Dark Knights
Dark Knights - PrologueMadison pulled her cloak tighter and slipped through the door to the castle. She silently made her way out of the courtyard, past the tree she had fallen out of and broke her arm, and finally came to the stables. “Is she saddled yet?” Madison asked the head groom in regards to her mare.
“Yes, Madison,” he told her. “You better watch yourself young lady. I don’t feel like telling your parents you’ve broken another limb. Where do you go to so early in the morning anyway?” he asked her.
“That,” she replied with a smile, “is none of your business.” Without another word she jumped onto her horse and dug her heels into the mare’s sides, sending them both into a frightfully fast-paced gallop. Madison tugged on the wimple that held her hair to her head until it came loose and her dark hair was flowing freely about her. She then pulled her mare to a halt a few feet away from a beautiful pristine lake. She tied the horse to a tree and dropped to her knees at the edge of the water. She stuck her hand in and shivered; the water was freezing cold. She pulled her hand back and walked back toward her horse. She then turned, ran, jumped, and landed with a very unladylike splash in the cold lake.
* * * * * * *
Bay and Broderick raced toward the warm ocean waters that woke them up every morning. It had become more habit than anything that every morning they would race to the water and dive in wearing nothing but their handsome smiles. Their mothers just shook their heads daily at this scene, although their father’s had ceased their daily laughs years ago. Nonetheless, the two men would splash each other every morning as a way of waking up. “Did you see that?” Bay asked Broderick one morning as they both surfaced and began gasping for air.
“See what?” Broderick asked.
“That light. You didn’t see it?”
“No,” Broderick laughed. “I think you’ve swallowed too much of this water. Mother warned me this would happen to us one day.”
“I’m serious,” Bay stated. “You didn’t see that light down there?”
“No,” Broderick replied just as seriously.
“I’m going to check it out,” Bay stated and dove back under the water. He swam as hard as he could toward the growing light and wondered what it could be. It didn’t seem to be getting any closer, and he eventually ran out of air. He swam up to the surface as fast as he could and inhaled deeply once his head breached the top. The water was much colder than he remembered it being. He wiped his eyes and focused on Broderick; well, what he thought was Broderick.Dark Knights - OneMadison looked with wide eyes at the man who had just surfaced in front of her. When she realized what he was wearing she shrieked in horror. “Who are you?” she demanded. “Where did you come from? I didn’t see you get into this lake, and as you can plainly see I have a clear view of the entire lake from right here. How did you manage to sneak up on me as you did?” She took a deep breath before continuing. “And how dare you sneak up one me, the Princess of Tolemac.”
“The Princess of who?” Bay asked in a bewildered voice.
“Tolemac. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of it,” she asked him disbelievingly.
“Sorry, can’t say that I have,” Bay told her. “I must have hit my head on something,” he muttered to himself as he got out of the lake. He sprawled out on the bank in all of his glory and shut his eyes, hoping that when he woke up the obnoxious princess would be gone, and Broderick would be slapping him to wake him up instead.
Madison only shrieked louder than before. “How dare you parade yourself around like that. Get back in the water this instant,” she ordered him as she averted her gaze. “You have no right displaying yourself like that in front of a woman,” she told him. “When my father hears about this-”
“Your father?” Bay asked her. “The King, I presume?”
“Of course,” Madison told him. “Who else would my father be? King Phillip. And when he finds out what you’ve done, that’ll be it for you. You can just kiss your life good-bye.”
“I’d really appreciate some quiet right now, your Highness,” Bay said matter-of-factly. “I’ve hit my head and you are really and truly a very annoying hallucination, and one that I would like to be rid of as soon as possible, so if you would kindly stop your mindless chattering.”
“Mindless chattering? You get yourself back into this water right now so that I can get out without risking have to see your…your…”
“My manhood,” Bay supplied for her without even opening his eyes.
“Whatever you want to call it, I…” she yelled her exasperation. “Just get into this water right now.”
Bay sighed and did as he was told.
“You’re coming home with me,” Madison told him. “I can’t very well leave you out here to freeze to death. You obviously have no clothes with you, and you’re not from this area. Put this around you as best you can,” she told him as she offered her cloak. “I’ll get you some clothes once we get back to my home.”
Bay sighed once again and got up to follow her. He figured that as long as he was hallucinating a beautiful princess, he could also hallucinate a good meal. He hadn’t had his breakfast, and his stomach was reminding him of that fact at that very moment.Dark Knights - TwoMadison burst into her home, literally dragging Bay behind her. “Daddy,” she called up the stairs.
Bay rolled his eyes. This girl was at least seventeen, and she still called her father “Daddy.” He couldn’t believe it. He began to wonder what his mind was thinking when he dreamed this whole thing up.
"What is it, Madison?” A man asked as he bounded down the stairs into the great hall. Bay noted that this man looked fairly young, despite the fact that he must be at least forty in order to have a daughter Madison’s age. “Who is your new friend, Madison?” The king asked with a laugh as he noticed that Bay was wearing nothing but the Princess’ cloak. “Never mind,” he told her. “I’ll go get him something to wear and we can sort all of this out later.”
Phillip lead Bay to the upper chambers and Madison happily skipped away without a care in the world. “I’m not sure if I want to ask this,” the King began. “But how did you end up in nothing but my daughter’s cloak?”
“I don’t think I could answer that even if I wanted to,” Bay truthfully told him. “My name is Bay,” he added as he held out his hand to the King.
“I’m King Phillip,” the King replied. “But you can just call me Phillip. My wife is Ariel, you’ll meet her later on, I’m sure. Ah, here we are,” Phillip announced as he opened one of the many doors in the long hallway. “There should be some clothes that will fit you in that chest over there,” Phillip said pointing to a wall. “And this will be your room for as long as you are staying with us. I hope you find it to your liking. I’ll send Madison up with some food shortly, it’s late and you’ve already missed dinner.” Phillip then shut the doors and allowed Bay to change into some clothes.
It didn’t take very long for Madison to arrive with a tray of food. He was just pulling on a shirt that happened to fit perfectly as her knock came. “Come in,” he yelled through the door. Madison entered with a tray filled to overflowing with food. It smelled delicious. She put the tray down on a stand on the side of Bay’s bed and sat herself down in the middle of the mattress.
“Where are you from?” she asked him.
He looked at her and asked, “Are you going to pester me throughout this entire meal?”
“Fine,” she said and she got up and began to storm toward the door.
“Get back here,” he said as he grabbed her arm. He pulled her back down so that she was again sitting on the bed. “I’ll answer your questions. I come from a place called Barbados.”
“Who is the King?” She interrupted.
“Our King lives in England,” he told her. “It’s an entirely different landmass. We don’t have kingdoms as you have kingdoms.”
“That doesn’t sound very exciting,” she told him.
“We have our own ways of having fun,” he defended. “It’s not quite as fun as jousting, which I presume you do, but it’s fun just the same.”
“Of course we have jousting,” she stated. “You don’t joust where you come from?”
“No,” he said. “It’s illegal where I come from. As is dueling and any other medieval sport.”
“I should never want to go there,” she laughed as she rested her head on her arms, which were being supported by her knees.
“Where I come from there are beautiful beaches for as far as you can see. The sand is as white as the purest sugar, and the waters are very warm. My family owns a house directly on the beach. It’s wonderful,” he sighed as he laid his head on his pillow. “Now tell me about this place,” he urged her.
She shrugged. “There really isn’t much to talk about. You’ve seen just about all of it between here and the lake. The entire kingdom looks exactly the same.” She sighed heavily. “Jousting matches are the only ways to have fun around here; and, father always hosts the biggest and best jousting matches. It was always said that one day I would marry the champion jouster,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“It doesn’t sound all that bad to me,” he told her. “It’s better than being captured by a dragon and having to marry the dolt who accidentally rescues you,” he laughed.
She glared at him. “There are no such things as dragons and everyone knows that.”
“I suppose you’re right, Madison,” he conceded. “But this whole thing seems like one big page out of a fairy tale.” He laughed. “That’s what you are, you’re a fairy tale princess.”
“And you’re a pirate if your complexion says anything,” she accused him.
“What a pair we make,” he said, laughing even harder. “A Fairy Tale Princess and a Dark Skinned Pirate.” Now Madison joined in his laughter.
“What’s going on in here?” came a voice from the doorway.
“Mother,” Madison called. “This is Bay, he’s staying with us for a while.”
“I know who he is,” Ariel told her daughter. “Madison, get off to bed, it’s past time. Good-night, Bay,” Ariel said as Madison swept past her and down the hall.
“Good-night, Queen,” Bay replied as she shut the door.Dark Knights - Three“Madison, you little cheat,” Bay accused. “You can’t put that card there, it’s against the rules, and you know it. I must have explained that rule to you a million times, take it back.”
“But Bay,” Madison persisted, “I’m the Princess, and what I say goes. I say we change the rules and therefore we do,” she finished with her arms crossed over her chest. Bay laughed at her indignant pose.
"Princess, you are not changing the rules. This is the way that cards have been played for as long as the game has been around. No amount of huffing from you is going to change that.”
“I don’t like that game,” Madison announced. “Let’s play another.”
Bay shook his head and gathered all of the makeshift cards together so that he could shuffle them in preparation for the next game. “How would you like to learn a simple game?”
“I suppose so,” Madison sighed. “How about you show me another trick with the cards?” She asked excitedly after a moment’s silence.
“Whatever my Princess wants, my Princess gets,” Bay said as he straightened the deck. He fanned the cards in front of her. “Pick a card, any card,” he offered.
She giggled as she picked one out of the middle and peaked at it. She looked at Bay, and once satisfied that he wasn’t trying to sneak a look at her card she put it back in a completely different position. “OK,” she told him.
He turned back to her and shuffled the cards. He went through the deck one card at a time until he came to the ace of spades. “This is your card,” he told her.
She laughed, “Bay, how do you do that? You must teach me that trick, you really must.”
“Sorry, Princess, but a magician must never tell his secrets. It’s bad luck, you know.”
“You really are quite exasperating,” she told him as she sat back and watched him shuffle the cards again. His black hair always seemed to be falling into his cobalt-blue eyes. His dark brows framed those same eyes, and made them appear almost sinister. She knew exactly what type of body was hidden by the clothes he was wearing, and that physique, along with his features, only seemed to lead to one possible conclusion. “You are a pirate, aren’t you?” she accused.
“What?” he asked in shock. “You truly think I’m a pirate? Why couldn’t I just be a tall dark and handsome knight instead?”
“You don’t act like a knight,” she told him. “You aren’t in the least chivalrous, and your skin is much too dark.”
"My skin,” he defended, “is dark because I’ve grown up in the sun. This is called a tanned complexion. It’s not my fault, it’s where I come from.”
“You’re still not a knight,” she told him. He raised his eyes to meet hers and gave her a look that told her she’d better watch out.
“Bay, no,” she pleaded as she began to get out of her chair to back away. Bay got up and slowly stalked her. “Stop it,” she ordered him. “I’m the Princess, and I command you to stop.” He acted as if he hadn’t even heard her. When she was backed up against the wall, he stood in front of her with his hands on his hips. She began shaking her head and he only nodded in response. Suddenly, he lunged at her and tackled her to the ground, tickling her unmercifully. “Stop it,” she ordered him through her laughter. “I’ll have you hung,” she threatened. She began punching his back to get him to loosen his hold on her, but it didn’t even phase him. She realized that she was powerless and at his mercy; oddly enough, the idea didn’t seem so bad.
“Ariel, come here,” Phillip called to his wife.
“What is it?” Ariel asked.
“Have you ever seen her so happy? Especially in a man’s company?”
"No,” Ariel told him. “I suppose I haven’t.”
"What are the chances that he’s a prince?” Phillip wondered aloud.
“Not very good,” Ariel answered. “He came from a place called Barbados. Madison tells me that they don’t even have kingdoms there. Besides,” she added after a momentary pause, “it would be too good to be true that he’s a prince.”
“I just want her to be as happy as we are,” Phillip told her.
“I know you do. It’s all I want for her too. But you know the laws as well as I do, a princess must marry a prince. Unfortunately those laws were made for a reason, and we must keep them.”
Phillip sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”Dark Knights - FourBay parried the attacks of the knight standing opposite him. He was thankful for the experience he had gained through Todd, for that was helping him tremendously in his endeavors.
“You fight very well, for a commoner that is,” the knight told him.
“Thank you,” Bay answered. “I’ve trained with a highland laird, and I suppose that’s helped a lot. In case you’re wondering, a highland laird is the fiercest of knights. He would strike down his own family if they posed a threat and not think twice.”
The knight gulped and didn’t say another word the entire time. Bay was conscious of the princess watching him from her bedroom window. He knew that she had a perfect view from there, and she sat there and watched him every day. He had caught her at it one morning, and had looked for her every morning henceforth. She hadn’t disappointed him yet. He wondered if she knew that he knew she was there. He pushed his thoughts aside and began paying attention to his sparring partner when the sword nicked his arm and drew blood. Bay only stopped when he was worn to the point of near death. He had been studying hard, and practicing daily to show his princess that he truly was just a tall dark and handsome knight. She wouldn’t ever call him a pirate again. Not that being a pirate was a bad thing, he thought. After all, if he were a pirate he could kidnap the princess and sail away with her. He laughed to himself as he climbed the stairs that led to his room so that he could change into some clean clothes.
“What did you do?” Madison yelled as she met him halfway.
“Huh?” Bay looked at his arm and at once was reminded of the nick on his arm. The nick turned out to be a good-sized cut that was bleeding heavily. “I’m fine, Madison. Don’t you worry about me.”
“I’m not worried about you,” she told him. “It’s just that you’ve gone and stained a perfectly good shirt.”
Bay glared at her and she laughed at him. “Come along,” she told him as she grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs. “I’ll get you fixed up.”
Minutes later he was sitting on his bed, without a shirt on, and she was sitting next to him examining his arm. “I thought I shouldn’t go parading myself around in front of women,” he asked her with a smile.
“This is hardly parading,” she told him. “You’re hurt, this is much different.”
"You really do like to change rules to suit your needs don’t you?”
“I didn’t change any rules to suit my needs,” she claimed.
“I think that you just couldn’t bear another day without seeing my wonderful body again,” he accused her.
“That has absolutely nothing to do with this,” she started.
“So you did want to see me again,” Bay laughed.
“No, I did not,” she yelled at him. “You are just a conceited, swaggering, self-centered,”
“Whoa there, Princess. I am not self-centered. After all, I agreed to take off my shirt to make you happy,” he said with an innocent smile.
Madison got off the bed and stormed to the door. “I hope you bleed to death,” she yelled at him as she opened the door. Bay jumped up and held the door shut. “I’m only teasing you, Princess,” he apologized.
She made a perfect pout and looked up at him. “You really are a brute, you know that? I think you truly are a pirate, you’re just trying to trick me. Only a pirate would be so mean.”
He looked down at her and their noses were almost touching. “I’m not mean,” he whispered to her.
Madison held her breath in anticipation of something. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt that something was coming. Her eyes were locked on Bay’s, and it suddenly hit her. He was going to kiss her.
Bay looked down at Madison and studied her very slowly. He started at the crown of her head, her hair was a deep chestnut color, and it curled loosely. She was tall for a woman, but he found it more endearing than anything; especially when she would attempt to stare him down. She had deep-set blue eyes that reminded him of the waters back home. Home. He was pulled from his fantasies by that one very real thought. He didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong in a land where kings and queens still reigned, and the princesses were married to men who won jousting tourneys. He looked down at the princess standing in front of him and he did what was probably the hardest thing in his adult life. He stepped away from her.
“I’ve got to get changed,” he said quietly.
“All right,” she said in a disappointed voice.
“I suppose I’ll see you at supper then?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you there.” She slipped from the room and left Bay to sort things out in his head. What was he going to do?Dark Knights - FiveMadison sat at her window watching the knights prepare for a battle that would never occur. They trained constantly, but not once had she even heard of a threat from anywhere. It all seemed so pointless. She eventually let her mind wander. She was very confused about things with Bay. She saw him as her best friend. The only true friend she ever had. Now, suddenly, things had taken a drastic turn. For the first time in her life she didn’t know what to do, and no amount of rule changing was going to fix it.
"What’s bothering you, Madison?” Ariel asked as she walked into her daughter’s chamber.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Madison confessed. “Bay was a great friend.”
“And he’s not anymore?” She inquired.
“Yes, well no, oh I don’t know. Thing’s just aren’t the same between us. I can’t explain it,” Madison ended.
Ariel sat down next to her daughter and stroked her hair gently. She wished she could protect her daughter from the hard road ahead of her, but knew that she never could. “Madison,” she began. “I know what I want to tell you, but I don’t know exactly how to put it so that you won’t go storming away from me. I know how you feel, I truly do. I may be your mother, but I was also a young girl in love at one point. Nothing is as wonderful as falling in love for the first time. But things don’t always work out. Your father and I were just lucky.
“He comes from a completely different place, one that you could never fit into. Just like he could never truly fit in here. Madison, do you understand?”
“It’s not like I have a choice,” Madison yelled at her mother. “I’m a princess and therefore must marry a prince. No matter how much I loved him, you and Daddy wouldn’t change the rules for me,”
“Madison, you can’t just go around changing rules all of the time. They were put there for a reason.”
“Name one good reason why I can’t marry him, aside from the fact that he’s not a prince,” Madison challenged as she jumped to her feet. When her mother was silent for a few moments she continued. “You see? There is no reason. You don’t understand what I’m feeling or you would change that one rule. It’s not fair.” She stated as she stormed from her room and her mother.
“Life isn’t fair,” Ariel sighed. That hadn’t gone well at all.Dark Knights - SixBay and Phillip were walking down the corridor, talking about nothing in particular when Phillip brought up the subject of Madison. “She adores you, Bay.”
Phillip didn’t need to clarify, Bay knew exactly who he was talking about. “I know she does. I care for her too, but it just isn’t possible,” Bay said regretfully.
"I could make it possible, it’s really rather simple,” Phillip told him. “Ariel told me that I couldn’t go changing any rules, and I agree with her completely, and so I have thought of the perfect plan. I could make you the prince of some of my lands and there would be no further objections from anyone.”
"The Prince and Princess issue isn’t the main problem,” Bay told him. “You seem to keep forgetting that I come from a completely different place that I eventually have to go back to. I have friends and family there that I can’t just abandon. I’ve been here too long as it is, they probably believe me to be dead right now.” After a momentary pause he laughed without humor. “My mother is going to kill me once she finds out I’m not dead. Ironic, isn’t it?” he asked Phillip.
“Bay, she’ll never be happy with anyone else.”
“She’ll never be happy with me either,” Bay claimed. “What if we did marry? Where would we live? Where would we raise our children? How would we raise them? She and I are much too different. She would never be happy in my world, and I’m not prepared to give it up.”
“But you would give her up?”
Bay sighed. “You’re putting words into my mouth.”
“You said that you weren’t prepared to give up your world; even for her?”
“Look,” Bay began. “I’m not going to give up my entire family, and the place that I came from, and all of my friends for her, and I’m not going to ask her to do the same for me. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”
Phillip laid a hand on Bay’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take her to your world? Let her decide for herself, she just may surprise you.” Phillip then turned and walked away.Dark Knights - Seven"You did what?" Ariel screamed at her husband.
"I told Madison that she could go with Bay back to his world," Phillip repeated to his wife. "It's not like you're giving her up forever, she'll be back."
"That's not the point," Ariel yelled. "The point is that we have no idea where he comes from. He could come from a place filled with cannibalism," she accused.
Phillip laughed at her. "Highness, come now, be serious. I can assure you that Bay is not, nor has he ever been, a cannibal. I promise you he will not eat your daughter for breakfast one morning." Phillip embraced his wife, who was now trying to murder him with her eyes. "She's growing up, Ariel. You have to let her decide for herself; we knew this day would come, and now it's here. Like it or not."
"Let's go say goodbye to our one and only child that may choose to never again come back to us," Ariel sighed.
Phillip rolled his eyes. "You will never cease to amaze me, Highness."
Ariel smiled at him. "I try."
A short while later Bay, Madison, Phillip, and Ariel were standing around the frigid pond. The wind had picked up, making the water look all that much colder.
"Isn't there another way?" Madison asked Bay.
"None that I've found," he told her.
Phillip came up to the pair and first turned to Madison. He kissed her forehead. "Follow your heart," he told her before he turned to Bay. "You take good care of my daughter," he mockingly warned.
Bay smiled. "Of course your Highness," he said as he offered a mock bow. "I shall take on the roll of your daughter's protector from this moment forward." The two men shook hands and Phillip stepped aside to let his wife closer.
Ariel took Madison's hands in hers. "You come back to us, you hear?"
"Yes, Mother," Madison sighed.
"And you," she said as she raised her finger to point at Bay's nose, "don't you dare let anything or anyone hurt her, or you will feel a mother's wrath."
"Point taken, Ariel," Phillip said as he pulled her away from the two that were departing for another world.
Bay looked down at Madison. "Ready?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she responded.
He took her hand, and they dove into the water.Dark Knights - EightMadison surfaced and gasped for air. She wondered how she had stayed under the water for so long and managed not to suffocate. While she was still struggling to regain her breath, she felt Bay’s arms hold her and begin to drag her toward the shore.
He laid her down on the beach and rubbed her back. “Are you all right?” he asked after she was breathing normally.
She sat up and glared at him. “If you define all right as having a near death experience where the only thought keeping you alive is one of revenge, then yes, I’m perfectly all right.”
He smiled at her. “I knew you would be.”
Madison picked up a handful of sand and threw it at Bay. His only response was to laugh.
“I told you he was only with some girl and we shouldn’t worry one whit about him,” Bay heard a familiar voice comment from not too far away.
Bay groaned and Madison gave him a questioning look. “It’s the bratty little sister I never had,” Bay explained to her.
“Oh,” Madison said as she got up to shake the sand off of her as best she could; which was not very well considering how wet she was. “Hello,” Madison began, “I’m Princess,”
“This is Madison,” Bay cut her off.
Brianna looked at Bay and asked him, with her eyes, if Madison had just said what she thought Madison had just said. Bay raised his eyebrows in answer and led Madison toward his home.
“I’m going home, Bri. I’ll talk to you later.”
“If you survive your mother, that is,” Brianna laughed.
“What are you talking about? She’ll be delighted that I’m home,” Bay yelled over his shoulder and continued on his way.
“Bay,” Cecilia said lovingly as she looked at her newly arrived son, “I’m so delighted that you’re home.” She noted the self-satisfied smirk on her son’s face and decided to let him relish it just another moment longer. “You see, now I get the joy of killing you myself now that I know you’re alive and well.”
Bay’s face dropped. “But Mother,” he began.
"Don’t you ‘But Mother,’ me, Bay. You disappeared for an entire week. We had no idea where you were. Broderick is frantic, he swears you’ve drowned and it’s his fault.” Bay laughed and that only made Cecilia angrier. “It’s not funny, you had everyone worried sick.”
“Rick probably forgot the entire thing within an hour,” Bay said as he continued laughing. “And let’s not fight, we have a guest and it’s not polite.” Cecilia turned to Madison who was, until now, being completely ignored.
“Where did this scoundrel kidnap you from? A nice young girl like you wouldn’t really be caught dead with the likes of him, now would you?” Madison threw a nervous glance at Bay.
“She’s teasing you,” Bay assured her as he wrapped an arm protectively around her. “And as for you,” he said to his mother as he leveled his finger at her nose, “If you scare this sweet girl away I will be forced to never speak to you again.”
“Watch the way you speak to your mother,” James yelled from a few rooms down.
Bay smiled to Madison. “And that’s my wonderful father. Would you like me to show you to your room?” He asked her.
She nodded eagerly and followed him up the stairs. “What a family,” she breathed.
Bay laughed. “You haven’t even met half of them yet.”Dark Knights - Nine"So what do you think of everyone?” Bay asked Madison as he pulled her closer to him. They were sitting on the beach watching the sunrise as they had every morning since she had gotten there.
“I love your Mother and Father,” she told him. “They’re such caring people, and they love each other and you very much.”
“Not to mention they join you in your nightly round of making me miserable,” he laughed.
“There is that too,” she smiled. “Brianna and Broderick are like two siblings that I’ve never had, and their parents are just as wonderful. You are all so close to each other, it’s amazing.” She sighed heavily. “I wish I could be a part of that.”
He turned her in his arms. “You can, Madison. You and I could get married and live happily ever after here. It would be wonderful.”
“Bay, please don’t,” she begged. “You know as well as I do that it’s impossible. You aren’t a prince, and the marriage would never be acknowledged in my kingdom. That’s another thing, I’m inheriting the kingdom from my father and that means I can’t stay here forever. I need to find a prince for a husband and settle down.” She looked down at the sand. “I’m so sorry, Bay.”
"So am I,” he said as he got up and stalked back to the house. How could she even consider marrying another man? Bay didn’t know if he was more disgusted or hurt. He definitely felt betrayed. She had been leading him on this entire time. Why would she have even agreed to come if she had no intention of marrying him? By the time Bay reached the house he was livid.
Cecilia looked at her husband worriedly. “I think there’s trouble in paradise.”Dark Knights - TenMadison had tears in her eyes as she said her good-byes. She hugged Cecilia tightly. “You’re like a mother to me,” Madison said.
Cecilia smoothed Madison’s hair back as she replied, “You’ll always have a place to stay if you ever want to visit.” The insinuations of that statement were not lost on Cecilia.
Next, she turned to James. “I think you’re the only one who has ever willingly let me ride as fast as I can on a horse named ‘Raging Thunder’,” she laughed.
“And don’t you think for a minute I didn’t regret it,” he told her.
Madison smiled and turned to Brianna, Broderick, and the four other parents who were there to see her off. “I’m going to miss you all,” she told the group.
“Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Broderick told her.
“That doesn’t rule out much,” Madison said, smiling.
Brianna came forward and hugged Madison tightly. “I’m going to miss you,” Brianna said through her tears.
“I’ll miss you too,” Madison told her. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again,” she adding reassuringly.
“I hope you’re right,” Brianna replied.
Madison then turned to Bay. “Bay,” she began.
“Let’s just hurry up and get you home,” he cut her off. He didn’t wait for her reply; he didn’t even wait for her. He just dove into the water and assumed she would follow him.Dark Knights - ElevenAriel walked into her daughter’s room to find her mindlessly brushing her hair. “Madison, you have to snap out of this. You’re father and I have agreed that it’s time to have a jousting tourney to determine your future husband. We’ve given you ample time to find one on your own and you haven’t even made an attempt.”
“I’ve found the man I want to marry, and the only one who will make me happy,” Madison told her mother emotionlessly.
“One whom you cannot marry,” Ariel reminded her daughter. “I hate to do this to you, but you know the laws."
And you know how I feel about them,” Madison retorted.
"I’m beginning to fear for the future of this kingdom when it’s at your whim. You cannot just go changing rules to make yourself happy. You have to think of the welfare of the entire kingdom.”
Madison turned to her mother. “How well do you think a kingdom will do with a queen who is very unhappy?”
Ariel, realizing she had lost, turned and left the room without a word. She knew she was right, and one day her daughter would thank her.
“Still brooding?” Phillip asked Bay as he leaned against the opposite wall. Bay looked up at the king and then back down at the ground, his scowl never changing.
“She loves you.” Phillip stated.
“She has a funny way of showing it,” Bay said.
“You’re pride is hurt. Don’t let that get in the way of what you both really want. She’ll never be happy with anyone else, and neither will you. Give it one last try Bay, that’s all I’m saying.” Phillip pushed away from the wall and started to walk away before he turned back around. “There’s going to be a tourney this afternoon. The winner is going to marry Madison. Do yourself and her a favor, if you don’t decide that you’d do anything for her before the tourney begins, don’t try to see her during or afterwards.” Phillip then turned and walked away.
Bay swore and went to his room to think.
Madison looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was done perfectly, she had just enough make-up to make herself look ethereal, and she looked as miserable as she felt. She tried to fake a smile in the mirror, but it only made her tears fall that much faster. She considered running away, but, as if her mind was being read, a knock came at the door at just that second.
“Madison,” Ariel called, “we’re waiting for you.”
Madison took one last look in the mirror and walked out of her room.
Bay stood in the crowd and watched as one by one, the royal family came out and sat down.
She loves you.
Bay saw first the queen come out, smiling, and sit down.
She’ll never be happy with anyone else.
Next, the king, also smiling, took his seat.
Give it one last try, Bay.
Finally, Madison came out. She was also smiling, and that’s all it took.
Don’t try to see her during or afterwards.
Bay turned and left the crowd.Dark Knights - TwelveMadison searched the entire crowd for Bay. If she could see him, then her smile would come a little more easily. She began to panic when her eyes swept the crowd for the third time, and she still couldn’t find him.
The king rested his hand over his daughter’s. “Relax and watch the joust. You’re making the people nervous. Try not to think about him for now, just watch.”
Madison barely heard a word he said and continued her search. She only stopped when everyone gasped. She looked around to see what the commotion was about. “Daddy,” she began.
He wordlessly pointed to a knight in colors they had never seen before. He was wearing black and silver. Madison couldn’t remember any kingdom with those colors. The knight was very good. He unseated everyone who went against him with just one blow. Finally, it was down to two men. The Dark Knight, as he was being called, and a prince that Phillip had been training. The two positioned themselves on opposite sides of the arena and after a momentary pause galloped full pace toward each other. Everyone held their breath as they met with a loud crash. Both men went toppling to the ground. Phillip glanced at his daughter to find that her eyes were riveted to the scene in front of them. The horses were removed and new weapons were brought. They now had to fight it out on foot, and this was always much harder. The seemed to go on for an eternity. First the Dark Knight was winning, then the Prince, then the Dark Knight again. Both were getting very tired and the chain mail seemed to weigh much more than it truly did, which was already over one hundred pounds. Finally, one of the men was on the ground and the other was pointing a sword at the other’s neck. “Peace,” cried the man on the ground.
“Not bad,” the man with the sword said, “for a Prince.”Dark Knights - ThirteenThe Dark Knight walked triumphantly toward where the royal family was sitting. He made his bow and stood expectantly before them. Phillip then stood up. “Where are you from, boy?”
“I’m from a land far away from here,” the Dark Knight replied. “It’s on the other side of that great pool of water.”
“Well, you are the winner of this joust and therefore you will receive the reward as promised. My daughter, Madison, is yours to marry,” Phillip said as he put Madison’s hand into the Knight’s.
The group then left the stadium and went back into their palace. Madison was left alone with the knight so that they could talk.
“I won’t make you a good wife,” Madison said straight out. “I love another and will never grow to love you.”
“You don’t even know me,” the Knight defended. “I could be just as lovable as that lover of yours.”
Madison turned to him. “You never could take his place. I love him. I’ll always love him. I’ll never love you.”
"Now that entire speech was one big contradiction,” the Dark Knight told her.
“What are you talking about?” Madison demanded. “I hate riddles.”
The Dark Knight then took off his black helmet to reveal an even blacker head of hair.
“Bay?” Madison asked in a whisper. He smiled at her. She ran to him and kissed him very boldly.
Bay laughed. “And this coming from the same girl who lectured me on modesty and etiquette. Tell me, do you always change rules to suit your needs?”
“You know that I do,” she said, smiling devilishly.Dark Knights - EpilogueBrianna and Broderick sat across from Madison and Bay in Brianna’s sitting room. “You were in a jousting tourney?” Brianna asked Bay in a horrified tone.
“It wasn’t all that bad,” he told her. “After all, it was either that or lose her forever.”
“What about the law,” Broderick asked.
Madison laughed at the memory of her mother’s reaction. “My mother was ready to have Bay hung for lying to everyone. But Daddy and I pointed out that there is no law prohibiting Bay from entering the joust, and a promise is a promise, so there was no reason to keep me from marrying him.”
Bay was also laughing. “So now every time I go to spend my six months at the castle, I have my wonderful mother-in-law glaring at me the entire time.”
“She’ll get over it,” Madison laughed. “She just hates being outwitted.”
“What are you going to do about your children?” Brianna asked.
“We’re going to raise our first here, and possibly our second, but after that, they will be brought up at the castle. The only down side to that is that there is no way we can transport them from one world to the other until they are older,” Bay explained.
“We’ll find a way,” Madison assured him. “Yes,” Bay agreed as he kissed the top of his wife’s head, “we’ll find a way.”
Email: Starsweeper3478@aol.com