The Damsel

The princess didn't need rescuing, but the knight rescued her anyway. Her father wept as she entered the throne room, and her mother, overcome, swooned and was hastened to her chamber. The knight was smitten, and expected her hand. He pined for his love from the dark of the dungeon. For her part, she thought no more of him, as she plotted first her father’s poisoning, then the burning of the villages in neighbouring lands, and parties where she roasted deserters on the spit and served them to their regiments. The knight went on loving her in darkness.