Still wishing.

It was a cold winters night, the snow was thick and it was hard to see through the haze of the blizzard. The knight tredged on, having lost his horse to the cold a while back, he would dead himself if it weren't for the winter padding under his armor. He hadn't expected to be out this long, just went for a ride and found himself lost. He had been in the woods for three long days, his rations had gone dry the first. He had a feeling he should've packed more. It was yesterday he had found his way out of the trees and onto a road, but due to the blizzard there were no merchants or anyone else for that matter. Everyone was tucked away inside their huts, cottages, and castles, waiting for the storm to pass.

"Sh-sh-should'v-v-ve g-g-gon-n-ne th-th-the oth-other wa-wa-way." He barely managed to stammer to himself. The cold was driving him mad, he could feel it. He need warmth. Then he saw it in the distance, a light, and as he drew closer, the form of a small hut could be made out. He thanked the gods and continued towards it.

When he arrived, he knocked twice on the door, and a strong looking woman answered the door, she wore her hair like he had never seen anyone do before. The left side above the ear was shaven, and the rest was grown to the shoulder. It was a multitude of colors, all of which blended perfectly together. She was a beautiful woman, with dark, mysterious eyes. She had a slender waist and a full buttox and bousom. Despite this, the man couldn't keep his eyes out of hers and for a second he moved as if to kiss her, but stopped, thinking twice. She invited him in, and he accepted the offer.

He hadn't removed his armor, expecting the worst. He was always cautious, but felt justified, since he knew not the woman. But she offered him kindness, and a nice word. But he was gruff, and only mumbled thank you's and welcomes. Though his gruffness was beginning to fade and his tone became friendlier and friendlier. He hadn't noticed consciously, that he was removing this armor piece by piece as the hours went on. The only thing he noticed, was the woman, her soothing voice, and her free spirit outlook on life. He was enjoying himself, and soon night left and morning came, but the blizzard was still there.

He had completely removed his armor, and was laughing and enjoying himself. Him and the woman had begun sitting close. They were talking of all sorts of things and touching one another as if they were old friends. The man was relaying stories of battle, and valor, and honor, and the woman was speaking of her life when she was a gyspie and of her time alone in the hut. The blizzard was beginning to subdue outside, but the two did not notice, they only carried on with the world they had created together.

Winter was soon gone and the blizzard as well, spring had come and the two awoke from their shared bed, to a banging on the door. It was the mans fellow knights, having come to look for him. They were going to war, and they needed him. They did not call him a traitor, or mock him for being stuck in the blizzard, and even praised him for the woman he had found and taken as his.

He gathered his armor, picked up his sword. He pulled on his armor, and kissed his woman goodbye, put on his helmet, then mounted the horse brought by the others. He rode to the top of the hill, turned and waved, and then he was off. The woman felt much grief and shut the door to her hut, allowing only men who reminded her of her knight to come in. She never bed with them, only sat and spoke.

The war was a long and brutal one. Many men died, and even more injured. The man himself lost three of the four knights who retrieved him, and hundreds of soldiers. The two men were fighting back to back, best friends in combat. One wore a helmet with a face mask of anger, and the other wore a face mask of sorrow. Both were fearsome fighters, and both drew much blood. It was not until the ending point of battle, when the two were chasing the enemy back to their lords, slaying many, that an arrow flying from behind enemy lines pierced straight through the heart of his friends armor, and entered into his, shattering the armor, and breaking his heart. It stopped and he could feel his life slipping away, and the blackness.

He awoke, his head in the lap of his woman. He knew not how he got there, nor how he survived. Only that he was in her arms once more. He could the feel anger of the battle fresh in him. He was still tired, and the hatred of war was fresh inside, and everything the woman said, was making him angry even though she was undeserving of his anger. He spent a short period of time with her, bed with her only once, and then was gone, leaving her alone once more, for the battle had been won, but the war was not over. And it would be along time before he would be back to normal. Longer than he wanted to make her wait in his current state. He would never see the woman again, but not for himself, only for the sake of the woman, so she never had to feel the heart break of mistreatment, so she never had to feel his anger again.

He left to fight the war, but the woman stayed where she was, trying to replace her lost knight. She knew she would never find another like him again, because he was unique in everyway, and loved her not for her talents in bed, but for her ability to make him happy. To put a smile across his face. And the knight knew, that he would never see the princess that was his again.