The Prince of the Knights of the Tiger Realm
18
A near real-life knight,
who doesn’t know when to quit—
bye-bye Tiger Realm!
I t snowed about an inch that night, which in the south is equal to at least a foot up north. We attempted to make snowmen and have a snowball fight as the flurries fell, but there wasn’t enough snow. We ended up sprawled out on the grass, laughing uncontrollably.
The next day, the sun melted the dusting away. My confidence to tell Brenn how I felt vanished along with the snow. We were friends, good friends, amazing friends, but a first date could ruin that forever. And I wasn’t willing to lose his friendship over a fleeting crush.
Still, that night remained one of my favorites from college. Every time I looked at the coffee cup charm with the snowflake on it, the memories filled my mind. The chill of my walk with Austin. The warmth of our snow watch. The latter always brought a smile to my lips.
Two months later, I was walking across the main quad in the middle of campus. The sun was out, and the temperature was perfect. I spotted a group of people dressed up as knights and other various medieval personas. They looked like they were enjoying their games.
“Oh, fair maiden.” One of the medieval knights cried out.
I smiled but kept walking. Surely, he wasn’t speaking to me.
“Oh, fair maiden!” I pointed to myself and mouthed me?
He nodded. “Yes, thee with the peasant shirt and sandals. Thee with the smile that o’shadows the sun and the bracelet that glints in it.”
I started walking over to where he was. This should be good.
When I got closer, he said, “Hail, good maiden. We art thee Knights of the Tiger Realm. We finds need of a princess to preside over our final battle, and thee lookest to be one. Art thou?”
“Umm...” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
“Just go along with it. Trust me, it will be fun!” the knight said under his breath.
What the heck…
I shrugged and said, “For-sooth, I artest a princess.”
The knight smiled. “Wonderful, I believe these art thy robes?”
He handed me a royal robe and a crown to complete the look of a princess. I took them from him, saying, “Yea, those artest mines.”
“Sit hither to watch the battle, Your Royal Highness.” He gestured to a high-back wooden chair that sat nearby.
As the knight walked away, I settled into the chair. A girl dressed as a peasant came up to me, holding out a cup and a lump of something that resembled a hunk of bread. “Milady, here art thy caudle and pandemain.”
The warm, spiced milk had a rich and creamy aroma. The scent of a dense honey wheat bread rose up from the lump. The girl gestured for me to drink and eat. Both were delicious, and I polished them off in a flash.
This group was going for the full experience. Roll with it, Adelaide.
So I said, “Thank, thou. This is better than Malmsey. It pleasest Her Royal Highness.” I said, pulling out all the medieval Shakespearean words I could think of at the moment.
I looked up and found the knight who had waved me down, lining up for a battle with another one of the knights. The two men raised their swords and bowed in my direction. They stood up straight and stared at me, not moving a muscle.
The peasant girl leaned over and whispered, “You’re supposed to let them know it’s okay to begin.”
I nodded. “Fight well, fair knights... but doest nay harm... thouest mayest beginst!”
The two faced each other and bowed. When they came back up, both moved toward each other, clashing their swords. It was amazing to watch the two metal-clad men perform an intricate battle dance. The sun glinted off their armor and swords. The knights knew the steps, but I had no idea how they moved like that in a full protective shell.
After ten minutes, both were panting hard. I realized the battle dance was over when they bowed to each other and turned to me. My peasant-clad friend leaned over once more. “You’re supposed to declare a winner.”
“My royalness declarest that the knight on the right hast won the battle!” I figured he should win since he was the one who called me over.
Both knights walked up to me and kneeled. Their post-battle musk wafted my way, and I wrinkled my nose a bit. They really were going for the full experience.
The girl handed me a flower crown, whispering. “Put it on the winner’s head and thank them for their service.”
I stood up and placed the crown on the right knight’s head. “Rise, fair warriors. I thank thou for thy service.”
The two of them got up. The left knight and the peasant girl gave me a curt nod before they walked away to join the rest of the group.
“That was great! Thanks for playing along. The girl who usually presides as the princess is out sick this week. I’m Owen, by the way,” the remaining knight offered.
“I’m Adelaide and no problem. It was fun!”
“If you enjoyed that, you need to come eat with us.”
“Sounds deliciously enchanting, my good sir.”
I turned to take off the robes and crown when Owen reached out and touched my hand. “No. Leave them on. If you join us for the feast, you must remain our princess and guest of honor.”
Okay, princess all day it would be!
Good thing I had nothing planned this afternoon. I had been on my way home, where I had a date with fingernail polish and a good book. Wait till Mitzi and Cynthia heard about this change of plans!
The rest of the day passed by in a blur of musk, mead, and mutton. The group put on something akin to a Renaissance Fair in the middle of a college campus. A medieval revival the Knights of the Tiger Realm took very seriously.
At the end of the celebration, Owen offered to walk me home. When we got to the apartment door, I said, “That was a lot of fun today. Thanks for flagging me down and inviting me to stay.”
“Thou art welcome, fair Princess Adelaide. I wouldst like to see thou again. Art thou free on the morrow?”
I smiled and said, “I art.”
“If it pleases you, Your Royal Highness, let our persons meet at the Boarshead Tavern at six in the evening tide.”
I nodded. I knew the place—it was a medieval-themed sandwich shop downtown.
Before he turned to leave, he reached for my hand. He brought it to his lips, kissing the back of my hand with a softness I didn’t expect. I stared after him, wondering if agreeing to a date with him was a good idea.
The next day, Mitzi and Cynthia got ready with me. They insisted on going with me to meet Owen. After all, I didn’t know him that well. They assured me they fade into the background if all was well. But they would be there if things went south.
The first date with the Prince of the Knights of the Tiger Realm didn’t last long. Let’s just say by six-thirty in the evening tide, I was a fair maiden in need of rescue. It turned out that he preferred his dates to be from a thousand years ago. A fact that didn’t go over so well with this twenty-first-century gal. I love a good fairy tale, but I didn’t want to pretend to be a fair maiden for the rest of my life.
The Monday after, I saw Brenn walking back from class. He stood close as he asked about my weekend.
“It was good, but you’ll never believe what happened.” I showed him my new crown charm. He gently grasped my wrist to take a closer look.
Why did his touch feel so good?
I cleared my throat and told him how I ended up serving as a presiding princess, along with highlights of my date with Owen. “Brenn, he showed up to our date dressed as a medieval prince! He insisted he call me ‘Your Royal Highness,’ and I call him, ‘good, sir.’ I mean, I’m all for a bit of cosplay. I indulged in many a fairytale game when I was younger. But, seriously?”
“So you wouldn’t want some guy to show up dressed as a prince and take you into his arms?” Brenn dropped his hand to my waist and pulled me close. His left hand ran from the small of my back to my shoulder and down my arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. My words escaped.
“You wouldn’t show up in a frilly princess dress that swayed as you two danced.” I shivered as his warm hand encircled mine.
I stared into his eyes as he moved our arms into a waltzing position. The clean scent of his soap mixed with the freshly mowed grass around us.
My heartbeat quickened. The sound of it drowned out my internal monologue about Brenn being a friend. Only two thoughts remained— This feels amazing, and I hope he can’t hear how loud my heart is beating.
“You wouldn’t enjoy spinning in front of a castle to the music of beating hearts.” Our feet traced a languid circle around the lawn of the quad.
My eyes traveled over his face—his strong jaw, his smiling cheeks, the tenderness in his eyes.
“Adelaide,” Brenn whispered as he stopped, dipping his gaze to my lips. “You wouldn’t want him to…”
Everything faded away—except his warm hand on the small of my back as his lips neared mine.
Oh man, this is going to happen.
Every nerve in my body hummed with anticipation. I melted into him as his lips met mine with a whisper of a touch. The feather-light graze sent a jolt of electricity through me.
The surge of current jump-started my internal hearing. My mind was screaming— brENN IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!
I sprang back.
“Nope! Wouldn’t want that at all.”
Which was a total lie.
My heart wanted more of that kiss. My heart wanted to know where it led, but my brain won the battle.
Brenn smiled. But his grin didn’t tell me if he had been playing or if he had felt what I had felt.
Either way, it didn’t matter. The moment could never lead to anything more. Brenn was in the “best friend” category.
In fairy tales, the prince never rode over from the kingdom of best friends.