That one Monday morning was like any other - little did I know it would change my life entirely.

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'Oh bloody morning, why must I awake to such hard labour?' I complained inside my head. The sun was blazing above, and I struggled to gather the apples which lay at my feet. My dress grew dirty as it sloshed around in the mud, it's faded blue turning into a deep shade of brown. Like it mattered though, I ranted, it wasn't like I would be getting a new one anytime soon! I hummed to myself to keep my mind off of my chores.

After I had filled two or three bucketfulls of hardy apples, my exhaustion took over and I sat myself against a tall Oak tree. The pages of the book I held almost tore as I pulled it out of my dress sleeve. Utopia, it read. I smiled down and flipped open to no page inparticular, and devoured it's beautiful words. I set the book down after a few moments, to re-tie my hair, behind my neck. It's messily done braid had fallen out again, the hairs at the back of my neck all sweaty and such. I yanked the ribbon out and this time decided to take the effort of doing it well. I slowly unravelled my long brown hair, until it coiled lushiously over my shoulder. 'Mum is the one who gave me this thick mess of hair...I should be blaming her for the ten hours I spend brushing it through!' I laughed silently.

As soon as I reached the bottom and had fastened my ribbon, a crack of a twig startled me. Quickly pulling my dagger out from my slipper, I crept behind the tall Oak, and watched the woods carefully. Crack. Twirling around, I saw a dark and hooded figure, just to the right of me. I hid myself once more, and watched it carefully. It was tall, so I decided that it was a man. My grip tightened around the dagger, and I grabbed my bag quietly and strapped it to my shoulder. If I had to run, I'd be ready.

A couple months ago, I had been viciously attacked by some drunken knight, stumbling his way down in the village. I had been caught off-guard and pushed roughly into a back alley. My shirt hung loosely from my shoulder - thank the Lord an old horsekeeper walked by.

I pushed the memory to the back of my head and focused on the figure which was quickly approaching. He walked with a limp, and he had on a hooded cape that blanketed his entire body. His head was bent, and I could see the trail of a sword dragging out from behind him. It scared me to the core to think that this man might be a Knight. They were known for funny buisness around young maidens - not charming or gallant at all! I let out a muffled gasp as the man fell over an upturned root and came crashing down to the ground - causing him to let out a horrid yelp of pain.

"D-d-drop your weapon, S-sir!" I managed to mumble out, not having the strong and brave voice I had hoped for.

The man merely raised his head, then let it hit the ground again. - He wasn't going to attack, that was for sure. I had my dagger at the ready, as I came out from behind the security of the tree and approached the fallen man. He still had not moved.

I cleared my throat. "Sir...do you need, assistance? Are you alright?"

The man did not move still, and I concluded that he was ill, or wounded. I found his sword quite easily, considering it was thrown two feet away from him, from his fall. The design on it was intricate and smooth, and I took the time to bend down to admire it's beauty. A grumbling moan entered my concentration.

"You may take my life, you may take my gold..." his voice was pained and out of breath. "but do not take my sword...it tis my life..."

I looked at the sword and then at him. He had mistaken me for a gypsy! I was quite a taken back at this rude remark, for I was no gypsy, and certainly I was not going to steal whatever possesions he had! "Sir, I am not a gypsy. Just a...young..maiden in the woods." I instantly regreted revealing my age and status to this man.

He looked up, and with a trembling hand, pulled his hood away. Gold ringlets poured out over his forehead, and two startling blue eyes arose in my vision. The blue inside was so intense I swore I was blinded for all of a few moments. I gulped much too loud and averted my eyes. I felt foolish as I realised he was not much older then I, yet I had feared him with such girlishness. 'A true and strong woman would never have feared a fallen stranger!' I scolded myself.

"Ah, forgive me then, I myself was just wa-" His voice cut short and he gripped his leg, his face swollen up in agony.

I recognized the wound - it was a deep hole left by a wooden arrow, right in the tender muscle of his thigh. He had ripped his pants right down to his skin, to let the wound breathe. He did not have any bandage or pressure ontop. "Sir, please let me tend to your wound...if I don't, then that leg is as good as gone!" I bit my lip at my boldness. Feeling sorry for a person that I did not even have a name from?

He grinned up at me, revealing teeth the colour of corn. "M'lady, I do not need tending too. I am just fine. All I need is to-" His grin twisted up in a mess of pain. I set my bag down and pulled out a long sheet of parchment and wool. I raised his leg gently, and strung some wool around, the parchment ontop. He winced as I pressed my palm against the wound. I looked around the forest for something - anything, to keep the bandage together. Then I remembered. 'My ribbon!' With one hand, I undid the braid I had so carefully twisted, and pulled the ribbon out and around his thigh. He let out a groan, and I did my best to keep his leg elevated on my bag without too much struggle.

"Impressive." He smiled, nodding towards my handiwork. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Sir." I replied, silently. I did not know his rank, but it musn't be more important then anything over a squire - for he was only over the age of sixteen. "Did you have a horse, Sir?"

He let out a chuckle. "I guess you could say that - wasn't really my horse, I hate to admit." The man sat up and pushed his curls away from his eyes. Once more I got a glimpse of those blue jewels, and I quickly glanced away. "You're afraid, are you not, m'lady?"

I wasn't happy with the way he was smiling about this. I refused to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this boy - I did not know who he was, or what kingdom he was from. And judging by the way he described his 'horse', he could have been a theif! "No, Sir, I am not afraid." My lip gave way into a pout, and I stood up abruptly.. "And I must be going now. My thoughts are with your thigh, Sir. Goodday." I gave a short bow, and turned my back to leave.

"M'lady, I am sorry if I have offended you. I have not spoken to such a gentle flower, in quite along time." He smiled that same smile, and I regretted looking back. His eyes seemed to draw me closer to him, and soon the sun passed over the trees and it was becoming evening. I had been sitting with this strange man for hours, listening to his stories and tales of adventures. The arrow that had been embedded into his flesh, was from the King's Guard - trying to stop him from excaping from his kingdom - by order of the King. Although young, he had told me how he was accepted into Knighthood earlier than most, for his father was the King of Gutaherm.

"A Knight, and a Prince?" I giggled, my shameful girlsih ways coming back to me. I fiddled with my hair which hung loosely down my back, and shone in the evening sun. It was quite inappropriate for a young maiden to have her hair so messily down in her face, not tied back and kept up. But I was enjoying the feeling of danger and freedom, and ahd not bothered to twirl it back up.

"Your name, M'lady? I have been awaiting the grace of such a sweet word, all my life..will you grant me my wish?" He tilted his head to the side, and a tumble of curls fell over his ear.

"Kyla." I replied, almost in a whisper. "My name, is Kyla, Sir. And I am from a kingdom not too far from here..." My cheeks instantly went red with embarassment - he was a Knight...a Prince! And what was I? A lowlife castle-maiden, who tended to the needs of people such as he.

It was almost as if he could sense the sudden ashamed feelings. "Kyla..."

I looked up at him, without saying a word.

He put his hand to the back of his head and entwined his fingers beneath his golden locks. "Pardon me...Lady Kyla." I felt the heat rise to my face and I lowered my head, a strand of brown hair falling over my shoulder. His hand reached up and tucked it beneath my ear. "Such beauty does not deserve a title as low as you appear to sit at...for I shall never see you as anything less then a Queen...m'lady." He tapped his thigh. "I thank you for your kindness, but I must be on my way. I'm sure my Father has the entire round table set out looking for me!"

I did not dare raise my head - I had been complimented and praised enough - more than my worth. I did not deserve more pleasure by looking at his face once more. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sir. Your welcome, Sir."

He stood up, with a struggle, then put his fingers between his lips and let out a loud and echoing whistle. Almost immediately a horse could be heard galloping it's hooves off, into the forest and towards the loud whistle. The horse was a brilliant black, it's coat as shiny as a raven's wings. Pulling himself ontop with much difficulty, he gazed down at me, and then dropped a cloth sack beside me. "For your kindness, and presence." He then galloped away, his cape blowing wildly out behind him.

I fingered the cloth a bit before opening it, anxious to see what was inside. When I felt the cool touch of gold against my fingertips, I nearly fainted. I had gained more then twenty gold coins, but more amazingly - a newfound mystery.

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Part 2

As I dropped the heavy buckets down onto the wooden floor, a voice came into the room. I recognized it easily, for it was my best friend, Isabel, who worked alongside me in the castle. This time, though, her voice was shaky and unlike her normal sarcastic tone.

"Kyla! Ky! Come quick!" Isabel ran frantically into the room, and I could tell she had been in a worry. Her long black hair was messy and sweaty, but was pushed harshly to the side and had a string of tweed loosely strung at the bottom. "Miss Oriana knows that you weren't home by noon! Where were you? The whole castle has been wondering, and you are going to be in a hard mess if you don't have a good explanation!"

Miss Oriana was the head worker, the one who kept order along the castle-maids. She was terribly strict, and never had a smile crept upon her wrinkling face. She was old, yet her voice was as strong as that of a man's! It had completely slipped my mind, that I had to be back from the village at precisely twelve o clock. It was far past six, and the apples, without treatment, had gone an ugly shade of light red. I hung my head. "Isabel, I...I met someone..and the time just slipped away! Honest I had no idea I was late..."

"KYLA!" Another voice entered the room, much more deep and angry. I could see Isabel cringe, out of the corner of my eye. "Where is that bloody wench!" It was Miss Oriana, and her hand came down upon the back of my head, sending a sharp pain down my spine. I fell to the ground. "Where have you been? The King has a dinner tonight and a very important one! The chef needed those apples, Kyla!" Wham. Another hit to my head, making me nearly blackout. "You stupid stupid girl! It's my head now! Do you have any idea how important this dinner was? And now..." Whack. "You've ruined it all! ALL OF IT!" She grabbed hold of the back of my apron, and yanked me up to a weak standing position. She roughly grabbed my chin between her thumb and finger. The strength this woman had amazed me, in spite of the pain she caused. "I want you up to the corridor and into my room in five minutes! Do you understand?"

"Yes, m'am.." I replied weakly, my head feeling faint.

"And try not to be late, or it's the strap for you!" She released my chin and pushed me back, hard against Isabel.

I slunk down to the ground and slowly let tears wash the dirt off my face. Isabel sat down beside me and stroked my hair. She gently began to braid it, after pulling a new red ribbon out from her dress. "Who...who is this person that you met, Kyla?" She asked carefully.

I choked back a sob, and then cleared my throat. "It was...a boy..a man. He was so nice and kind...I just.." I advised myself not to tell that he was indeed a knight.

"Shh shh, I understand...listen..you should go see what that..that...hag wants." Isabel spat bitterly, as she let go of the finished braid - much better then I could ever do. I stood up slowly and gripped my head. It now had a dull ache thudding in my skull. I gave Isabel a short hug, and then walked the steps up to the corridor above.

My slippers made a small tapping sound as I walked along the long hall. I could see my fellow maids running around the rooms, dusting and cleaning and tending to the dinner which was soon to begin. 'Must be someone special...' I guessed inside my head. As I reached Miss Oriana's room, I sucked in a large breath of air, and knocked lightly on the wooden door. Almost instantly a voice called from within, telling me to come in. I opened the door slowly, and slid inside the room. Miss Oriana was sitting behind a large desk made of pine, holding a long and thin leather strap with a metal latch at the end. I bit my lip and gave a polite bow. "Miss."

Miss Oriana stood up and came to stand infront of me. I could feel her anger, as if it was hot water burning my skin. "Remove your apron, Kyla." She said with a hint of pleasure in her voice. I slowly undid the back of my apron and let it fall to my feet. Already I felt the pain. I could feel her bony cold hands slide my dress down over my shoulders, so that my back was completely bare. "I do apoligize, Kyla, but a stupid girl like you needs to know the severness of her wrongs." Whack. I could feel the blood slowly dribbling down my back from the first blow of the whip. "Don't cry..." I comforted myself. Whack. My skin began to burn...

Miss Oriana gave me twelve brutal whippings to my back, and then sent me out back to the basment to clean up and get ready to serve the dinner. I almost collapsed in pain as I made it down the steps, my back feeling as though it would tear open - if not already. Isabel rushed to my side, to help me steady down onto a mound of hay. She very carefully took my dress off and gasped at the sight. "That bitch! That horrible horrible bitch!" Isabel ran to the well to bring in some water, and boiled it on the stove. After the water cooled, she dipped a clothtowel into it and gently dabbed it on the wounds.

"It stings..." I cried, over and over again. Isabel continued to clean the cuts, and then let me lay quietly while she got things ready. A few other maids came in and out of the room, and snickered at the sight of me lying in pain in the corner. Isabel and I never got along with the other maids, we were shunned and disrespected for the longest time of our lives. In and out they came, grabbing forks and spoons and long knives and shiny goblets. They were using the good gold dishes, which proved that the company tonight were important.

When I could stand the pain, I got up and changed into my red skirt and normal maid dressings. I walked up to the kitchen, which was just a floor above the basement. I was handed a loaf of bread no later then I stepped one foot inside the room. A platter of bread rolls were on a table near me, so I sat the bread ontop and decided to go see who was here. As I stepped out of the kitchen carrying the platter of bread rolls and loaf of bread, I rudely let my mouth hang open. The dining hall was at it's best! Long silk curtains hung from the tall ceiling, flowers and decorations of that sort, and candles along the walls and table lightened up the room. The people around the table's edge were dressed royally and with bright elegance. I smiled at each one as I slipped a bread roll on each of their plates. Even though my back ached with such immense pain, I couldn't stop myself from smilling at the simple view of these nicely dressed people.

Isabel passed me in the kitchen. "I overheard a conversation between Miss Oriana and Queen Johvan," her cunning smirk became larger. "and I found out who the guests are. Apparently, they are from the Kingdom of Gutaherm, and are here to sign some sort of treaty between these two kingdoms. An arrangement to share land between the kingdoms."

I chewed on the insides of my cheeks to keep from screaming. Not only did the company we have was extremely royal neighbours of our Kingdom, but those royal neighbours included the young Knight that I had met earlier!

Isabel shifted the tray of wine-filled goblets onto her other hip, and sighed. "And, apparently, we must treat these guests better then we would treat our own King and Queen! This arrangement is very important to our castle...wouldn't that be wonderful, Ky? A whole other lot of acres of beautiful fields and vegetable gardens? Kyla..?" But I had fallen into a dream world again, and remembered the afternoon I had spent with that Knight. And he was here! Quickly I snapped out of it, and nodded to my friend. She gave a little laugh, shook her head, and then returned back into the dining hall.

I followed Isabel out, carrying two new bottles of wine under each arm. I circled the table, carefully looking for any unfilled glasses. The people around the table were talking and eating noisely, having a good time. I was glad for that - as long as we kept them happy and comfortable, they would sign that agreement! I was also closely looking around the table for that one Knight, with the gorgeous blue eyes. My thoughts were interrupted, as a hard finger prodded my side, nearly knocking the bottles out of my hands.

"Excuse me, servant." Her voice slurred and told me that she had already had one too many glasses of wine.

"Yes, ma'm?" I replied, turning to face her in her seat. She was holding up a large goblet, the wine messily sloshing down the sides of the goblet as she shook it.

"I'd like some more wine!" She handed me the glass, and I took it from her and topped off her glass so it was filled to the brim. I tried to hand it back to her, but she was too busy already engrossed in her own conversation, she did not notice me. "And then, Alexander here tells me that a young maiden with amazing brown eyes rescued him! I could not stop laughing. My strong son, rescued? Not possible. Certainly he has made this up, in an attempt for attention! He's been running away from the castle quite a bit lately. I talked to Father Ronald about this. He said the boy just needs some freedom!"

I then found myself also engrossed in the conversation, and was oblivious to the fact that I was actually leaning in to hear more. 'Alexander? That was the Knight I had met!' I found myself pleased to finally figure out what his name was. The woman looked up at be suddenly, grabbed her goblet, and returned to her listeners. I began to fill up other goblets around hers, so I could still hear the conversation. "And you wouldn't believe! Along with this story, he actually has a wound in his leg, tied and bandaged with a blue ribbon he claims was the girl's! What an imagination my boy has got, I'll say!" The woman burped and took another swig of her wine, almost finishing it in one slurp. "Servant girl! More wine!" She held her glass out to me, and I filled it up once more. The woman continued on, "Alexander would not come tonight, he is at the castle in bed, with maids tending to his every need. A boy like him should not be blessed with such handsome looks - the poor young maids around him, falling in love. Childish, really. It's a shame that some maids are so pretty - no Prince will ever marry them." She made a disgusted face at her last comment, and then took her glass back. "Thank you kindly, young servant." She waved me away.

"Your welcome.." I mumbled under my breath, and then walked back into the kitchen, angrily. The skin on my back made me want to curl up in a ball and let my life lose all feeling, but I kept serving until the end of dinner. It was important to our kingdom, afterall. I did not know what had struck my temper, but I was in a horrid mood the rest of the dinner.