Chapter One: The Green Knight, Pt 2

Click here for part 1: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work/MaybeAnd...

“I’ll play,” a little voice piped up.

All looked around in surprise to see where that little voice had come from.

The Knight's large head turned, looking up and down the table. “Present yourself.” He boomed.

Eliza stood up. She always liked games.

When everyone looked at her, she blushed. They scared her much more than the knight. She was once more making a fool of herself.

“Lizzy!” Her aunt shouted in horror. Really, Eliza’s full name was Elizabeth, but nobody called her that, since that is much too adult a name for such a little girl.

“Quiet,” The Knight Boomed, and Eliza's aunt swooned. Ladies like Elizabeth's aunt fainted a lot like that back then. “Come forward, little one.”

Elizabeth stepped out from behind her chair, walked around the long table, and to the knight.

He bent down and looked at her. He smelled nice, like spring rain or wet earth. It felt less cold around him and more wet, like you were in a moist forest after a summer’s dusk.

“You, little maiden, would like to play my game?”

She looked at him; his armor was even prettier up close. The paintings were intricate and colorful. There were even little birds and squirrels among the branches of the little trees, and in the low, flickering light, they almost seemed to move.

She nodded slowly.

He straightened back up. A sound, like the creaking of a great tree combined with the growl of a great beast, came forth from him - and after a moment, she realized he was laughing.

“So, royal court, this is the bravest among you?” He mused to himself.

No one argued.

“The game is simple. I will ask you a question, little maiden. Then, you will ask me a question. Neither of us will answer the other now. Before the first day of spring, you must come to me as I have come to you. You will then give me the true answer to my question, and then I will give you the true answer to yours.”

Eliza paused. It seemed simple enough. “What if I can’t get an answer to your question before then?”

“Is that your question?” The Knight asked.

Eliza gasped and quickly told him no, it was not.

“Do you accept the terms of this game?” The Knight asked.

She nodded.

“Here is my question: Who is the true king of this kingdom?”

Gasps went up throughout the crowd.

Eliza glanced at the king at the end of the hall. He was still standing there, wearing his embroidered tunic, ceremonial armor, golden crown, and many medals. Yet, he looked different now that she had seen the knight. He barely looked royal. He looked more like a scared schoolboy, dressed up in a king's costume.

Anyway, that would be too obvious an answer. She knew how games like this worked.

She looked back up at the knight and nodded.

“What is your question, little maid?”

She looked around at all of the faces again; most looked scared and surprised, a few even looked angry. She sensed she had done something very wrong. She looked back at the knight. He didn’t seem angry at all. He still seemed warm. Questions were one of the things that got her in the most trouble. Yet, the Knight did not seem like he would get angry at any type of question. He even seemed like he might have the answer to anything she could ask.

She thought about it for a moment. There was one question that no one ever really seemed to understand, and definitely never really seemed to know how to answer. It was one that ached in her soul when she felt lonely and sad. It was one that all of us, in one way or another, have wondered, but have rarely dared to ask.

“Why did my parents die?” She asked.

The Knight looked at her through his large, beautiful helmet. The Knight did not seem angry, or surprised, or even confused. He nodded. “A wise question.” He took one of his great gauntleted hands and reached to one of the branches coming out from inside his plates, plucking something off of it. He leaned down and handed it to her. It was a small acorn. “Take this with you when you come to me.”

“How will I find you, when I do?” The Little Maiden asked.

“I dwell in the far east, in the green forest. Find that forest, and you shall find me.” The Knight straightened up. “Return to your seat, child.”

Elizabeth looked at the knight one more time. He was beautiful. She scurried off. She found her chair and plopped back down in it.

The Knight looked around slowly, and everyone felt as if he was looking at them. Seeming satisfied, he turned back towards the door. He walked back out into the night, and as suddenly as it had opened, the door slammed shut behind him.

The candles that had been put out by his voice leapt back up, and the fire once again roared in its hearth.

Suddenly, everyone was talking at once. The king started shouting orders to guards, Aunt Lidia was resuscitated, and people were asking Eliza questions, so many questions, all at once.

But Eliza was smiling quietly. She didn’t regret talking to the Knight one bit.