To be continued (late night tales of the Kingdoms)

***

As soon as the girl returned to her chambers, she removed the robe and flung it onto the bed. She quickly changed into a more practical outfit for hunting down the lord. She was not sure what she would encounter on her new journey, but she would be more adequately prepared. She pulled out sage from her satchel and placed it down on the center of the table. She started to dig for matches but decided to try something else instead. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and waved her hand over the sage. As she opened them, she saw the sage ignite slowly. She smiled amusedly and went back to completing her accoutrements.

She carefully laced up her long black boots and inserted a weapon on the inside of both boots firmly pressed against her leg. She pulled her long hair to the side and braided it to be out of her face. The voluminous braid hung softly to the side of her head and reached down to her waist. She tied leather wraps around the bottom of the braid. She added a leather vest to the outfit and removed the letter and other items from her robe and placed them in the vest in the inner pockets. Lastly, she added elbow-length leather gloves matching her vest.

The girl grabbed the robe and draped it over her arm. It was time for a late-night walk around the grounds of the castle. The brisk air felt great on her face. It was not too chilly out tonight, the air had just enough crispness for it to be enjoyable. She walked the full exterior of the grounds. The entire Kingdom was shrouded in the darkness, with only the partial moon as her light. As she started to walk back to the kingdom, she noticed that she wasn't alone. There was another person lurking in the dark, almost unnoticeable at the edge of the wall.

She kept walking slowly.

As she got near to the wall, she knelt down onto the cold ground and pretended to lace her boot. She stood slowly and took the robe and placed it over her shoulders as she walked. The length of the robe along her arm concealed what she was holding. The person hiding in the darkest shadows of the castle grounds did not know they had been seen. As she turned the corner of the wall, she quickly and forcefully pushed the stranger up against the wall with one arm, holding the weapon over him with her other hand.

Startled by this, he raised his hands up to show he meant her no harm. At that moment, she recognized him as the handsome stranger she had seen before.

They stared at each other for a moment, until she broke the silence,

"Why are you following me?" she inquired.

"I'm not, well not exactly..." he looked down where her arm still had him pinned to the wall.

She looked intently at him for a moment then stepped away from him.

"Continue," she said.

"I'm not following you, but I am looking for the king, and you seem to be the only one who has seen him in years." He tried to explain.

The girl started to walk away.

"Wait!" he called after her, "It's dangerous to be out on the road alone, let me go with you."

She stopped and turned around to face him in the dark. "Looks like it is dangerous for you," she replied. "Being that I got the jump on you just now."

He smiled, and though it was dark she could see that his eyes sparkled when he smiled. She did her best not to look the slightest bit amused.

"I'll think about it," she said and turned to walk away, "Come find me tomorrow."

He remained standing there against the wall, wondering what she would decide.

When the girl returned to her room, she pulled out a piece of paper and some ink from her satchel. She wrote herself a message. She needed to find her own answers, but maybe this stranger could help. She crumpled the paper up. She then held it out in front of her in her open hand. She stared at her hand and focused on the piece of paper. She then waved the other hand over her open extended hand and lit the message on fire, moving her hand as the ashes dropped to the ground. Hopefully, she would receive some sort of answer or clarity in her dreams.

The next day, the girl awoke to find a fresh snow-covered kingdom. A beautifully magnificent snow-coated ground! She planned to ride out today, to continue her journey and her search of the missing lord of the kingdom. She did not forget about the stranger, but she had also not made a final decision.

Oftentimes, it is others that have the answers we seek. She had found this to be true, yet she often refused to ask anyone for the information she needed. People frequently proved untrustworthy, and this was very important, not only for her but for everyone in the land. She considered staying at the marble kingdom, but there was no longer a reason to be here and staying would only delay her journey onward. Which brought her thoughts back to the stranger.

After she finished packing, she walked down to the spot where she was supposed to meet the lord, the night he did not show up. She walked down the path slowly this time. Enjoying the snow all around her, on the ground and trees, and on the wall that provided this area privacy from the rest of the kingdom. The beautiful marble table and chairs were also snow covered. All the food and flowers were gone. The girl walked closer to the table. With her gloved hand, she gently brushed her fingers over the snow covered furniture. At that moment. when she looked up, she saw the stranger standing at the opposite end of the table.

He said nothing.

She said nothing.

His eyes met hers.

She held his gaze as she watched him as he gracefully moved in her direction.

Now he stood close to her.

She did not move away.

He took his hand and also touched the snow on the table, where the marks from her hand had stopped. They both stood there in silence.

Later that morning, the girl stood outside the marble kingdom, next to her horses with all her stuff properly secured. She had her long royal robe on with the hood pulled up over her head, a thick, warm, white scarf around her neck, and her silk mantilla covering the lower half of her face. She wore her long elbow-length leather gloves and her leather vest with her most important items kept close to her. Her long-braided hair falling softly on the left side of her head. She mounted the horse and turned to her right to see the beautiful marble kingdom one last time.

"Are you ready?" asked the voice of the handsome stranger riding up on her left, thus interrupting her thoughts.

She turned to look at him. He had his handkerchief pulled to just below his eyes and a black hat covering his thick dark hair. Her gaze met his for a moment before she looked away. He has very intriguing eyes she thought to herself.

Aloud she said: "Yes," in answer to his question and then continued, "But, under no circumstances are you allowed to touch my things, ask my name, or try to hold my hand.”

The stranger laughed, "Ok miss," he said, "But you didn't say I can't try to kiss you."

Surprised by this, she signaled the horses to go.

"And you better keep up!", she yelled over her shoulder as she took off without him.

Once he caught up to her, and they steadied their pace, the stranger asked her why she decided to let him come along.

"Sometimes," she began, "there are things that are more important than our perceived fears or restrictions which we believe we have to follow."

He didn't reply.

They continued to ride in the cold. Up ahead it looked like it might snow some more. They ought to make it to their destination before dark, and without too much exposure to the elements.

"So, miss, where are we headed?" the stranger asked.

"North," she replied. "To the Golden Kingdom."

He looked up ahead, noticing the storm clouds gathering quickly, then he looked over at her. At the same time, they both signaled the horses to increase their pace.

To be continued…