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Knighthood comes with lots of ups and downs.
The pros? There's lots of people around you who are equally devoted to your kingdom. All of you form a singular strong unit of defense. There's a feeling of community, even family, in your fellow soldiers.
The cons? Sometimes, your family sustains an injury.
In the worst cases, fatalities.
Luckily for our story, this is not one of those times.
But oh, boy, does it look like it might for a moment.
•••
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom by the name of Hermiton. Hermiton was a peaceful place. There was, of course, the occasional pack of rebels. Overall, though, no one was a true threat to the monarchy. His Royal Highness, the Mighty King Scar of the Valley and Rivers, Guardian of Prosperity (as was his full title) had ensured that the kingdom was lovely and bountiful. Good times were had by all during his reign.
Dame Gemini was a loyal knight. She believed wholeheartedly in the charismatic King’s right to rule. He had accomplished all he had set out to do; the kingdom had benefited greatly from his public works projects, and it had truly never looked more beautiful.
Of course, Dame Gemini didn't only care about the monarchy.
There were her fellow knights, a family indeed.
One in particular held her eyes and would give her resolve even in the fiercest conflicts.
Dame False was lovely. She had piercingly blue eyes that put the sky to shame. Her hair fell in a blonde curtain about her slender face. She had a rather slim figure, but she was one of the fiercest knights in the kingdom.
She also happened to be, in Dame Gemini’s opinion, the most sweet, endearing, and beautiful of the knights. Full send.
Despite her prowess in battle, Dame False’s mannerisms could almost be described as bumbling; she was quick to stutter and had a tendency to fluster herself. Gem, as the others called her, could hardly bear to watch her in action without pulling her close.
Now if only she was able to communicate this to False in any way at all.
“Gem! Coming to spar?”
Speak of the devil…
“Oh, yeah, just one moment!” Gem shook herself out of her reverie. Maybe some sparring is just what I need right now, get my mind off some things.
Gem, alongside the rest of the knights, headed out of their quarters for the day. After two grand hallways, a less grand staff hallway, and approximately six-and-a-half gates, the knights settled out onto the field used for training on the castle grounds.
“Right! Everyone, listen up!” Sir Xisuma, the usual training leader, donned his helmet as the others turned to attention. “As per standard practice, we'll be training first in sets of two — full armor, one light weapon, one small shield. The gear is very light, so there is no need to hold back. Am I understood?”
Sounds of assent rise from the crowd.
“Perfect! Everyone, find a partner and claim an area on the field.”
Before Gem could even fully turn back to the group, she and False locked eyes. The blonde grinned sheepishly and gave her a nod.
Oh, dear.
Right. Time to act perfectly normal, as she would with anyone else.
Easy.
Simple, even.
Gem smiled back and set off to meet False halfway-
The royal horns sounded from the castle, summoning the knights to the throne room.
The knights all turned to look at each other quizzically as they rushed to meet the summons.
•••
The throne room was empty besides two people of note; King Scar paced in front of the throne, while his advisor Bdubs rattled on in a concerned tone. The echoing of boots obscured the words just enough for Gem to not quite be able to make out what was being said.
Whatever was going on, it didn't seem particularly good, that was certain.
What in the world was going on?
The knights thudded to a halt in front of their King with bated breath.
Bdubs fell into silence as Scar continued pacing.
And pacing.
And pacing.
At last, the King settled restlessly into his throne, one leg kicked over the arm, slouched onto his opposite elbow.
“There's rumor of an attack approaching tonight.”
Scar sat slightly more upright, giving a huff. All else was perfectly still.
“I need all of you prepared to camp out the area under threat by next mealtime. We finally settled the civil rebellion, we do not need an outside attack frightening civilians. Thank you.”
The King waved his hand dismissively, turning his gaze back to the advisor by his side.
Well, there goes the day.
The knights bowed and retreated, returning back to their quarters to prepare.
Once they were back in their quarters, False approached Gem.
“You don't think the Grimlands are trying to provoke us, do you?” A small ghost of a scowl playing on False’s lips (which Gem was looking at a perfectly respectful amount, thank you).
“One can certainly hope not, but it's anyone's guess.” Gem turned to her bunking area and went about looking for her shield. “I'm not sure who else it would be, though…”
False gave her no answer.
•••
They had been waiting for an attack for four hours.
The knights hadn't left their posts, of course, but they had settled in a little. Most had at least opened their visors for the moment. Mumbo and Cub were over watching as Tango fiddled with his latest curiosity; Keralis and Xisuma were sat down discussing their latest venture together for their free time: beekeeping; and False, she had taken her helmet off fully and now leaned against a tree besides the rock where Gem sat, laughing and joking with her, amidst general conversation.
Gem, unexpectedly, wasn't sure how she was to survive this.
“-So Gem, what exactly is it you do in your free time, anyway?” False tucked a stray section of hair behind her ear, eyes all too welcoming for Gem to not want to dive in a little.
“I, uh, I draw a bit. Do some painting.” Smooth, Gem, real smooth. She kicked the dirt at her feet a little, avoiding False’s eyes.
“What do you paint?”
“Mostly flowers and planty landscapes, sometimes the kingdom. Nothing fancy.”
False stood up proper and wandered over to Gem’s rock. “Nothing fancy? That sounds awful fancy to me.”
Gem looked up at False and grinned, feeling her face warm up just a little bit. “Well, it'd be fun to paint other things, too, that just seems to be where I keep ending up.”
“Other things?”
“Yeah, like… like portraits.”
False hesitated for a moment, something unreadable flickering across her face. “That… does sound like it would be fun. I don't blame you for the landscapes, though,” False sat next to Gem on her rock, “it sounds like a lovely place to be.”
Gem knew she was blushing now. “Yeah, it is.”
False looked over towards the kingdom behind them, then back to Gem with a conspiring look. “Would you maybe show me some time, alone? Maybe you could even use me for portrait practice.”
It took all of Gem’s willpower to not let her mouth fall open as her heart skipped a beat.
Before Gem could recover enough to answer, the unmistakable CLANG! of metal striking metal broke her and False out of the moment.
The two’s attention snapped back to the others.
They'd been jumped.
False yanked her helmet back on and launched into action.
Gem reached for hers and, still partially caught in a rose-tinted daze, slipped off the rock.
She heard the thumping of boots rushing toward her. Gem rapidly grabbed and swung her shield up to cover her unarmored head with one arm while her other grappled to get a hold of her helmet.
A hard swipe downwards met her shield. She felt the shock of the impact down her arm, but gritted her teeth as she used what force she could to push the blade away enough to make the assailant back off. It worked, but another sword planted into the ground just beside her head.
Shit.
Gem swung her shield back around and—
“HEY!”
The shadows dancing around her seemed to retreat. Gem could hear the same terrible clang in the direction they'd been drawn.
She took the moment to pull her helmet on and re-arm herself with her sword and shield properly, turning to where the fight had gone only to see one of her fellow knights going absolutely haywire in their attacks.
The slashes seemed frenzied in a way, unlike the way any of the others tended to fight. She rushed to assist, just in time to see the knight down one of the enemies and turn their full attention to the other.
The enemy didn't have a chance; Gem saw the heavy blade they wielded and, using their fallen accomplice as a springboard, came down hard with her shield, landing on top of them in a heap. The soldier below her didn't stir.
Gem stood up and looked around. The others had, thankfully, handled themselves just as well as she hoped. The enemy’s approach seemed to have decided better upon meeting resistance — any soldiers not on the ground had retreated. Gem looked at the soldier under her feet.
Yep. Grimlands. Count Fwhip wouldn't send a large fleet for this.
She pulled her helmet back off, panting a little bit from the sudden struggle, then turned back toward the knight who'd helped her.
“Hey, thanks for the c-”
Before Gem could even fully register who had helped her, their lips were on hers, hard. It only took a second of her gaze flickering around to see the classic sunshine-blonde hair and for Gem to melt into the kiss, eyes slipping shut as her hands went to hold False’s face.
False groaned at Gem’s touch, holding onto her by her waist. Gem didn't know what had done this, but like hell was she going to ask questions when it was all she'd wanted for months.
All too soon for Gem’s liking, False pulled away, the same frenzy Gem had seen in her fighting still left in a light trace in her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Gem gave a breathy chuckle. “Unharmed and after that, pretty fantastic.”
False took a deep breath and rested her forehead against Gem’s. “Gave me a scare there, Gem, gave me a scare…”
Gem savored the contact, giving a small content hum. “Like I tried to say, thanks for the cover.”
False laughed at that properly. “Of course. The panic kind of… woke something up?”
Gem gave False another quick peck on the lips. “I'm just glad I didn't have to confess anything. Thanks for that,
too!”
“If it helps at all, you were kind of obvious once I put the pieces together.”
“Hey!”