A knight in shining armour

[akonken.livejournal.com]

She still wasn't entirely sure why they were in the pantry.

The whole experience was strange, but then talking to Snaggle usually was. He never explained himself. He said things that made no sense and she could feel meant something, but he wouldn't tell her what it meant. How was she supposed to learn?

Even so, they were in the pantry. It was dark and close, and the conversation was very serious. Rose looked down at him from where she sat on the stepladder to where he knelt, his arms casually slung over his knee.

She idly wondered if she was honouring Winter with this talk - off somewhere secret talking in low voices about people they both grieved for. She hoped so. She didn't mind others mocking her Court, but she didn't want to do the same to them. For her this, too, was about understanding.

Her thoughts began to veer toward Eeyore when they were interrupted suddenly by his words. "What do you want from me?"

It was a question she hated, and always had. How could she answer it?

She did, though. "I want you to be happy as long as you can," she began.

After listing a few things, he cut her off with a mumble she had to bend down to hear. "-To protect you from threats from within and without the Freehold, to protect you from yourself-"

They'd discussed it, but she was still surprised. He was swearing fealty. He was swearing to be her knight.

Why would anyone do that?