Her Green Knight

A Used Princess

I slowly opened my eyes, greeted by the soft rustling of leaves and the gentle chirping of birds. The forest around me was bathed in a soft morning light, and as I stirred, I noticed Caius sleeping against a tree nearby. His soft snoring, a sound so different from his usual tense silence, reached my ears. It was the first time I had seen him look so calm. His brows weren't furrowed, but instead relaxed, and the frown that typically etched his face had eased into a more serene expression. He looked so much younger and at ease.

I carefully shifted on one foot walking toward him. Limping over, I draped the blanket over him, tucking it around his shoulders. As if sensing my presence, he stirred and opened his eyes.

Our gaze met and his eyes, a mesmerizing shade of deep emerald green, captivated me, like always. The morning light filtered through his eyes casting an enchanting glow on his irises. Each nuance of color in his eyes seemed to hold a universe of its own, from the dark, rich green at the edges to the lighter, almost golden flecks near the center. I had seen those eyes a million times in my head, and yet their beauty always caught me off guard.

Breaking the silence, Caius spoke, his voice a gruff interruption to the natural symphony around us. "I wasn't sleeping, just resting my eyes" he mumbled, attempting to sit up. "We should start looking for food," he added removing the blanket I placed on him.

I chuckled in my head, knowing that he was so stubborn he couldn't admit to needing sleep. "You're allowed to relax a bit, you know," I teased, earning a glare from him.

As I said that, I absentmindedly touched my hair and winced, realizing how knotted it had become. Caius sighed and motioned for me to sit in front of him.

"Sit down," he grumbled, a hint of irritation in his voice. Confused, I did as he said, settling in front of him on the forest floor. He pulled out a comb from the backpack and started to work on the knots in my hair.

He was surprisingly gentle as he brushed through my hair. Each brush of the comb sent a subtle electric current through the air. His fingers grazed the back of my neck that sent a shiver down my spine. The forest seemed to hold its breath, the quietness of the moment enveloping us, with only the distant chirping of birds breaking the stillness.

Summoning the courage to break the silence, "How are we safe in this forest?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Caius paused in his combing, looking thoughtful. "This is the Witches' area. They allow people from your father's kingdom to take refuge here."

"That's nice of them," I commented, but Caius continued, "It's not entirely out of kindness. They like having people around to mess with their powers. It's not as fun for them when the people they are messing with have powers too."

"So how are we going to make it past the witches without being noticed?" I questioned, uncertainty creeping into my voice.

Caius sighed. "I haven't figured that out yet. We'll stay in the forest until your foot gets a bit better, and then we can decide what to do."

As he finished brushing my hair, Caius surprised me by braiding it. The intricate weaving of the strands felt like a dance, his fingers moving with a practiced ease. I couldn't help but be fascinated by the precision of each twist and turn.

As I touched the finished braid, a genuine expression of gratitude escaped my lips. "Thank you, Caius. It's beautiful. How did you learn to do this?" I asked , genuinely curious.

His response was measured and carried a weight of unspoken history. "I had a younger sister," he muttered.

"What happened to her? Is she still..." My words trailed off, hanging in the air, as the atmosphere grew heavy.

Caius's reaction was sudden and harsh. He stood up abruptly, his gaze meeting mine with a glare filled with hate. "Had. That's why I said 'had'," he snapped, his tone cutting through the air like a blade.

I winced at the sudden change, my heart sinking as the weight of his words hung between us. "I'm sorry, Caius," I said softly, my apology barely a whisper in the quiet forest.

As the silence stretched between us, I mustered the courage to continue. "But you have to stop blaming me for things that aren't my fault. I'm not my father," I asserted, my voice gaining a subtle strength.

Caius scoffed, the sound harsh and dismissive. "It is your fault," he retorted, his words biting through the air. "You didn't even have an ounce of courage to defy your father, to see the world for yourself. Instead, you've stayed in your room all day, playing a game of pretend with the books you read. You never lived up to your duty as a princess."

The air crackled with tension as Caius's accusations hung in the quiet forest. Unable to contain the surge of anger, I felt my voice croak as I responded, "That's not fair! I didn't ask for this life. I'm as much a victim as you are!" My words, filled with frustration, echoed in the stillness around us.

"I couldn't go outside, I couldn't witness sunlight. I never met anyone, talked to anyone. I was trapped, a prisoner in my own castle," I continued, the bitterness of my confinement coloring each syllable. "Do you have any idea what it's like? I lived in perpetual darkness, my world confined to the pages of dusty books and the cold, stone walls. The only world I ever knew was what I could imagine through the words on book pages."

As the weight of my emotions drove me to stand, I winced, the pain in my injured foot flaring up. Despite that, I pressed on, my voice more impassioned now. "And you think just anyone could adjust to what I have been through? I've gone from the suffocating loneliness of my room into a cold forest with you. It's a nightmare, Caius! I didn't sign up for this, but I'm doing my best to adapt to all these changes, for you!"

My breaths came in ragged gasps as the outburst left me winded, and my vision blurred momentarily. I felt my balance betraying me, and just as I was about to fall to the ground, Caius caught me.

His strong arms wrapped around me, preventing the fall. The grasp was firm, yet gentle, as if he understood the fragility of the moment. Even in my anger, his emerald eyes gazed into mine, and a strange calm washed over me. With a careful and deliberate motion, Caius gradually lowered me to the ground. His movements were measured, ensuring that I landed softly on the forest floor.

He then responded with a curt "Okay." The single word hung in the air, a terse acknowledgment that fueled the simmering tension between us.

"Okay? That's all you have to say?" I retorted, a mix of frustration and disbelief lacing my words. The echo of my accusation seemed to linger, but Caius remained stoic.

"No, I also need you to stop being reckless with your foot because I need you to heal," Caius replied, his voice carrying a tone of authority that only added to my anger.

I scoffed, my frustration escalating. "Of course, I shouldn't expect an apology from you."

He leaned in, his eyes locking onto mine as he lowered his himself to my level. "I'm sorry if your privileged life has caused you so much harm," he sneered, the words biting through the air like venom.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "You just can't give me any credit, huh? After everything I have done, how quickly I trusted you and Samuel. How quickly I betrayed my father and it's still not enough for you?"

My voice silently ended as I whispered, "It will never be enough for you."

As the weight of my words hung in the air, Caius stood abruptly and announced, "I'm going to find food. Stay here." The air was thick with tension as he marched away, leaving me alone in the quiet expanse of the forest.

I couldn't help but groan in frustration as I laid on the ground, staring up at the sky through the canopy of leaves. The rustling of the leaves and the distant calls of birds seemed to mock the turmoil within me. Was all of this worth it? I wondered.

Even if, by some miraculous chance, we made it alive through all the dangers of this journey, I didn't know what was stopping us from killing each other. The thin thread of hope that had led me into this unpredictable journey now seemed frayed and fragile.

How foolish was I to think that his eyes in my dream meant love? Love could so easily be mistaken for hate, and that's what I saw when I looked at him now – how much I hated him, his judgments, and his stupid green eyes.