The Lady Knight

Chapter XXXIV: Fears and Forebodings

The Lady Knight

Each step towards the frozen lake felt like a march towards the gateways of hell itself. I could hear every crunch my boots made against the snow, every sharp breath I inhaled and exhaled with astonishing clarity and foreboding.

My grip on my skates tightened.

The lake outside Roche Manor was not as large as Bordeux Lake, and I was very much afraid that it would not be able to support thirteen, heavy people. However, I knew that I would still be afraid even if we were skating on lakes bigger than Bordeux Lake.

The lake was a peaceful haven that was hidden among a circle of ash trees with long, weeping fronds. Lady Rosanna had forbidden to cut down these to preserve the utter beauty and tranquillity of the place. The majestic Sun and its orange rays were reflected on the rugged surface of the ice, glittering and gleaming in the fading light.

It was a lovely place. Lovely, and yet so deadly.

I plopped down on the snow beside Kat and Lisa, and struggled to put on the pair of borrowed skates that Lady Rosanna had only been toohappy to allow me to borrow.

"I still cannot believe he would ask me to come skating. Skating," I muttered angrily, tugging the laces, "the insipid, idiotic, infuriating – "

"– insensitive baboon," Kat finished for me impishly.

Lisa rolled her eyes at the both of us. "Scolding him is going to get you nowhere," she reminded me, "and have we not already established that you are mainly doing this for yourself – to get rid of your fear?"

"Yes, but he is a significant reason too," Kat shrugged, standing up, "come now, poppet."

I placed my hand in hers and heaved myself upright, wobbling a little as I did so.

"Easy, easy," she cautioned, "it has been a while since you have skated. Take it slow." With that, she and Lisa took both my hands and led me onto the dreaded ice.

The moment the blades on the skates made contact with the ice, I almost staggered.

"Jules, it is all right. You are safe. We are here. Deep breaths," Lisa whispered in my ear, "come now. Move along." She proceeded to pull me very, very slowly.

I looked down at the glittering, white ice, trembling badly. "I feel so ashamed," I muttered with frustration, "I am a Knight, and yet, I still fear the ice like a four-year old."

"Dare not be ashamed," Kat's expression hardened, "if I were you, I would have fled this duchy by now. Distract yourself. Look, there is the Crown Prince."

She pointed to the other end of the lake, where Nick, Ned, Evoric and Tess were racing each other at high speeds.

Nick seemed to be winning, as the cold wind whipped his already dishevelled hair into a curly mess on top of his head. He was laughing loudly at his slower competitors, much to their aggravation, as his speed steadily increased, until he became a grey blur.

Please do not allow the ice to crack, please do not allow the ice to crack, I silently begged, as my heart thudded against my ribcage in white hot fear not for myself, but for him.

"See? Skating is not so terrible, is it? Would you like to go a little faster?" Lisa observed kindly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I glanced at my best friends, and took a deep breath. I knew that we were skating slower than a grandmother's pace, and I did not want them to have a bad time merely due to my ridiculous fears.

"All right," I smiled a wobbly grin, "it is high time we sped up!"

***

Prince Nicholas