The Princess in the Sky took the Knight Arivel’s hand and pressed into it a small disc made of gold.
‘Take it,’ she said, tears glistening in her blue eyes, holding his gaze. ‘Take it as a token of all I feel for you. Although it will not shine as much as what we might have shared.’
The knight knelt before the Princess, bowing his head, kissing her hand gently, his lips lingering there for a long moment. ‘I would give anything to stay,’ he said softly, keeping his eyes averted from hers. ‘But we are from different worlds, you and I – and I may only love you from afar. You are needed here – and I am needed elsewhere.’
‘You already hold my heart, Arivel.’
He stood, finally meeting her gaze with a pain-filled one of his own. ‘As you hold mine, Your Highness. It remains here with you. Always,’ he said heavily, looking away from her for the last time. ‘I must go now,’ he said gruffly. ‘If you ever need me…’ He trailed off, his hand clenching on the gold disc she had given him.
She did not reply.
After he made his final bow, he turned from her, not wanting her to see the tears in his eyes. Helmet tucked under his arm, he strode out of the throne room, his purposeful footsteps echoing in the empty chamber before they finally faded away.
The Princess sat back down upon her throne, tears streaming down her cheeks.
‘And you, noble knight, take mine with you wherever you go,’ she
whispered. ‘Always.’
The King slowly closed the book he was reading from and reached out to place it on top of the bedside table.
“Is that where the story really ends, Father?” the Princess’ petulant voice piped up from beneath the covers, startling her father who had thought she was already asleep. “Does Knight Arivel really go away and never come back?” Her head popped up from underneath the covers and she stared at him with reproachful blue eyes filed with tears.
He smiled and shifted positions on his daughter’s bed, meeting her piercing gaze. “I’m afraid so, dearest,” he admitted, grinning at the dark frown that appeared on the nine-year-old’s face. “That is truly where the story ends – but there are other stories in the book about Knight Arivel’s adventures. If it makes you feel so bad to say goodbye to him, I’ll read you another of his adventures tomorrow night.”
“But why couldn’t Knight Arivel stay with the Princess in the Sky?” she asked, building up her righteous wrath with every word she spoke. Her expression was thunderous as she pulled up her knees to her chest and placed her chin on top of it, regarding her father with smoldering indignation. “He already helped her to turn away the spirits of the storm and keep them from destroying the her kingdom. She even saved his life once during the battle, and he rescued her from the evil King Gnath,” she stormed. “He deserved to have her!”
The King gave a sigh and ruffled his daughter’s golden curls. “Evidently, little one, he didn’t think the same way as you do,” he explained wryly, urging her knees down and tucking her blanket more securely around her legs. “In Arivel's eyes, he was just a knight who had done his duty to serve and to protect those who had needed him – and she was always going to be a Princess, who was higher in rank than he was and someone he would never deserve to have.”
She grimaced at that, confused by her father's answer. “Even if he loved her?”
The King nodded sadly. “Because he loved her. It isn’t always enough, little one,” he explained softly as he kissed his daughter’s hair. He pulled up her covers when she lay back down with a soft sigh. “When you love somebody as much as the Knight Arivel loved the Princess in the Sky, you always want what is best for that person. And if you feel that you are not the best for that person, it is a way of showing how much you love that person by letting her go.”
She still looked confused. “Even if she loved him?”
“Even if she loved him.”
“But that doesn’t make sense!” she exclaimed, popping back up again. “He knew… she knew… they both knew…” Then she trailed off thoughtfully, pulling her blanket higher up against her chest. "But why didn't the Princess ask him to stay?"
The King frowned, not quite knowing how to answer that question. After all, although he had written the story, he had only adapted it from the tales sung by the bards from ancient Arus. But the look on his daughter's face made him realize that she would not sleep without her answer.
"Well," he began, stroking her forehead. "Maybe she was just too proud to ask him to stay," he explained awkwardly. He looked down at her with a sad smile. "Maybe she also knew that there were other people who needed him - and she knew that her people needed her, so she couldn't go with him."
She looked disturbed by that answer. “Father, does being a princess mean that I can’t marry anyone I want to marry when I grow up?” she asked with a frown.
The King sighed then leaned back on the bed’s headboard. “Sometimes, little one,” he confessed, brushing a stray lock of golden hair off her forehead. “But when you grow up, you’ll know when those sometimes apply and when they don’t.”
"But you do love mother, don't you?" she continued to pry. Her eyelids were beginning to droop, but she struggled to keep herself awake. "And mother loved you, too, didn't she?"
A reminder of his wife made a shadow pass fleetingly over the King's face even as he nodded. The Princess, seeing her father's distress, leaned on his shoulder with a sad sigh of her own. "I miss her, too, Father," she said softly.
He pushed away his pain and grinned down at his sweet daughter. “Yes, I loved your mother, very much," he admitted, squeezing his daughter's shoulders and hugging her close to him. "However, all this marriage business is not something you should bother your head about now, at least not yet.” He frowned at her, a twinkle in his hazel eyes. "You're not in a hurry to leave me now, do you?"
She shook her head frantically as she threw her arms around him. "Of course not, Father!" she denied vehemently.
"That's good," he approved, kissing her head again. "Now that Mother is gone, you must be my little Queen." He gave her a wink, and she grinned back at him. "And because you are my little Queen, you need to get some sleep to keep up your energy tomorrow. All right?"
She nodded and lay back down reluctantly, letting out a lusty yawn that she covered with her mouth. She regarded her father with solemn blue eyes. “But you know what, Father?" she said, her voice muffled by the blanket her father pulled over her. "If I were the Princess in the Sky, I would’ve convinced the Knight Arivel to stay and to marry me. And if he really had to go, I would have asked him to come back to me,” she continued, pushing the blanket away from her face and pinning her father with her earnest blue gaze. “When I grow up, I’m not marrying anyone I don’t love.” She blinked up at him uncertainly. “Is that all right, Father?”
He nodded, chuckling softly at her vehemence. “That’s all right, little one,” he approved with a gentle smile. "That's all right."
He watched her silently as her eyes slowly fell shut, softly stroking her golden hair and spreading it out over her pillow. She was growing up so fast, this little hellion of his, his and Cailia's. Nine-years-old was all together too old for him to still be reading her bedtime stories, but during his long and busy day, this was all the time he had to give to her - and the only time he could give himself for his personal peace. Especially now that Cailia was gone.
With all that was going on in his galaxy right now, all that was going on in this war against his planet, he knew he was living on borrowed time. It weighed on him, this feeling that he would have to leave her soon, and although he was doing his best to make sure that she could hold fort when he was gone, he knew that it would never be enough.
“Little one, I do not worry that the one you find will not love you as much in return,” he whispered to her, bending down and placing one last kiss on her white forehead. The King sighed as he slowly stood up from her bed. “I worry that like the Knight Arivel he might love you too much for you to be able to convince him to stay.”
With those last words, he straightened her covers and turned off the
bedside lamps. With one last sigh, he smiled down at her with pride and
love in his eyes, then left his duaghter's room and shut the door.