The Knight's Taboo Ch. 01

While it was a something that was unspoken of outside the castle walls, there was a secret way to gain entrance into the castle. It was well-hidden within the green foilage of the forest, a double-sided door resting right underneath a green hill, shrouded by willow trees and thick long vines that snaked downward.

The one who had conjured the idea had gone to the greatest of lengths to make sure that no rivals or enemies would ever discover the secret.

Once they reached the forest and wandered to the hidden doors, Parsee's heart thudded against his chest as he reached towards the willow branches and the vines to brush them back. He was relieved, however, when he saw that the secret appeared not to have been discovered.

He then opened the doors and he and the other knights walked into the following passage, with the last knight closing the doors behind them.

"I was so anxious that they had discovered this secret," Parsee remarked, his hand pressing against the cold stone walls.

"Does anyone light this tunnel?" Questioned Ricord.

"Aundrias generally does," answered Parsee, "but I'm assuming that he hasn't been in, in some time. It does make things a bit more of a hindrance, I'll admit, and it would be the perfect scenario for a foe to take advantage of. But, if the door was left closed, then I'm going to assume that no one is awaiting us within these shadows."

"How long does this tunnel go on?" Spoke another one of the knights.

Even Parsee was feeling anxious: And that made the tunnel seem to go on even longer than it did in reality. His mind kept thinking about Queen Merry and picturing her in all sorts of ghastly situations that made his pulse quicken. And then King Harminus, no doubt he was doing everything within his fighting ability to defend his wife and Princess Abelia.

But how long would they last? He shuddered to think of the dark outcome that could become reality if he, Chandler, and the others didn't get back in time to offer their assistance.

"Patience now," chided Chandler who, would have turned to give the knight a look, had it not been so dark.

"If I remember the length of this tunnel," Parsee thought out loud, "then we should be reaching the other end very shortly. At the end of the tunnel lies the secondary entrance to His and Her Majesty's personal quarters. The second entrance is hidden His Majesty's dresser, which, if you ask me, is quite an ingenious idea."

"I don't think I can withstand this much longer," Chandler muttered with mild irritation in his tone. "Generally, I am the more patient one here, but knowing that my King and Queen are under attack without us there to offer our protection? And what of Princess Abelia? I tire of this tunnel, we must reach King Harminus' dresser and regroup with the other knights so we can fight off those filthy Falisians."

"Wait," Parsee bumped into something and groaned before halting his feet. "This, this must be it! I'm fairly certain that this is the door that leads to King Harminus' dresser. Fret no more, Chandler."

Parsee reached toward the door and pulled it open by the iron handles causing a loud sound to hit their ears as a result. He fiddled around for the inside of the dresser until finally Parsee pressed his hands against the twin doors and pressed them outward; the glare from the candles and lanterns that lit the master-bedroom hitting their faces. And Parsee, Chandler, Ricord, and the other knights searched around the room, but saw no traces of neither King Harminus or his wife, Queen Merry. This provoking them to leave the room behind them and enter the throne room, which was where the sight of King Harminus under attack, greeted them.

"Your Majesty!" Roared Chandler, whose eyes hit the large sum of Falisian knights whicht had swarmed King Harminus and a small number of other knights, attacking them from nearly every single side.

"Chandler?" King Harminus had torn his eyes briefly from his foes and glanced towards Chandler and the others with a fierce expression on his face. "I didn't think that you would be returning so soon. I must ask that you forgive me, I was unaware that it was all a diversion, and now here you are troubling yourselves once more."

"The only trouble that we see is the ones standing right in front of us," Parsee remarked, reaching to his side to draw his sword and clench it in his hand.

"Parsee!" King Harminus called out, lifting his sword just as another came to strike at him and parrying it. "My wife is not within the throne-room; she left a while ago to prepare food in the kitchen, but she has not returned, nor have the men who I sent to fetch her. M'boy, I beseech that you go and check on their safety. Ricord, you are to take a small number of knights with you and go search for Princess Abelia, make sure that no harm has befallen her. And lastly, Chandler, you are to remain here with us."

Parsee slowly lowered his drawn sword back down to his side, giving a short nod with a sharp knit of his brows in response to King Harminus' words. "Affirmative, Your Majesty. I'll see to it that the Queen comes back safely."

"Good, now go, hurry to her!" King Harminus yelled.

Parsee took off in a quick rush towards the main door leading to the throne-room, not turning back to look once at Chandler and King Harminus. The kitchen was a fair distance away, but he was clinging to the hope that the knights who had went in to retrieve Queen Merry were still in there with her. Given that none of them had to return, however, told him that the Falisian forces had stormed the kitchen area and were keeping Queen Merry trapped in there.

He closed the mighty throne-room doors behind him, and when he did so, he saw a flurry of arrows flying towards him. He missed them by mere seconds, the arrows landing in the door as he fell to the floor in a quick dive and then rose back up when he saw no more incoming arrows.

Carefully, Parsee crept around the halls, his eyes scanning every surrounding corridor, searching for any more sneaky arrows. Not only that, as spacious and towering as the castle was, it would be perfect to be taken advantage of. This, he knew.

He made his way down the main hall, walking towards the great hall which was where King Harminus' retained the relics of his father and the previous kings who came before him, all encased in glass. There were also a small number of portraits of them as well that were hanging up on the walls above the glass cases of weapons, armor, and tarnished rings, many of which were of the aforementioned kings, but there were at least two of the previous Queens.

Nearing the half-way reach of the great hall, he could hear footsteps that seemed to grow closer.

Parsee furrowed his brows and threw his body to the wall, his back and buttocks hitting it while he quietly moved among the wall in his approach. "Are they on the other side of the hall?"

He was beginning to hear voices now, none of which he recognized on his own. The voices, he concluded, belonged to the Falisians. Making out their words was difficult from the distance that he was at. But the further he scaled against the wall in his quiet approach to the end of the great hall, their words were becoming clearer to him.

"Do you really think he's going to come?" One of the Falisian knights conversed with the other.

"I've been wondering the very same question," the other laughed with his arms folding.

"What is it that he is after? He has told us little of his intentions...He just shows up one day, wouldn't even offer us his name."

"I couldn't give less of a shite who he is! As long as the bastard does his bloody job for His Majesty, then that's all I care about. All any of us should care about, for that matter."

"I know, and you aren't wrong, but...." The knight sighed. "Don't you just wonder about his intentions?"

"Are you untrusting of him?"

"Would you trust someone whose name you don't even know, and who won't tell you their desires?"

"...."

Parsee blinked, bewildered by their prattling.

Just who were they referring to?

He supposed it was of no importance for the time being and resumed his approach to the kitchen while he tried to remain as out of sight as he could.

But, the Falisian knights who were chatting with one another, spotted him when he was half-way into the next corridor and chased after him while drawing their swords.

"Arsethall filth, you stop right there!"

If the Falisian forces had truly invaded the kitchen area, he couldn't further endanger the Queen. But by the same token, if he wasted too much time fighting every Falisian who came within his range, that would be more time wasted that he could be reaching her. And time was of the essence, the Falisians wouldn't be held off forever, and once they broke free of the ones who were undoubtedly combating them, Queen Merry would be right down on their list.

He ran ahead of them, hastily heading down the next long hall-way that would lead to another hallway at the end of the door and then branch out between the halls that forked into the chapel room and the kitchen area.

That was when he remembered: The chapel!

"Father James, may you be shielded from the filth that has infested these walls," Parsee growled to himself.

"Damn you, you bleeding prick!" Yelled one of the two Falisian knights who gave chase to him. "Quit running, quit running so we can hack off your balls and cram e'm down your bloody throat! You're only prolonging your demise. Death to all of those in Arsethall castle!"

"The only ones who will be meeting Death's unforgiving gaze today will be the pigs who intruded on His Majesty's castle! A crime such as the ones that you have committed, will not go unpunished by the higher powers. And as we speak right now, your brothers-in-arms are all being cut down by the champions of Arsethall," Parsee cried back to them, darting faster down the hall.

The chase went on for a lengthily amount of time. But did eventually come to an end, Parsee having arrived at the kitchen. There, he saw that a good number of the knights who had defended Queen Merry had fell to the swords of the other Falisians. Only one remained now and he was being overwhelmed by the number of Falisians who he was up against.

Parsee interjected the scene, bolting towards the Falisians and colliding with their blades with his own while lifting his shield up to block incoming slashes and then retaliating with a heavy push forward of his sword, knocking the Falisian knights backwards into the kitchen table and in turn causing it to fall over onto them.

Queen Merry, palm and fingers clenching her beating breast, eyes fraught with fear from the scene at hand, looked at him. She sneaked away from the last knight of the fallen group who protected her and made her way to Parsee, but then hid herself behind the second table, with her head risen only enough to allow her to watch the ongoing fight.

Parsee and the other knight were further cutting down the numbers of the Falisian army, and it appeared as if the battle of the kitchen was soon to be won by them. But then things took an unexpected turn and a powerful blast from the outside blew in the walls of the kitchen area, flames rising up into the kitchen hall. A wall of flames burned ominously from the newly made hole that the blast had created, and as Parsee and the other knight felled the last of the Falisian knights, their eyes hit the flames where a figure could scarcely be made out.

"You are most exceptional..." Complimented a soft, yet eerie-filled voice.

"What the hell is this!?" The knight beside Parsee stomped his foot on the ground.

"Hell? No, not quite...But I assure you, many who have encountered me, viewed me as the Dark One."

The figure stepped forth from the flames; seeming completely unfazed by their scorching heat.

Parsee took scanned over his attire and took notice of the horn that adorned his helmet and the half-face shield that only covered the left portion of his face but left the other exposed. He noticed that this warrior also bore the coat of arms of the Falisians, but unlike the other Falisians who were nearly impossible to tell from one another since they all dressed the same, his surcoat had three dark purple stripes and the coat of arms was even somewhat altered with its color.

"You, over there," Parsee turned to the other knight. "Move in to the Queen. Protect her."

"You," the uniquely dressed knight addressed him. "Step forth, come. Draw your sword..."

The hairs on Parsee's neck stood up straight. He had never encountered an enemy who was able to instill such an effect. But the simple presence of this knight, it was unlike anything he could imagine. And at that moment, he realized, he was actually afraid. But he wasn't sure why.

Parsee reached to his sword and drew his sword.

"You must be the one who Chandler claimed he saw in the Duke's room," he deduced.

"You mean the one who relies heavily on his arrow? Yes, we encountered one another briefly."

"What is it that you want?" Inquired Parsee while he watched the other reach for his own weapon.

"What I want is fairly simple. But rather than answer your query, I will let our blades do the talking."

They paced around one another in slow circles, each grasping the hilt of their sword tightly and each staring one another down. And then, very abruptly, they began to engage one another with Parsee leading the first attack and charging towards him with his sword, his sword going to strike him in the shoulder.

The menacing knight blocked his attack, deflecting it and then adding exceptional force nearly knocking sword right out of Parsee's hand.

"Who are you?" Parsee asked him, going in to strike him once more.

"You may call me Darq," the other returned to him, side-stepping the blonde-haired knight with ease.

"That is not your true name, is it? That is a mere alias." Deduced Parsee, now putting distance between them.

"Correct," Darq said.

Again, Parsee charged at him. Darq didn't budge an inch and remained in place. When Parsee did almost land the edge of his sword on him, Darq leaned to the side and then retaliated with a strong swing of his sword and struck the boy on the face before slugging him in the face and knocking him backwards towards the table that Queen Merry was being evacuated from.

Parsee hid behind the table, but then he kicked it up and sent it flying towards the powerful Falisian knight who simply cut it in half before it could reach his face.

Parsee had rushed him during that moment, hoping to seize the opportunity of his being distracted. But that was as futile as his previous attempts, and Darq caught his blade with his own and then broke away from it.

"That is enough...." Darq stated with slight disappointment in his voice.

Parsee rose to his feet and drew in once again. "No, you won't turn tail and run away."

"I was impressed by your skill against the fools of the Falisian King, but I have measured your strength myself, and you are not yet a worthy opponent in my eyes. I could slay you easily if it were my desire, but now is not the proper time. Therefore, I will let you live...So that one day, you will be of greater strength. When that day comes? I will challenge you once more, and I will take your life."

"I...I don't understand!" Parsee lashed out at him. "What was the point of this, then?"

"As I said," Darq walked towards him, putting away his blade. "It was a test of might."

Parsee grit his teeth and forced his eyes towards the wall.

"I order you to not take another step towards him!" Queen Merry yanked herself from the grasp of the Arsethall knight who tried to restrain her.

Darq glimpsed at her briefly and chuckled, amused.

"Before I do depart" Darq stopped in front of him, "I will leave you with a memento of our encounter.."

Parsee turned his eyes back to the knight who he couldn't lay a scratch on and looked at him puzzled. But before he could utter a word from his mouth, Darq had drawn a hidden dagger and the edge of the blade dragged along the flesh of Parsee's left cheek, coating the weapon in his blood.

"Now...I bid you adieu until next we meet." And Darq sank back into the flames and was gone.

Queen Merry and the knight keeping guard of her rushed to Parsee's side.

"Parsee, Parsee!" Queen Merry placed one hand behind his head and the other behind his back, lifting him up. "Are you all right? I....I was so worried for your safety."

"A bit of broken pride and some strong humiliation knowing my Queen saw my poor performance," he laughed. "But besides that? I don't believe I've sustained any serious damage; he was just toying with me."

"I've never seen anything like that knight before," awed the Arsethall knight who reached to help him up.

"He was an enigma, for certain. But we don't have time to sit here and reflect on him; we must regroup with the others and check on His Majesty."

They returned back to the throne-room and watched as the last Falisian knight had been vanquished. The battle of the castle was over, and although casualties inevitably resulted, the royal family still lived to see another day thanks to the efforts of their faithful knights. Princess Abelia had even been spared, having been rescued by Ricord. And everyone took a moment to breathe as the castle turned to peace once more.

"My gratitude goes out to all of you who helped to defend us all," King Harminus spoke to them all. "If it were not for the efforts of our brave knights, none of us would be standing here, still drawing breathe within our lungs. And, thanks to you, Parsee, my wife still stands before me to greet me with her everlasting beauty, thank you so much, my brave knight."

"I was only doing my duty, sire," he gazed towards Queen Merry and gave her a simper.

"Such an extraordinary event calls for celebration: We will celebrate the defeat of the Falisian army tonight at the stroke of midnight. I will send out invitations by hawk to our allies, and during this time that I am making my preparations, Parsee, Chandler, Ricord, I order you to rest up and reclaim your vigor from the tiresome battles which we fought."

"SIR!" The knights shouted in unison and saluted King Harminus.

All the knights but Parsee left the throne-room. He stayed behind, at the behest of King Harminus.

"Queen Merry has brought to my attention some most startling news," King Harminus brought a hand to Parsee's back and slapped into it lightly. His eyes staring with seriousness into Parsee's.

"She informed you of the mysterious knight?" Asked Parsee grimly.

"Indeed," confirmed King Harminus. "She told me of his immense skill, and the cold chill he inflicted. She described the air he gave off as....Like being within the presence of a demon from hell."

"She did not make word of my performance, did she?" Parsee meekly muttered.

"She told me that you fought bravely against him, like a true warrior," King Harminus shook him proudly.

"I thank you for your praise, Your Majesty, but I do feel it's a bit undeserved."

"Nonsense!" He rebuked with a proud smile. "You deserve every bit of it, you and Chandler, both."

"Parsee," Queen Merry waved a hand towards his direction, "would you walk with me?"

King Harminus smiled wider and patted Parsee's shoulders before releasing him and letting him walk over towards the direction of Queen Merry.

"My sweet flower," King Harminus shook a finger at her, "do not keep the boy too long on this stroll of yours; he needs his rest after the exhausting battles that he fought through. And he must be well-rested so that he can attend the party that I am throwing tonight, it would not be complete without his attendance."

"But of course," Queen Merry replied.

Queen Merry and Parsee left the throne-room and they wandered down the halls together.