CHAPTER 9 (Part one)

2 years later

Giving the reigns of his current horse to the stable keeper, William sighed. He hadn"t been in Brackan for a year but it was time to start his search from scratch again.

Staying two months, after the disappearance of Mahnu, William had decided to widen his search and after he had searched Cental, Conrella and Nowell, he had returned back to Brackan, only to find nothing once again. After that, William had set out to search for Mahnu in the remaining parts of Kralaide.

Obviously, there was no such luck. There had been people that he had stopped to look at, because they had a similar feature to Mahnu, but they ended up being somebody else. He followed two rumours of ladies but, again, nothing had come out of it. The roads were mostly always empty but he stopped to search them as well.

Sitting down at a dumpling business, William ordered a meal and then turned to the busy streets of Brackan. Brackan had gotten back to normal the last time he was here but William hadn"t really been looking. He wasn"t interested and, for some reason, couldn"t focus on anything else but to find Mahnu. His quest might have been abanded by others by now but William found that he got more and more involved as time went by.

Feeling that seeing the King, to tell him where he"s been, only made William feel he would be wasting time. He hasn"t seen his leader either. Even looking for the box had been too much of a bother after the first two months!

It was time to search again, William thought getting up.

A couple of days later, William stood by the river, that flowed through the town, and put down his bag. Running around all day had made him sweaty and he was going to dip in the water to cool himself down. As he started to take his clothes off, someone jumped down from the tree close to him. She didn"t speak to him but she looked exactly like her, but just a bit older.

William was caught in stunned silence. Mahnu...Mahnu stood in front of him and he could scarcely believe it.

"Mahnu?"

Her eyes searched his before she asked, "Do you...know me?"

He watched her take a step back as she looked a little scared. "I"m not going to hurt you."

She made no reply, she just stared at him.

"You don"t...Remember me?" William asked. She shook her head and William wondered..."Did you lose your memory?"

She nodded. Then said, "I"m going now."

William didn"t want to let her go but didn"t know how to proceed. He can"t just take her against her will and go to Conrella, so how was he going to let the King know that she was here?

He decided to follow her and look around were she stayed.

For a full day William became a full citizen of Brackan. He deviously did small, easy jobs for people close by Mahnu"s residence to gain information. Apparently, they had been here the whole entire time. William had dropped what he was carrying when he was told that, making his toes very sore. How had he not found her before now?

Trying to find out if the two older people, that she was staying with, and Mahnu would leave to go elsewhere, he heard that they wouldn"t and he decided to leave for Conrella on the next day.

1 week later

William went straight to the palace, leaving his horse to the guard. The guards went to stop him from entering but stopped when they saw that he was a knight. William couldn"t blame them. He hadn"t been here in two years...And he needed to cut his hair and shave.

Running, William couldn"t contain his excitement. He had already asked where the leader of the Loyal Royal Knights was and headed straight there, sure that he would be with the King.

Charging through the door, leading to the King, William interrupted a meeting with a governor but he didn"t care.

"Your Majesty!" Bowing on one knee, he put a hand to his heart.

"William?" Marcus asked, his voice questioning.

William looked up and smiled at the King, who stared back at him blankly.

Standing up, William apologized for the intrusion, then walked up to His Majesty, "I have fulfilled your wish, Your Majesty."

He watched as the King"s eyes began to sparkle.

Marcus led the governor out of the room and returned.

"Where...Where is she?"

Taking a deep breath, William said, "She has always been in Brackan, she has also lost her memory."

The King continued to stare at William. "And you"re sure it"s her?"

William smiled, "Yes, Your Majesty...I don"t have much more information but I didn"t think I could bring her here as she was timid and a little scared."

"I see." The King smiled for a short moment, then said, "Go back to Brackan and keep an eye on her. We will meet on the road and I will make arrangements as soon as possible to leave here."

William bowed and smiled, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

1 week later

The King orders everyone to be quiet on who they are. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Mahnu away.

Marcus asked what he would do if she refuses to be with him and the King answered him sadly that he would let her go.

They meet up with William on the road leading into Brackan, whom had shaven and cut his hair. He looked relaxed and enthusiastic.

"William, please tell me you weren"t lying."

"No. On my honour as a knight, I"m telling the truth, Your Majesty!"

The King dared to smile, he let himself hope that he was right. "Good. Take me to her."

William chuckled.

The King looked at him in worry, his hopes starting to fade already. Was this a joke? "What?"

Looking up in the nearby tree, William saw Mahnu. Pointing, he said, "She"s there."

The King looked up to where William was pointing and he felt his heart beating. He put his hand to his chest and let out a small cry. Mahnu, do I dare to believe my eyes? He found himself getting off his horse and slowly walking towards the tree. She moved, making him stop, then he watched as she started to climb down.

When she gets down, the King runs to her and hugs her, unable to stop himself.

I can"t believe it"s her. Her hair has grown and she looks a little bit older but it"s Mahnu! Mahnu! He let her go and asked, "What happened!? Where have you been!?"

She didn"t answer him, only making him more certain it was her.

She picks up her items and tries to walk away but he stops her, making her drop everything on her toes.

She jumps, falls and closes her eyes to the sudden pain. What had fallen seemed to have been tools that she was suppose to deliver to somebody.

He picks her up and that"s when she finally talks, saying to put her down and that he"s going the wrong way.

"Ah, so you can talk! And you tried to walk away from me!"

"It is not a sin to walk away from a man when a woman is by herself, now put me down!"

"You"re hurt."
"I am not...broken! I can still walk, please, put me down!"

He stops but doesn"t put her down, "I am so glad! Really!" He hugs her tighter. "You still respond to me exactly the same way. I thought that I"d never see you again and that if I did, you would be different."

"You...know me?"

"My dear! Yes! I"ve been looking for you everywhere!"

"I can"t remember who I used to be...I"m sorry. Are you sure...You mean me?"

"Yes. Mahnu is your name and you are my woman. Don"t you ever forget that!"

"You"re...You"re woman!?"

The King laughs, he hadn"t laughed so whole heartily for so long. He hid himself in her chest, holding her tight. Breathing in her sweet smell, he could feel a tear falling down his cheek, "I"m finally home!"

Mahnu was moved, moved so much she had put her hands around him unknowingly. "I feel bad...that I don"t remember you."

Then she started to realize her own actions and he didn"t move as she tried to push him away, "Not yet."
King Richard repeated, I love you Mahnu, a few times in his head. He had not known how much till she had disappeared and until he saw her again. I love you, Mahnu! Now I can finally breath! I can feel my heart beating!

"Are you...okay?" Her voice was so good to hear. He had been longing to hear it for so long. He had even wished that every day he would remember his dreams, just so that he could see and hear her.

He pulled back, still not letting her go. "Did you hear what I was thinking just now?"

She looked at him confused. "How could I hear what you are thinking? Are you and idiot?"

Smiling freely, King Richard started to walk towards his horse, "Yes, Yes, I"m an idiot!"

She"s lost her memories and it looks like she"s also lost her immortality and hearing thoughts. Her face doesn"t seemed stressed, hopefully she doesn"t suffer either anymore. As the others around just watched silently, the King placed her on his horse and he got on behind her.

"We"ll stay in Brackan for now." He said to the others.

"Wait, I"ve got to go home!" Mahnu said.

"Show me where you were staying, I need to thank them."

"Thank them?"

"For looking after you."
She looked angry. King Richard held her to him. "Oh, I"ve missed you so!"

"Are you sure it"s me? I"m not used to this at all." She noted that his hands were roped around her.

"It"s fine, It"s fine. I"ll just get you used to me again. I"ll chase after you every time, Mahnu."

Mahnu was speechless. He was definitely like no other man she had met in the last two years.

It was a little pathetic to her that he has already done more than any other man has done in Brackan.

Even though she had rarely ever spoken when she left her home, she did have two suitors who tried to be with her.

One seemed to walk away after seeing her scared and that she had no memory previous of when they "woke up". But the other seemed to follow her for quite some time, thinking that she was still worth considering as a wife even though she was like that. It had only been two months since he had finally given up and stopped showing up in front of her.