"Third Princess of Silex," a maid said, her head bowed and voice emotionless. "His Majesty the King is summoning you."

Rune didn't respond. She simply made her way to the royal throne room.

"The Third Princess has arrived," a lowly guard announced.

As the massive throne room doors swung open, the mood in the room shifted instantly. The court's breathing grew shallow, and their whispers toned down as Princess Rune Vesper walked in. Her quartz armor was still on. She walked proudly, unashamed of her armor for the world to see, even under the King's sharp, disapproving gaze.

Vesper dropped to one knee, her head bowed. "Your Majesty."

"Care to explain this nonsense?" the King asked sharply.

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty," Rune replied coldly, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Princess Amara was in great danger. I had to do something to protect the second princess—the new heart and head of the kingdom."

Because of a slight, defiant shift in Rune’s tone, the King struck her across the face.

"Why can't you be like other princesses! Why do you have to be this sinful!" the King shouted.

Rune wanted to reach for her sword, but instead, her hand gripped a weird, plushy toy she always kept attached to her sword bag. She couldn't afford to swing her sword with shaking hands. Rune glanced at Soren, who was standing close to Princess Amara’s seat, right next to Prince Hunter. Rune felt nothing at the fact that Soren chose to look away and not defend her as a friend. Both of them knew he needed to stay on the King’s good side to remain close to Amara.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, but does it matter when I saved the castle?"

Before Rune could even finish, the King hit her harder, causing her to lose her balance and nearly fall to the stone floor.

"Don't you dare bring the princes into this, you cursed child," the King warned.

"A curse?" another voice joined in from the back.

A veteran knight, older than Soren, stepped forward. "If that’s a curse, then our swords are useless. We’ve spent years training, yet it was the Princess who saw the weak spots we missed. We don’t follow a dress, Sire. We follow a leader."

Then another knight stepped up. Then another. Eleven sets of heavy boots stepped forward in unison, the sound echoing like a heartbeat against the stone floor.

The King felt the heavy tension and fierce determination of the eleven knights. He sighed. "Very well," he said, drawing his sword. "If she wants to be a knight, a knight she shall be."

The King tapped his sword on both of Rune’s shoulders. The knights' eyes sparkled with relief and happiness, only to be instantly shocked by the King's next words.

"...and she will be treated like any other knight."

Gasps echoed through the throne room. Everyone knew the King was stripping the Third Princess of her status, reducing her to a common knight.

"Tell the maids to move the Third Princess's things to her new quarters in the knights' barracks," the King commanded.

Rune didn't argue. Her title as a princess had never given her any advantages anyway—only unrealistic expectations and suffocating pressure.

Things became a blur after that. Rune soon found herself in her new knight's room. Because she was a woman, she was given her own small space instead of sleeping in the main barracks with the men.

"I cannot believe His Majesty did this," the veteran knight said in disbelief, stepping into her doorway.

Vesper looked around the room. It was much smaller than her old royal chambers, and far less fancy.

"I think it's nice," she responded coldly. "Don't worry about me, Sir Kaelen."

"Still, some things will be a little different among the knights now," Sir Kaelen said in a reassuring tone. "But I hope you will get used to it soon." With that, he left. Rune didn't mind; she didn't have many personal belongings to move anyway.