The Knight of Settadel

Chapter 27

I closed the door behind me to give the King and Princess some privacy with the Queen as I continued to wonder how the day had turned from something incredible to something worse.

Was it nature's way of balancing good and bad?

"It seems that a lot is on your mind" Emilia spoke which instantly broke my train of thoughts.

I sighed.

"That's because there is" I answered and she hummed in reply.

"Take a walk with me?" She asked, but didn't really sound like it when she began to walk through the corridor and all I could do was follow.

"I can sense more strength in you - strength that can only be attained with acceptance and control" she commented, quickly looking over my shoulder to look at me.

"I guess you can say that" I shrugged as I continued to follow her out of the palace and into one of the many gardens.

"I am glad to know that you are now healed from your wounds"

"I have you to thank for that" I smiled appreciatively which soon faded into a small one when Emilia just stared at me.

"Oh, I only did half the work. If it wasn't for your persistence and stubbornness, what I did wouldn't work" she stated which made me laugh.

"Well, I am quite stubborn"

"Oh believe me I know from all the times that I had to look for you because you kept wandering off" she laughed lightly and we ended up on the nearby meadow which had a pond with a bridge over it.

That's where we walked towards to.

"I'm really sorry about the struggles that you had to went through because of me and I believe that I still wasn't able to properly thank you for giving me another chance at life"

Emilia had given me a smile, but there is something about that smile that I couldn't point that gives me an eerie feeling.

"Don't worry, you already have"

There was a pregnant pause between us after that, my mind not being able to come up with anything to reply to that. So we just stared into the darkness in front of us, around us, and just enjoyed the silence.

"I can sense a lot of questions on your mind"

Then she broke it.

"There's a lot actually. I've already had way too many questions on my mind before I got here, and it doubled - probably even tripled - when I came here" I admitted.

"And you have questions about me?"

"There's a couple"

"Maybe I can answer them so at least some of your questions can be answered" she offered, slightly sliding closer to me.

"I'm not sure if they're appropriate. After all, we're technically still strangers and I don't want to overstep any boundaries"

She smiled that eerie smile once again.

"Don't worry, Elyse. I'll make sure to let you know if your question is out of boundaries. But, who knows, maybe you'll find me opening up to you in many ways"

I couldn't tell if there was an innuendo behind her words, but I thought nothing of it.

I just stared at her for a moment, analyzing her facial features and checked if there was anything hidden from the surface that would state that she's uncomfortable

When I didn't, it took me only 20-second courage to le t the questions flow out of my mouth before shyness or nervousness take over me.

"Why didn't you save your family? Why didn't they save themselves?"