A Fairy Tale-Part 4

Now all the world was sunny to the princess, for she was in love with her knight, and he with her.  In her mind, all was well for she had found her one and only at last, and never would they be parted again.  All that remained to do was to be married and live happily ever after.  Or so she thought.  But a cloud was moving that would soon block her sun and potentially mar her happily ever after.

One night as the princess was talking with her lover, she noticed that he appeared particularly distant, almost cold, to her.  Inquiring whether all was well with him, the only answer she received was a sigh.  At last her knight spoke.  He told her that all though he loved her very dearly, he was as good as engaged to a maiden in his hometown, and that he still loved her too.  For so many years he had believed that his heart lay with this maiden, and now, his whole world was being rocked.  He still desired to remain with his lady, but at the same time, he could not bear to leave his princess.

The princess listened to the knight's words with an ever-sinking hear.  She tried to tell herself that it was truly she whom the knight loved, but deep down inside, a voice whispered "You knew this was too good to be true.  You knew you weren't really going to get a happily ever after, after all."  Between the knight's sad countenance and the nay-saying voice within, the princess began to despair.  Tears welled up in her big brown eyes and she turned away from the window with a sigh of regret.  Vainly did the knight implore her not to weep.  Vainly did she attempt to be strong and not show how much she was suffering.  But the tears continued to roll down her cheeks, tears of sorrow for losing the one she loved, tears of regret for giving her heart away to him, tears of anger at the knight for loving her and yet leaving her, as each of the other men had done.  

The knight, after attempting to soothe the princess with no success, began talking, almost to himself and not to her.  He reminded her of times they had shared together as friends, and how they would always have those memories.  When there was still no response from the broken-hearted princess, he sighed.  "Farewell, princess.  Remember, that I will always love you."

Without another word, the knight climbed on his horse and rode away, back to his hometown and his ladylove, while the princess sobbed her heart out under the moonlit sky.

To Be Continued...