I Will Be the Greatest Knight

There was a small voice screaming inside of Irene's head that this was not a situation she was supposed to be in. She needed to get out of there and escape unscathed.

A man had pushed her into his bed but she was too drunk to do anything about it. Not only was he just a man, but he was her Commander who she had thoroughly trusted.

The urge to escape was ever present but all she managed to do was sit down at the edge of his large bed and slump forward. She was so ashamed she couldn't look up at him but rather at his boots on the floor that had gotten closer to hers.

It felt like she was being controlled by someone else, and it made her feel like she was in danger.

Rather than the ability to fight, her words started clumsily tumbling out of her lips.

"I-I shouldn't be here," she muttered weakly. "How will you face the others? It's immoral. I'm more of a man than a woman, anyway. Can't you go get Felix for me? My reputation will be ruined…"

For a moment, all Henry could do as he listened to her rambling was cross his arms and lower his eyebrows as she started painting him in a particularly awful light. She was too drunk to reason with, so he stepped forward, even closer and gently pushed her into the comfortable pillows at the top of his bed.

"I really will fall asleep soon. Do you want to do this to a sleeping woman?"

"Shh…" he urged. "I truly am trying to help you."

He moved even closer to her and undid the belt at her waist. She gripped his wrist, but she was lacking her usual strength. He then removed the belt and the sword sheathed at her side. It would be rather uncomfortable to sleep with her weapon at her side, after all.

"Settle down," he urged as his hands then went to her boots and he began unstrapping them so that he could pull them off and drop them to the floor.

"I'm going to get your bed dirty," she insisted, slurring each word. "It's hardly appropriate for a woman to be in a bedroom with her Commander even though you don't see me as a lady."

He merely sighed at that and started to walk away towards a cabinet where he found a thick blanket and brought it back to the woman whom he placed it on top of as he spoke.

"I'm not going to sleep here tonight," he responded a bit sternly. "You certainly are a woman, though the others shouldn't think of you in that way. After all, for weeks on end, you're the only woman we see. You wouldn't let us treat you like one if we tried."

By his last word, Irene had settled a bit more heavily into the pillows and her eyes were slowly blinking. It seemed she had hardly taken in anything he said.

The Commander blew out the three candles on the candelabra, hoping she would sleep well in the dark room. There was at least still a fire burning in the stone fireplace on the opposite wall in case she needed to see further than that.

"Sleep well, Lady Irene," he muttered as he walked towards the door.

For some reason, his care was accessing a part of her heart she had been trying to push away with all of the alcohol before. She couldn't help the words that came despite her eyes being closed.

"Would it be so bad to be treated like a woman?" she uttered. "To just be held and handled softly sometimes… That would be nice…"

She didn't see him stop in his path forward at the sound of her quiet voice. He contemplated her words for a few moments and silently wished she could elaborate.

By the time he made it out the door of the room, the woman was fast asleep in his bed, and it was up to him to find another comfortable place to settle for the night.

+

That piney scent yet again.

Warmth on top of her head.

Irene turned her head and snuggled into the pillow she was laying against even further. She let out a languid sigh, but upon breathing, she realized whose scent that was and what it meant.

The man in her dreams.

Her Commander…

Her green eyes shot open and she sat up quickly enough that she had to grab her head momentarily as fuzzy memories of the night before came rolling in. Her eyes scanned the bedroom she had settled in for the night but all she could hear was her heart racing in her ears.

There was no sign of Commander Henry anywhere. His scent was so strong in his bed that she was almost certain he was laying right next to her. However, she knew he was a better man than that.

It caused her to gasp, recalling all the accusations she threw at him the night before and she was horrified, knowing she needed to grovel at his feet. Many noblemen would have taken advantage of her since she was idiotic enough to offer herself on a silver platter by getting so unbelievably intoxicated. Many more noblemen wouldn't have put up with the insults she directed at him, questioning his moral character.

How embarrassing…

Not only her words, but the way he was forced to help her. How she threw up and he cleaned her up.

Irene rushed to get off the bed despite how awful she was feeling and found her boots and sword rather easily. She began pulling them onto her feet and strapping the belt around her waist so that she would have her trusty sword with her if she needed it.

There was a knock on the door and her heart stopped.

The woman rushed into the bathroom and tried to brush her fingers through her unruly wavy hair, hoping to tame it at least slightly.

"Your grace!" a maid called from outside.

Irene considered jumping out the window, but she knew it would probably harm her more than help her to jump out of the third floor of the Duke's Tower. All she could do was go to the door and timidly answer.

The maid she was met with stepped backwards and muttered "Oh my…" before pulling herself together more.

"Where is His Grace?" she asked, peering over Irene's shoulder.

Irene's head felt hot at the insinuation that the man would be there with her. It was already an accusation she felt terrible about.

"I'm not sure," the knight responded and ran out of the room. "Excuse me!"

Irene wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but she went by the library, only to find it empty and then to the far stairs outside that normally only maids and servants used to get to their rooms.

On the main floor, the furniture in the great hall was being put back in place and things were slowly being cleaned up after the chaos from the night before.

No matter where Irene searched, she couldn't find her Commander.

Not the dining hall, not the kitchen. He wasn't on the practice yard or in the sitting room towards his study.

The woman realized that his study door was open, and for good measure, she rushed through the door, having already lost hope that he was anywhere to be found.

Her rushing stopped when the handsome knight was asleep on one of the couches next to the fireplace. He was laying on his side and his knees were bent because the couch he was on wasn't long enough for his tall height.

As much as Irene didn't want to face him at all, she knew she needed to apologize. She also needed to tell him that one of the maids found her in his room…