Pre-Author's Note:

I don't normally do this, but I figured I probably should just in case. For most of this story, I'm not going to use names. I do have a reason for it and I'll explain more at the end, but for the time being I do hope you enjoy the story. Now, off you go. :)

Alone, a young woman sits perfectly still, staring absentmindedly out the window of her room. She is dressed simply, yet elegantly, in a long, sea-green gown with sleeves that reach her elbows and then fall nearly to the floor when she stands. Her long hair has been braided and nearly reaches her waist while a simple gold circlet is settled on top of her head.

While her pose and attitude are perfectly picturesque, it is the young woman's eyes that truly attract any onlooker's attention. Soft and gray, they gaze out at the world in a melancholy way that could melt even the coldest heart.

The young woman's eyes become alert when a sudden knock echoes throughout the room. Making as if to rise and open the door, the young woman stops herself suddenly and sits rather awkwardly on the edge of the window seat.

"Please come in," the young woman says with slight hesitation.

The door opens and two young women step inside. Both have jet black hair and nearly matching knowing grins on their faces.

The first young woman with violet eyes speaks up first, saying, "Much better, Your Highness. You didn't get up this time."

Returning the young woman's grin with a sheepish one of her own, the princess responds with, "No, I didn't. But it just doesn't feel right."

Rolling her eyes, the second young woman with longer, more unruly hair and piercing brown eyes says, "Well, doesn't matter if it feels right to you or not. You're a princess who's about to get married to the richest and most prosperous king in all Britain. There are certain rules that only royalty have to follow, so you'd better learn to follow them."

Hanging her head, the princess says dejectedly, "I'll never be able to live up to everyone's expectations. What could the king possibly have been thinking when he agreed to marry me?"

The first handmaiden quickly walks across the room to kneel in front of the princess and turn her chin up until their eyes meet so that she can say in a firm but gentle tone, "You're not alone in this, Your Highness. We'll be there to support you every step of the way. Whether or not this king grows to love you or not, I will love and serve you faithfully."

With a softer smirk, the second handmaiden says affectionately, "Same goes for me, Your Highness."

Smiling brilliantly at her two life-long companions and friends, the princess says in a much cheerier tone, "Thank you."

About a month later, the King of All England stands properly erect on the battlements of his castle as he gazes across the land in search of his fiancée's entourage. Beside the king stands his faithful companion and friend since childhood, silently keeping vigil beside his liege lord.

Blowing out an irritated sigh, the king asks of no one in particular, "Why exactly did I agree to this again? Whose ridiculous idea was it that I should get married?"

Clenching his hands into fists and striking them against the stones, the king states emphatically, "Well, whoever arranged this marriage had better hope that she isn't some empty-headed, prattling, nosy, nonsensical, foolish, spotted, selfish, greedy, money-grubbing…did I mention empty-headed already?"

The tall, brown haired young man standing next to the king gives a grunt in affirmation a split-second before the king says forcefully, "All in all, she'd better be someone who can either help me run this kingdom properly or who has just enough sense to stay out of my way most of the time."

In the lapse of silence after this remark, king's friend asks in a low, rumbling tone, "Would you really be satisfied with that kind of marriage, Your Majesty?"

The king remains silent a while longer before he replies in a more subdued voice, "Of course I wouldn't be completely satisfied with that kind of marriage, but I feel that I should be prepared for the worst."

Kneading his brow in a weary manner, the king says slowly, "Being in charge of an entire nation who until only recently were constantly fighting amongst themselves is absolutely exhausting and there is nothing I want more than for my future wife to be competent enough to help me in matters of state. But at this point, I feel that is too much to hope for."

Looking at his friend from underneath his hand, the king asks, "Did you hear about what happened when the Earl of Sussex decided to get married?" after his friend shakes his head in the negative, the king goes on, "Well, the Earl thought he was marrying a young, beautiful, frugal and thoroughly educated maiden and he ended up with a Countess who is five or six years his senior, rather pretty in a prim sort of way, spends his money like water on jewels and new gowns and has been properly educated to keep house but simply refuses to do so as it is far too taxing on her figure and complexion."

The tall, quiet young man makes a rumbling sound deep in his chest, which causes the king to grin appreciatively as he says, "Well, at least the Countess will never put the Earl to shame in public when it comes to her appearance."

Any further conversation is halted when the king's friend points out over the battlements and says quickly, "Over there, Sire."

The king needs no second prompting to turn his gaze in the direction indicated and to say in an almost breathless tone, "Well, here goes nothing."

A little over an hour later, the princess's traveling party arrives inside the castle walls, but the engaged couple do not set eyes on one another until almost two hours have passed in order to give the travelers time to clean up and settle in properly. When everyone arrives together in the Great Hall before the feast that is held to celebrate the princess's arrival as well as the upcoming marriage, there is lots of chatter and cheering from the onlookers as they watch the young royal couple take in each other's appearance for the first time.

The princess seems to be hard pressed to keep her hands gently clasped in front of her in the proper royal fashion rather than nervously twisting the folds of her scarlet gown with gold trimming along the bodice and across the skirt. The king, on the other hand, is thunder-struck but doesn't seem to realize it as his mouth is gaping slightly.

Finally snapping out of his stupor, the king steps forward and silently holds out his hand to his fiancée, which she takes with a shy smile. As the king leads his future queen to the dais, everyone in the banquet hall stops talking and stand waiting for the king to help the princess into her seat before they break out once again into an almost deafening cheer of approval.

Less than a month later, the soft gray eyes of the newly made queen look steadily into the deep blue eyes of the king as they exchange their marriage vows. Once the service is over, the king makes a split-second decision to show his devotion and affection towards his new bride as he bends over her delicate hands to kiss them. With a soft gasp of surprise, the young queen frees one of her hands to smooth back and jet black locks obscuring the king's face so that she can lean forward and plant a soft kiss on her husband's cheek. All witnesses break into rousing shouts and cheers of admiration.

Another year or so passes as the royal couple settle down to married life while the English nation continues to thrive under their combined rule. Then, with the arrival of one man, everything is turned on its head.

At a tournament held honoring the second anniversary of the king and queen, a knight arrives who is able to defeat even the most seasoned warrior with apparent ease. Once he is declared Tournament Champion, the knight takes off his helm and reveals a shocking head of bright orange locks that fall down in an unruly manner across his forehead. Despite the fact that his face and hair are nearly drenched with sweat from his exertions and the heat of the day, the knight's expression shows no signs of fatigue. His brows draw together slightly in a half-scowl, but his dark brown eyes mostly convey a kind of resigned boredom as he accepts his prize from the hand of the queen herself.

For her part, the queen quickly retreats from the knight after giving him the tournament prize and spends the rest of the time trying to keep her gaze from drifting over to the tall, handsome and seemingly unapproachable knight.

Events come to a head when the queen is unexpectedly abducted by a group who wish to overthrow the king. Reluctantly adhering to the advice of his counsel, the king does not go out to seek the queen himself, but instead sends out his best knights to track down and rescue her.

After weeks of searching, the king's tall, silent companion and the Tournament Champion find the place where the queen is held captive. Together, they take out the guards posted outside and make their way silently through the halls until they reach the queen's prison.

Once the door to her prison is open, the queen looks up a blank expression that quickly switches to joy as she recognizes the two men before her but then just as swiftly is filled with horror as she rushes forward crying, "Look out!"

The two knights barely have enough time to turn and raise their weapons before they are forced to fight for their lives. The desperate struggle seems to last an eternity until, at last, the final guard is defeated and the trio begin running down the halls in a dead sprint. As they run, the queen's intuition tells her to act swiftly and so she instinctively throws all her weight against the Tournament Champion and successfully manages to catch him off guard and send them both crashing to the ground. Just as the fallen knight manages to turn over so that he can berate the queen for being clumsy, three arrows whoosh over their heads and bury themselves in the ground not three feet in front of the fallen pair.

Not having time to say anything at the moment, the knight pushes himself off the ground and starts to pull the queen along with him so they can continue running. However, the knight realizes something is wrong instantly when the queen can only manage a kind of flopping movement before collapsing to the ground again. Without another thought, the knight scoops the queen into his arms and forces his legs to run as fast as he can towards the waiting horses. When the trio deems it safe enough to rest for a short time before continuing on, the knight discovers that the queen has twisted her ankle rather severely.

Carrying the queen over to a fallen log, the knight sets the queen down, fetches her some materials to bind up her ankle with and then sits down on the opposite side of the log to allow her some privacy as she tends to her ankle but so that he can also say something that he had wanted to for a while during their ride.

Taking out his dagger and absentmindedly cleaning it, the knight asks, "So, did they hurt you at all?"

Pausing momentarily, the queen turns her head to look at the knight as she says softly, "No, they didn't."

"Well, I guess that's something at least."

Turning her attention back to her ankle, the queen gives a small wince of pain before she says evenly, "Thank you for rescuing me."

Giving a snort of laughter, the knight replies, "Well, you saved my life back there," his brow furrows into his usual scowl as he says, "and you got hurt because of it."

Understanding what the knight is going with his statement, the queen cuts him off, saying kindly, "Let's just say that we saved each other back there."

From his place by the horses, the king's old friend looks at the knight and the queen with an expression of mixed emotions playing across his features. For the moment, the young man decides to keep what he has witnessed this night to himself, for why cause undue distress, hardship or heartache for either the king or queen at this point. Later, he might come to regret his decision, but for the moment, the only thing between the knight and the queen is the log that physically separates them.

The queen's return to the castle is highly celebrated throughout the land for nearly a fortnight and the two knights responsible for her safe passage are hailed as the greatest heroes England has ever seen. To all who observe the royal couple, they see that the king is overjoyed to have his beloved wife restored safe and sound while the queen quietly allows the king and her faithful handmaidens to fuss over her from dawn until dusk. As for the two knights, both graciously accept all compliments and congratulations bestowed upon them while quietly doing their everyday duties. To those with keen eyes, if they cared to look, they would also see the queen and knight casting their gaze over the other rather furtively every so often. And the more they look at one another, the more they feel themselves drawn towards the other.

As the weeks continue to pass, life seems to go on the same way it always has with the king and queen ruling over England and beginning to make contact with other countries. However, soon it is not only the tall, quiet knight who notices the change in behavior between the queen and the scowling knight.

One morning, as they are helping the queen get ready for the day, the violet-eyed handmaiden asks, "Your Highness, is there anything you would like to share with us? About what happened when you were abducted?"

Knowing exactly what is being asked of her, the queen takes a moment to collect her thoughts as her handmaidens brush out and arrange her long, auburn locks before she says, "After the knights saved me, we rode for most of the night. We only stopped for a short while to let the horses rest."

Seeing that her other handmaiden is about to speak, the queen continues quickly, "But nothing happened then. We talked for about a minute, but that was it."

Exchanging knowing looks between them, the first handmaiden lays her hand on the queen's shoulder as she says quietly, "Your Highness, we both promised that we would support you in your new life no matter what, but…"

The first handmaiden looks to the other for help, so the second handmaiden says in a half-hesitant, half-firm voice, "No matter what you might feel for this handsome and noble young knight, you vowed to remain faithful to your husband. Faithful to him not only in body, but in mind and spirit as well."

Realizing the point her long-time friends were making, the queen lowers her head briefly before raising her chin and saying in a heartbreakingly resolute tone, "All right. Will you two help me find a way to talk to him?"

That night, the queen and her two friends make their way out into the castle gardens where they find the scowling knight waiting. The queen leaves her handmaidens within sight but out of earshot and approaches the man she has grown to adulterously love.

Straightening up to his full height, the knight asks, "What is it, Your Highness? Your attendant said you had something important to tell me."

When the queen doesn't answer right away, the knight bends down slightly to try to see the queen's face which she has turned away and hidden with the hood of her cloak, so he tries again, "Is something the matter, Your Highness? What do you need me to do?"

Without looking at him, the queen asks in a barely steady voice, "Would you really do anything I ask of you?"

Taken aback by the question, the knight says without hesitation, "Of course I would. You have only to ask."

Turning and walking a few paces away, the queen says in a halting voice, "I…I need you to…to…" after a deep breath, she says emphatically, "I need you to go away."

Completely dumbfounded, the knight repeats, "Go away?"

Nodding her head, the queen says, "Yes, and never come back."

After about a minute, the knight clenches and unclenches his fists several times before he says, "All right, I'll go away," as the queen's body seems to relax with relief, the knight goes on, "only if you can say that again to my face."

Another period of silence between them falls before the queen says in a barely audible voice, "Please don't ask me that. I…I can't do that."

Taking a step forward, the knight presses, "Why not? You're asking me to do something that is going to tear my heart and soul. I'm willing to endure that pain as long as I know I'm not the only one."

Making as if to turn, the queen freezes with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to stay in place as she responds, "What if I were to tell you that…that…that…" a few soft sniffles and then the queen goes on, "…that asking you to go away feels like I'm slowly ripping my heart out of my chest and squeezing every bit of life and happiness out of it."

With a few more steps, the knight is within arm's reach of the queen as he says slowly, "Turn around. Look me in the eyes."

The queen hesitates for a split second before turning and dashing back towards her friends as she cries, "No! I can't!"

As when dealing with wild animals, the worst thing one can do, most of the time, is to run away. Instinctively, as the queen ran by, the knight reaches out and forcefully turns her around to face him. The knight and queen lock gazes as her hood flies off and he sees that her beautiful face is completely covered with tearstains. Something within him ignites and before he can stop himself, the knight is kissing the queen long and hard. At first, she can only stand there in shock, before her brain begins to work again and she struggles to free herself from the knight's strong grasp.

Finally, the queen pulls away far enough to gasp out brokenly, "Let me go. Oh, please, let me go. I can't…I can't…"

The knight is only able to hold onto the queen a moment or two longer before the two handmaidens wrench her away from his arms.

The shorter one with violet eyes gives him a venomous glare as she grinds out, "What do you think you're doing? It's not her fault that she fell in love with you after she got married, but here she's trying to remain faithful to her husband and you…you…you act like this! Like an animal!"

As the full realization of what he has just done begins to sink in, the knight feels his knees collide with the ground moments before he manages to say, "I'm sorry."

The knight's gaze is once again drawn towards the queen's tear-stained face and his heart clenches as he sees the damage he has done, but all he can manage is to repeat, "I'm sorry."

Before anyone can say another word, the small group is suddenly surrounded by the castle guards. Everyone is far too shocked to say anything at first, which gives the captain of the guard enough time to march over to the queen.

"My Queen, it is my sworn duty to apprehend you and take you before the king immediately. Will you come willingly or not?"

Surging forward, the knight declares, "The queen has done nothing wrong! I am to blame! Take me!"

Turning and giving the knight a smug grin, the captain says in a self-satisfied tone, "Oh, you're coming along as well. The king does need to hear from both guilty parties after all."

Servants summon the king to the Great Hall and when he walks in, he is greeted by the sight of his wife and one of his best knights being treated as criminals. Just as he is about to roar out in anger at the guards, the king sees how the queen is deliberately turning her face away from him in shame and how the knight's scowl seems to be torn between fury against the guards holding the queen prisoner and a heartfelt desire to comfort the queen and shield her from the prying eyes and wagging tongues of the courtiers. And with that, the king understands the entire situation.

Walking with as much of his usual royal and authoritative deportment as possible, the king seats himself before the assembly and asks calmly, "What are the charges?"

The captain of the guard steps forward smartly and seems to take pleasure in announcing, "They are both guilty of committing adultery, Your Majesty!"

Hesitating slightly, the king asks, "And what evidence do you have to support these charges?"

Standing to attention, the captain all but shouts, "Sire, these two offenders were observed to not only embrace passionately but also to kiss in a manner only suited to a man and wife in private and to exchange words that spoke of their adulterous feelings for the other. These things were all observed not only by myself, but by my men also, Your Majesty."

With each word, the king's face becomes stonier and stonier to mask his tortured emotions until he finally is allowed to ask the guards, "Is this so?"

Unlike their captain, the guards can see the effect this procedure is having on their beloved king and queen and are reluctant to answer at first. But one by one, they each give little nods or muttered answers in the affirmative.

After another brief pause, the king says firmly, "Take them both and lock them securely in their own chambers. Post a guard outside the rooms and no one except for myself is allowed inside. I will pass judgment on both of them at the end of the week."

Rising from his chair and walking briskly from the room, the king says over his shoulder, "You are all dismissed," before disappearing down the castle corridor.

However, the king would never have a chance to pass judgment as the group set to overthrow him make a final, desperate attempt to overthrow the king while he was still reeling from this unexpected and harsh blow. The next day, the king's enemies storm the castle and are able to overpower the royal guards. While fighting with one of the enemy, the king is badly wounded before he manages to overpower and defeat the attacker. With the help of his friend, the king fights his way to the queen's chamber and manages to stumble inside while his friend barricades the door as best he can.

The queen rushes over to catch her husband as he collapses to the floor and she cries out, "You're hurt!" before she manages to pull herself together and start tearing one of her dresses into strips to bind up the king's severe wound.

The king allows the queen to tend him for a while before he reaches over to clasp her hand and asks, "Is it true? Do you really love him?"

As the queen gazes down into the pain-filled blue eyes, her own vision is obscured by tears as she says brokenly, "I'm so sorry. I've failed you as a queen...as a wife...as a woman."

Leaning down to kiss the king's cheeks and forehead, the queen sobs out, "You are my husband. Somehow, I lost sight of that and only thought about how I felt and what I wanted and now...and now..."

Touching her forehead to his, the queen says in a whisper, "Even though I don't deserve it, I ask you to forgive me. Forgive me for being a foolish girl who couldn't see the love and happiness you had to offer."

Unseen by either of them, the orange-haired knight climbed through the window and drew his sword before he noticed the heart-wrenching tableau in front of him.

Reaching a hand up to push back some hair from her face, the king says softly, "Yes...I do..."

And with a last shuddering breath, the king dies.

After gripping the king's lifeless body to her for what seems like an eternity, the queen looks up to meet the knight's gaze. No words are needed as they see the same expression of resignation and mourning in each other's eyes. They know that any hope they might have had for a happy life has died along with the king.

The entire world is enveloped in darkness...and moments later, the audience begins to applaud.

Outside the theater, a sign reads "The Nature of Love: A Play Based upon the Legend of King Arthur" with a list of the dates and times of the performances listed below.

Long after the audience had cleared from the auditorium and most of the cast and crew had also gone home to crash into bed and rest before the next performance, Ichigo walked down the nearly deserted city streets with his arm casually and yet protectively draped across his girlfriend's shoulders. Tonight had been the first performance out of seven and while there were always things that needed to be ironed out before the next performance, Ichigo had a few very specific things he needed to ask Orihime about.

"Hey, Orihime."

Looking up at her boyfriend with her eyes wide with curiosity, Orihime asked, "Yes, Ichigo?"

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Ichigo said with a slight scowl, "During the scene where you tell me to go away..."

After about ten seconds, Orihime gently prodded, "Yes, during that scene..."

Tightening his arm slightly around Orihime's shoulders, Ichigo asked, "During that scene," he paused once again very briefly before he finished, "you've never...you know...cried before, so I wanted to know..."

When his voice trailed off again, Orihime finished for him, saying, "You want to know why I was crying, right?"

Stopping and taking his arm from Orihime's shoulders in order to clasp both her hands in his, Ichigo said, "Yeah."

Rubbing her fingers across the backs of Ichigo's hands, Orihime said, "Well, as the director, Mizuiro pulled me aside yesterday after the dress rehearsal and said that if I really wanted to make the audience believe what was going on in that scene that I needed to do something that you wouldn't be expecting."

Extracting one of his hands so that he could rub the back of his neck, Ichigo said with a humorless chuckle, "Well, I certainly didn't expect you to do anything like that. For a moment there..."

Again, Orihime waited for a time before she asked, "What?"

Looking straight into Orihime's eyes, Ichigo said in a low tone, "For a moment, I thought I was back in Hueco Mundo listening to you crying your heart out. I can't stand it when you cry because of something I've done."

Wrapping her arms tightly around Ichigo's torso, Orihime squeezed as hard as she could to show him just how sorry she was as she said quickly, "I didn't think of that! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to make you feel that way!"

Gently clasping Orihime's face between his hands and pushing her away so that he could look her directly in the eyes, Ichigo said, "As long as you let me do this," he kissed her softly on the lips before pulling away a fraction to finish with, "if I ever make you cry, then I think we can call it even."

Touching her forehead to Ichigo's, Orihime said softly, "Sounds like a deal," before she leaned forward and connected their lips once again.

Author's Note:

I know...I'm positively insane. Starting yet another series while I still have about five of them that I need to update. I promise I'll around to them soon, but I saw this prompt over on Tumblr's 'ichihime week' tag and I just had to work out this idea that came into my head as soon as I saw 'Medieval AU'. So this is the story that I came up with.

Now, I promised an explanation as to why there were no names, and this is it: in the play I would have had to refer to each character by their stage name if I chose to use their real name as well and I wanted the ending to be something of a surprise. So rather that having the characters inaccurately call each other by their real name onstage, I thought I would just keep things in cognito and see what you guys thought of it.

If you got completely and totally lost and are like "Jylener! Your story is WAY too confusing without names!" I'll go back through and edit it with names. However, I think it sounded rather like a story being read, so it was really cool in my head...however, I know from experience that most things that are said in my head and then come out of my mouth are very often quite ridiculous, so do let me know what you thought.

I will try and do some more prompts this coming week and hopefully post an update for 'Hearts', 'Music' and 'Passion'. Hope to hear from you guys! :)