The Thief and The Knight – A Tale of Loyalty, Deception, and Debt

Long ago, in a kingdom shrouded in intrigue and whispered conspiracies, a princess named Evelyn sat at a grand table, her cards laid face-up for all to see.

“I win,” she declared.

A great cheer erupted around her. The courtiers, nobles, and onlookers burst into applause, their faces illuminated by the glow of candlelight and the flicker of torches. Her brothers, Malek and Asher, both sharp-witted and fiery-haired, grinned despite their loss. The King himself, their father, clapped with pride, his crown askew atop his weary brow. But the Queen, Evelyn’s stepmother, only smiled thinly as she gathered her own cards.

“Well done, Evelyn,” the Queen said, her voice smooth but cold. “It seems your years locked away in the tower have not dulled your mind.”

“On the contrary,” Evelyn said, emboldened by her victory. “Solitude sharpens the mind and strengthens resolve.”

Their confinement had been their late mother’s final request, or so the King had claimed. “For your protection,” he had said. “To honour her memory, we must not disturb the dead.”

Now, after years in isolation, they stood in the court once more, but not for long.

“As promised,” the Queen continued, “you may ask for one boon. But first—” she turned to Evelyn’s brothers, “—I have a task for the princes.”

The air grew heavy as the Queen pronounced her challenge: Bring me the Knight of the Glen’s Steed of Bells, the finest horse in the realm. Fail, and you shall lose your heads.

A murmur of unease rippled through the court. The King’s face paled, yet he said nothing.

Malek, undeterred, swirled his wine with a smirk. “Very well. We ride at first light.”

“And what will you request of me, Princess?” the Queen asked Evelyn.

Evelyn glanced at her brothers. She could flee, renounce her royal title, and vanish into obscurity—but her heart bound her to her siblings. She chose instead to accompany them.

“My request,” Evelyn said, “is that you, my Queen, remain locked in the highest tower until our return. If you hear the bells of the steed, you’ll know we succeeded. If not, you’ll know we are dead.”

The Queen hesitated but finally consented. “So be it.”

Thus, under the watchful gaze of their father, the three siblings prepared for their perilous journey. But they would not travel alone.

The Prince’s Ambition

Among the gathering crowd, their half-brother Badden emerged, his eyes glinting with icy determination. “I will join you,” he declared.

Malek laughed, strumming a lyre lazily. “And why would a cosseted Prince, chained by his mother’s will, desire to ride with us?”

“To prove myself,” Badden replied. “Mother kept me cloistered, but I escaped her chains long ago. Besides, I know someone who can guide us to the Knight.”

Though skeptical, the siblings accepted his offer. Any ally, however uncertain, was better than none when facing legends steeped in blood.

Into the Unknown

The next morning, the King kissed Evelyn’s brow. “Look after them,” he whispered, pain shadowing his eyes. “All of them.”

Their caravan departed amidst fanfare and horns. The castle’s gates closed behind them, and the wilderness soon swallowed their path.

Badden led with confidence, though when questioned, he admitted to knowing little of the Knight himself. Yet he promised to lead them to someone who knew more—a mysterious figure known only as the Black Thief.

Hours passed, muscles ached, and tempers frayed. At last, in a hidden glade littered with bones and the whisper of forgotten souls, their guide appeared.

She was a woman clothed in black, with midnight curls cascading down her back and eyes like molten amber. “Call me Maia,” she said, her voice as smooth as velvet and as sharp as a dagger.

“I’ve tried stealing the Steed of Bells for seven years,” Maia confessed. “Each time I’ve failed, but each time I’ve learned. I can guide you inside—but I want the silver bells the steed wears.”

The bargain was struck. Yet mistrust brewed among the siblings. Was Maia a true ally, or another trap laid by the Queen?

The Knight of the Glen

Under the cloak of night, they approached the Knight’s keep, a fortress blackened by time and legend. Guards paced the battlements, but Maia led them to a hidden door.

“Badden, you wait here. If trouble comes, hoot like an owl,” Maia instructed.

Badden protested, but ultimately remained behind as the others slipped inside.

Through shadows and silence, they crept to the stables where the Steed of Bells awaited, clothed in silk adorned with sixty silver bells. But the moment Maia crossed the threshold, the bells chimed a haunting melody.

Guards swarmed. Weapons clashed. Evelyn and her brothers fought bravely, but the numbers overwhelmed them. One by one, they were captured.

Badden was nowhere to be seen.

The Furnace Room

Dragged before the Knight of the Glen, they stood in a room hotter than any forge, the air thick with the stench of death. The Knight, grey-haired yet powerfully built, sentenced them to burn alive—one by one.

Evelyn was to be first, but Maia stepped forward.

“Do you not recognize me?” Maia said, eyes aflame. She then recounted a tale: how she had once saved a child from a monstrous giant with a single eye—the very Knight who stood before them.

She reminded him of the day she had slain the giant who raised him, piercing his heart with a heated spit while he slept. She had spared the child—the Knight himself.

The Knight, shaken, removed his glove to reveal a missing finger—proof of Maia’s truth.

“You saved me,” the Knight whispered, regret shadowing his eyes. “I cannot kill you.”

At that moment, a guard burst in. “We shot another intruder escaping the woods. He bears the crest of the King!”

It was Badden.

Evelyn pleaded. “If he dies, the Queen will unleash her wrath on us all.”

The Knight hesitated, then nodded. “Take the steed. Ride hard and save your brother.”

The Ride of the Steed of Bells

The Steed of Bells, sensing Evelyn’s royal blood, bore her like the wind through forest and field. Badden, pale and bleeding, slumped before her, the arrow still lodged in his chest.

The bells chimed with every gallop, their song echoing through the night.

As dawn broke and the castle rose into view, Evelyn’s eyes caught a distant, dreadful sight: a figure in white plummeting from the highest tower. The Queen had leapt to her death, hearing the bells that signaled her son’s fate.

They crossed the drawbridge to the sound of horns. Guards swept Badden away to the healer. Evelyn dismounted, weary and bloodied but alive.

Moral of the Story

Loyalty, courage, and truth can unravel even the most treacherous of schemes. Bonds of family, though tested by blood and betrayal, endure through sacrifice and honour.