The Queen & Her Knight

Chapter 24

THE KING

He is stunned at the words that you just told him. He can not believe that the one man he trusted has betrayed him. He does not know how to react except he knows that the anger inside his heart is ready to burst. How can the man that he trusted to rescue you now be the man that kidn*pped you?

"I know I have asked you this before but I just want to make sure, before I kill the man that I trusted to keep all my secrets. Are you sure that he is the man that kidn*pped you?"

You walk up to the King and hold his hands in your hands. You look into his eyes and there is a seriousness that radiates from your eyes. You want to make sure that he sees that this is not just a guess but that you are more sure about this than anything before.

"My King, I am very sure that this is the man that kidn*pped me. It is not just my sixth sense that tells me he is the man but I have a lot of evidence that supports my answer."

"Then my lady I will take you by your word and make sure that Lord Walton will never see the light of day again."

The King then kisses you on your forehead and turns around to walk out the door. But before he opens the door. He turns around and asks one last question.

"Melissa, where did Lord Walton picked you up?"

"I don't know exactly where he picked me up but I know that there were fields and fields with nothing on them but grass and no trees just open fields. I think I ran through the only cornfield in the area and that is where I got my scrapes and bruises from. But I am very sure there were no trees or buildings nearby. I hope that this helped you in some way"

He nods his head and opens the door. He walks slowly towards that carriage. He keeps eye contact with Lord Walton that is standing next to the carriage. He does not want to spook Lord Walton because he wants to catch him off guard. He wants to make sure for himself that he is indeed the man that you claim him to be.

"Then let's be off, Lord Walton"

"As you wish sire"

They get into the carriage and Lord Walton walks up to the driver to give him the directions where he should go. Then Lord Walton gets into the carriage. The King tries his best not to show him his anger. But it is very difficult for him as he was the man that he always trusted. He wants to reach over and shake the truth out of him but he knows that he will not get far that way. He needs to say something or do something that could lead him to the truth.

LADY WINTERS

The King has left your chambers and it feels empty without him by your side. But you know that he needs answers and so do you. He must do what he is going to do now even though you know this could break him. You turn around and clean up the cups that they just drank out of. But when you get to the seat that Lord Walton sat on, you feel anger pushing up Inside your heart. You know it is not good for you to have this anger and harbor any bad thoughts but you can not help yourself for he was the man that kidn*pped you.

You take the teacup and you walk towards the table where you need to put it down but something inside you decides to throw it on the ground, hard. You feel anger mixed with tears and hopelessness. Once again the thoughts of you being kidn*pped, being something that you only heard about, now happened to you. You can not believe that you were the victim and Lord Walton took away everything that made you feel safe and secure.

You feel tears falling down your cheeks but you stop the tears. There is no more place for tears. You have cried enough. You need to get back on your feet. You need to become the strong confident woman that you once were. You can not carry on sitting in a corner crying all day being useless to society. You need to show the King that you are the woman he fell in love with. It is now your turn to be strong for the King, for you know that he will need someone to rely on after he has dealt with Lord Walton.

You go to the bathroom and shower and get yourself ready for the day. Just as you get out of the shower someone knocks on the door. You jump at the sound of someone knocking at the door as you know the King is not here right now. Then you get angry again and you talk to yourself.

"Stop being so afraid Melissa. You can do this, just walk towards the door and see who it is. But what if it's one of Lord Walton's friends and he has told them to come and get you again? No, don't think like that. Just ask who it is and then you can jump to conclusions"

You slowly make your way towards the door and ask with a trembling voice.

"Who is it?"

"It is me, Anabel"

You take a deep breath of relief and you open the door.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Oh...uhm…yes, I am thank you for asking"

You open the door and let her in.

"Would you like to have some tea?"

"How I wish I had time for some tea but the princess is at her best again. She is demanding the company of all her ladies as soon as possible, to gather in the hall"

"I guess that means me too, right?"

"Yes unfortunately you have to signed up to become one of her ladies-in-waiting and you know that means that when she says jump you ask how high"

"I regret making that decision every day even though it was not even me that made that decision. That decision was friendly forced upon me."

Anabel chuckles at your remark.

"It is really not that funny. This is my life you are joking and laughing about"

"I am sorry but this is very funny that you were forced into this"

"At least I was not the one that made a sound decision to become a lady-in-waiting"

You both burst out laughing. This chat with Anabel was just what you needed, something to distract you from the horror, you just lived through.

Then it is as if she sees your scars around your wrist for the very first time. Her face is turning as white as snow. You can only imagine what goes through her mind right now.

"What happened to your wrists, Melissa?"