You stared into the vanity mirror. Fingers brushed the white and gold accents along the frame as though trying to commit the entire room to memory. In just a few days, you would be forced to leave it all behind. You were to marry Zodyl, a man several years older than you whom you hardly knew a thing about. It was an agreement to join nations. To your family, it was an honor to form an alliance and as their eldest daughter you mustn’t dishonor your family name.

The sound of a knock and your door creaking open ever so slightly, pulled your attention away from the reminiscence of your childhood in the castle. “M’lady…” The familiar, friendly voice of the soft-spoken knight slid through your ears like honey, “May I come in?” That brought a smile to your face. “Permission granted,” You spoke with a fondness in your voice.

Follo nearly grew up with you. You used to sneak out of the castle to support him in his training to become a knight. When he was deemed suitable, he was assigned to protect you at any and all costs. And he did just that. He was always so kind, gentle, and open when he spoke to you. He would hold a hand, roughened from training while still gentle, over your forehead if he thought you were sick. He would comfort you when you were sad. And he would even listen to you whenever you had something to say, something that didn’t come easy in the castle. He treated you with more respect than any noblemen within the kingdom.

The knight pushed the door open all the way. “Parden my interruption, dear princess.” He fell to one knee with a hand over his heart, bowing his head in utmost respect. “I have been ordered to retrieve you for the meeting with the prince.”

He struggled keeping up a stoic expression. Deep down, Follo was buried in a deep emotional turmoil, for the woman he loved would be married to another in less than a week. In this very castle. Afterwards, she would be whisked away by her prince to live in a kingdom that she had never even visited. Follo hated it. He wasn’t born into royalty, he never would have had a chance with the princess whether or not an alliance was necessary.

His hand closed into a fist, jaw clenching beneath his helmet. All of the years that he had served her, loved her, and almost in the blink of an eye she would be taken away from him. And he couldn’t say a thing about it.