THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 141: No One But You

Chapter 141: No One But You

All eyes were on me, well not on me, they were on the black knight. They all stared with a mixture of emotions on their faces. Disbelief, awe, excitement, curiosity and even fear, but it was all mostly excitement. Even Lars couldn’t stop gawking at the black knight who stood beside me, his presence an imposing force as he stood right next to me, staring down at the people who had requested to see him.

And Heather thought this was a terrible idea! I thought to myself as I smirked wishing I had tea with me to sip because this was about to be a really good show!

Lars continued to stare at Eddie __ the black knight__ his lips were parted slightly as he stared up at him in disbelief. "This..." He breathed out, "This is impossible!"

"Oh but it is Lars, you asked to see the black knight and I brought him, as requested!"

The room buzzed with murmurs. Some of the men appeared outright excited to be in the same room as the black knight, others were a little doubtful about it. Some of them exchanged glances as though wondering if this was some grand hoax but it wasn’t.

Others were still watching in disbelief when all of a sudden, one of the men stood up. An old frail looking man that looked familiar too. I realized I recognized him as one of the men I saw in Lord Skarde’s place. He was the old man who had been crying about his son.

I watched as the old man shuffled forward in front of the black knight. I could feel Heather and Eddie tense up behind me but we didn’t say anything. Instead we watched quietly as the old man walked forward and he didn’t stop until he was directly in front of Eddie.

I held my breath as I waited for what he was going to do because all he did was just stare at him, not saying anything. We all were curious as to what he was going to do but all of a sudden he reached forward and pulled Eddie in for a hug.

Eddie stood awkwardly as the old man held, his frail hands holding on to Eddie’s frame. All I could do was just watch as Eddie reached back and hugged the old man back who was now trembling as he sobbed against Eddie’s shoulders.

"You saved my son, you saved my son!" The old man sobbed as he held on to Eddie, "You saved my son when no one else would!"

Eddie turned to look at me briefly and I gave him a subtle nod in response. He then patted the old man back on shoulder. "You are welcome, I guess." He said his voice deeper than usual.

The old man moved backwards, his eyes welling up with unshed tears. "Thank you!" He said as he clasped Eddie’s hands, "Thank you very much!" He sobbed loudly.

Eddie could only pat the old man’s hands and from my peripheral vision I noticed another woman get up from the people, this time around it was Maya. She approached Eddie and she was about to fall down to her knees but Eddie caught her just in time. "No, no, please!"

"No, please, let me do this!" Maya sobbed loudly but Eddie wasn’t letting her.

"For years," Maya sobbed, "I endured maltreatment in the house of my master and just when I was about to give up in that gods forsaken dungeon before he could sell me out, you saved my life! Just when I was about to give up on life, you gave me a second chance at it. I was raped repeatedly by the guards, touched in ways I didn’t even know was humanely possible and even after that I was mocked and whipped, spat on, but you...you came and slaughtered them all, you rescued us all!"

I remember her now! I thought to myself. The girls I had saved under the bridge at the border of Iravia. I had heard some people were trafficking some women for the lords of the court and I had grabbed my bow and arrow to see for myself what horrors were happening beneath the whispers of the streets of my kingdom. But when I got there, what I had found was so much worse and I could remember thinking how human beings could live with themselves after committing such a crime.

I had found the women bound like animals inside a wagon that was filled with hay. Their faces had been pale with fear and starvation, their faces bruised and their spirit broken. Maya had been among them her face marked with lots of bruises.

When I had reached for her, she had lashed out scratching at me and screaming. Her voice had been filled terror as she cried for help but I had assured her that I wasn’t like the monster she had been with and it was only then did she allow me to cut through her restraints. I could still remember thinking the man deserved far much worse than the quick death they had gotten.

Now I stared at Maya, no longer looking weak, so filled with life compared to the hollowed looking dirt caked girl that had been in the wagon.

I quickly looked away from her before the tears that were welling up my eyes threatened to spill out. Eddie held Maya who was now looking at him as if he was the hope she had been searching for all those years she had been in captivity.

"Thank you!" Maya breathed out, "I owe you my life!"

"No, no, that’s too much!" Eddie said but I noticed his voice was now thick with emotions.

"Except it’s not!" Lars argued as he stood up from his seat and I looked up at him in curiosity, "Look around you, every single person in this room is alive thanks to you! You saved us, gave us something worth fighting for and made us not believe that we were weak like we had been brainwashed to be! Because of you, the revolution we needed was found! For that, we owe you our life, anything you need whatever it may be, whatever it is, it’s yours!" Lars said his voice filled with determination before he walked closer towards Eddie and then his hand slammed on his chest.

"Long live the revolution!" He yelled out and my eyes widened as everyone in the tavern echoed.

"Long live the revolution!"

"Long live the revolution!"

"Long live the revolution!"

***

I smiled at Lars and the rest of the men as they all lingered around Eddie who nodded his head at what they were saying but wisely kept his mouth shut. I smiled knowing that he didn’t want to say anything that will blow his cover. He really did play his part well today and though I had heard a few whispers about him being shorter than they remember but other than that it seemed like they believed he was truly the black knight.

Everyone had approached him, telling stories about how he had saved them, how I had saved them and some I had forgotten. But as they recounted each stories, I couldn’t help but get so emotional and I might have shed a tear or two inside of there but no one had paid me any mind to notice.

"Hey..."

I looked up to see Heather approaching me, "Oh hey..." I greeted back as I wiped away my tears.

"Are you okay?" Heather asked as she came to stand right next to me, "I know it must feel awkward seeing someone else take all the credits for your work."

"Actually_" I trailed off as I turned to look at Eddie who was busy accepting a basket of fruit an old woman was giving him, "It’s not. I just feel....free!"

"Free?" Heather asked frowning at me in confusion.

I smiled as I continued to look at Eddie, "You know even though I told myself that I was doing this because I wanted to feel at peace knowing that I had saved someone from my dad’s wrath, I really never felt at peace. Because I believed even if I saved one life, my father executed hundreds and that kept we awake most nights but hearing these people talk, Heather I feel more relieved than I had been in years!"

Heather smiled wryly at me before she pulled me in for a hug. "You should, you’ve saved more life than your father ever took. You gave hope when it was nowhere to be found, so you should feel relieved my lady, because it doesn’t matter if the people know the truth or not, you know it deep inside here..." She pointed at my chest, "That you are a better person than your father ever will be and if there’s one person I know that will free us from this evil reign, it’s going to be no one but you!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.