The Damsel and the Knight

once upon a time there was a knight in dented armor. He had been exiled by the court of his kingdom, and lived each day just getting by. One day, at a gathering to feed the poor, he met a damsel. No she was not the fairest of them all. No she was not a princess of any sort. This damsel was just an oridnary woman, barely in her womanhood, who had lost all hope with life. Fates would have them meet at the round table, and as the forced down their meager helpings, a discussion bloomed, and plans to meet in the near future were set. He would later come upon his sandy steed, and whisk her away. As the conversation deepened, she learned this knights recent armor chinks were rather shocking, having been just released from the stockades just months before, and now was under constant surveillance. Scared though the damsel was, his sweet smile, and eyes that held a thousand hurts, enraptured her. The promise of a future glued her. She moved to the kingdom of his forefathers after word of her courtship spread, and she was no longer welcome in the  pauper's home. Life in this new kingdom was far from easy. The woman had still much to learn about life, and the elders knew too much of too little. Tensions grew between the people, but the love between the knight and the damsel, strained though it was, grew with it. They soon wed, and were together at last. Happy. Maybe. The damsel knew, deep down, that a marriage would change things, make things that were already difficult to bear, unmanagable. Whenever tensions grew too high, the damsel would bear the full blame from all sides, including the man she loved. When times grew tough, and the damsel thought to seek help with her kin in the far kingdom to the north, he threatened to take himself from the picture. If a thought crossed her mind, that was not to his favor, he'd belittle her until she bowed to his will. The damsel loved him through it all, citing that the tensions in the home were the cause for his poor treatment, lack of respect, and utter disregard for the woman he claimed to love. In the struggle, they bore a child. The challenge to raise this infant up was great, and it took a toll on the damsel. She knew not of what she was doing, and the strain of sleepless nights, the pain from the birth, and the mental damage caused, had the damsel close to giving up. She pulled through, and managed to keep this beautiful child alive, healthy and happy. Happy though this daughter was, the same could not be said for her parents. The torment caused between all involved was growing too strong, and the woman knew she needed to get out, but was scared of trying to do it alone. Scared of what he would do if she tried. The fear of losing her precious child held her in her place. In the darkness came another ray of light, in the form of another child. The damsel was shocked at her arrival, with the war at home so strong. With the news of new life on the way, the woman thought of what life she wanted for their future. The picture envisioned was not one of a battle-weary family, but one that was happy, and smaller. The woman knew she could not be the mother required as long as she stayed put. She fled, but not without opposition from the man she still loved, even if he hurt her so much. He removed the saddle from her stead, preventing her from riding off, and threatened to have her taken away, but she sought assistance from her distant kin, and was away from him, as he was escorted to the stockades for his tirade. As she coward away from him, lost and alone, she tried to figure out how she was going to raise a family alone. She didn't know the first thing about living alone. Soon the fear of being the sole provider, the only leg to the table her children sat at, and her inability to see she was worth so much more, threw herself at the knight's feet, and begged to work it out, thinking that he would see the fault, and be able to help repair the holes in their love. She was wrong, and she knew it, but being wrong was easier, than being strong. They fell into old patterns, and could not get past the hurt of past transgressions. As time moved on the woman learned to do things on her own, and was even sent to the stockade herself after trying to flee trouble. When no one was there to help her back up, she had had enough. She secured her own home, and managed it on her own. She learned how to establish her own life, and was no longer afraid of the knight's silver tongue that was laced with poison. She pushed him away, and thought she wanted to keep trying, she knew it was no longer worth the heartache and stayed gone. The knights dents continued to grow in number, as he tried to replace her, and drown his sorrows with his own poison. The damsel tried to be civil, but was always roped into his duel of words. The damsel hoped to be freed of her villain when she had met the knight all those years ago, but his dents were too numerous, and hurt too deep, and in the end turned him into the villain she feared. In the end she became her own knight, and hopefully rescued her children from a similar fate.