The Mysterious Knight

"Your Majesty!"

Evelyn collapsed on the dirty ground out of pure exhaustion. Her chest heaved up and down with quick, heavy breaths.

"You Majesty, are you alright?" Jinx hurried to her side, fretting desperately over her condition. She placed her hand on her sweaty forehead and immediately recoiled back in shock. "Your head is burning!"

Evelyn waved her off, "Yeah, it's called a workout, of course my skin will flush. Don't be so dramatic and go get me a wet towel and some water. Hurry, hurry, I'm practically half dead over here."

Jinx didn't dare to delay and left the training grounds as quickly as she could. The palace was large and they didn't have access to the tightly locked kitchen on the premises since it belonged to the knights. It would take a while for her to come back.

She dropped a sweaty hand to her face directly over her eyes. She focused on her breath just to calm her rapidly beating heart. It was the first time in a long while that she had picked up a sword again. For her uncle, she pretended to be a glass vase for over half a year so she never had the chance to hone any of her training skills. The first time she picked up the sword again she could feel the frustration and tension leaving her body.

When she adjusted to the training again and Jinx, as a newbie, could no longer keep up with her or be her opponent, she turned her attention to the training dummies. If the training dummies could speak, they would probably curse her entire lineage a thousand times over. They were completely annihilated.

She would probably have to do something to compensate the knights, wouldn't she?

Evelyn looked up at the night sky. The moon shone brightly, casting a soft, illuminating glow on her face that was slick with sweat. The cool air tickled her damp cheeks and the silence felt almost tranquil. The radiant, glittering stars that twinkled across the sky enveloped her in a sense of peace and comfort.

She finally realized that she had never had a moment's rest since stepping foot in the Tor Empire. From her busy wedding day to her humiliating wedding night and even the meeting with the Grand Empress, all of it had taken an enormous toll on her mentally.

Her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with the former Empress, her heart clenched in pain.

She may have gotten the support of the Grand Empress and for now, that ensured her survival here and dealt with the issue of Lady Freya. But was she really expected to just grin and bear it all? To remain in this loveless marriage with a man that clearly hated her and indulged in other women all the time?

She hated the idea of it.

For what reason was she forced to bare her teeth like a wild animal? Just to earn some basic respect? Just to occupy the position of his wife?

There was no doubt in her mind that the second she could no longer bear it, Calandra would act against her. Her support only went hand in hand with her marriage to Markos. If it was found out that she wanted to leave this dreaded palace and this loveless marriage there was no way she would be let off easy.

Not only that but Evelyn remembered Calandra saying something about using her to 'draw out those pesky bugs'. She didn't even know what that meant and it was clear that the older woman would never tell her but it was absolutely not something she wanted to stick around long enough to find out.

She had to figure a way out before it was too late.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approach her and assumed it was Jinx when she felt a cold, wet towel drop on her face, obstructing her vision.

"Did you bring the water as well, Jinx?" Her eyes remained closed as she wiped her face with the wet towel, removing the mixture of sweat and dirt and allowing her face to cool.

She felt something was slightly off. The palace was large and the other kitchen in use was on the other end of the palace, far away from the training grounds used by the palace knights. Wasn't it impossible for the maidservant to be back so early?

With feet as quick as lightning, Evelyn opened her eyes and jumped up, creating as much space as possible between her and this mystery person. She pointed her sword in defense but when she finally caught his gaze she couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.

The man in front of her was simply too handsome!

His tanned skin was illuminated under the soft glow of the moon and his features were sharp and defined, almost as if they were carved by hand. He had a strong, muscular build with a height that towered over her and pitch-black hair. Aside from his handsome appearance the most striking thing about him was his eyes which were a deep amber color that she swore was gold at first glance.

He was clearly dressed for training in dark blue trousers and a plain button-up that was pulled open, revealing the definition of his chest.

Evelyn's face flushed and this time it wasn't simply from her heavy training. Though she was now a married woman she had never actually experienced her first night. The people of Glanndor were extremely rigid and she had never seen so much of a man's body up close.

Sure, she had seen Markos bare-chested on their wedding night but with Lady Freya there she hadn't exactly been able to focus her mind on anything like that.

An amused smile hung on his face and his tone was humorous. "Are you planning on stabbing me or just ogling at me, Your Majesty?" He eyed the heavy sword in her hands and pointed directly at him.

Her face was probably the shade of a tomato by now but nonetheless, she didn't drop the sword. Her voice echoed throughout the training grounds and was laced with firmness, "Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm one of the palace knights. I noticed Your Majesty using the training ground for a while and assumed you would be parched by the time you finished. My apologies if I was too presumptuous." The unnamed man gently shook the large glass pitcher in his hand and then slightly bowed his head in an apologetic manner though there was still a slight teasing in his tone.

"Ah, no you're fine. I didn't notice anyone else was here." Evelyn was embarrassed and finally dropped her arm. She happily accepted the glass of water he poured for her from the pitcher and downed it in one go. "Are you the knight in charge of the training ground?"

"I am," he took the glass back when she finished, and as if finally nothing something asked, "By the way, what happened to the maidservant that was just here? Did she just leave you here alone?"

"The kitchen was locked and we didn't know anyone was here so she went to fetch it from the other one."

"She won't be back for a while then. If you don't mind then I would like to start cleaning and setting up for the knight's training session tomorrow."

Evelyn nodded and got out of the way. She dropped her body weight onto a bench not too far away and let her eyes trace his movements. He was tidying up the space, mostly the items she used, and putting them in their respective places. When he finally got to the dummies, she felt her face flush once again as she avoided his eye.

She saw his deep frown when he saw the training dummies and assumed it was because she had practically destroyed them. His thoughts were completely different from what she expected though.

The training dummies were specifically made to withstand being hit at full force by hundreds of knights every day and were embedded with a special type of magic to protect them. It was nearly impossible for it to be destroyed unless another type of magic was used on it, physical force would do nothing to it. The fact that she was able to completely destroy should have been impossible but…

The handsome man shook his head. He absolutely couldn't let anyone know what happened here and especially not that old woman from the palace.

He began to move them into a small building they used to store their junk and perhaps it was due to the fact she was still embarrassed about it that Evelyn actually got up to help.

"Your Majesty?" The man was confused.

What was she doing?

She just waved him off. "Let me help. You can't possibly get all these through that tiny doorway yourself, can you?"

Despite his incessant protests, Evelyn helped him move the destroyed dummies into the junk room one by one. It didn't take them long since they weren't heavy at all thanks to the fact that most of them were in half and completely shredded.

When they were finally done moving them inside, Evelyn leaned against one of the shelves in the junk room to catch her breath. Though she rested a little after her vigorous training it wasn't nearly enough to rejuvenate her. Her body was still completely exhausted and she had slightly overexerted herself by losing herself in all her frustrations.

She hadn't even leaned all her body weight against the tall shelf before she felt it start to give way. Before she even had the chance to react her body was suddenly pulled forward roughly into the taller man's hard chest.

BOOM!

The shelf fell to the floor with a loud crashing sound.

Evelyn didn't even have time to register the crash because she was currently face to face with a bare, well-defined chest. She knew that he was clearly taller than she was but they had never been close enough for her to fully experience it. The tip of her head barely reached his chin so she couldn't even see his eyes from being pulled so close to his chest. Her first instinct was to immediately shove him away but his arm was snaked around her waist, holding her tightly in place.

She craned her neck to look up at him with difficulty. They really were skin-to-skin. Wasn't this too close?

"Don't move," He said, his breath hot on the tip of her ear. Her heart beat so loudly in her chest that she could barely hear him but she nodded absentmindedly anyways. "It's dangerous so I'll carry you out."

Her head shot up, "Wait-"

Hold on a second, wouldn't that be too embarrassing?!

"Then, excuse me, Your Majesty."

Without another word and ignoring the protests from the Empress, he swept her off her feet bridal style. Evelyn's face was as red as a tomato but he didn't notice in the slightest as he stepped over the fallen bookshelf in a careful manner.

He set her down gently when they exited the junk room safely but he still didn't create distance between them. Instead, he was still as close as ever and looking her over quite intently. He turned her face every which way and when she finally couldn't take it anymore, she asked with a beet-red face, "Sir Knight, just what are doing?"

His fingers trailed along her chin as he examined her face and head for any damages. "Isn't it a knight's duty to make sure his master is perfectly fine?" His tone became teasing as he seemed to finally realize the lack of space between them, "Would you Your Majesty rather I take an even closer look?"

Her heart began to beat so fast that she was sure it would combust soon. For a second there, Evelyn was even more positive that his eyes glowed gold but it was gone as soon as she blinked.

Had she just been imagining it?

She opened her mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by another loud crash behind her. It was the sound of glass breaking.

Jinx was back.

And she was still practically in this stranger knight's arms. This was bad, wasn't it?

Shit.