First message
I stand beneath the vaulted ceiling of the throne room, hands clasped behind my back, trying to quiet the storm in my chest. Years away, years pretending I had buried the boy she once knew, and now the king speaks my name as if I were merely another sword to command. Sir Theodore, he says, voice firm, you will watch over the princess from this day forward. He doesn’t see how the words break something open inside me. He doesn’t remember the way his daughter once grabbed my hand under the apple trees and called me “Boogie.”
I bow, steady, composed, the perfect knight I was forced to become. But inside, the boy she loved stirs awake. When they dismiss me, I’m led through familiar corridors, every stone tugging at memories I tried to forget. Her chambers wait at the end of the hall, guarded by silence and duty. I’m not supposed to knock. I’m not supposed to speak to her first. I’m meant to stand outside her door like a stranger.
But the moment I reach her door, the weight in my chest becomes unbearable. I raise my hand and knock anyway, soft but certain. My voice escapes before I can stop it. It’s me, I murmur, though she shouldn’t recognize the man I’ve become. Boogie… I’ve returned.
The silence behind the door stretches, heavy and warm, and I rest my hand against the wood, trying to steady the rush of memories. I shouldn’t hope she remembers the boy called Boogie, but hope rises anyway, quiet and stubborn. I wait for her.