Hunt the Arachnae

Your mother always told you that being too headstrong would lead you nowhere good. She'd reminded you of that fact the day you announced that you'd found a knight to squire for. You were a noble lady. What need did you have to trounce around the kingdom, risking ****.

That's exactly what you were doing now. Your fine white palfrey galloped hard down the dirt road, towards the abandoned village where the monster had last been sighted. Your golden armor gleamed in the sun, and your long red hair flowed wildly behind you. Sir Knowles had hoped that his training would tamper your wild side. Even as a Knight though, the spark of adventure never left you.

As you passed a nearby way stop, a pair of villagers cheered. Announced your identity like a herald. Who didn't know Sir Rhona? The heroine of the battle of Twestor, valiant as a song? You tried to pretend that the praise didn't please you, but you could never truly deny your lover for adoration. Pride was your second greatest failing.

And what wasn't to be proud of? You were a knight and a hero at only 27. You had an entire life ahead of you, which would surely only-confirm your greatness. Many at court assured you that your name would someday ring out in the history books, as the finest of female knights. Even your mother had quieted the paddle of her tongue.

Nowadays, it was increasingly hard to focus on those thoughts uninterrupted for long. Would you still receive all that adoration if the common-folk knew about the twisted fantasies you harbored? Would you develop a legacy as a knight when your story ended here?

Your mother was right. You were going nowhere good. You just didn't care.

While the King had approved your quest, you had been the one to suggest it. You always listened closely to reports of Arachnae sightings. Sir Knowles had killed the last Arachnae Queen, but everyone knew that there'd be another some day. As reports of missing girls in the outlying provinces mounted, a rare witness confirmed that he'd seen an Arachnae, a fully grown one, in the woods one night. It was a wonder he wasn't eaten.

Without a second thought, you rushed to the king and begged for his royal sanction to investigate the rumors. If you found a grown Arachnae before she could progress to Queenship, you would save untold lives. The King had been concerned by your refusal to take a retinue, but you insisted that anything short of a Queen could be slain by a single knight. Provides it was a knight of your skill.

Once he gave his assent, you rushed back home at once to prepare. The only person you stopped to speak to was your mother, who gave you a quick farewell. It was a small mercy for the cruel old bat. You didn't want her upset that she missed her last opportunity to see you.

If you are enjoying this storyline so far, perhaps consider expressing that by giving this thread a like!

I would also like to quickly shout out to Stranger12's story Monsters of Rimalla. It was the inspiration for this, most twisted story branch.