A Promise Kept Ch. 03

"...He was then brought before the King, who, after instructing two senior knights to buckle the spurs to the knight-elect's heels, fastened a belt around his waist, then struck him on the neck with either a hand or a sword, thus making him a knight. It was this "accolade" which was the essential act in creating a knight, and a simpler ceremony developed, conferring knighthood merely by striking or touching the knight-to-be on the shoulder with a sword, or "dubbing" him, as is still done today. In the early medieval period the difference seems to have been that the full ceremonies were used for men from more prominent families."

"Oh, wow," I said, being left breathless at what Sir Tomas had just told me, "I guess this truly is a very honorable Order that I'm being inducted into, and I don't think I'm worthy of such an honor, Sir Tomas."

"Your humility where this matter is concerned only reinforces our belief in you, m'boy," Sir Tomas gently explained, smiling at me in a fatherly way as he did so, "Michael, you really don't understand how the gravity of what you've done weighs with the English people, a well as the aristocracy, do you?"

"I can understand everybody being grateful because Natalie's life was spared; I'm grateful for that myself," I passionately replied, making Sir Tomas widely smile again, "But what I don't understand is all of...well...this...being Knighted. It's an honor that I flat don't deserve, sir...I can't help but feel that way, and I'm sorry if I'm offending you. But I hope you know that I wouldn't hurt you, Lady Sarah, or Natalie for anything, please tell me you know this, Sir Tomas."

"Of course I know, Michael, and if it will make you feel any better, I'll tell you a secret," he replied grinning, wearing a guilty smile on his face, "It's all very symbolistic and ceremonial, none of it is official, and you're not bound by anything other than your honor, young, Michael...after all; your honor is what's being celebrated...there now, does that help you understand why this is being done?"

"I guess so," I replied, feeling slightly relieved, still a little nervous, but not nearly as bad as I was only moments before Sir Tomas let me know exactly what was going on, "How long is the actual ceremony?"

"About thirty minutes," he replied, looking at his watch, "It begins at six o'clock this evening, and by seven, you'll be standing on the palace balcony while The High Lord Marshall, Sir James Dunnington, and I myself present you to the public."

"What am I supposed to do after that?" I anxiously inquired, beginning to get nervous all over again..."

~~~~~~

The ceremony went off without a hitch, and already knowing Sir Tomas, Duke of Essex, I was very honored to have met the Queen, The Prince of Wales, as well as The High Lord Marshall in such a very memorable setting, where I was dubbed; "Sir Michael, Knight-Companion to the Duke and Dutchess of Essex, and Knight-Errant to England." Wow, what a rush, huh?

I was very warmly received by the English people, who, to this day, still remain to be some of the nicest, friendliest people that I've ever met. And leave us not forget the Reception Ball, which started promptly at eight o'clock. Once there the place that I sat in was the highest place of honor ever allowed a foreigner; which was on the right hand of the Queen herself. And surprising, I found her to be very knowlegeable about a great many things.

"Tell me, Sir Micheal," Her Majesty addressed me, "Is this your first trip to England, and if so; how do you like it?"

"Yes, ma'am, Your Majesty," I replectfully replied, "And I really love your country, ma'am."

"I would imagine that all of the young ladies are going to be quite pleased when they find out you're single," the Queen knowingly smiled, "However, I'm quite certain that Lord Wickham's daughter, Lady Natalie, has already set her sights on you, as handsome as you are."

"I thank you for the wonderful compliment, Your Majesty," I politely replied, "But the kind of work I do for my country is not very conducive to a healthy realtionship...besides, I don't think it would be fair to any woman to have to deal with that kind of stress to begin with."

"That is very considerate of you to think of such things," Her Majesty kindly smiled, "Most young people these days are so stuck on themselves that they don't think about anyone or anything other than their own selfish wants and needs...I salute you, Sir Michael..."

~~~~~~

"Excuse me, Your Majesty," a pretty young woman said, suddenly appearing at our table, "I've come to ask Sir Michael to dance, ma'am."

"How delightful," Her Majesty smiled, and then she slightly turned her face toward me, and told me, "Sir Michael, please allow me to present the Lady Anne Hollingsworth of Kent. She's in her third year at Oxford, and not only is her family very proud of her, but England is very proud of her as well, and then I saw Anne reach up and wipe away a lone tear that was unsuccessfully trying to run down her pretty cheek.

Lady Anne was the daughter of Sir Edward, and Lady Elaine Hollingsworth, the Duke and Dutchess of Kent; and was indeed a very pretty girl, as well as possessing all of the female attributes and measurements that would make men drool. However, not one of the females that I met at the Reception Ball that night even came close to matching Natalie's beauty. She was, and still is, for that matter, one of the most beautiful women that I've ever seen, much less had the opportunity to sleep next to and/or make love to.

Still though, Lady Anne had extended the invitation to dance, and as Knight-Errant to England, I was now obligated to fulfill my role as such, and dance with this pretty young lady. I might add that she was standing before me wearing an absolutely striking form-fitting gown that was a light, creamy, shade of green, perfectly offsetting her pretty green eyes and stylishly, yet beautiful coiffed Auburn hair.

~~~~~~

"Thank you for making a girl happy by dancing with me, Sir Michael," Lady Anne kindly smiled, "I wanted to meet you after I heard about all of this. It's very rare that the Queen knights someone who's foreigner, especially an American."

"Thank you for the compliments, Lady Anne, "I politely smiled, "But I'd really like it if you called me by my given name, Michael."

"Alright then," she sweetly smiled, "Michael it is..."

We danced for a while longer, well, until the song was over anyway; and then I escorted Lady Anne back to her seat, after which I returned to my seat next to Her Majesty.

~~~~~~

"Hello there, Sir Michael," Natalie knowingly smiled, standing next to the Queen when I returned to my seat, "May I have this next dance, kind sir?"

I looked over to see the Queen smiling brightly, nodding her approval, making me turn back to my Natalie with a smile on my face, and tell her, "I'd be delighted. M'Lady," and then she took my arm, following me back out onto the dance floor.

~~~~~~

"Hello, my love," Natalie sensually smiled, as she held onto me tightly while we danced together, "I think you should know that I've already made the arrangement with your Admiral White; and you're coming home with me tonight, my love."

"Is that right," I teased, "And as Knight-Companion to your family, are you giving me an order, M'Lady?"

"Oh, shut up," she lightly giggled, playfully slapping my arm "It's not like that and you know it."

"I know," I smiled, "But I just love to watch you get all torn up about it, I'm sorry."

"You do love me then," she excitedly but softly whispered, "Don't you?"

"How could I not, Natalie" I softly replied, "I mean, come on, my God, you're one of the most beautiful women that I've ever seen...."

~~~~~~

That night after the ball, Natalie and I headed to where she and I could be alone together. As opposed to the main house though, she took me to a place that was then called, the farmer's house. However Natalie had gone to the expense of having all of the modern conveniences of the time installed, as well as having it repainted, too.

What really got my attention the most though, was the big rock fireplace that had been custom installed, giving it a slight feel of what people must've felt like back in medieval times. The floors had been redone with oak flooring, covered by very large Persian rugs...my mother would've had a fit if she saw this place. It sat in the middle of roughly thirty acres of what used to be grain fields, surrounded by an encompassing tangle of woods, protecting it from immediate attack during the days of medieval yore.

~~~~

"This is where I come when I want to get away from everything," Natalie sweetly smiled, unzipping, and then stepping out of her gown, leaving it lay where it was in the floor. After she'd removed her slip, she stood beautifully before me wearing an ever so slight bra, garter-belt, hose, shoes, all of which were in an almost virginal; white color...oh, and no panties."

"How do I look, lover," she seductively smiled, "Am I still the most beautiful woman that you've ever seen?"

"And then some," I grinned, quickly removing my tux, "God, Natalie, you're so beautiful..."

~~~~~~

We made love that night like there was no tomorrow, and for all intents and purposes; that was true. I was leaving for good that next afternoon, not knowing when, or even if, I was ever going to see Natalie again.

Still though, to say that I wasn't in love with her would be a bold faced lie. Hell, I loved her with every molecule of my body, for she had been the one who made everything bad in my life go away, and I needed her like I needed air...

~~~~~~

A relationship between Natalie and I just wasn't meant to be, I suppose; but when she said goodbye to me right before we boarded the plane that brought us, she looked at me and sweetly asked, "If there's ever a way for us to be together, promise me that you'll try to make it happen, Michael."

"Okay," I softly replied, kissing her lips for what I thought would be the last time, "I'll try, I promise..."

~~~~~~

The whole ride home was as silent as a tomb, Admiral and Mrs. White were in their quarters, catching up on their sleep in order to avoid having jet lag when we landed so; I took the opportunity to do the same thing.

~~~~~~

I began to dream while I slept in my compartment, my mind drifting back to the days of Medieval England. I dreamed that I was in a jousting competition for the hand of the daughter of the Duke and Dutchess of Essex, the fair Lady Natalie. I didn't know why I was there, but I was still there, none the less. And it was right before I mounted my steed that a very young, and very beautiful Natalie walked up to me smiling, and said, "If you win this joust, my love, you win my hand...if not, I'm bound by duty to go to Sir Devon of Mordred, if you're defeated...please unseat him, Sir Michael, I will love you all of your life."

The next thing I knew was that I was sitting on the back of my horse with a lance in my hand, and I was charging toward my opponent. I'd never jousted before in my life, but as luck would have it, and it was pure luck, too, I managed to deflect his lance with my shield while placing the tip of my lance against his chest, unseating him from his mount, and knocking him to the ground while the crowd that was watching us cheered me on...

"Masterchief," said a voice, immediately snatching me from my dream, "We'll be landing in a few minutes, Mike. It's time to wake up, kid."

It was Admiral White, waking me from my sleep while I noticed through the window of the aircraft that it was now dark outside. After I got out of bed, and cleaned up, I made the preparations for the aircraft to land...

~~~~~~

Chapter Seven

THE NEXT DAY

"So, how did it go," Danny smiled, after muster the next morning, "Tell us, Sir Michael?"

"You can knock that crap off right now, "I grinned, "It was a great experience, and I really enjoyed myself."

"Did you meet any hot women?" Sam chuckled, "Come on, we're dying to know, L.B."

"Yeah, I met a couple," I humored them, because I knew they would hound me for information if I didn't tell them anything, "And they were really nice, too."

"So...." Danny suggestively grinned, "What happened?"

"I'm not gonna give you pervs something to jack off to later," I laughed, then looked at Danny and said, "We've got another BUD/S class starting tomorrow sp; we need to make sure everything is good to go, okay?"

"I don't think so," Dave chuckled, as he slowly walked up from behind me to come and stand in the middle of our group, "AS of right now, we've all been put back on the "Active" roster, not to mention the fact that we've got a briefing in thirty minutes."

"Thanks, Dave," I smiled, as he gave me my pager back, "I can't begin to tell you what this means to me, my friend."

"Don't thank me, thank Admiral White," Dave knowingly grinned, "He was the one who put your name back on the "Active" roster."

"Maybe so," I grinned, "But as my direct Commanding Officer, you have the power of veto when it comes to outing my name back on the Active" roster so; don't give me any shit for thank you...sir," and then I laughed as I shook his hand."

~~~~~~

SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND 1400 HOURS

"This is operation "Dark Horse", gentlemen," Admiral White informed us, as he stood in front of a large map of Central America "A team of Force Recon Marines operating in the jungles of Central America, somewhere twenty miles North of Managua, Nicaragua, and will soon be in need assistance securing an LZ from which to extract. Your job is to HALO in five miles ahead of them, and then help secure the LZ, extracting with them as soon as possible. You leave in here thirty minutes; good luck, gentlemen," and then he turned and walked out of the room, leaving us to form our plan of attack.

~~~~~~

"Okay, this is going to be a six man job," Dave said, as suddenly, a new but familiar face appeared in the room, "Everybody knows Lieutenant Brian Peterson. He's now a permanent member of this particular team."

~~~~~~

After we'd formulated our plans, went to the armory and picked up the weapons and ordinance that we were going to need to properly do our job. Then we went to the parachute hangar and picked up not only our breathing gear, but our new chutes as well. These particular parachutes were called "Air-Ram" chutes. This kind of parachute has both port and starboard lanyards, which not only allows the jumper to have control of direction, but they also allow the jumper to lighten the velocity, or in other words, to slow down, and then touch the ground with no more force or speed than it takes to walk down a stair.

~~~~~~

"What's her name?" Danny knowingly asked me, once we were in the air and headed to the insertion point, "And don't tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about, because you and I both know better."

""Come on, man," I grinned, "Don't you think we should be focusing on the task at hand?"

"Okay, you've got me there," Danny laughed, "But when we get back home...I wanna know everything...and I do mean everything; okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," I said, "But you're supposed to be covering my ass if they have any wounded so; don't forget it, ya stooge."

"Come on, Mike," he laughed, "We can all do something like this in our sleep so; don't sweat it."

"Maybe you're right," I told him, "But I'd much rather that everyone be awake for this one, if it's all the same to you."

"Whatever," Danny grinned, "Smart ass..."

~~~~~~

THE DROP ZONE

"Ready...NOW," commanded the Air chief, aboard the C-140 Hercules aircraft we were jumping out of at an altitude of thirty-three thousand, five hundred feet, "JUMP, JUMP, JUMP..."

~~~~~~

Because of the distance we'd covered, it was late afternoon, going into early evening when we landed in the Nicaraguan Jungle. The moment I landed, I felt like the jungle was alive all around me, and if I were to step in the wrong place, I felt like it would've swallowed me whole, never to be seen and/or heard from ever again However, it didn't take me long to gain my bearing and head to the rally point we agreed on upon landing, when we were formulating a plan of attack after the initial briefing from Admiral White.

~~~~~~

Once we'd established clear communications with not only one another, but also with Special Operations Command, we set off to find the Marines that we'd been sent to extract, pairing up into three groups of two men each.

Needless to say, Danny was my partner, and once we'd received our orders; off we went into the Nicaraguan Jungle in search of the team of Force Recon Marines. We were on definitive "Search—Destroy", trying to locate them as quickly as possible; so that we could hurry up and get everyone the hell outta that God forsaken place.

~~~~~~

We'd been keeping a slow but steady pace, when we both heard movement in the jungle somewhere out of sight ahead of us.

"Tiger Two, Tiger one," Dave said, to Danny over the MX 20/20, "Command says that Phoenix One (Codename for the team of Force Recon Marines) is a little over a click away from you and will be making contact at your twelve o'clock."

"Roger, Tiger One," Danny smiled, as we saw the Marines appearing in front of us, "We've made contact Phoenix One, and will be back to the rally point in fifteen minutes."

"Roger, see you shortly," Dave replied, "Tiger One out..."

~~~~~~

Damn, fellas," Marine Captain Larry Dawson smiled, "It's good to see you. I thought we were going to be left for the Sandinistas."

"Never," Danny grinned, "Command is letting us do this so that we'll have the bragging rights as to who's got the better team, the Navy or The Marines.

"Ooo-rah," the four Marines of Phoenix One quietly barked, eliciting grins an all our faces.

"I think it's time for us to get the hell out of here," Captain Dawson grinned, "Those Sandinistas might've picked up our trail, making me shudder to think of what might happen if they find us here."

"You heard the man," Danny grinned, "Let's saddle up, shall we?"

~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later we were aboard a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion, commonly refereed to in the as "The Jolly Green" flying over the Gulf of Mexico at a cruising speed of a hundred and fifty knots (173mph) and an altitude of two thousand, five hundred feet.

And after another forty-five minutes had passed, the Jolly Green began to hover over the flight Deck of the "U.S.S. Enterprise CVN-64", the first commissioned nuclear powered Unites States Naval Aircraft Carrier. Once we were given clearance, the helicopter slowly descended until we all felt it s it touched down onto the deck of the Aircraft Carrier...

~~~~~~

After debriefing, my team all made ready to take a HACK (a weekly flight to and from the Carrier, bringing mail, small packages, personnel, etc...) flight off of the carrier, which would be landing in San Antonio, Texas, from where we would take a bigger aircraft back to North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, California.

~~~~~~

Danny waited until we were on a C-130 headed home before he started in again. "Okay," he pointedly said, "You never told me what her name was, L.B."

"Why," I plainly asked, "Why do you want to know? All you'll do is find some kind of way to fuck with me about it."

"You're right...and I'm sorry, Mike," he suddenly, almost reverently replied, "I'm asking you about this because, and I should've already told you this, but you're my best friend, L.B....and I when you hurt, I hurt...you know what I mean? When Jill died, I know it kicked the shit out of you, hell; it kicked the shit out of all of us if you want to know the truth... But I guess what I'm trying to say is, I only want to make sure that you're alright with yourself, okay?"