have thought of it.

However, he seemed to be under the mistaken impression that, as a woman, I was powerless without my Captains around me.

Andrew was Anna's and Sophie's younger brother. If not for their resemblance in features, I would not have been able to believe that they were siblings at all.

In short, he was sly and slippery, as much as Anna and Sophie were outspoken and honest. Everything that ever came out of his mouth rang double meaning, mostly of a spiteful and malicious nature.

I had never liked him even when he had been training alongside me in the Army. He was one of the many who had disapproved of a woman training to be a Knight, and one of the few who had openly mocked my abilities and efforts to master warfare during training.

Truth be told, I had been glad when he had been posted to his own duchy two years ago to join the team of Corporals who protected it, as I fast became weary of his endless innuendos and mockery.

It seemed I had to thank the missing Lady Fortune for having to meet this troublesome man mere hours after arriving at Cavarriere.

"Good morning, my Lady Knight," he smiled slowly, deliberately, "how wonderful to meet you."

"How intriguing, Lord Andrew, " I cocked an eyebrow, "your manners seem to have improved over the years."

He inclined his head. "Why, thank you, my Lady Knight. Although, if you intend to stand here a moment longer, I might extend my good manners and invite you to fight with us as well."

His tone was polite, but there was a slight edge to his voice, and the threat from his use of diction was unmistakable.

I smiled wryly. "How very generous of you, Lord Andrew."