Her Majesty's Knight

Chapter 12 - Levi

A/N: You may want to be prepared. It's a sad one. Grab a tissue box if you have to. I cried writing it, but the feels... but it's definitely my favourite so far.

Song Inspired for this chapter: You'll Be in My Heart by Phil Collins. It's perfect for these two. Just listen to the lyrics at the start of the song again after reading this chapter. It's the soundtrack from Disney's Tarzan too. A beautiful song.

I'm not sure how much the queen understood.

After all, I didn't want to get too graphic. It's hard for me to stomach myself, but unlike her, I know how cruel the world can truly be to little children. Something I learnt to accept long, long ago.

Her childhood wasn't pleasant by any means, but she'd still always been safe. She had fresh air, a clean bed to sleep on, and food. The only thing she lacked was the most vital nutrient — love.

Believe it or not, I was one of the lucky kids in the underground. When my mother was alive, she defended me like a bear defends her cub, and whenever any of her clients entered the room, she would always send me away to someone she could trust.

Then when she died, Kenny found me, and we all know how that story goes...

But not all kids are so lucky. When their parents die, they get sent to those dirty orphanages. And if they're really unlucky, they get sold and trafficked as sex slaves. Children even as young as four, and I'm glad I got out when I did.

Of course, by then I was well into my twenties.

I really hate to alter the queen's version of reality, but there's no point in sugar-coating it. The girl's not naïve; I'm fully aware she doesn't see a world full of rainbows and sunshine, but she still has an innocent heart.

Very much like Arlert when he believed the only bad guys he would have to fight when he joined the Scouts were the titans.

No. The reality is that monsters come in all shapes and forms.

It's surprising how much people don't know of our small world. The towns within our walls are your typical, close-knit communities where kids can play outside until sunset, and everyone knows everyone's second cousin. People look out for each other.

The underground is still taboo, unspoken of. Forgotten by the rest. It reminds me of Onyankopon's descriptions of some of the larger world's cities, and the ebony-skinned man held back no details.

Yet when I gazed into that little girl's broken, tortured face, I just fell apart. I thought I had managed to harden myself to the nasty truths of this cold world, but it appears there are some things that even I can't turn a blind eye to.

She rattled something deep inside me, and I've not been able to get her frightened eyes out of my mind since.

The way she had looked at me... I'd felt like a monster, and I didn't even do anything wrong. It's all women who work at the orphanage, after all, so she probably doesn't see a lot of men. And the men she has met...

Fuck.

And here I was acting like a whiny brat because the kids terrified me. In fact, I almost drew my sword when the child entered the kitchen the other day, and I'm such a piece of shit.

I'm glad that useless idiot has died a painful death. He's gone now, and he's not coming back.

Now I'm the queen's brave knight once again, and she can count on me to protect her and the lives of the children.