The Knight of Avalon
Chapter 2

I made my way to the library, which wasn’t far from the foyer. As I opened the library doors, the short, heated fight that I had just gotten into vanished. “This place never ceases to amaze me, even if it’s the hundredth time I’m seeing it,” I murmured as I breathed in that beautiful smell of old books. They were neatly stacked on shelves that lined the walls, almost touching the ceiling, just waiting to be opened. A beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting light all over the room and into every corner. As I walked directly to the center of the library, I brushed my fingers along their spines. It was so hard to choose a book that I just grabbed two random ones and casually examined the covers. After exploring the library for some time, I left, making sure the doors were locked behind me. I took a quick glance around the foyer to see if the prince was there, but he wasn’t. “He must have gone to his room to calm down,” I thought to myself.

It was already dark as I walked through the enormous ornate doors. I glanced up in the sky; the beautiful full moon was shining in all her glory. I made my way to the stables, where there were a few horses of all colors, ranging from brown to black and even a spotted one. I had the entire place to myself because the royal groomsmen and stable hands were not around. “They must have gone home to be with their families,” I thought to myself. “Hey guys,” I remarked as I approached Casper’s stall. “Hey buddy, I’m sorry I didn’t get to bring you a treat,” I remarked. He snorted at me, like he was mad. “Oh, come on, not you too; the prince is already upset with me,” I remarked as I stroked his mane. Tell you what, the next time I go back to see him, I’ll bring some treats for you and a few more for your pals. In response, he began to bob his head up and down. “I knew I’d get back on your good side,” I replied as I retrieved the equipment required for putting on his new shoes. It took me nearly half an hour to put on the shoes, since they were a bit different from his old ones. After placing the last one on with a few nails and polishing up his hooves, I was finished. I spent a few more minutes with him before moving on to the other horses because I was afraid they would be jealous.

After saying goodbye to the horses and taking the two books with me, I made my way to the cottage, which wasn’t far from the barn. “How did I get a cottage?” you may be wondering. After I joined the knights, Prince Frost realized that it wasn’t pleasant for a lady to be stationed in the barracks with all the men, so he built this cottage for me to stay in since it was a lot nicer and I would have some privacy. The place wasn’t too small or too big, but I made use of it. It was a two-story building with a fireplace, and it was well furnished and had all the fancy bells and whistles. I don’t actually get around much since the Prince always has me running errands. I walked directly to the fireplace, tossed some firewood in it, struck a match, and in a matter of minutes, I had a blazing fire that began to heat up the room. I removed my armor and placed it on the stand. “Ahh... that feels so good,” I said as the weight was taken off. Don’t get me wrong: donning the armor is great, but walking about in it for hours on end is exhausting. I took a warm bath first and then ate my meal of mashed potatoes and peas with a side of cookies and milk before retiring to bed with my books. “Finally, some me time,” I muttered as I tucked myself under the sheets. Let’s see how far I can get. The clock stated it was only 8:00 p.m., so I had all the time in the world, or night, as the case may be. After a while, I stifled a yawn and looked at the time. “Holy moly, it’s almost 11:00 p.m.,” I said. I slid the book onto the nightstand. I struggled to fall asleep because it was late and I needed to get up early the next morning. After what seemed like an hour, my eyelids began to feel tired, and the world began to drift away as my eyes eventually closed.

Through the window, the sun shined brilliantly. When I awoke, my face was covered with drool, and when I glanced in front of me, I discovered a husky sleeping on the foot of the bed with his tongue out, looking at me. “Well, hello,you handsome boy, how’d you get in here?” I remarked as I petted him. I discovered a note hanging from his collar that said, “We need to talk; please meet me in the ballroom. And I left you breakfast on the table, as well as some apples for the horses.” PS: Sorry about Luke; he insisted on staying “Prince Frost.” “Oh, so you’re the prince’s dog?” I remarked as I got out of bed. Luke jumped off behind me while I walked to the dining table to see what I got for breakfast. There was a platter of steaming stacks of fluffy Unicorn Waffles: with enchanted sprinkles and a dollop of ethereal whipped cream, with a cup of Stardust Smoothie top it all off. When I saw the waffles, my stomach grumbled. “He only brings me this when he needs help or is asking a favor,” I said as I sat at the table. Luke approached me with puppy eyes, begging for part of my breakfast. “Don’t look at me like that; if you sit first, then I’ll share,” I said. At the sound of the word “sit,” Luke sat down and stared at me with his tong rolled out. “Wow, you nailed it the first time.” I wonder what other tricks you know. I eventually gave him some of the waffles, and we both ate our meal together. After I was finished, I cleared up the dishes, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and took a warm bath.

When I was finished, I put on some clothes, then chain-mail, and finally my armor. “Oof, that’s a lot of weight.” “Good thing my body is able to handle it, otherwise I’d just crumble with all this weight,” I said to Luke, who sat in the doorway looking on. After straightening out my armor and sheathing my sword, I grabbed the bag of apples and made my way to the door. “It’s time to go, Luke,” I remarked as I approached the door. Luke dashed down the stairs and came to a halt outside as I shut the door. I locked it with the key and hid it under a plant pot before heading to the barn with Luke in tow. When I opened the stable doors, I observed the stable hands milling about, cleaning up the stalls, and sorting the horses’ feed. “Good morning, Alan; I have some apples here that I’d like to share with the horses; is that okay?” I asked the stable hand, who’s a friend of mine. “Good morning, Alexis; yes, you can; they haven’t eaten yet,” he said as he scooped oats into a bucket. I approached the first horse and handed him his apple; he took it from my hand and began munching, and I continued until I reached Casper, who was patiently waiting in front of his stall door. “Don’t think I forgot about you, Casper,” I replied as I gave him his with one extra. He and the other horses all neighed in delight. Luke went up to Casper’s door, and Casper placed his head low enough so that he could smell Luke. After sniffing each other for some time, Luke placed a paw on Casper’s nose, signaling that a friendship had begun.

“Come on, Luke, it’s time to see your owner,” I said, approaching the stables doors. He began to whimper as he moved slowly towards me with his head down. Casper began neighing at Luke, as though he didn’t want him to leave. Luke approached me, his doggie eyes fixed on me. “Fineee.... “You can stay with Casper, but on one condition: Alan has to watch you,” I said as I ruffled his hair. Roof! Roof! Luke barked, his tail wagging. “Hey Alan, would you mind watching Luke for me while I go meet his highness?” I asked as he passed by. “Sure thing,” he said as he passed by with a hay bale. “Let’s go drop off this hay bale at Bruce’s,” Alan stated as Luke followed him. As I approached the castle and unlocked the doors, I saw servants bustling about, cleaning and hanging decorations throughout the hall. “What were the Queen and Princess of Snowman’s Land thinking?” I overheard one of them ask. “Has anyone seen my feather duster?” a servant said, looking around frantically. I flagged down a speed-walking maid holding two bouquets of different flowers. “Hello, what’s got everyone so worked up?” I inquired. “The Queen and Princess of Snowman’s Land will be coming the day after tomorrow,” she remarked, her face flushed. “What...?” That’s insane. “You could say that again; I can’t even decide which arrangement of flowers to use for the center piece,” she stated as she studied the bouquets. “Hmm, snowdrops with a bit of camellia and crocus in the middle seem appropriate,” I murmured, pointing to the bouquet in her left hand. “Why hadn’t I thought of that? Thank you very much,” she said as she hurried off.