There is a kingdom in a far away land with a happy king and a happy queen and a happy prince. The people are happy and love the royal family who rule with a fair and steady hand, who work to make sure food and health are available, who make sure their borders are secure from outside attacks.
The King's head royal guard has been a loyal friend to the king since early childhood. His own daughter is being raised in a similar manner, raised closely with the prince. Her father makes sure that she learns how to fight along side the rest of the soldiers in the barracks. When she was little she was like a mascot to them. And then she got skilled enough that she could hold her own against them. She doesn't wear the thick heavy armor or wield the claymores but worked with the castle's blacksmith to develop something for herself. She went through soldier training and actually graduated with honors in most categories (her hand to hand combat still needs improvement). Several of the queen's ladies in waiting have followed her footsteps and had the same training but only she has gone all the way to knighthood.
The prince also has had some knightly training but he's always been more interested in the castle's library and political happenings. Even at a young age, he would beg to accompany his father and mother into meetings and he'd always sit with rapt attention to the proceedings. In his teenage years, he actually developed a treatise plan for several neighboring countries that effectively stopped all war and enriched trades between them and his home country. He was a genius politician who actually dreamed of giving more power to the people and becoming a figure head king. The prince would regale the girl-to-be-knight about his plans, hopes, and dreams. She would counter his ideas with scenarios that would make him refine his plans. They would stay up late talking about the future. She always accompanied him on his short trips and taught him how to go hunting. They developed a code of hand signals that only they knew as a way to talk when they weren't supposed to talk. They were very close but they always were just friends, more like siblings than lovers. The King encouraged this, keeping the idea of a political marriage open.
Right after her official knighthood, the young woman was sent on a mission away from the kingdom. It was a trip that took months, escorting an old political ally and friend of the Queen back to his home. It was during this time that the country was attacked by a brutal and barbaric tribe of desert dwellers lead by an sorceress. She kidnaps the prince, wanting to use him to build up her own empire with his knowledge. The King was struck down and the Queen must stay by his side. Word gets back to the Knight and the old king she was escorting lets her leave immediately.
Without returning home, the Knight travels to the desert fortress and slowly sneaks her way in. She has to employ a lot of her skills that she learned from knight training. She's terrified but continues on for the sake of her country, for the sake of the prince, for her love of the prince. She ends up helping someone or a group of people in the fortress who in turn help her out. She befriends a rebel leader who wants to take down the sand queen and rule like her King and Queen. The Knight wins the rebel leader and his wife over using arguments she learned from the prince's rhetoric.
They get her into the castle and she finds the prince in the feasting hall with the sorceress. The Knight is almost sick at the sight because it looks like the Prince has completely bought into the sorceress' plans and looks like he is doing his damnedest to seduce the sand queen. It breaks the Knight's heart and she almost does something stupid but the prince catches sight of her and his facade falters just enough to give her hope again. He flashes the signal to meet him in his room that night but she has no idea where that is so she has to watch the entire scene of him pandering to the queen until he is finally allowed to retire. The Knight follows him back and manages to enter without being seen by the guards.
The Prince just sorta breaks down in her arms with the stress of being kidnapped and having to put on a show like that and now she's here but he can't leave yet because this really is a bad situation. The sand queen is using his genius to design a terrible regime for her people including battle plans for attacking neighboring countries but if he doesn't help her, she kills people in front of him. Men, women, children. Anyone and everyone. It's horrible. But he can't just leave yet. He has to stop her. The Knight tells him about the rebel leader and that the people are ready to fight back. Together they devise a plan to take out the sand queen.
After kissing the Prince silly and promising to come back and to take him home, the Knight returns to the Rebel Leader with the plans. Since the sorceress' powers are influences by the moon, they infiltrate and attack the castle the following week during the new moon. They take out whatever guards that aren't rebels and work their way through her advisers. They all end up in the feasting hall where the sand queen is holding the Prince hostage. The sand queen can't take on the entire rebel army without her power but the Knight isn't about to let the Prince be harmed. The Prince doesn't have such qualms and signals to the Knight to attack. Of course she doesn't. She tries to reason with the sand queen but even all of the teaching the Prince provided doesn't give her enough persuasion against the sorceress. Eventually the Prince gets a hand on a decorative piece that is sharp enough to stab the sorceress with. He can't get a kill shot but she does let him go as the Knight leaps at her to get in between the Prince and the sorceress.
She gets into a hand to hand grapple situation with the sand queen and she manages to get the barest edge of victory when the sorceress uses just enough of her power to manifest an attack. Basically it's a death of a thousand cuts spell though because of the new moon it doesn't work instantly. The Rebel Leader manages to get in and finish the sand queen off but the wounds have already been made. The Knight is in extreme pain and bleeding out. She passes out in the Prince's arms.
She wakes up in a room of white, thinking that she has died. And then the Rebel Leader's wife enters the room. Turns out she's a pretty damn good healer, the number one reason the Rebel Leader keeps her around she jokes. The Rebel Leader has taken command of the country and is working with the Prince to restore some semblance of a good government, actually using the Prince's democratic ideals instead of going right back to a single leader.
Then the Prince comes in. The wife excuses them. The Prince starts on this cute speech about how as her Prince he forbids the Knight from ever dying for him especially in front of her and what the hell was she thinking and why didn't she take the shot when he ordered her to attack and don't ever die on him again and how she's not allowed to do that again. She just smiles at him as he goes until he is in tears and sobbing against her. She gets to do the cheesy "Of course I will die for you. I would die as many times as it takes to get you home and safe. That's what being a knight means." And he hates her for it and he loves her for it. He asks for her to marry him as soon as they get back to their home and she agrees.
When they finally return home, after her complete recovery and a functioning government is set up for the most part with trade agreements in place, they are welcomed with open arms and heroic status. The King managed to recover but not all the way. He wants to retire and give his son the throne. The King, the Queen, and the Knight's father approve of the marriage. The Prince and his Knight become the next King and Queen only to abolish that system of government in the next few years.
And everyone lives happily ever after.
Mmm a simple story. I can see how you favor a first person writing style.
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