Knightborne

The princess was practicing her swordplay again. Her guard was doing a pretty poor job of teaching her how to fight. She was small and slender, with little strength behind her attacks, making his frontal attacks more detrimental to her than helpful.

Aramynta scowled as she watched the scene unfold. As an elf, Aramynta was not allowed to hold a weapon while in the citadel, lest she assassinate the royals. Nevertheless, watching the dainty little flower try to heft an overhead strike was just too painful for words.

It took some arguing -- and a small tantrum from Princess Juniper -- to convince the guard to allow Aramynta to teach the princess some basic evasive maneuvers that would cater to her build. Juniper had been fascinated with the elf since she’d arrived and was eager to try, but fighting did not come naturally to her. After failing at a simple sidestep five times, the little princess became frustrated.

“Why do I even need to learn how to fight?! I’m hardly allowed out of the citadel as it is!”

“You are a Knightborne,” Aramynta said simply, as if everything should be obvious with that answer alone.

“So? I am fully aware of who I am! I am Princess Juniper Knightborne of House Knightborne, fourth in line to the throne of Draca Keep. I have countless guards and even an army at my disposal. Why must I know how to fight?!”

“Because you are Knightborne!” Aramynta growled back. “Have you no respect for your name and house?”

“It’s just a name.”

“No, it is your history. Ask a sprite and they will tell you names have power, but I am telling you now, they have meaning as well.”

“Knight. Born. Born of a knight. Ooo, so enlightening.”

“Your grandfather and I will have words about your history lessons. Wait here.” Aramynta marched from the training grounds and returned with a black leather-bound book in hand. It was a small book, with the kind of parchment used for notations. Princess Juniper’s wide eyes stared at the book, her mouth slightly agape. Aramynta opened it, revealing the faded black ink.

“Many tales from history have been left to the bards to pass from generation to generation, but when your family joined the noble circles they wrote down their beginnings. Here,” she indicated the tome.

“This is from, what, five-hundred years ago?”

“Seven-hundred, actually. Your house was founded nine-hundred years ago, you joined the gentry two-hundred years later. And, frankly, this book probably shouldn’t leave the library.”

“Then why did you bring it out here?! My mother hates you enough as it is!”

Aramynta laughed Juniper’s concern away.

“I did much worse in my youth, and your grandfather was my accomplice more often than not. Now, let's see why you should take being ‘born of knight’ so seriously.”

The two sat in the alcove she’d been watching the princess from earlier.

“I can hardly read this,” Juniper said squinting at the faded marks on the page. The dialect was an old one, and several of the characters used had become outdated and replaced.

“It’s the story of Mavis Knox.”

“Knox? But you said… ?”

“Mavis Knox was a lady of the court,” Aramynta explained. “High-bred and raised to be proper. She hated every moment of it. Every chance she found she snuck away to learn swordcraft: how to fight, how to forge, and how to care for a blade.

“When her parents found out they gave her a choice: ignore her passion and marry the suitor they chose, or be stripped of her name and disowned. Mavis declared she would be a knight, the first female knight, and she decided she didn’t need their name to accomplish that.

“In a few short years she became the best fighter in the land and served many lords. But no one vouch for a female knight.” Juniper scoffed and rolled her eyes, causing Aramynta to smirk. She continued. “She refused to be paid anything beyond room and board, and only accepted jobs that bowed to her code of honor. She acted as a knight in all things, but despite her reputation, the title and status was still kept from her.

“According to legend, the family ruling at the time encountered an obstacle that none dared face: a hex dragon.” Aramynta leaned in, her eyes widening. “The fiercest being to every stride across the land.

“Knowing that whomever the kingdom chose to face the beast would likely not return, the royals asked for volunteers. They wished for a battalion to face the enemy, but even when offered riches and titles, only a select few took up arms. Mavis was one such volunteer. The men who did not know her reputation mocked her and argued that they couldn’t protect a dainty little girl while fighting such a beast, but some knew better than to question her ability. They stayed by her side, because that's where they would most likely survive.

“Unknown to Mavis and her companions, Prince Olfren accompanied them. He and his family believed that you should never send someone to commit an action you would not be willing to do yourself.”

“A sound belief,” Juniper interrupted with a nod.

“Twelve warriors left to defend the kingdom. Despite the ferocity of the hex dragon, only three did not return. Those remaining all hailed Mavis as the reason they survived. There is no true account of their battle, no matter what the bards would sing. When asked, the survivors would become glassy eyed and say that you should never ask a question you don’t want the answer to. The enigma tore at many.”

“Is there really no true account?”

“This happened nearly a thousand years ago.”

“But someone had to know something.”

“Well, some say the beast swallowed Mavis whole and she cut him open from the inside. Others tell of her weaving different schools of magic together to entrap the dragon. Even rumors of the creature being intelligent have circulated and survived through the centuries, saying that she reasoned with it.”

“Whoa. Can you imagine? What happened next?”

“Each of the survivors spent their reward differently. It was a considerable sum of money, over twenty thousand pieces of silver each. Three retired to the city, two bought farms, one disappeared entirely, and one bought tenant land. Mavis, though, did not spend her reward. She stored it and saved it, declaring there was nothing more she could want in the world.

“When she returned, to show their gratitude for defeating the dragon and ensuring the prince’s safety, the royals declared she’d earned the title of knight. From then on she was referred to as Serah Mavis. In the years to come she mothered three children, two girls and a boy.

Mavis never disclosed their father, and the people always speculated who he was. The children looked too much alike not to have the same father, but beyond that, no one could guess. When the children were asked for their surname, they proudly declared they were born of a knight. They needn’t their father’s name, nor the name of their grandparents, and took only the name Knightborne.”

“Years passed where she would take her children with her wherever she traveled. They knew that they had friends anywhere they could go and how to find those friends, but eventually her eldest decided a home would be nice.

“Recovering her reward from those many years ago, Mavis found a manor in the northern reaches of the country. Twenty thousand silver pieces was a small price to pay for her children’s happiness and safety. A life of adventure had been her dream, and she had lived it to the fullest, but eventually everyone needs a new dream.”

“And that manor in the north, that’s Shearwater Cliff?”

“It is,” she answered with a smile, glad the girl was understanding.

“And our house was formed because of her wish to fight?”

“It was. And that is one reason you must learn to fight, even if you never use it.”

“What’s the other?”

“Because you cannot always assume your guards can keep you safe. I want you to know how to defend yourself if other lines of defense fail. You are a princess and your father has done a wonderful job at painting a target on your family’s back.”

Juniper sighed and bit her lip as she toed the ground. She sent one glance at the notebook before meeting Aramynta’s eye again.

“So, can you show me that sidestep again?”