The Kiss and Its Curse

"I... I have no words to say... I have no words that can describe this feeling", I started to speak in front of the crowd, a hand behind my back and the other holding Isabelle's hand. "There are no words to say how much I have suffered waiting for this so desired and happy moment in our lives... I have seen your kindness, your highness, I have seen your determination, your stubbornness, your desire to fight for your people rather than relying solely on your army. I have admired you since the day I knew your qualities and problems... I know that when I first met you, I thought I planted the seed of friendship. The seed of servitude. You're my princess and soon you will become my queen, I shall serve you until the end of my days. But... I realize now that what I planted was the seed of trust, the seed of love, and the seed of loyalty... You are above anything else in my life princess, your words are absolute and I trust them with my heart... My heart that even now beats stronger only from staring at you. My heart that makes your smiles my happiness, your tears my sadness... Independent of what you do now, independent of what you might have done, I have chosen to love you because of the way you are... So here now, my words may be meaningless without action, but I must speak them before anything else. Because, as your knightess and now wife, I, Dagger Everblade, vow to defend, to protect you from the threats ahead. I vow to stay with you, in the joy and in the sadness, in the healthiness and in the disease, until death does us apart". I finished what I had to say with a kiss on her hand... She raised my head... The warm touch of her fingers makes me melt in front of the crowd. She stared deeply into my eyes, her unceasable smile showing on her face.

"I recognize what we have gone through. We have met in a silly way, yet that moment never ceased to be special for me. On that day, I have met one that honors her duty... One that would not work for her reputation, but would put the others above herself, always... One that would sacrifice herself for the humblest servant of this kingdom, one that would go as far as her body would allow, and even more if she could, just to fight for what's right... You're my knightess in shining armor, Dagger Everblade, and I vow to repay your kindness with my endless love for you, I vow to fight at your side both as your leader and as a lover... I vow to give you support in the darkest days and nights, I vow to stay at your side, in the joy, in the sadness... In the healthiness and in the disease... As your princess and now wife, I, Isabelle Coventry, vow, again, to everything I have stated until death does us apart", she said. Her words were my joy at this moment... With our hands feeling the touch of the other's, we prepared ourselves for the moment we would seal this... We would seal our vows with a kiss. Slowly, we drew closer to each other... Centimeters between us and then millimeters... Until I felt the touch of her lips, the touch of soft lips like nothing that I have ever felt before. This moment... I will treasure it forever...

If only this was not a dream... But every dream we have during the dark of the night has to come to an end eventually.

My eyes could barely open, the sunlight that entered by the window was strong, but it still indicated that my day of work had just begun. As a knightess of the Coventry Kingdom, I must protect its people and above all, the royal family. In other words, my duty is to patrol around the palace for anything suspicious as they might threaten the royal family.

I could barely focus during my work, however... My mind was everywhere but here. The words, the seal, the kiss... They persisted in my memory and would last until the moment I crossed paths with the princess in the hallway. Her serious face was a little scary, but it was for the best... She acted seriously towards every soldier... Act friendlier specifically with me would make the ones around us suspect. Yes, we do love each other, we shared a confession that made us both so much happy... But our love is a secret. This is justified by the rules of our world. Two women in love? "Outrageous", "gross", "wrong". Honestly? I don't care about what they would say about us, I love her and I am not afraid of saying so. But I am afraid of the princess's dreams being shattered just because she can't be a queen doing something as wrong as loving another woman. And she really aspires to that position on the throne.

Still, it's hard to restrain myself. My love grows every day and sometimes I feel like I want to demonstrate it... I want to show how much I care, I want to show how much I would sacrifice for her... I want... I want to feel her lips on mine. We have never kissed before, for safety measures, but after what we have done in my dream, I could feel myself lingering for the lips... I want to do it at least once... Then for safety never more.

"Your highness...", I called for her in the hall once we crossed paths. She seemed a little surprised with my sudden call. "There are important matters you need to deal with in the afternoon, on top of the highest tower"

"Oh, I wasn't informed about that...", she said a little bit confused about that. Perhaps a few hints towards her would enlighten her...

"I am not surprised, this is a very recent order done by his majesty himself", I said while sending hints with my hands towards her. She didn't pay attention at first, but upon seeing the hints, she seemed to have understood.

"I see. I will be there", she said and continued her way to wherever she was going to while I continued my daily patrol as a knightess.

The afternoon soon came to my happiness and I waited at the top of the highest tower... I wasted my minutes staring at the slowly shifting sun that was close to the horizon... Then the sound of the door opening suddenly appeared and I turned to see who it was.

"Ms. Everblade... I did not expect to see you here", she said and with caution entered the room.

"I suppose that coincidences do happen, your highness", I said to her, and then we stared at each other for a few seconds... Until the door closed behind her and we started to laugh.

"Alright, enough with these formalities... Dagger, why have you called me here?", she asked curiously. I didn't know how to say to her what I wanted... So I just approached slowly... And then, I slightly aggressively pinned her against one of the walls. She was surprised but did not scream or resisted she just stared at me as though asking why I was doing that.

"I... I wanted to kiss you the whole day...". She seemed to be troubled with my words. Upon seeing her reaction, I immediately retreated. I could never force her into anything. "I... I am sorry, I didn't mean to be aggressive, if you're not fine-"

"Then what if I also want to kiss you?", she said, shyly looking to the side while saying those words. "But... But I am afraid someone might discover...", she said. I think she was overthinking the possibilities of that...

"We're at the top of the highest tower, rarely people come here... You don't have to worry about being caught..." I assured her and slowly, she turned her head to me.

"Then... Let's do it", she said.

Upon hearing that and still with her pinned against the wall, I approached her face... Centimeters separated our lips, and then millimeters... I could feel her warm breath leaving her mouth as we approached... And then... What I felt next wasn't the touch of her lips. I just froze there, hearing the voices outside the room.

"Princess Isabelle, the king calls for you...", the voice echoed and then the sound of the door opening appeared. I could have done something. Anything... But I just froze and the three knights that were coming in the search of the princess saw what they were not meant to...