The Ivory Knight

Chapter 8

"My lady, a young man at the gates is demanding to see you,"

Adeleina bolted towards her door and swept it open. In the hallway stood a burly guard, his uniform slightly wrinkled.

"Who?" she asked, the bewilderment evident in her tone.

"Don't know, my lady," the guard grunted. His head bowed in apology. "A fellow with dark hair and green eyes. Will you be seeing him?"

Adeleina's heart leapt. She fought hard to keep an exhilerated laugh from bursting past her lips. There could only be one young man with dark hair and green eyes at the gates: Alecsander.

Alecsander. The mere thought of his name sent ticklish tremors down Adeleina's spine. A part of her flushed with embarassment at their awkward parting the last time they had met, but the greater part of her was teeming with excitement to see him again.

"Yes, I suppose I will. Lead on." Adeleina gathered herself, forcing her dancing emotions behind a composed mask of calm. 

"As you wish, my lady," the guard grunted again, and Adeleina followed him down the winding stone staircase.

They brushed through the castle corridors briskly, until the guard opened a door that led to the castle's outer grounds. There, behind those barring iron gates, he stood. Adeleina could feel the betraying flush heating her cheeks, as it always did when she saw him. It suddenly occurred to her that she must look like a horrid mess; her hair hadn't been brushed thoroughly in days, her skirts were wrinkled in every spot imaginable, and the skin under her eyes felt heavy and sore with anxiety and fatigue.

"You look terrible," Alecsander told her through the gate, his tone light and teasing. Adeleina scowled at him. Those were his first words to her in days?!

"I've changed my mind," she told the guard loudly, who was staring at Alecsander with befuddlement. "I don't want to see him anymore. Send him away,"

"I was only jesting!" came the protest. "You look lovely today, my lady. As you always do," he winked at her, oblivous to the guard's wide-eyed gape.

Adeleina stomped toward the gate and poked a finger through the bars.

"Why are you here?" she demanded, struggling furiously to keep the haughty frown on her face. Alecsander beamed at her like an innocent child with a toy.

"To see you, of course. Haven't you missed me?"

Adeleina couldn't help it; her heart rate rocketed skywards at his words. He had come to see her!

"Miss you! You wish," she hissed. Of course she had missed him. Need he even ask? Admittedly, her mind had been occupied with more pressing matters, but there was no doubt that she had missed him. However, there was no need to let him know. It wasn't as if she was pining after him day and night, after all.

"I've missed you too. Won't you come out from behind these terribly confining gates, princess?"

"My lady," the guard interjected, evidently nonplussed by Alecsander's saucy comments. "Are you certain it's safe?" His stammer faltered slightly under Adeleina's rigid expression.

"Open the gate, sir. Rest assured that I'll travel no further than a mile from the castle walls." Adeleina said, putting as much force into her words as was neccesary. He obeyed without further questioning, though the chary look stayed written all over his face. Adeleina added an afterthought. "I would think you wise, sir, to keep my actions to yourself."

The guard bobbed his head up and down fervently.

"Yes, my lady."

Adeleina nodded crisply and turned to Alecsander.