Knight from the North

"I sighed all through the long night. I thought it would never end, until dawn finally broke. Its light crept into the big room – fancy furniture, everything neat and beautiful... just like me.

I lay on the bed, the soft sheet my only cover against the cool morning air. The sun peeked over the distant black hills, a beautiful, silent sunrise.

I could see My Lady standing by the window. Her long, wavy hair, dark as midnight, danced in the air, almost brushing my face. She watched the forest stretching behind the palace with those grown-up, beautiful eyes. The back garden was her own little world.

She wore her red nightgown, the tie pulled tight around her slim waist – that waist my eyes often admired.

After last night... after I'd satisfied my desires until I was nearly mad... I saw her step closer to the window. She stared into the distance, then spoke my name:

"Nirael."

I got up, shook off the last bits of laziness, and reminded myself of my place in My Lady's palace.

I am her maid... her pretty doll.

Yes, I am pretty, like she always calls me: "Beautiful."

So, I must act beautiful, worthy of my own beauty, reflecting it for my honored Lady.

My Lady said quietly. I listened, kneeling silently on the floor, even though I was bare:

"Unwelcome visitors are in my garden, dear... They're playing with my wolves now, Nirael."

Then she continued, in that voice that always captivates me:

"I'll leave it to you. I'll get ready to come down. I'll join you soon... And if you get there early, and the pups haven't killed them yet... leave them. I have my suspicions... maybe."

She finished speaking and closed the wavy red curtain.

I answered her right away, softly:

"Yes, understood, My Lady."

I got ready like I always do: white over black... my proper maid's outfit. It looked beautiful on me. I love it.

Then I headed out. Nothing awaited me but going deep into the huge, beautiful forest – part of My Lady's great garden... Lydia's garden.

She always compared me to the beauty of this garden in our private moments... and how I loved that!

I won't let anyone dirty my private world... or hers."

"My feet touched the ground, and I wished Lady Lydia's huge, tame wolves had already dealt with the visitors. That way, I wouldn't have this nasty cleanup job. But the scene that met me was worse: three or four of her majestic black wolves... Yes, four still shapes lying silent on the ground. The other three stood watch – I knew them well: Vitor and his brothers, though death had claimed some.

Anger choked me. I rushed forward, cursing wildly, until my eyes landed on the culprit: a lone knight, looking weak, blood seeping through his armor without a groan. The claw marks from Vitor and his brothers were deep... and he deserved worse.

Then I saw his partner: a girl with bright golden hair, frail, standing beside him, holding him up with some unseen magic.

I sneered inwardly: "My turn... beautifully."

The moment I stepped down, the wolves calmed, recognizing me. The knight fixed his eyes on me. Realizing I was there, he only managed to gasp:

"Runa... fall back!"

His voice tense and stumbling.

Be a real man for once! I thought scornfully. But the golden-haired girl cut him off with childish innocence:

"It's Alruna! Not Runa!"

(Children's arrogance!) Then she started chanting mockingly:

"The clumsy knight!"

Now the picture was clear.

I stepped forward with grace, like a saint appearing in the form of a stunning maid, and said in a clear voice:

"Allow me to remind you of your reality: You are defiling My Lady Lydia's land! Her garden, her realm! You could have been gentle guests... but you dared invade her sacred paradise uninvited, and you killed her moonlit pups too! How rude! And I truly despise the rude!"

My voice rose, but it remained an elegant threat wrapped in silken words.

The witch-girl stammered excuses: she didn't know, it was Lydia's land, the wolves attacked first so they defended themselves. She looked pathetic, pleading with frightened eyes.

"What nonsense is this?!"

I exploded, screaming, and took two steps forward.

"Shut up!"

If not for fate's stupidity, my slim, copper-edged dagger would have taken her head.

But the knight, like a fool, lunged to protect his beloved again, shouting:

"Runa!"

Even as he got her name wrong, ordering her back, he threw himself in the way of my strike. The blow pierced his shoulder armor, leaving a clear, bloody mark."

"I saw him draw his long sword in return, bracing himself. I prepared to lunge with grace, and the giant wolves moved in sync with my attack.

The knight blocked my strikes skillfully despite his trembling voice and raw tension. He fought like an elite hunter or seasoned warrior—not my type at all. Neither men like him nor girls like her.

His endurance stunned me! Even after my dagger pierced his shoulder and leg, even after Vitor tore into him hard enough to uproot two trees—he didn't retreat! He even strengthened himself with a spell when he gasped. I knew Alruna had cast it.

Still, I laughed coldly. Deep down, I was certain: I want him dead now. That knight was stoking my fury.

I charged him with my dagger while the wolves attacked the girl, who could barely stand.

My focus was entirely on him. My beautiful eyes met his cursed helmet hiding his face. Furious, we exchanged blows.

He tried—by Beauty's grace!—to open dialogue despite everything. Wanted to apologize and make peace.

But I... I am Nirael the Beautiful. I won't let him apologize easily! Before he thinks of next time—after I kill him and he's reborn—he'll think twice before violating My Lady's land again!

The gap in power is vast. I'd show him! Though not a hunter, I endured the Awakening Trial and hold the C+++ rank. This will be decisive. He'll kneel at my feet, exhausted. After just a few rounds of crushing him...

I saw him tire and stagger. I smiled. Yet he wouldn't fall! He kept attacking, even after all my blows—rarely blocking them.

Though he'd defeated the other wolves, we dueled alone.

I almost admired him... until I smiled, and he didn't return it. He just chased me with his sword, desperate to touch my beautiful body. I grew tired; sweat dripped. I lacked his endurance! His trait became clear: this knight doesn't surrender... he bleeds and fights on!

'Damn it!' I screamed when the little blonde hit me with a fire spell! So rude! So ugly!

I couldn't even curse her—the knight cut me off, pressing his attack, limiting my movement.

Thinking of retreat was shameful... but defeat by these two crept into my mind! It was possible: I was alone and exhausted; the wretched knight was tireder... yet he stood!

'How is this happening?!' I swore, cursing him. Someone as beautiful and ranked as me cannot lose to a rusty heap and a plain girl weaker than me! That thought drained my last strength.

It was time...

I thought he'd split my skull. But he stood frozen among the tree shadows, bleeding. Then Alruna cast a mid-level healing spell—a light I glimpsed as she treated him. Meanwhile, I teetered on collapse. Yet I'd rather die than let Lady Lydia see me like this!

Then... I thought it was over. My legs gave way; I fell—

—until she caught me. I knew her scent: My Lady Lydia! Standing there in her dark gown and black aura.

She looked at me with cold pity when she saw my tears.

'Seems I arrived late, little Nirael,' she said. 'My apologies... and doubly sorry you bore my earlier mistake. These were unexpected guests. Rare to meet their like.'

Her gaze fixed on the desperate knight. I hated that! And... does he even have a name? If so, it's hard to keep calling him 'Knight'!*"

"My Lady Lydia addressed the knight in a voice like dark velvet:

'You, who came from the farthest north... I did not expect to see you again. To be perfectly honest, despite all I heard of you and what you did in the bygone age... In the end, we are two beings from an era long dead. How did you find the world after your long absence?'

From my view, he seemed utterly baffled by her words. I whispered mockingly under my breath: 'He'll understand soon enough.' I struggled to admit my own ignorance of this history—until I saw Alruna's own confusion. Then I realized we were both adrift in the same boat.

My Lady didn't hide her displeasure over her slain wolves or my injuries. And I, who know Lady Lydia—a soul older than a thousand years—know she is an untouchable colossus, beautiful as catastrophe itself.

Then she cast a sublime healing spell on the knight.

He was whole in an instant. He stood bewildered, studying her a long moment, then thanked her with a deep, awkward bow.

I didn't understand her motives, but when she gently lifted me, I clung to her, relieved.

Before she teleported us back to the palace, she fixed him with her gaze and said:

'We will meet again... And fate has an appointment for us next time, knight...'

In that moment, we vanished to the palace halls, the surviving wolves left behind.

I cursed him silently as we departed. She'd let them go unpunished! Regret tore through me, but I couldn't bring myself to ask her:

'My Lady... why did you look at him that way?'

For the first time, I felt my beauty... wasn't enough."