Regaining Trust (Maria X Reader) ~Commission~

(Name) sat by the creek to let his horse have a drink of water and tried to grasp what Michalis had said. Why was Michalis so set on trying to fight the Archanean army? His father was strong on trying to discourage him from recklessly trying to go into battle, but it seemed like Michalis wasn’t going to listen no matter how hard he tried to convince him. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he didn’t think he would be able to do anything if his father could get through to him.

He had to do something though. He couldn’t just stand by while Michalis blindly went into battle. He pulled himself off of the ground, picked up his sword, and patted his horse’s head to let him know that it was time to leave. He fed some sugar cubes to his horse and led it back to the stables to wait until he returned.

(Name) went back into the castle in search of Michalis and stopped in his tracks when he finally found him in the throne room. Michalis was standing over the king who was lying on the floor, his axe piercing through his flesh as he lay in a pool of his own blood. His eyes showed no remorse as he watched his own father taking his last breath at his feet. (Name) watched Michalis as he pulled his axe out of his father and kneeled down to him as the blood continued pouring out of him. “You’re a weak ruler and man. You have no right to be ruling the throne of Macedon. So I’ll be taking your place.”

The king coughed and tried to draw breath as he looked up at his son with a broken expression on his face. “Why would you do this, Michalis?”

Michalis only turned his back on the king and started walking out of the room, stopping when he noticed (Name) standing in the doorway. “Oh, (Name). I was just going to go look for you.” (Name) could only stand motionless facing Michalis. What else could he do after witnessing him murder his own father in cold blood? “I need you to assemble the army troops, along with the soldiers in training. We’re heading out.”

(Name) regained control over his actions and was somehow able to find his voice again. “T-the soldiers in training? What exactly are you planning, sir?”

“What do you think?” Michalis said as he held his axe over his shoulder. “We’re going to go into battle. You need to prepare yourself as well.”

“But Sir Michalis, please reconsider! The training soldiers aren’t strong enough for battle!”

“Are you planning on disobeying my orders, (Name)?” Michalis said with a scoff. “If you are, then I’ll have no qualms with making you end up like my pathetic excuse for a father.”

A rising heat welled up within (Name)’s chest, but he suppressed his emotions and only sighed. “Understood, sir. I’ll get them ready right away.”

“That’s what I thought.” Michalis moved past (Name) and headed out of the room.

(Name) looked towards the dead king lying motionless on the floor for a second before turning his eyes away. He couldn’t bring himself to look at him after seeing what had just happened. If only he had been here a minute earlier, he could have prevented this from happening. The least he could do was give him a proper burial, but he didn’t even have enough time for that since Michalis was insisting on going into battle.

Minerva walked in with a grim expression on her face, unable to look at her father lying on the ground. “I’m sorry you had to see that, (Name).” Minerva kneeled down and scooped the dead man up in her arms. “I was just informed of what happened to him by my brother. You should go. I’ll bury my father myself.” (Name) started seeing a trace of tears welling up in Minerva’s eyes even though it was obvious that she was trying to fight them.

“Yes, Lady Minerva.” (Name) walked out of the room, fighting the urge to go back and help her bury the king’s body. He had to go and get everyone ready for the battle, no matter how badly he wanted to prevent this battle from happening.

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(Name) stood by Michalis to give orders to their troops as they started to head out to battle. The Archanean army was quickly approaching their territory and it seemed like they would close in on them soon. “Send the soldiers out to fight,” Michalis instructed.

“B-but sir, they’re not ready,” (Name) said, trying to plead with him. There was no way that the inexperienced soldiers would stand a chance on the battlefield.

“I don’t care if they’re ready or not. I want them out fighting on the field. If they’re not able to fight, then they’re just as weak as my father was.”

(Name) clenched his fists in anger and turned towards Michalis, a burning passion glowing in his eyes. “How can you be so cruel, Sir Michalis? I once thought you were a noble man. But seeing how you’ve become as of late, I just can’t stand it anymore.” (Name) pulled his sword out of its sheath and held it in front of him. “Your father was a strong and noble man. You had no right at all to take his life away from him.”

Michalis turned towards (Name), anger brimming in his eyes. “So do you intend to disobey me and raise you sword at me? Then you’ve sworn yourself to become my enemy.” Michalis lifted his axe, seeming ready to attack. “It’s a shame though. You were one of my finest soldiers.”

(Name) dismounted from his horse and kept his sword ready in front of him. “I’m not just going to sit by and let you treat your own men in such a manner. You’ve become a tyrant, Michalis. And I plan to stop you right here before you can do any damage.”

Michalis raised his axe higher and took a fighting stance. “You won’t be able to defeat me, (Name). I will win this battle whether you like it or not.”

Both Michalis and (Name) started to charge at each other, Michalis swinging his axe and (Name) his sword, looking for opportunities to hit one another straight on as their weapons clashed with each other again and again.

(Name) believed that he had finally seen an opening when Michalis had lifted his arm into the air and went charging towards him with near reckless abandon before stopping in his tracks as a searing pain pierced through his right shoulder and chest. Michalis had landed his axe into (Name)’s shoulder and lifted it back out, making (Name) fall to his knees gritting his teeth to hold back the screams of agony he felt racing through his body. He held the place on his shoulder where Michalis’s axe had pierced and suddenly felt his blood seeping out of the wound on his shoulder onto his hand. He was starting to lose consciousness and his vision was starting to blur.

“Dammit… I’ve failed..” (Name) tried to keep himself standing on his feet, but it finally proved too hard of a task. He lost what little energy he had left and fell to his knees as waves of pain drifted through his body.

“Lay there and die like my pathetic father.” Michalis lifted his axe and mounted his dragon before flying off into the distance. He was the last thing that (Name) saw before he finally lost consciousness.

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(Name) started to open his eyes once more. His vision was still blurry but it was starting to clear up just a bit. Was he dead? He remembered that Michalis had struck him with his axe when they were fighting, but his memory after that was just a blur. A few tints of red had shone through his vision before a solid figure appeared before his eyes. He recognized the sight of Lady Minerva, kneeling over him and watching him with a worried expression that turned into relief when he had opened his eyes.

“Thanks goodness you’re awake,” Minerva said. “It seems I got you away from there just in time.” Minerva stood up and walked towards her dragon. “You need to stay here away from the battle. You shouldn’t move around too much or you’ll open your wound again. I’m going to go get someone to help you, and Marth and his army will make sure you stay unharmed while we fight.” (Name) could only muster the strength to nod as he watched Minerva fly off.

(Name) tried to sit up straight but the pain that shot through his shoulder had knocked him back onto the ground. He looked to his shoulder and saw that his wound had been patched up to at least stop the bleeding, but it was obvious that it needed much more attention. He looked as far left as he could and saw that his horse was standing there not too far away from him, watching over him protectively and nudging him to get him to lie down again. (Name) reached his free arm up and petted his horse. “Thank you for looking after me,” he said. His horse licked his hand in response before he put it down again. He looked up at the sky with a blank expression on his face, trying to ignore the pain flowing through his body.

He was still trying to grasp the fact that Michalis had become a tyrant and was forcing his own weakest soldiers to fight in battle against the Archanean soldiers. What was worse is that he had killed his own father and calling him a weak ruler. He was letting innocent people die by his own hands. His actions were unacceptable and he couldn’t allow him to cause any more harm to his people. He wanted nothing more than to fight and defeat Michalis himself, but even (Name) knew when he had reached his limits. There was no way he was going to be in good fighting condition any time soon. He sighed and tried to relax as much as he possibly could. It was the only thing he could do until he was able to receive assistance.

He couldn’t help but feel remorse for not being able to help the king from being killed by Michalis, for not being able to keep Michalis from sending all of those soldiers out to die in battle. He had seen firsthand what Michalis had become, and he wasn’t able to stop him. After seeing that, what else could he do? He now felt as though all hope was lost. He had pretty much lost faith not only in Michalis, but also in his own kingdom.

“He’s over here, sister,” he heard Minerva say from a short distance away. He looked up and saw Minerva dismounting her dragon with someone who was holding onto her. She lowered the person holding onto her before getting off and heading towards (Name). “His shoulder injury is bad. Do you think you’ll be able to heal it?”

“I’ll do my best,” the other person said. (Name) recognized that voice; it was Maria. Minerva and Maria were approaching him and Maria kneeled down to him as soon as she reached him, looking over his wounds.

“Lady Maria,” (Name) said with a sigh of relief. “You’re alright. I was worried about you.”

Maria smiled softly down at (Name) as she took his dirty bandages off. “Don’t worry about me. I’m alright now.” Maria reached into her bag and took out her Heal staff and started using its magic to heal (Name). He felt the weight of the world being lifted from his shoulders when the staff’s healing magic started flowing through him. After Maria finished healing him, she put hear Heal staff away and reached her hand out to him. “Are you able to stand, (Name)?”

(Name) took her hand and pushed up off of the ground to stand up. “Yes, Lady Maria,” he said. “I’ll be fine. But I think that it’s best that we start moving again to get as far away from here as possible. You could get hurt again.”

“Prince Marth wouldn’t let that happen, (Name),” Maria said.

(Name) looked towards Minerva and then to Maria, caution clear on his mind. “Who is this Prince Marth?”

Minerva came and stood next to Maria. “Prince Marth is a noble man who leads an army who is just as noble,” she said. “He has helped me save Maria from imprisonment and defeat my brother Michalis. He can be trusted.”

(Name) still didn’t know too much about this. Michalis was once a noble man after all, and he had seen how he turned out in the end. “Are you certain that he can be trusted, Lady Minerva?”

“I’m positive, (Name). Just fight alongside him and get the chance to know him and his army men. They’re all just as noble as the man who leads them.”

“I shall see about that.” Until he could trust this Prince Marth, or anyone for that matter, he would exercise extreme caution, mainly for Minerva and Maria’s sake.

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(Name) walked alongside Maria as Minerva had left on her Wyvern to scout the area. He left his horse near the resting area for the animals before he left. Maria didn’t seem like she was frightened to be around all these strangers at all, but he knew that was part of her nature. She could see the good within everyone and she was a kind and gentle person to everyone. She was able to trust people even when no one else could, and honestly he worried about that sometimes. “Are you positive that I shouldn’t draw my sword just in case, Lady Maria?”

Maria walked calmly beside him and shook her head. “There’s no need for that, (Name). Everyone here is looking out for each other, especially Prince Marth. He would give his own life to protect his people. It’ll just take some time to show that to you.”

Even though he still wasn’t quite sure about being in Prince Marth’s army, he would try to give him the benefit of the doubt since Maria was able to trust him. If what Minerva and Maria had said was true, then Prince Marth had actually aided in Maria’s rescue and Michalis’s downfall. He had earned his gratitude, of course, but he would still have to work in order to earn his trust.

“That’s him up ahead, (Name),” Maria said. “You should speak with him.” Maria looked up at (Name) and smiled her recognizably kind smile as she continued walking beside him to Prince Marth. (Name) stayed as close to Maria as he could as he approached Prince Marth, clad in blue and kneeling down by a creek to wash his hands and face. “Hello, Marth,” Maria said as she reached him.

Prince Marth wiped the water off of his face and stood to face Maria. “Hello, Maria,” he said. “I take it that you’ve found the man that you told me about.”
Maria nodded and looked towards (Name). “This is (Name), one of my family’s most trusted knights.”

Prince Marth smiled softly and held his hand out to (Name). “It’s a pleasure to meet you, (Name). Maria and Minerva have told me some good things about you. You’re quite a noble man from what I’ve heard.”

(Name) stared at Prince Marth’s hand silently before he looked to Maria, who nodded to say that it was alright to take his hand. He looked back to Prince Marth and shook his hand. “I’ve heard the same about you from them as well, Prince Marth.”

“Just call me Marth, Sir (Name). There’s no need for formalities in battle, at least in my army anyway.”

“If you insist,” (Name) said.

They both drew their hands back. “Feel free to come talk to me whenever you feel the need to, (Name),” Marth said. “We’re comrades now, after all.”

“Very well,” (Name) said. “I would also like to thank you for saving Lady Maria and fighting alongside Lady Minerva. I would be a failure as a knight if I had allowed any harm to come upon them.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I’m relieved you are all okay, though I would advise that you be careful with your injured shoulder.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Prince Marth. I’ll be on my way to tend to my horse.”

“Very well. I’ll speak with you later.”

(Name) nodded before turning and walking back from where they had come from with Maria.

“What do you think of him, (Name)?” Maria asked.

“He seems to be how you described him,” (Name) said, “but I’m still going to keep my eye on him for your sake.”

“I’ll be fine, (Name). We have nothing to worry about.”

“You say that, Lady Maria, but with all due respect what if he ends up like your brother did? Your brother became a tyrant and let the weaker soldiers die without a second thought. If this Prince Marth becomes anything like Michalis, then what will we do?”

Maria stepped in front of (Name) and planted her feet firmly on the ground while looking up at him with a calm yet stern expression on her face. “You’re worrying far too much, (Name),” she said. “I know it will take some time for you to gain his trust after the whole ordeal with Michalis, but that doesn’t mean that you should completely avoid Marth, or not even take the chance to get to know him.” Maria took (Name)’s hand in her own hands while holding his gaze. “And I know that you’re worried about Minerva and I, but there’s nothing for us to fear because you’re here, and you will protect us, just the same as Marth will. Can you promise me that you’ll try to build a friendship with Marth and our other comrades over time?”

(Name) sighed softly and got on his knees in front of Maria, keeping his hand in hers, and bowed his head to the ground. “If this is what you request then I’ll do my best to fulfill your wish, milady. I care for you and I wouldn’t want to do anything that would cause you to be unhappy.”

Maria smiled softly at (Name) and kneeled down, taking him into her arms and resting one hand on his head. “Thank you, (Name). I’m proud to have a knight as noble and dedicated as you by my side.”

(Name) wrapped his arms around Maria and held her in his arms before pulling back slightly to look her in the eyes again. “And I’m honored to be serving such a gentle and kind-hearted princess such as you. I wish to stay by your side and protect you in the days to come.”

“I’m be honored to have you as my knight, (Name). I always have been and I always will be.”

“Then I swear to stay by you and protect you until my I breathe my last breath.”

Maria’s smile remained on her face as both she and (Name) got to their feet and started walking back to meet up with Minerva, staying close to each other like they had always done.