I Will Be the Greatest Knight

It turned out that there was, indeed, one more knight left in the room, but Irene's tunnel vision from the unbelievable amount of alcohol she had consumed that night was preventing her from seeing him.

A piney scent that she recalled from earlier in the day struck her nose and, despite how out of her mind she was, she knew that it was her Commander, but only her mind was horrified while her body couldn't move away.

Irene's internal struggle only resulted in her clinging to the front of his fine green tunic which she had balled up in her fist. She stared up at him in horror, wondering if she had ruined all the progress she thought they had made. He took a few jabs at her that evening and she felt it was his small way of showing that he accepted her, yet there she was, completely unable to handle the alcohol that she had fed herself without being forced to.

"Forgive me, Commander," she managed to utter, her drunk tongue causing her words to jumble together. "I didn't realize you were still there."

"What would you have done if I wasn't there to catch you?" he wondered, amusement evident by the sparkle in his eyes.

She didn't know. She didn't know much of anything at all.

What she did know was that there was a tightness in her throat and a sourness in her stomach.

Rather than giving him a response, she managed to escape his grasp. When he tried to go after her because she was still very obviously not stable on her feet, she kept moving away. Her clumsy feet took her to one of the side doors and her green eyes widened.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she explained, slurring, as she put a hand over her mouth.

After that, things became much more fuzzy, but she was certain he wasn't directly at her side when she grasped the stone railing on the stairs just outside of the exit she found and threw up everything she had drank and ate that night.

The nausea became manageable after throwing up so violently into the grass below.

Shortly after, she slumped forward until her knees were on the ground, and her face was against her arms. Her eyes shut and she considered falling asleep. Her body was dying to get some rest.

However, something came to ruin her plans when she felt a large hand on her waist and back once more and she was pulled onto the stairs in a sitting position. Her hair caught the breeze outside and partially covered her face as she stared helplessly up at her Commander.

Somehow, she still had the wherewithal to feel shame.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered, hardly able to lift her head.

The Commander then crouched at her side

"Please don't read into what I'm about to do," he requested.

He tucked her red hair behind her ear and gently cleaned her face with a damp, clean cloth that she had no idea how he got in the first place. He then folded the dirty side so that it was hidden and rested the clean side against her cheek.

"Coldness like this helps nausea," he explained. "You're burning up from getting sick."

She wanted to scream that she was burning up because she was embarrassed but no words came.

All she could do was stare at the man who was handling her so impossibly gently despite how much she wished she could run away and hide. She would remember how fast her heart was racing later on.

"It's too cold out here for you," the Commander insisted. "Let's get you somewhere you can lay down."

That sobered her up enough to resist more.

"I-I need to pull myself together then I'll go to bed," she persisted despite how miserably drunk she sounded.

"You were practically falling asleep against the wall just now," the Commander responded readily. "I don't believe you'll go inside if I leave."

"I can take care of m-myself," she uttered and settled against the stone wall just beside her with her face resting against the cold cloth. Her eyes closed slowly and she really did feel like falling asleep again.

The Commander sighed and simply scooped her up, letting the towel fall and forgetting about it. It was cold enough that he didn't want to be outside any longer. He couldn't just let her stay out there like that.

Irene still struggled in his grasp, pushing against his chest until he found her a comfortable spot on one of the couches they had pushed aside in the great hall so that they could get up to their trouble earlier—too much trouble for her, it turned out.

For only a few seconds, did the drunk knight allow herself to lay there and she scrambled to get to her feet, despite having to cling to the arm of the couch to do so.

"I'll return to my barrack. I don't want to wake up to a bunch of men standing over me," she explained.

The room was spinning and she placed a hand on her forehead, willing herself to sober up. Despite that, she pushed herself away from the couch and willed herself forward, unstable footstep after the other.

She didn't make it far before she stumbled and reached for a wall to hold herself up, however, instead she was met with the firm body of a man once more.

Irene turned to her Commander, shocked that he was helping her yet again.

"Go ahead," he responded to her inquisitive gaze.

With his right arm around her waist and her left one clinging to his shoulder, she was able to walk forward more productively.

"You don't have to," she argued.

"You were going awfully slowly on your own," he chided in response. "Watch your step."

It didn't occur to Irene at all that the Commander was taking her up the stairs and not to the barrack that she had stated she wanted to sleep inside before.

As much as she wanted to deny his presence and escape the situation, she found herself leaning into him. He was all she had to rely on in that moment. Horrifying as it was, she was unbelievably grateful for him in that moment. He was unwilling to let her make a fool out of herself either falling asleep outside or understanding her hesitance to sleep in one of the common areas in his castle.

Before she could realize where they went, she was gently pushed towards his bed.

Her expression was alarmed, but she was too clumsy and far too drunk to resist.