The Princess Knight by: Tauriel Rogers

Chapter 34

Princess Alice's ears burst when she heard Prince's Rorick's cry of agonizing pain. She opened her eyes to see that Captain Riley had stabbed the prince's hand with a fork and the prince was now clutching his hand with tears in his eyes. The Captain roughly took the fork out of his hand, causing him to cry out again and Alice to cover her ears. When Prince Rorick regained his composure and stood up, Alice immediately got behind the Captain, afraid of what the prince might try to do to her. She threw her arms around her shoulders, holding herself against him as the Captain drew his sword. "Lay another hand on her and you're dead" Derek warned. Prince Rorick clutched his now bloody hand, breathing too hard to be able to fight, and just stood there, giving the Captain a defeated glare. "Back up slowly, watch where you step, and don't stop until we're out of here," the Captain whispered to Alice over his shoulder as he kept a watchful eye on the menacing prince. Alice shakily did as she was told and when the other knights saw what Derek was trying to do, they came to the rescue and tackled the prince to the ground. "Run!" Derek said, grabbing the princess's hand, sheathing his sword, and careful not to trip on anyone as he bolted for the door.

"No wonder she is so strong!"

"Who knew the princess could fight!"

"How did she learn to fight?"

"But where?"

"I think the better question is who was her teacher?" Princess Alice could hear everyone's comments as they rushed by. She squeezed Derek's hand tighter to keep it together as the murmuring grew louder. Captain Riley didn't stop until they made it inside the armory. Alice bent over, putting her hands on her knees as she panted and Derek didn't hesitate to bar the door. He let his hand rest on the think wooden door and leaned against as he to panted, trying to get his breath back. He looked over to the breathless princess and looked her over, checking for any injuries.

"Are you, alright?" he asked. Alice nodded and then straightened back up, putting her hands on her temples and ran her fingers through her now messy hair. She looked bewildered and then her face scrunched up as she felt a slight pinching feeling in her arm. She grabbed the arm and found that Prince Rorick had left his finger marks in her right shoulder. She huffed sadly, letting her arm drop lazily and slumped against the wall. "Does it hurt?" the Captain asked.

"Only a little," she answered. She blinked away the tears that had started to form and put her hands on her hips. "Are you alright?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Yes." Alice gave a small nod and closed her mouth, her breathing starting to go back to normal. The princess froze when she heard footsteps outside the door. And grabbed a sword when they stopped right in front of the door. Captain Riley was also ready for whoever it was. There was a knock, but it was in a pattern. Derek breathed a sigh of relief and Alice's brow furrowed, confused.

"It's safe to come out," Sam's voice said. It was Alice's turn to be relieved as she set the sword back on it's wall hook.

"Come Alice, we must get you to your room before anyone notices you are down here," Maid Lydia insisted, coming through the door behind Sam.

"Actually, I'd feel much safer if Derek accompanied me back to my room," Alice spoke.

"As you wish," Lydia bowed her head, "Goodnight Alice, but do not wait long."

"Come on, we better go," Derek ushered Alice out of the armory.

"Thank you Sam," she called.

"Anytime princess," he answered. The Captain argued that Alice shouldn't walk in front of him in case danger was waiting ahead and that she shouldn't walk behind him in case danger was waiting to drag her away, so they walked side by side. Alice tugged on Derek's arm when she saw that her parents were seeing their guests out. If they were too obvious or made to much movement, they would be seen.

"Wait until they're distracted," Derek said, realizing her worry without even having to ask. When an elderly couple stopped to talk to them, Alice knew this was their chance.

"Now!" she whispered. They moved quietly and quickly to the hallway that would lead to Alice's stone steps. As careful as they were, Queen Rosalind still caught the flash of dim light off of the Captain's armour and scowled disapprovingly at them. When they reached the princess's door, Alice kissed where the Captain's bruise had been.

"Thank you Derek," she kissed it again, "and goodnight." Derek smiled at the ground.

"I was doing my job," he said as Alice kissed his bruise spot again while he was talking.

"It was more than that," the princess responded as she looked into his eyes. She put her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss the side of her chin again. Derek laughed and put his hands on her arms, keeping them in place.

"The bruise isn't even there anymore Alice," he reminded her.

"I know," she said pulling away, letting her hands drop down to rest on his chest. "It's just that I..."she trailed off. She couldn't say it, even though she wanted to say it so badly she couldn't. "I'm sorry, I should get some rest. I'll have too many questions to answer to tomorrow," she said sadly as she released her hold on him and opened her door.

"Hey." Alice turned back around and surprised filled her eyes when Derek leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. She then smiled and blushed, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him there. "Be safe," he whispered in her ear and then gave her another kiss on the cheek. His hand slid down from her shoulder and traveled down her arm as he began to back away and when his hand brushed past hers, Alice held onto his hand for a moment before letting him go. She watched him with a small smile as she slowly closed her door and locked it so no unwanted people would come into her room.