The Princess Knight

Chapter 2

    Melisende was certain that if it wasn't for the people around her she would have fallen apart. In the brief time she had appeared in this world she was in denial, this couldn't possibly be real. This is some strange dream. The power must have gone on and off and somehow triggered the fan in my room. That suddenly wasn't important when she saw the looks of the people in the village. It was a look she had seen before several times at school. Why bother. We aren't strong enough, why should we fight back. The spark was missing from their eyes and not just their eyes but also the eyes of the very soldiers who held her in this tower. They seemed to alter frequently with a new soldier escorting one of her maids each time. Perhaps her captor didn't want her to build a relationship with one of the guards. It would certainly make escaping far harder, during the fifth week that changed and she started seeing familiar guards again, she estimated that including the knight there were at least 30 guards in and around the tower. She also began noticing distinct patterns in their armor and behavior.

     For the most part the Soldiers went out of their way to avoid the people of the village only really encountering them when an argument arose. She couldn't see the rest of the village but the town square and a good portion of the marketplace was visible. Morale seemed low and everyone appeared to be on the breaking point. The great victory the soldiers must have expected from the death of the hero did not come for them and it almost seemed as if they defeated themselves more so than they did that unknown hero. She had found out through her maids that even the soldiers visited the hero's grave, those that visited were each heard asking one question. Why.

     "Princess, the sun is bad for your skin. You should take care given how easily you tan even in here."

     Two maids this time, did something happen? Melisende turned from the window she frequented to see Branwen and Silja escorted by Victor, one of the older soldiers stationed around her tower. For some reason Victor seemed to remind her of her grandfather and he wasn't the only one. Both Branwen and Silja reminded her of her best friends at school, they weren't identical but they were so close to the real people even she was fooled the first time they entered the room.

     Branwen easily stood at 5'11" statuesque and athletic enough she could easily pass for a guard with the right binding however uncomfortable that might be. She looked like her best friend Lily from school, both with shoulder length wavy brown hair that reminded Melisende of dark mahogany. She became a regular when the guards began noticing the close friendship the two girls instantly had for each other. Victor even hinted as such the last time he visited sharing the secret in a whisper as he left, a happy princess was far easier to guard than an unhappy one.

     Silja could have been a model in any world, when Melisende watched the blonde walking errands in the town square traffic crawled to a halt as heads both male and female turned their attention towards her. In a village where blonde hair was a rarity her so almost white pale blonde hair stood out falling in waves reminding one of a waterfall made of snow. Her hair combined with silver colored eyes quickly brought to mind all the stories she used to read about elves. She was an almost identical match for her friend Alice who had similar blonde hair and movements of a professional ballerina. "Your posture is slipping princess. If the people see you so unhappy then they too will be unhappy" Silja lightly touched Melisende's chin with just the tip of her delicately decorated fingertips sending shockwaves through the princess' body and automatic obedience. If Silva was an elf like Melisende suspected she wouldn't need magic in order to command troops. As Melisende struggled to keep her heart in check she remembered their signal, in three days they would escape.

     It had taken them sometime to work out a plan to escape. Generally speaking she liked the guards watching over her, they weren't by themselves bad people. The threat posed by the Overlord however squashed any attempt at rebellion from them. They had already seen what happened when someone did try to be a hero and the fight against the Overlord was too much for them. If given a chance they would gladly return to their previous lives without the shame of their current orders. It was during her time planning that she began to see their commander in a different light. When she saw her brother playing the game she assumed the knight was evil both by appearance and by his actions in the game. When something thing horrible was about to happen, it was the knight who did it not his soldiers. She only saw part of the conversation in the times she watched but now having watched the soldiers closely she could see a different side. The Knight was carrying their burden. She was certain of this even if it was difficult to tell for certain. Most of the soldiers deferred to him easily, all but five of the worst soldiers in the village.