Chapter 15: A Knight No More

Lily gaped at him.

The man stood stripped in front of her in the mirror. He held up his hand, moving them slowly across his face.

‘I don’t remember looking like this…’ he trailed off.

Lily shook her head, sighing, ‘You’re not going to attack me now, are you?’

Thorne looked at her in confusion, ‘No? Why would I?’

‘Because you’re all…’ she wiggled her hands at him, ‘Thingy…’

In place of where Thorne stood, the mirror showed him as a skeleton. His bones were a dark grey, held in place by some kind of magic. Weirdly, Lily didn’t find this repulsive or even frightening. She wanted to hold hands again.

Thorne shrugged, grabbing at his helmet. He pulled hard at it, twisting the melted bits of metal off. It fell to the ground and Lily looked at him curiously. It was one thing to bury them and a completely different thing to see a skeleton standing at you.

He could be smiling, frowning or crying and she would never be able to tell properly. Even still, she had been guessing well before, she couldn’t see why she couldn’t continue doing so.

‘In a way, I knew it,’ he looked up at her, where his eyes should have been meeting hers. And, in its own way, it was sweet.

‘I knew too,’ Lily lied, she smiled. She’d guessed something was off with him, he didn’t eat, he barely breathed and his eyes had never met hers before till now. But still she hadn’t expected this. Not that it pushed her way.

She stepped closer to him, a flush rising against her face. This was him, the him behind his armour. And he was real, dead or alive, he was standing here in front of her.

‘I guess I should’ve expected this…’ he moped, looking down at the ground. Thorne shook, running his hands against his head, ‘I really was so late.’

And he let out a hollow laugh. A sad laugh.

Lily crouched down, grabbing his helmet. His stupid metal mask. She unhooked the twin doves pendent, feeling it in her hands.

‘I think I like you this way, just as much,’ she said, putting her hands to his chest. She hooked the pendent to his breast.

‘You don’t have to lie.’ he murmured, his voice softening.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Elves never lie, didn’t you know?’ she laughed, running her hands up to his face. He was cold, deathly cold, but she didn’t react to it.

‘I wasn’t aware,’ he chuckled.

‘This one doesn’t,’ she breathed.

There was something so close about him now. Lily couldn’t dig any deeper past him, this was all he was. She clenched at his helmet; it was far heavier then she’d imagined. He took it from her, holding it loosely in both hands.

‘No,’ she whispered, ‘Don’t put it back on, just yet.’

‘W-Why?’ Thorne stuttered.

‘Let me take it in,’ she said, pulling her face back from his, ‘You promised me this much.’

‘I don’t remember this promis-‘ he began but she grabbed his hand and tugged at him.

‘Remember then,’ she said forcefully, but with a light grin on her face.

She pulled him after her.

‘Make your peace with your mission and come on after me,’ she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

If she knew any better, she’d guess he was blushing. And she did know better, so she knew he was blushing.

She waited for him in the dusty room above the stairs, humming to herself. She could hear him talking, saying all kinds of apologies in different languages. Lily wondered what Hadrian had done to deserve such praise. Wasn’t he just like any old king? If only her mother was around, Lily could’ve asked. But the times had passed and neither was alive to tell any stories anymore. Just left behind to have stories told about them.

Thorne left after some time, stepping back out. His helmet was in his hand, it swung loosely. Lily gave him a gentle look and then took his hand. She was already sick of this place but she didn’t tell him that. They walked quickly through the ruins, Lily covering her mouth with her hand.

She shielded her eyes as they left the keep, but she’d done so pointlessly. The sun was already gone, night had taken over. And with the fog rising higher, she wondered if they’d been safer staying inside.

Lily looked back at Thorne, then down at his hip.

‘Where is your sword?’ she asked, worry rising up her chest.

‘I’m not a knight anymore,’ he said sadly, ‘I left it behind.’

Lily glared at him.

‘Knight or not, what’s going to protect me from all those things out there!’ she yelled at him, crossing her arms, ‘Because it’s sure not going to be me.’

He held up his arms, clenching his fists.

‘That sword wasn’t the only weapon I have.’

Huuuh. Woah. Lily looked away to hide her blush. He was so cool.

She shook her head violently, ‘That’s not the point!’

‘Then?’

‘It’s just, well,’ she pulled at her hair, ‘I’d like your sword to be for, you know, killing stuff. And then your hands for, well…’

She held up his hands with hers, hoping he got the message.

‘I’ll get another sword,’ he said, so seriously it nearly made her laugh. But she held her composure and nodded back, just as seriously,

‘That’s right you will.’

Still, the night was heavy and filled with things she’d rather not meet. She looked to Thorne for advice but his eyes were impossible to read, as always.

‘Where do we go now?’ she asked him.

‘Around,’ Thorne said, ‘The keep’s surrounded by hills. There should be another one far behind it.

‘Mhm, okay.’ She nodded. He was holding her hand back; now it was a mutual thing.

They stayed close to the keep’s walls. Lily began to get a better grasp of just how big the place was, they’d spent over fifteen minutes walking and had yet to come across a bend. She couldn’t even make out one in the distance.

She grumbled; at this rate it would take them the whole night to walk past the keep. But they had all the time in the world, so she guessed it wouldn’t be the worst thing if it did take them the whole night.