Knight in Shining Armor

Katie felt her knees weaken and she leaned against the threshold to the closet to keep herself from collapsing on the floor. She clawed at the fabric on her chest, feeling her chest tighten, making it difficult for her to breathe. As her breathing became quickened and shallow, she could feel herself start to get lightheaded. Arden rushed to her side and made her sit on one of the chairs.

“Alright, Katie, I need you to breathe slowly, okay?” Arden told her, demonstrating what she should do.

Following his demonstration, Katie fixed her eyes on Arden, the gentleness in his eyes calming her heart. After a few deep breaths, Katie felt calmer and was able to think clearly again. Arden glanced inquiringly at her and she nodded, unable to hold back a faint smile.

“Why are you smiling?” Arden muttered, resisting the urge to smile as well.

“It’s just… with how much you distance yourself from me from time to time, it’s hard to believe we’ve grown so close.”

Arden felt guilt grip his heart, but he couldn’t bear to see Katie’s reputation tarnished further because they were close. He was selfish to think everything would be okay at first, but when he noticed that the staff had grown more hostile toward her, he distanced himself. Surely enough, the tension had decreased… but it still was not better.

He cleared his throat. “Alright, are you ready to face the staff?”

Katie swallowed and answered with a determined nod. She rose to her feet and they both rushed to the palace foyer where almost every staff gathered, holding something different for the event the next day. Katie stood frozen for a minute, overwhelmed at the amount of details she needed to go over. She felt a presence stand behind her and gripped her shoulder encouragingly, snapping her back to reality.

Immediately, she thought of a way to organize things. She took a deep breath and spoke to the quiet yet attentive crowd of staff before her. “We have a small window of time given to us so I need us all in top shape. The details I need to go over, bring them to me, food first,” she turned to Arden. “Arden, I need you to pull some strings and call the services required when I need you to.”

“Are you sure I can do that?” Arden asked, keenly aware of every staff member ready to cooperate with him.

“You’re charming, use it!” Katie winked then turned back to the crowd. “Okay, please coordinate with Arden once I’ve made the selections. Any questions, you can ask me. I will check the progress once I am done with my choices.”

The crowd cheered and divided into two large groups. The first group eagerly approached Katie, excited for her to make her selection so they could discuss with Arden. Thankfully, there weren’t much to choose from since the choices were narrowed down. With Arden’s blessing, Katie chose the more elegant options, displaying both the colors of Aelysia and Anatolia.

Once the line was done, Katie stretched a little on her chair. When she looked up, she noticed a figure standing on the floor above, leaning against one of the supporting columns. Straining her eyes to see, she finally managed to make out who the person was. It was Alexander, observing the busy staff Katie successfully managed with a critical eye. How long has he been standing there?

After a few seconds, the Crown Prince spun on his heel and lethargically walked off, probably to his quarters. His demeanor reminded Katie that he stayed in the library for two days straight, probably with little amount of sleep.

“Arden!” Katie waved for Arden, barely visible in the flood of female staff across the room.

Arden noticed her immediately and rushed to her, gasping for air like he was struggling to breathe in the tight space. “I’m guessing you want to relieve me of my duties?” Arden asked.

Katie flashed him an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry but can you check on Alexander real quick? He looked sleep deprived and I want to make sure he’s okay.”

Arden’s jaw tightened but he nodded anyway. “But it’s best to let him rest for now, I’ll check up on him when he wakes up.”

“Thank you,” Katie lightly slapped both of Arden’s cheeks with her hands. “You’re a real lifesaver. Seriously, this is all thanks to you,” she gestured at the busy crowd in the foyer.

The young doctor beamed, proud. “I’m glad you’re appreciating my efforts for once.”

He sauntered back into the crowd to resume what he was doing. One of the palace staff approached Katie, telling her that they started decorating the ballroom. Katie nodded and followed the staff, shooting Arden a thumbs-up and a grin before disappearing around a corner.

The day carried on and everyone worked until late at night. When the rest of the staff retired for the evening, Katie sat on the ballroom floor, admiring the amount of progress they’ve made over a short amount of time. The ballroom doors opened and Arden entered, holding a glass of water.

“Any progress on the entrees? I heard they were short on one of the ingredients,” Katie turned to Arden.

“I just spoke with the chefs, they said they managed to find another supplier. Everything is all good,” Arden answered, handing Katie the glass in his hands.

“So far,” Katie reached for the glass and took a small sip. “I keep thinking something will go wrong. This is the first event I organized and I just…”

“… want things to go smoothly.”

Katie nodded. She lifted her wristwatch to her eye-level to check the time. “I think we still have a little time. Do you, uh…” she paused, her a blush of pink blooming on her face.

Arden laughed, nodding in understanding. “You need my fashion expertise for your clothes tomorrow.”

“But only if you want to!” Katie said firmly.

“I know.”

Arden stood and helped Katie to her feet. They exited the hallway, heading straight to the secret wardrobe. Arden took a quick scan of the lines of clothes in the racks and rushed to one of them. He pulled a cream-colored cocktail dress out of the racks with a flourish.

“This caught my eye earlier today,” Arden handed the dress to Katie. “I thought it would be perfect for an engagement party.”

Katie nodded in agreement. “I think so, too,” she exhaled sharply, a smile playing on her face.

“What?”

“You were always here to save me. I just realized that,” Katie replied, clutching the dress in her hands. “If it’s not cheesy for you, I’d say you’re my actual, real life, ‘knight in shining armor’.”

Arden fought the urge to smile but a shy grin broke through his attempt at a poker face. “Alright, let’s go before you make me blush. I’ll see you early morning for the finishing touches.”

“I haven’t even tried it on yet!” Katie complained, running to the fitting area.

“But I was hoping it would be a surprise.”

Katie cracked up from inside the changing room. “What kind of reply was that?”

She smoothed the fabric of the dress around her waist and did a few turns, the low cut around the back making her feel slightly exposed. She was uncomfortable wearing these types of outfits so the thought of changing the dress occurred to her. Momentarily, she was about to speak up but she remembered her aunt’s words. Her aunt always told her to explore more options when it came to her clothes. Perhaps she was talking about dresses like this.

“How is it?” Arden asked after a few moments of silence.

“Uh…” she hesitated. “Is the back supposed to be this… exposed?”

“I knew you’d comment on that. Yes. It’s actually not that low.”

“Speak for yourself,” Arden heard a faint sigh. “I-I’ll give it a try.”

Arden pumped his fist victoriously. Judging by how Katie dressed in the past few months, she always left little skin exposed. Even in the warm atmosphere of events, she was always covered up. Her royal duties have been trying to get her out of her comfort zone but she was getting dangerously stubborn about her clothing choices. Getting her to agree on a more different style was a sign that she could still be open to more changes; which meant more chances of adjusting to her life now.

Katie put her regular clothes back on and folded the dress neatly. She hung the dress over her forearm and was about to walk out when she saw something flash in the corner of the large mirror. She leaned closer to it and realized there was an object resting on one of the shelves.

“I think it’s getting too quiet. Are you alright in there?” Arden called out from outside.

“Just a second! I think I see something here!” Katie yelled back.

Quickly, she stood on the tip of her toes and grabbed the object on the shelf. Looking closer at it, she realized it wasn’t a regular mirror. It was… dark. A black mirror? What is it for?

“There’s a really creepy looking mirror in here,” Katie informed Arden.

“Aren’t all mirrors creepy?”

She lifted the mirror at eye level and squinted at it. Inside the mirror, light seemed to dance and distort in a mesmerizing manner that Katie could not tear her eyes away from it. Slowly but surely, she could make out figures moving. She saw Alexander and a red-headed girl.

After a blink of an eye, Katie found herself in a small enclosed space. A large, lone figure towered over her, staring at her with large eyes. She could feel the intense fear building up in her chest, growing exponentially as the figure reached out a hand to touch her. She screamed, hoping it would alarm the giant figure… but instead she found herself crouched on the floor of the dressing room, hands tucked at the back of her head, and the black mirror shattered on the floor. A split second later, Arden came barreling on the door, tearing the lock from its place.

Katie frantically scanned her surroundings and curled up on the floor, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. She felt her tears stream down her cheeks but she didn’t bother wiping them.

Arden kicked the black mirror away from Katie and knelt in front of her. “Are you alright? What happened?”

No response. From his view, Arden noted the large cracks radiating all over the large mirror in the dressing room, distorting his reflection. What in the world happened?