The Blackest of Knights

Chapter 2

Huffing and puffing with as she hustled down the busy street, maneuvering between town's people before ducking into a random shop in an attempt to take a breather. Elena sucked a deep breath in through her nose and was met with the wonderful smell of flowers, and with that scent came the joyous laughter of two young boys.

"What are you doing here Elena? Come to check out the competition?" Elena was shook out of her reminiscing by the sickly sweet voice. Out of all the shops she chose to hide in this one? Just her damn luck.

She let her eyes scan the shop, feigning extreme disinterest when in reality the entirety of the store brought a happy flutter to her heart. The delicate plants that were displayed all around the shop was a beautiful sight, even though the woman selling them was a heathen. It was a much more controlled space than her shop, however. Everything was trimmed to perfection. Not a single leaf or stem was out of place and each plant had its own bubble space with no risk of another organism sharing that area.

The vile woman in front of Elena flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, "Don't feel too intimidated, darling. I'll make sure to recommend your cute little shop to a few of my customers so you won't go out of business. Poor thing." Then the witch had the audacity to pat her on the head.

Instead of physically annihilating the older woman, Elena decided she would rather not be put in jail for murder.

"Thank you so much for your concern, but it's unnecessary Deana. With your old age and all, I should be the one helping you. It's a good thing nearly all of your customers found my flower shop or you would be so overworked that your weak, old body would give out on you!" The smile on Elena's face spoke nothing but innocence and genuine worry, but Deana new better. The little brat was insulting her!

Deana's eye violently twitched. "You've seen enough haven't you? I bet you have lots of work to do with your busy shop." The old woman practically growled. "Why don't you see yourself out of my far better store and do whatever you reckless teenagers do." She pushed Elena roughly out the door and slammed it behind her.

Elena, however, was very irked by that last comment made by the old witch. Teenager? She was not a teenager thank you very much. She hadn't felt like a teenager in a very long time. Elena didn't know if she ever did. Suddenly, her heart felt heavier than a boulder.

She missed them so much.

***

Elena's mood was ruined after her run in with the devilish shop owner, but, unfortunately, she still has things to do.

The walk to the daily farmer's market was short and Elena was able to be in and out relatively quickly. She would have just skipped the trip altogether and gone the next day if not for her barren cooling box. Elena refused to go hungry. Food was much too important and the young woman has learned in the past to always eat if you are able to. The market was even busier than the walk there, people constantly bumping into and touching one another, unable to escape the crowd. Despite this, the mood was bright and happy. Laughter floated in the air and smiles were given out to any and every body.

This wasn't unusual, but Elena sensed that there was a bit more buzz in the air then normal. The young woman tended to keep to herself, and so she received news after nearly the entire city had already found out. Sometimes, this became rather bothersome, but Elena had decided long ago that the benefits outweighed the cons.

So, when she approached a familiar stall owner she bought her apples from, Elena inquired about the commotion.

The man gave her a fond look. "Why am I not surprised? Well, the king just announced just about the most interesting thing this kingdom has experienced in decades!" The excitement that sparked in his eyes made Elena feel uneasy. She couldn't place why, but she felt as though she would rather not know what was about to come out of the excited stall owner's mouth.

"Apparently, a knight from some far away kingdom across the sea has come looking for warriors! Here! In Dongle!" The volume of the man's voice was steadily getting louder and Elena's dread was steadily getting stronger. He quieted down though while he laughed, "he must be desperate to come all the way over here!"

Or he was looking for someone.