In Anasuri's hug, Ekon trembled with sobs. She frightened him, her kindness did. He had never known anyone to be so forgiving or kind. He did not understand how she could be so calm after he'd attempted to end her life. Then again, somehow he knew that she had believed he wouldn't do it that whole time. Even with his knife at her throat he'd seen that hope in her eyes. More than anything, he never wanted to see that look on her face again. That fearful expression, the terror, he never wanted to see it again, especially on Anasuri's kind face.

Ekon wrapped his arms loosely around Anasuri, he felt so awful, so disgusted by his own actions. He wanted her to know that he was so sorry. He knew then and there that he would see her through life, make sure no one ever tried to harm her like he had. As long as she had him of course.

"T-thank you m'lady, I am so sorry. I was tested and I failed. Thank you for your mercy, for being so kind even to someone as awful as me. I will remain here, as your guard, if you would have me. I am willing to leave too, if you don't ever want to see me again you won't." He looked Anasuri in her pale eyes as he spoke, he was a horrible man, but he did not stare at the ground asking for pity. He knew he had been in the wrong, and he'd fight for the rest of his life to try and fix it.

Anasuri rubbed Ekon's arm gently, "You did not fail," she said firmly, "I am still here, yes? Then there is no failure. No harm done at all. If anything, I now know that you are loyal. And I would not send you away. My statement from the other day still stands: you have made me feel safe. If you wish to stay, you will always have a place here."

Anasuri looked around on the ground, and found the knife that Ekon had dropped when his heart changed. She wiped it off on her skirt, and held out Ekon's hand, set the knife in his hand, and closed his fingers around it, "This knife was not used today, Ekon," She made sure he was looking into her eyes. Anasuri was not crying anymore, "I am here, you are here.. There had been no failure. You are not awful at all, either. You are brave for making this decision. This was the more difficult path, and you are facing it." Anasuri reached over with her other hand and brushed away some of Ekon's tears, letting her hand linger there before pulling away, "We will face this path together, alright? You and me."

Ekon did not know what to say, his throat had closed, and his tears slid slower. He didn't know how to take the physical contact or kind words that were never said to a knight. No, he was not used to these soft hands and kind words, and couldn't remember the last time someone had treated him so.. carefully. Like he was fragile but strong at the same time. It was a hard feeling to describe, and he knew that if he had some paint and an easel, he would be able to convey it.

The knife in his hand immediately shifted into a bracelet, a harmless, bland bracelet. As if it had never been a weapon at all. Anasuri's comforting hand on his cheek startled him, but he kept his gaze firmly on her's, he would not look away, for it seemed that was the last thing she wanted. The last thing he wanted. For he needed to remember this for the rest of his life, as it was so, so important. He would remind himself later on, that this was the face he had tried to hurt, this kind, caring woman. And he would know that he could never kill an innocent.

"Then I will stay, and protect you better than any other knight in the entirety of the earth. You are to kind to me, especially after what I had tried to do today. As long as you are willing, I will face the path with you, for not only do I owe it to you, but I want to do it." Ekon still looked sad, scared, but the tears were coming to a stop, as he slowly pulled himself together.

Anasuri blinked, breaking the spell, and fully pulled away. There was a sound of paws on wood, and she looked past Ekon's shoulder to see who it was. As she suspected, it was Dava, who was also leading Dakota. Anasuri had a feeling that Dakota was not going to be happy. She turned her attention back to Ekon, and smiled, the serious look falling away, "Thank you, Ekon."

-

sorru this is so short!!!

It fine))

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Ekon didn't even want to look at Dakota, his anger radiated off him and Ekon knew he was about to be roared at. Though, he did completely deserve it, but once Ekon explained why, he knew Dakota would fully understand. He missed Neima and Avisa just as much as Ekon did. Unfortunately, he was not quite as forgiving as Anasuri, and even though he would understand, Dakota would most likely not speak to Ekon for days.

Ekon slowly was regaining his composure, and he wiped his cheeks as the tears finally stopped. "No, thank you Princess Anasuri. Thank you so much." He gave her a small, grim smile but it quickly slipped off his face. Slowly, he stood up, and turned to face Dakota, the huge bear was making that face. The face filled with a fierce dissapointment that almost made Ekon cry again. It would be better if the bear just roared at him and got it over with. Instead, his companion was dissapointed in him, and that was much worse than any roaring was.

Dakota ignored Ekon and bowed his head at the princess, before speaking to Dava. "Please tell Princess Anasuri that I thank her for her mercy, and that this will never happen again and that I am sorry to both of you. We will take our leave now. I bid both of you a goodnight." Dakota's bear voice was gruff, and he quickly grabbed his companions hand in his mouth, not gently, and pulled him out of the room.

Ekon gave Anasuri one last fleeting glance before being dragged to his room.

Dava butted her head against Dakota, attempting to soothe the bear's anger, if only a tiny bit. "I will, Dakota," the panda responded placing a heavy paw on her fellow bear's, unknowingly doing exactly what her own companion had been doing moments ago, "Try not to be too angry... He had his reasons, and although I do not agree with the actions taken.... I don't believe he could have every hurt Anasuri."

Dava then stepped aside, and let Dakota and Ekon pass. When Ekon looked back, Dava looked with him, and saw that Anasuri was peacefully waving, a smile on her face, "Goodnight," her companion said, and with that, the library door slid closed.
Anasuri stood firm, until she could no longer hear Ekon and Dakota, and crumpled to the ground. Dava was there, though, she the princess curled up in Dava's furry embrace. The panda was large and cuddly, and had always been Anasuri's source of comfort when she was scared and hurting.

"I... I thought... th..that.. that I was going," Anasuri hiccuped, "to.... die..." She sobbed into Dava's chest, "But you are not," the panda murmured, "You are my Anasuri, and you are right here. We are both safe." Anasuri sat up slightly, "You had a knife at your throat too, Dava! Oh..." Tears were streaming down her face, "I am sorry... You were under a lot of stress, too...." Anasuri trailed off as Dava cuddled her close, muffling her voice, "I am okay, Anasuri. I am okay." The panda swayed, cuddling Anasuri close, until the princess was no longer crying.

A much different scene was occurring in Ekon's room. After the door was safely shut behind them, Dakota forcefully knocked his companion over with a heavy paw. Ekon gasped for air as his breath was knocked out of him when he hit the floor. Dakota stood over him, and in that moment, he was angry, and he genuinely scared Ekon.

"Are you an idiot? I thought you would know better than to do something so foolish. You understand that if she tells, if she even insinuates that something occurred tonight that could be labeled as treason that we both will receive the highest punishment? We would be tortured and eventually slaughtered like animals. Do you not understand this? What was going through your damn head Ekon? I must know what was so important that you would be willing to kill Anasuri, who has done you no wrong and has shown more emotion for you than all of our past charges combined." Dakota's voice was like a roar in Ekon's mind, though the bear did not speak loudly, he wished no one to hear what was happening.

Ekon took a moment to reply as he finally regained his breath. "The council wants her dead Dakota, they assigned me to be her knight because they believed I had it in me to kill her no questions asked. And I was, Dakota they offered to bring Neima and Avisa back, they said that an elf had been born with the power to bring back those who he saw. That was why I have been painting her so much recently, because the elf needs to see her to bring her back. You know that I was in love with her, you were too in that way companions are. You and Avisa cared for each other above all else. They said they would relieve me of my knight duties and give me a home in the woods, with all I'd ever wanted. They wanted me to kill Anasuri so they could eventually infiltrate her room, get her work, and eventually topple over the hierarchy. And I would've done it for Neima, you know this. They threatened me too, they said that if I did not do it, they'd torture you and kill us both. They said that they were going to set fire to the orphanage. I couldn't say no Dakota, I just couldn't." Ekon was crying again, and a pained expression filled his face, as Dakota's claws were sinking into his shoulder.

The bear took in his companion's words and slowly stepped off him, looking away as Ekon sat up, hiding the tears Ekon knew were running down Dakota's face. Slowly, the bear turned back to his companion, took in his desperate appearance, and sighed, a longing, knowing sigh.

"I see why you did this Ekon, and I understand. I would have done the same for you. I'm sorry to say this Ekon, but you must move on. Neima is gone, no matter how much you wish otherwise. The council was lying to you, as they often do. I will not talk to you about this issue again, I trust you have informed Anasuri that the orphanage is in danger and that proper action will be taken to insure the children will be safe. For now, you will think on what you did, and should expect no mercy from the princess in the coming days. I am disappointed in you Ekon, you know better." With that, the bear disappeared into his jewelry, leaving Ekon to cry on his floor until the sun began to rise.

Once Anasuri had let out all of her tears, she cleaned off her face, and stood, "Okay, Dava. We have some work to do." As the pair walked down the halls, Anasuri told Dava what Ekon had been threatened with, and how they now needed to protect the orphanage.

The princess went straight to the guards tower, where the Captain organized the work. After bribing them with some powerful potions, Anasuri now held their ear, and knew she had their respect. The Captain would listen to her, and know that this threat was real.

Soon, a party of knights were setting off. Anasuri made sure to not give any information that would incriminate Ekon, basically telling the Captain that her spies overheard a plot to burn down the orphanage, and make the Crown look bad, since it was the nearest town. The Captain didn't question Anasuri having spies, as most royals did.

If fact, Anasuri did have many spies, and people she sent out to gather herbs and ingredients for her potions. They were all paid richly, and deeply trusted.

Ts? To the next day?

sure. what should happen then?