Appearances Lie

A gloved hand smoothed out a nonexistent wrinkle from the wedding dress while the other trailed tenderly over Maria's braid. The sun shone brightly on the plate armor, polished without flaw.

He couldn't see the knight's face; however, he didn't need to. His every move spoke of the affection he had for his sister. Maria lost her honor, and she would die a spinster.

He waited for the dark warhorse and jumped on its rider. They both rolled on the ground, and he succeeded to pin the knight's shoulders down and loomed over him.

"You'll pay for what you did to my sister." he hissed.

No answer came from the man on the ground, and he noticed his eyes never opened. Curiosity got the best of him, and he pulled the helmet off. A leather mask covered the knight's face and with trembling hands, he untied the leather straps that kept it secured. 

Flogging was the punishment for raising his hand against his betters, if caught. Boyar Ioannis would spare his life, as killing the man was not...

All thoughts fled him and all he could do was to stare. His eyes stood fixed on the knight's face. That's when he saw the thin trickle of blood coming from his temple.

"Oh, God, no!" and he hurried to remove the mail coif and the rest of the leather mask. Brown curls spilled over his hands and what happened next would forever be blurry memories.

Maybe he bent and pressed a kiss on her mouth. Maybe she woke up answering his kiss.

He would only remember the iron gloved hand who sprung to his neck.

"Today you made an enemy, never forget!"  then the world went black.

He never did. How could he, when she was haunting his every dream?