Violette smiled at the mask held within her hands as she sat upon the bench within her little garden. The border of the patch of green was colored by blues, lavenders, yellows, and others of the palest hues and softest scents; with the exception of a section behind the bench.
A butterfly alight upon the mask and gently pulsed its wings.
"I miss his face," Violette told the slight creature. "I've never missed any but my grans' before."
The butterfly slightly adjusted its position on the mask.
Violette released a slight breath, aggravating the butterfly and sending it away. She watched it. "Oh, I am sorry." It flitted away, leaving Violette alone once more. She returned her focus to the mask and sighed.
"Fear not, dear lady," came a gentle baritone. Violette's expression brightened and she looked up. "I shall slay this wretched loneliness."
Violette stood to her feet, dropping the mask as she hurried forward with a cry of "Leo!" She threw herself into his arms, laughing and giggling as he enfolded her within them.
"Good day, my lady Violette."
Violette pulled back, setting her feet back onto the ground as she smiled up into his face. "I am so glad you've come." She turned and motioned to the patch of green and the colorful border. "Do you see? Isn't it lovely? All I need is our tree. There. Right where you suggested."
Violette focused back to Sir Leo, smiling brightly. He watched her with a softer smile. "Have you brought the tree? Might I see it? I am excited to see what you've brought!" Wide-eyed seriousness. "And I hadn't planned at all for visitors today." Smile and giggle. "I was moping in my garden because I missed your face, and here you are!"
Sir Leo gathered her hands in his. She still smiled as she held his gaze. "As I have missed yours."
"Can you stay for dinner? It shan't take but a moment-- Oh! But I so want to see the tree you've brought." Violette giggled and released his hands to throw her arms around him again. She embraced him tightly. "I am glad you've come, sir knight."
Sir Leo chuckled and pulled back. Then he took her hand. "Come, my lady Violette. We've a tree in need of rescue, and Cloud would care to say 'hello'."
Wide eyes. "Did you get a blossoming tree of pink? I so dearly wanted one but forgot to tell you."
Sir Leo motioned her forward and released her hands. Then he led her through the garden to the front gate. "I do not recall a specific color being associated with this particular tree, my lady," he admitted.
"No? How odd. They're usually so good at telling me the colors of the blossoms."
"Indeed. The shopkeeper confessed this same duty; however, such was impossible due to the uniqueness of the tree."
Violette's expression brightened. "A 'unique' tree? Truly?" She clasped his hand. "How perfectly exciting!"
"Such had been my hope, my lady Violette."
Violette opened the gate and rushed forward, bidding Cloud 'hello' and receiving an earnest reply as well as a soft push with his velvety nose. Violette giggled and stroked it, chatting to the horse about the ride, the weather, and the special dinner waiting for him as Sir Leo approached. Then she lightly kissed Cloud's nose and looked expectantly to Sir Leo.
Sir Leo gestured to his saddle bag and stepped over to begin unfastening the straps.
Violette came to stand beside him, eyes wide. "In here, sir knight?" she inquired.
"Yes, much to my surprise, but soon you shall see."
Sir Leo opened the flap and reached inside to pull out a metal tin approximately 10 inches tall and four inches in diameter. He faced Violette and offered it forward.
Violette accepted and opened it, breath bated. When she looked within, she gasped and quickly yet carefully reached in to withdraw a small sapling approximately six inches tall with bright green foliage and stem and a tightly closed bloom. The color of the blossom within couldn't be determined.
"You're lovely," she breathed. "Do you have a name, little one? Or should I wait until you've grown tall and strong?" Violette lightly touched a nearly translucent green leaf. "I'll wait, and then you can name yourself."
Violette raised wide eyes to meet those of Sir Leo. Hers glimmered. "Thank you so. I will cherish it."
Sir Leo softly smiled. "I am relieved it pleases you, my lady Violette. I had never before been assigned the duty of choosing a tree for a garden."
Violette's expression brightened with her giggle. "You did wonderfully, sir knight."
Sir Leo wordlessly watched her.
Violette motioned back to Cloud, seriousness returning. "He's fine to wander, if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Allow me to remove my supplies."
"Supplies?" Violette inquired. "Are you going far?"
"No. They are simple necessities I have found helpful. As well as an item I thought you might enjoy."
Violette's eyes widened with wonder. "For me?" She giggled. "Oh how lovely!"
Sir Leo retrieved the bags, gave Cloud permission to wander, and then followed Violette to the cottage. She held the door for him and then closed it securely behind. Then she made her way around to the different lamps and brightened the room as Sir Leo set the bags by the front door, retrieved something from one, and then moved to sit at the table. He hooked his scabbard on the chair-back to his left.
Violette travelled to the kitchen to begin the task of dinner, humming all the while. Sir Leo watched her for awhile, and then the slight package on the table in front of him drew his gaze.
"Have there been further sightings of the outlaws within the forest?" Sir Leo inquired, gaze not leaving the package.
"Oh no," Violette assured him. "I would have gone straight to town if there had been, sir knight."
Sir Leo looked up. "This inactivity for such a time is odd; as is the fact we are unable to locate them. We of the White Knights begin to wonder if they have a hidden rendezvous point."
"You don't suppose it might be close to the forest, do you?" Violette asked, hesitant.
"Unfortunately, my lady Violette, I do not know."
"I'll do my best to be more careful when I have to leave the cottage," she assured him. "I wouldn't want you to worry for me."
Sir Leo's expression relaxed into a smile. "I thank you, my lady. Please do so." He fingered the small package before pushing it aside. "I have given thought to establishing an additional post of White Knights here; near the forest in case the outlaws do indeed use it for their benefit."
Violette rushed from the kitchen, eyes wide and hands clasped against her chest. "Oh please do, sir knight," she plead passionately. "If the White Knights of Althena were so close to the forest, the children and families would know it's not evil as they've thought. They would cherish it again. Oh please do!"
"I will speak again to the others, my lady Violette. I thank you for your permission and urgence."
Violette smiled brightly and returned to the kitchen. "Would you be the Knight in charge of the post, Sir Leo? It would be so wonderful to see a familiar face, and then you could watch our tree grow. I would love to have you here when it blossoms the first time, it's said to be a very special time you see, and then you could help me choose a name. And I know your family and friends would love having you so close to home, wouldn't it be wonderful to know you were protecting them, and you could visit whenever your schedule permitted."
Sir Leo's lips twitched upward. "I had given the notion some thought."
Violette emerged with two bowls, silverware within, and two cups. She set a place for each with several smiles to Sir Leo. Then she disappeared back into the kitchen and arrived a few moments later with a small pitcher in one hand and a cast iron pot in the other. Sir Leo stood and relieved her of both, setting them on the table between and then holding Violette's chair for her while she sat. Her smile brightened the room.
Then Sir Leo sat again at the table. Violette thanked the forest for the provisions used in the stew, and then she served them. She had prepared a meal consisting of vegetable chunks, steamy and creamy broth, and soft chunks of varying meats.
"Delicious, my lady Violette," Sir Leo complimented. "Superb."
Violette giggled. "Oh I am glad you like it. I was a little worried it wouldn't have simmered long enough."
"I have had nothing to match," he assured.
"Nothing?" Violette asked in wide-eyed amazement. "In all your travels? Everywhere?"
"I speak true, my lady Violette."
Violette giggled again. "Oh how wonderful!"
Sir Leo chuckled.
Violette watched him eat, her expression soft and her violet eyes glowing with her gentle smile as she absently dipped her spoon in and out of her stew.
"Sir Leo?" she asked quietly, drawing his attention. "Do you have a portrait I might keep? I did so miss your face, and if I had that..." Wide-eyed curiosity. "You wouldn't mind my having a portrait, would you?"
"Of course not," he assured softly.
Violette smiled. "It wouldn't need to be very large. Just something I can hold as I sit on the bench under our tree..." She giggled. "Though the sapling won't be big enough to plant outside for a time yet."
Sir Leo watched her expression before covering her hand with his. "I shall bring a portrait from home for you, my lady Violette."
Wide-eyed wonder. "From home? Truly?" Smile and hand covering his. "Oh thank you so! I'm certain I'll love it!"
Sir Leo's lips twitched.
"Oh!" Violette pulled her hands from his and stood from the table to rush to her bedroom.
"My lady? Is something amiss?"
"No," came a muffled voice. "I only... Here!" She rushed back and sat again in the chair to offer something forward.
Sir Leo took it and... he stared into the brightly smiling face of Violette.
"I painted that for you the other day. Do you like it?"
Sir Leo slowly adjusted the miniature within his hands. "I do, my lady Violette," he said, soft and slow. He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "I thank you."
She smiled as brightly as in the picture. "You're welcome to it, sir knight. I'm only glad I finally could give it to you." Her smile faded. "After so many days of waiting, I thought you had forgotten me."
Sir Leo again covered her hand with his. "You hold my life in your delicate hands, my lady Violette. How am I to forget she who saved me?"
Violette's smile returned, soft. "I am glad. A White Knight's life must be much more exciting than mine here by the forest."
Sir Leo retrieved his hand as he looked to setting aside the miniature and focusing again to his stew. "Yes."
"But even amidst that you remembered me and our tree," she said happily.
A brief smile tickled his lips as he met her gaze. "A pleasure always to serve, my lady."
They finished their dinner to the sounds of pleasant conversation about life outside the cottage. Sir Leo described to her the most elaborate of temples dedicated to Althena; He described the White Knight's main headquarters and their ship the Destiny; And he described to her the shrine where the Lady of Eternal Blue had returned to the Blue Star.
Violette listened to all in enraptured silence, forgetting her stew until Sir Leo would make a wordless gesture as he continued a telling.
Then the stories were finished and Violette gathered the dishes, refusing Sir Leo's help with a wide-eyed "Oh no, sir knight. You're my guest." She then organized the dishes in the sink as sir Leo returned to the table and gathered his scabbard from the chair-back. He strapped it on his hip as he stared down at the package still on the table.
Violette returned to the main room, halting when she saw Sir Leo placing the miniature of her away into an inner pocket. "Oh dear," she voiced glumly. "Is it time for you to go so soon?"
Sir Leo looked up. "Very nearly, my lady Violette. I have but to offer you this in recompense for your great help." He motioned to the small parcel.
Violette came to stand by his left and reached out for it. She fingered the brown wrapping a moment before raising her eyes to meet his. "Should I open it now, or when you've gone?"
Sir Leo looked down to the task of adjusting his scabbard. "Whichever you prefer, my lady Violette."
Violette sighed and lowered her gaze again to the parcel. Then she slowly began to unwrap it, Sir Leo intensely watching her face. Violette took in a slight gasp. "Oh sir knight," she whispered as she took it from the wrapping, "they're lovely."
Two mother-of-pearl and ivory combs now laid in the palm of her hands.
Violette lifted a misted gaze of dark purple to meet his brown ones. She stepped forward and embraced him, eyes closed. "Thank you so," she whispered. "I will wear them always."
Sir Leo's arms surrounded her slight frame.
But amid the happiness an odd tightness gathered in Violette's throat and wetness escaped her eyes. "Sir knight, why do I feel so much better when you're here with me? Why do I miss your face so?"
Sir Leo's only answer was a softly stated, "Dear Violette..."
Violette pulled back, holding his gaze with a wide-eyed expression of puzzlement. "Sir knight, why does your going make me so sad?"
Sir Leo stared down into her face a moment before lightly caressing her cheek. Then he stepped back and turned away to step toward the door, gathering his things on his way out. Violette stepped after him, hands clasped to her chest. Sir Leo whistled for Cloud, who promptly came.
Violette wrung her hands as she watched him arrange his things, puzzlement battling sadness and melancholy despair. "Sir Leo," she began in a choked voice, "why do I not want you to go?"
Sir Leo paused his actions before finally facing her, deep brown eyes meeting her glimmering ones of deep purple. "For the same reason I do not want to go, my lady Violette," he said quietly.
"But tell me why. I don't understand why I feel this way. I know you will return, you've said so, but why do I feel as if I die each time you go..." Her voice cracked on the last word.
Sir Leo stepped close and gathered her hands in his. He brought each to his lips. "Do not suffer so, dear Violette. I beg of thee."
Violette lowered her eyes to their clasped hands, searching through all she had ever known to find the reasoning for her sadness.
Sir Leo released a slow breath and lightly kissed her hand. "Little did I realize the rescues attempted for you would instead lead to mine own..." He touched his lips lightly to her forehead, causing Violette to look up and meet his gaze. "I would gladly be your knight, my lady Violette. Until death."
Violette's eyes widened as she gazed up into his somber and handsome face, and the expression in his dark brown eyes... She blinked. "I love you," she whispered in awed realization.
Sir Leo's hands tightened slightly on hers, and his gaze didn't lift from them. "As I have come to love you," he said softly, "but I have not the freedom to stay." Sir Leo finally met her gaze. "My duty as a White Knight demands my presence."
Violette stared up into his face with an expression of awed wonder. Then, like a whisper of a morning breeze, it softened and brightened into a beautiful collection of the purest love and devotion and happiness Sir Leo had ever seen. It stole his breath.
"All right," she told him in a warm and gentle tone. Her violet eyes danced like stars. "Do be careful on your journey back, dear knight. And if you still have that lotion I gave you before, you can use that on any wounds you might get."
Sir Leo watched her expression, and the tones of her voice soothed his own expression. "My lady Violette--"
Violette lightly touched his lips with a finger. "Shh. It's all right. I will wait here for you." She stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Fare thee well, and do remember the portrait." She stood again on flat feet to brightly smile up at him.
Sir Leo's face relaxed into a slight smile as he again kissed each hand. "Fare thee well, dearest Violette. I shall return straight away."
He briefly squeezed her hands and then turned to mount his waiting steed. Cloud nickered his farewell, eagerly accepted Violette's strokes, and then noticeably straightened his posture.
Sir Leo and Violette's gazes met. She lifted a hand and he accepted it.
"Will you be my bride, my lady Violette?" he asked solemnly.
Violette softly smiled. "Forever, dear knight. Forever."
Sir Leo held her hand a moment longer... he released it to give her an extravagent bow. "I shall return, dear lady, never to part again. You have my word."
Violette wordlessly smiled up at him.
Cloud whinnied and pranced, front feet lifting from the ground. Then Sir Leo had gone, but Violette's smile didn't waver and the sadness didn't return. Her rescue had come.
The End
(See 'Letters of Import' to read their correspondence spanning the time before he is able to return to the cottage)