The Kingdom, The Witch, & The Warrior

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

The knight kept trying to give her his ring for safe keeping just incase he did not make it. She didn't want to take it because it was almost saying there was a good chance he would not make it and also she knew he wouldn't be able to return the ring to King. She had never left the woods since she moved to these woods and she never would. The young man drifted off again and the room fell into silence, not even the sound of his breathing could be heard. Hesitating a little the smaller female stepped closer and leaned in a little to see if he was breathing. Sure enough his chest was moving and she could hear his deep breathing.

Letting out a sigh the witch then looked at his hand that was by his side that held the ring. She gently took it out of his hand and held it up. looking at it with the candle lights that lit up the room. She took a glance of the sleeping knight before putting the ring in her pocket.

As time passed the woman in the red hood stayed by the knights side and did what she could for the him. Feeding him herself, changing his bandages and even made him a new pair of clothes he could change into. nothing fancy at all but they were cleaner then what he was wearing when he first came in. Because the knight was using her bed she either slept in a chair beside him or on the floor with a spare blanket.

About a week later after bringing the knight in it seemed that they had passed the danger point for the knight and would live as long as he didn't over do it or get an infection. He wouldn't be able to do much, he shouldn't even really try getting out of bed but he was improving. The red head now a brunette was at work at hr little desk, making a ointment to put on the knights wounds.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Throughout the week Kreiss was not able to move much from his resting spot, but as the days went by his movements became a bit smoother and less shaky and the periods in which he was awake grew much longer with shorter intervals of rest between them.

He for the most part stayed in bed with his acclimating vision, watching the blur take shape into a small woman over the time he spent resting when he was awake. Kreiss did his best to speak to her occasionally but for the most part just watched as she did her work as if trying to puzzle something together.

The food he was fed was rather bland considering what he normally had, but it was nutritional and he wasn't going to complain to his rescuer about the food he was receiving, doubly so in this state. Eventually however, it came to where he was even changed by the woman, with whom he meekly struggled when she tried to do so only to pass out a short while later for the changing to be completed.

However today was a bit different. His eyes opened slowly and hi body moved to shift so he could stare at his caretaker for a few seconds. She was so tiny. How did she survive. For what conversation they had this past week he knew so very little about her. It was mostly just comments of her telling him to rest.

Today was the day though. He wasn't going to lay in bed anymore even if it killed him. Kreiss waited and then moved one leg over to the edge of the bed and then the other as swiftly as he could to sit up with a wobbly movement. "What're you... What're you working on Milady?" He asked now that he was sitting up.

He looked quite strange. He was wrapped in bandages, muscles peeking through the thin form where his meager clothing was not covering and his body didn't really fit his face. In fact, it seemed clothing didn't fit him so much as the armor that he had been wearing prior. Kreiss's eyes looked around for his suit of metal, not that it had done him much good before, it was still a symbol of what he was.  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

The small female had just finished up the ointment for the knight when he spoke. The deep voice caught her off guard, making her knock over a small pile of books she had on her desk. She made a small little peep from being startled before quickly turning around to face the man who was now sitting up on the edge of the straw bed.

" S-Sir Knight!" She said surprised to see him sitting up as he had been pretty much lifeless for the last week. Sure he had woken up at times and tried speaking but it was never really clear what he was saying and before she could ask him to repeat or after telling him not to speak as he need to save his strength he would pass out again. " I-I was making ointment for your wounds..." The woman in red said a bit more quietly as she looked down in the wooden bowl in her hands that held the ointment she had just made.

It was clear that this woman who saved him was not comfortable with talking with him. She tend to look away when she spoke, tense up a little, speak softly and stammer on her words. She had not spoken to another person in years and even longer with someone from the opposite sex.It was not only that, it was also he was a knight from the capital, if he was to find out what she was he life would end.

" You shouldn't be up Sir Knight. Your wounds could open up again if you are not careful." The young woman said as she slowly walked over to him. She placed her small hand on his forehead to feel his temperature. He no longer had a fever and if he was sitting up like this on his own it meant that her treatments were working. She let out a sigh of relief to know her work was not killing this young man. " I am going to put this ointment on your wounds it may hurt a little." She warned the red head man before she slowly and gently started to take off his bandages and gently put the ointment on his wounds.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss winced as the woman floundered when he spoke. She probably hurt herself just now. He moved to stand up to help her but thought better of it considering the way she was acting. He let out a sigh and stayed where he was, bet to deal with the woman on her own terms it seemed like.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you milady. Just thought a bit of conversation might do us some good now that I have spent a week in your care yet we are still practically strangers. No knight should do such a thing to a gracious host such as yourself." However the royal and flowery words were cut short when she came closer.

"Ah... Don't worry about me or my wounds. In your care you saved me from death, from this point I should be fine." Then she touched his forehead. "I- That's really not-." Now the bandages were being undone. "I can do it myself really. That's okay. I don't think you really should be undressing a man in such a fashion. The lady of my house certainly would not approve. Not one bit. I can apply the ointment I swear. I'm not bed ridden anymore at the very least."

The knight's words were much faster than they had been previously and his gaze was shifting about as if trying to look for an escape route. It was his turn to be afraid of the person now in front of him. He winced again, this time in pain as the ointment was applied. He simply fell silent and hung his head in defeat. "The lady of the house is going to kill me. I'm dead... Another woman touched me when I am bare. I am not going to survive the wrath that this will incur."  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

The young man before her spoke so formally that it made the woman before her feel like a barbarian. She wondered if all knights spoke like him or if it was a common thing for everyone outside these woods. She simple shook her head to assure him that it was alright for not speaking with her much as he was in no condition to do so.

As the knight tried to reassure that he could put the ointment and that she shouldn't be undressing him she simple just shrugged and continued putting the ointment on his wounds. " I been doing this every day since I found you." She said stated before he said something about a Lady of the house. She glanced up at him a little confused to as what he meant by that. She came to the conclusion that this Lady he spoke of was the woman he was courting.

Once she was done putting the ointment on she started to put the new bandages on him. The small woman then gathered the things she brought over and put them back on her desk before making her way over to her fireplace that had a black pot hanging inside that had a stew in it. Opening the lit the little cabin was soon filled with the smell of stew that had whatever she could find to put in it. She scooped up a small amount into a bowl and gave it to the knight to eat. " Its turnip with some herbs. She said quietly before making her way back to her desk and cleaning up the books she had knocked over when the knight startled her.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss just kind of sat there in shock as his mind reeled at what was going to happen to him once he got back home. Maybe he should stay right here and pretend to be injured for a few months to recuperate his strength so he could survive the night or three she would put him through... A few months should do it.

His gaze then shifted back to the young woman as she tied off the bandages. "I... Yes of course, you are entirely right milady. That you have been." That only made it worse in his head. His person became much more relaxed once she had stepped away from him. "I do not remember telling you my name, though this past week has been a haze. Allow me to introduce myself to you as a coherent person Milady. I am Kreiss Fangheart, Shield of Lady Vendmere of the House of Vendmere, Guardian of the People of Bandel, and a King's Protector of King Relin the Third. Might I ask for your name?"

He watched as she curiously just went about her business as if nothing was happening. It was a strange thing to see such a difference in character from the upper echelons of society to a hermit in what he could only deem as the forest he was sent to hunt the witch... Where only the witch lived supposedly. The gears were turning in his head. When the bowl was handed to him he took it slowly. "Thank you Milady." He then stared into it in thought.

((Gotta be honest all of those titles took me way to long to come up with.))  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

Stopping and looking over at the knight he asked if he told her his name and she simple shook her head. The knight revealed his name as Kreiss Fangheart. He had other titles but she didn't seemed to be fazed by the titles he told her. The only thing she really knew after was the Kings name. When Kreiss asked for her name she had to think about it for a moment, almost as if she forgot her own name. " Zena..." She said quietly out loud as if she was confirming with herself that was her name. She faced Kreiss and nodded her head. " Zena White."

The woman in red had revealed her name as Zena. She had not said her name out loud or heard her own name by anyone in years. Zena went back to putting her book on her desk and cleaned up a little around her work area. While Kreiss was resting, Zena hid all book that had spells in them along with her staff to prevent Kreiss from finding out what she was a witch. The only books that where left out in the open were about herbs, maps, history, old mythes and some about the stars.

" Why is a Knight out all the way out here? People who come into these woods normally don't make it out." Zena said as she wiped down her work area with a cloth. This question had bothered her for a while and there was more then Kriess who had came out here so who was to say if more would come.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss gave a nod at the name and moved to gingerly sip at the soup. So they were in the forest. That was confirmed at least. "I came here on orders of the king to hunt the Witch that lives in these woods. She is the one that is causing the kingdom to crumble, that is what our priests tell us. Our highest oracle had a vision that killing a witch would cause our plagues to melt away. When we did research of where such a witch might be, we found that this forest was where we could find an extremely powerful one, and where many of our problems began to spring up, or in areas close to this forest."

Kreiss motioned to himself. "So that is why I am here Milady. Though I must ask that if those who normally come into these woods normally do not make it out, may I ask how you have survived in these woods where they say only the witch I hunt dwells?"

His gaze was filled with curiosity, but beneath that it was suspicion. Even in his tone he had become wary of the person in front of him. It was not hostile, but it was careful. The grip on the bowl tightened as he lifted to take another small sip from the soup. If she had wanted to kill him she could have done so at any point during his hazed state, but that did not mean he could relax either. Kreiss still had not completed his mission after all.  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

Zena tensed up a little and stepped back when Kreiss said he was sent here to hunt a witch that lived in these woods. So her fear of him wanting to hurt her were true, he was sent here to kill her but he said he was sent out here to kill the witch who was causing harm to the land. Zena has done no such thing. She was not a powerful witch and her magic was of good, not of evil. She was still learning how to use her powers as she had to teach herself after her mother disappeared. Her mother was a powerful witch but she too only used her magic for the good and she had been gone for years. There was no one else in these woods other then Zena that she knew of.

" A witch?" It made sense to think a witch caused all this but it wasn't her but if Kreiss found out she was a witch he wouldn't care, she would be dead on the spot.Then he asked her why she was in the woods and she tensed up more. " L-Like I said... Those who come into these don't normally make it out. It does not mean that they are all dead. They are simple trapped here. I been here for years, if I wanted to live I had to learned to defend myself from what lurks out there." She explain, half telling the truth. In a way she was trapped here because if she left these woods she would not live long out there if she was found out to be a witch.

" I have not seen this witch you speak of... You are the only person I have spoken to since my mother disappeared and I been trapped here." Zena started to wonder if there could be a witch out there other then her who was really creating all this trouble.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss relaxed once more. He was more than willing to believe her considering she saved his life. Besides that, she didn't have red hair. "It must be strange to have a knight with red hair, the sign that one can wield such power questioning you if you are a witch? Forgive me milady, if I offended you I did not mean to, it is simply my duty to be suspicious. Especially now that I have seen what lurks in these woods."

He paused when she said she had not seen another person since her mother disappeared. "Might I ask how long ago that has been?" Kreiss then paused and shook his head. "Forgive me Milady, there is no need to answer that and to disturb the memories of your mother, please forget this stranger asked." He bowed his head as if to apologize even further.

Then it was back to his soup and finishing it. There was no reason as to not actually eat the food he had been given. It would give him the nutrients necessary to heal his wounds.  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

" I was raised not to judge people from what they appear..." He confirmed another question she had and that was his hair. He was not a witch like herself even though he bared the red hair of one like herself. He must have been through a lot of people judging him just because of his hair. So did Zena but she really was a witch. She realized how she might of sounded a little rude just then and shook her head at him. " I-Its alright I am sorry."

Kreiss then asked how long it has been since she last her mother which she did not have a answer for him right away. " Honestly I don't know. When you have been in these woods for so long you tend to loose track of time." Zena stated as she tried to think how long it had been. " Maybe five or six years..." She said mostly to herself. She noticed him eating his soup and she tilted her head a little as he ate the food she made, wounding if it was alright. It wasn't much as she could only grow so much with her magic do to the fact the soil was not able to grow anything but thorns.

" Once you are well enough to at least walk you can wash up in the spring behind the cabin. The creatures shouldn't attack you as long as you stay close to the cabin and make to much noise." She offered him before she got herself a small bowl of soup she made.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss listened and gave a nod, smiling a bit. "That is a good way to be raised, truly it is. I would know considering what I've faced with this. If the family who took me in had not a similar mindset, I do not think I would be here speaking with you." He motioned to his hair. "Sometimes I think the gods wanted to simply play a trick on me and the station I have in life is there way of apologizing for taking it to far. Might I ask you if that is a strange thought to have?" He set his bowl aside, the soup now gone.

"It was a filling meal Milady. I must also thank you for taking care of me for this long and hope you will do so until I am fully recovered. In exchange if I can do anything to help while I am here I would be willing to do so." He moved to stand and while he was a bit wobbly in doing so at first was eventually standing straight before slowly going down to one knee and crossing an arm over his chest. "After all, I am a knight that is here to help the people of this kingdom. Even if you are trapped in these woods, this is still a part of the domain I protect."

After a moment he glanced up and gave a smile to her. "Also, might I ask what I should defer to you as? Milady, Lady White? Lady Zena? I am unsure of which you prefer and I do not want to presume that you favor any without asking you first and I have been rude for not asking before this point."  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

Zena had started eating as Kreiss spoke about his past and then his hair." People are cruel... Even it was god doing or not for giving you the hair colour you have people would still be cruel because thats the way people are. No matter what it may be they always want to be superior to others." The young woman felt a pain on her back where he large scar was that she got when she was younger. " Its not a strange thought. You are now a Knight, even though you bare the colour of a witch."

She watched as the knight tried to get up and Zena quickly put her bowl down and hurried over to him as she was scared he would fall. " W-Wait!" She panicked more as he started to drop to the ground but he went on his knee and put a arm over his chest. She looked down at him surprised and let out a sigh as she was sure he was falling.

Huh?" What to defer her as? She was not use to titles nor being called Milady. " Just Zena is fine I think... I-I am not use to those titles. N-No get up carefully before you hurt yourself!" She was clearly not use to this and worried about his well being but not sure how to handle it.

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Kreiss Fangheart, The Knight of the Red

Kreiss gave a small nod, and moved to stand ever so slowly. his face gave no betrayal of pain, though the sluggish movements spoke of knowing the extent of his injury well enough. "Forgive me for scaring you, I did not mean to. I will say this, this is not the first time I have suffered such injuries before La-..." He let it fade and then moved to gently clear his throat. "Zena. I have suffered injuries like this before, though not as many at once. I am an instrument meant to be used for war after all." He put emphasis on the name as if trying to train himself to speak without an honorific before the name.

Kreiss shifted to look around the room. "To tell you the truth, my vision is still a bit blurry, but this is the first time I have actually seen where I am staying. I also see that the only bed here is the one I am staying in. Where have you been staying if I am there?" His gaze moved back to the smaller woman in front of him, a look of worry on his face. It was the same look as when she had been undoing his bandages. Whoever this Lady was must have had a great amount of influence over him.  

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Zena White, The Witch of the Woods

Zena watched him carefully as the knight stood up once more, worried if he would fall over while trying to stand back up but he stood up with no problems. " You might be a knight and have been through the same pain many times before but if you want to heal well and fast you have to take care of yourself." She warned Kreiss before letting out a light laugh when he almost called her Lady. " Looks like you are going to have to get us to just a simple first name Sir Knight." She chuckled a little when she said Sir Knight.

When he said his vision was a little blurry she went back into worry. She wondered if his vision was blurry was do to her magic but she was over reacting. The man was healing from almost dyeing, it would take time before he would fully recover. She was about to answer his question but she then noticed the worried look on his face and she clued in what he was worried about and it made the small woman blush and back away, waving her hands in front of her. " N-No no no! I did not lay in the same bed as you! I may live in the woods but I am still a woman! I slept in the chair next to you or over there!" She pointed to the other side of the room on her right where some straw was laid out with a blanket where she slept if not in the chair.

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