King Allfire was sitting alone at his Square Table, staring at one of the empty seats, when Princess Flame found him.

'Daddy?' she said. 'What are you doing in here by yourself?'

'Good question,' said Allfire. 'My knights should be here with me. We hardly ever seem to use the Square Table anymore, and we certainly don't use it for important knightly business. We haven't had a proper meeting since Sir Galahot and Sir Hotbreath left. The Table does look empty without them, you know. Do you think they'll ever come back, Puff?'

'Well,' said Flame, 'they have been gone rather a long time now, but I believe they'll come back to us. In the meantime, Daddy, do you remember I told you to have a look at some of Flicker's inventions? If you want to keep using the Square Table without it seeming empty, you could always -'

She was cut off by a blast of music and a rush of fire as Cinder and Clinker appeared in the doorway, dressed as heralds and blowing their horns.

'Presenting His Majesty King Spark of Singetagel Castle, Her Royal Highness the Princess Solder, and the brave and handsome Sir Piston,' said Clinker.

A burly dragon wearing a crown barged past Cinder and Clinker, and helped himself to a seat at the Square Table. Behind him came a beefy knight, a young dragon lady and someone whose face was obscured by a heap of bags and cases.

'Hello, Allfire,' said King Spark. 'How's things?'

'Good heavens, King Spark!' said Allfire. 'I haven't seen you since you laid siege to Castle Camelhot just after I became king.'

'Gosh, has it been that long?' said King Spark. 'Look, about the siege - sorry and all that. Oh well, water under the bridge. We're moving in. Don't mind, do you?'

'Moving in?' said Flame. 'Whatever for?'

'Oh!' Spark looked up in surprise. 'Is this your daughter, Allfire? I've got one too.' He looked at Flame. 'You can look after Solder, my dear.'

'Why are you moving in?' Flame asked again.

'Can't stay at Singetagel anymore,' said Spark. 'Nasty business, the whole thing. There's a hideous beast terrorising my villagers. Eating most of them while it's at it. Can't stay there, dear me, no.'

'Hideous beast?' said Allfire. 'Well, surely someone can do something about that, Spark. What about this fellow here?' He looked at King Spark's knight. 'He looks a capable enough chap.'

'Oh yes, he's a marvel,' said Spark. Then a look of puzzlement came over his face, and he turned to the knight. 'Now, Sir Piston, why haven't you slain the beast yet?'

'Your Majesty.' Sir Piston bowed very low. 'Of course, I have every intention of slaying the vile creature. I was merely waiting until you and the Princess had moved out of the castle. I didn't want to risk enraging the beast with your royal persons in the vicinity. We can't take any chances, now, can we?'

'Indeed, Sir Piston,' said Spark. He turned back to Allfire. 'There you are, you see. Always thinking of his king and his princess.'

'It's a very nasty beast,' said Princess Solder. 'Are you quite sure you can manage it on your own, Sir Piston?'

'Fear not, Your Highness!' Piston drew his sword and held it high above his head. 'I, Sir Piston, am a match for any -'

'Oh, I say, here's fun!' said King Spark. 'Allfire, summon your knights, would you? There's a good chap.'

'Oh, well, all right then.' Allfire cleared his throat. 'Knights of the Square Table, arise!'

Cinder and Clinker blew on their horns to announce the arrival of the knights. Within moments Sir Blaze, Sir Burnevere and Sir Loungelot had all appeared in the room, with Flicker trailing behind them.

'Ah, squire,' said Allfire. 'We've got guests for a few days. Show this chap where to put their stuff, will you?' He gestured towards the young dragon who was now teetering under the weight of all the luggage. 'Might as well give them Hotbreath and Galahot's quarters. It isn't going to be a long stay… I hope.'

Flicker bowed, and went to his task.

'Now then, Spark.' Allfire turned to his guest. 'What do you want with my knights?'

'Well,' said Spark, grinning with excitement, 'I've had a bit of an idea. Knights, there is a terrible beast residing near my home, Singetagel Castle. I do hereby decree that whosoever slays the beast will marry my daughter, Princess Solder!'

Solder gasped. 'Father!'

'Now then, my dear,' said Spark, 'this is the ideal solution. It's time you were married, and we definitely need to get rid of that monster.'

'But…' Solder stared at him, dumbstruck. 'I… I…'

'Fear not, fair princess!' said Sir Piston. 'I shall be the one to slay the beast.'

Solder frowned. 'Oh, brilliant.'

'Shall you indeed, sir knight?' said Loungelot. 'Then little you know the Knights of the Square Table! If you yourself have been residing at Singetagel Castle, then why is the beast not already dead?'

Sir Piston opened his mouth to reply.

'We've been through all this,' said Solder. She looked at Sir Loungelot. 'So you're going to slay the beast, are you? Who are you again?'

'Sir Loungelot, Your Highness. Camelhot's greatest and noblest knight.'

'Right,' said Solder. Then she turned on her heel and stalked from the room.

'Your Highness!' Piston followed her. 'Fear not, that cad will not win your hand!'

'Well.' King Allfire got to his feet. 'I'd better show you where you'll be staying, Spark. Good luck with the beast and everything, you lot.'

The two kings left the room. As Cinder and Clinker seemed to have vanished, Flame found herself alone with the three knights. She turned to Sir Loungelot.

'You want to marry that Princess Solder, do you, Sir Loungelot?' she asked.

'Not particularly,' said Loungelot. 'But I've heard that Singetagel Castle is a very nice place to live.'

'Oh,' said Flame, 'I see. Well, what about you two?' She turned to Sir Blaze and Sir Burnevere.

'Well,' said Blaze, 'I'm not really bothered about marrying the Princess.'

'Me neither,' said Burnevere. 'I'm sure she's a very nice girl, but I wouldn't want to marry her if she's the heiress to Singetagel. I had enough trouble getting out of being the King of Scotland.'

'So.' Flame turned back to Loungelot. 'Looks like it's you or that Sir Piston fellow.'

'It's me,' said Loungelot, puffing out his chest. 'That Piston fellow is an imbecile.'

'Well,' said Flame, 'so are you! We'll just see about this.'

She turned and went from the room. For a moment, Loungelot was taken aback. Then his face fell into a scowl, and he said, 'What did she mean by that?'

'Now then, Loungelot,' said Burnevere, shaking his head. 'You know very well.'

As the knights dispersed, a very strange-looking dragon crept out of the castle and made its way over the hills.

At Castle Threadbare, Count Geoffrey was sitting on in his throne, looking on with an expression of fury as his three Evil Knights directed serfs to crawl into the castle's enormous cracks.

'I've had enough of this!' cried Count Geoffrey. 'Surely my bad luck can't last much longer. I want Camelhot! Where is that dratted Evil Spy? Oh.' The Evil Spy appeared next to him. 'There you are. Well, what do you have to tell me?'

The Evil Spy whispered something into Geoffrey's ear.

'Singetagel, eh?' said Geoffrey, stroking his beard as he thought over the information. 'Well, I don't know much about it, but it's got to be better than this. Evil Knights Numbers One, Two and Three!'

In a moment, the Evil Knights were lined up in front of Geoffrey's throne.

'I have a plan!'

As Flicker was leaving Sir Galahot's quarters, he was accosted by Sir Loungelot.

'Come with me, Flicker,' said Loungelot, and he led his squire into his own quarters. 'Shut the door.'

Flicker did so.

'Whoever slays that monster of King Spark's is going to marry the daughter,' said Loungelot. 'So you and I are off to Singetagel Castle. Immediately. Understand?'

'Yes, Milord,' said Flicker. 'Do you want to marry the Princess, then?'

'Well, the long and the short of it is, yes.'

'And go to live in Singetagel Castle?'

'Naturally.'

'And take me with you, I suppose.'

Loungelot frowned. 'You'd be a bit stuck if I didn't, Flicker.'

'Why do you want us to leave Camelhot?'

'That's quite enough questions.' Loungelot grabbed Flicker's shoulders and propelled him towards the door. 'Really, squire, your impertinence is getting out of hand - I should have you flogged. Now go and get ready. We must reach Singetagel Castle before that Piston fool.'

When Flicker arrived in his room, Flame was there waiting for him.

'So,' she said. 'You're going to slay this monster so that Loungelot can marry the Princess, are you?'

'I don't know,' said Flicker. 'This monster has to be dealt with, but it all seems a bit unfair on Princess Solder. She might not want to marry Sir Loungelot.'

'I'm quite sure she doesn't,' said Flame. 'And I don't think she wants to marry that Sir Piston either. He kept saying he was going to slay the monster and marry her, and she didn't seem too keen on the idea.'

'Poor girl. I wonder if we can do anything to help her.'

'You mean dress up as a mysterious knight, kill the beast and then vanish? Like when we put an end to that silly jousting tournament for my hand?'

'Flame, I can't impersonate a knight again! The Code of Chivalry -'

'All right, all right! Well, what can we do, then?'

'I don't know,' said Flicker. 'Maybe we should just talk to her. Well, by we, I mean you really. She's sharing your room.'

'Is she indeed? Who says?'

'Your father. King Spark is in Sir Hotbreath's room, and that Sir Piston's in Sir Galahot's with his squire. We haven't got anywhere else spare, so your father said wouldn't it be fun if the girls had a nice sleepover.'

'Oh,' said Flame. 'Well, I suppose it might be. I don't really know her, but from what I've seen she seems sensible enough. She doesn't want to be married off to some random knight, anyway. I'll go and have a chat with her and see what I can find out. You never know - there might even be somebody she does want to marry.'

Just as she finished speaking, there came a timid knock at the door. Flicker went to answer it. On the threshold was a young dragon with an anxious look on his face.

'Hello, Wick,' said Flicker, smiling pleasantly.

'Hello, Flicker,' said Wick. He sounded rather sheepish. 'I don't suppose I could borrow something to buff up Sir Piston's armour, could I? I thought I'd packed all the essentials but, well, you always forget something, don't you?'

'Of course,' said Flicker. 'Come in. Oh… this is Princess Flame. She's here, um…'

'Your Highness.' Wick fell to his knees.

'Hello, Wick,' said Flame. 'And goodbye. I'll just go and do that, Flicker, and then I'll let you know what happens. See you later.'

'Bye,' said Flicker. Then he turned his attention to Wick. 'Right, something to polish Sir Piston's armour. Here, try this.' He picked up a cylindrical object and handed it to his visitor. 'It's something I invented, to save me the trouble of dipping the cloth in the polish all the time. I call it my can spray. You see, you just shake it up, push down on the little knob here, and hey presto.'

Flicker went to a shield belonging to Sir Loungelot and demonstrated the can spray.

'Gosh,' said Wick. 'That's very clever.'

'Just be careful to point it away from you,' said Flicker. 'It stings like anything if you get it in your eyes. I've got plenty. You can take some back to Singetagel Castle if you like, once that monster's gone.'

'Oh,' said Wick, looking at the floor. 'Yeah.'

'Are you all right, Wick?'

'Oh yes, I'm all right. Only… do you think your master will slay the beast?'

'No.' Flicker began to laugh, then stopped himself. 'I mean… he might.'

'I don't think Princess Solder wants to marry him. Or anyone, really. Well… maybe someone, but… never mind.'

Flicker stopped his polishing for a moment, and looked at Wick. Then he said, 'Well, maybe she won't have to marry anyone she doesn't want to. Princess Flame is going to have a talk with her and see if there's anything we can do.'

'Like what?' asked Wick.

'Oh, I don't know. But we generally think of something.'

When Princess Flame entered her room, she found Solder tying all the bed sheets together.

'Are you going to climb out of the window?' asked Flame. 'Remember you can fly.'

'I'm not going to climb out of the window,' said Solder. 'I'm going to hang myself.'

'What?' Flame rushed across the room and snatched the sheets out of Solder's hands. 'Now really, Solder, I think that's much too drastic. Why don't you sit down and we'll talk about it?'

Flame sat down on the bed, and patted the space next to her. Solder sat down also.

'I know what's going to happen,' she said. 'Sir Piston will present my father with the head of the monster and claim me as his prize.'

'Not necessarily,' said Flame. 'It might be Sir Loungelot.'

'Oh?' said Solder. 'Is he a very good knight, then?'

'He certainly gets a lot of recognition,' said Flame. 'Look, your father loves you, doesn't he? Maybe if you just reason with him -'

'Oh no, that won't work. My father wants me to marry Sir Piston, or that Sir Loungelot would do. Anyone would be better than Lord Thomas de Nancy.'

'Lord Thomas de what?'

'Nancy,' said Solder. 'He's been after me to marry him for ages, but he's our enemy, and he's human as well. I can't see us producing many heirs, can you? But I'd just as soon marry him as Sir Piston, or Sir Loungelot, or anyone except…'

'Who?'

'Oh, well… perhaps I shouldn't say.'

'You can if you want to,' said Flame. 'We're friends, aren't we?'

'Not really. I'd never even spoken to you until just now.'

'Oh, yes, I suppose that's true. Well, do me a favour, Solder. Don't kill yourself. I have a feeling things just might work out all right, and if they don't, well…'

'I can kill myself then?'

'Well,' said Flame, 'you can cross that bridge when you come to it, can't you? Now, I've got to go and talk to someone. Don't do anything silly while I'm gone, will you?'

'Not just while you're gone, no,' said Solder. 'But one day I might. You have no idea what love can drive you to.'

'True love means never giving up,' said Flame. 'It'll be all right, Solder. You'll see.'

Sir Loungelot was waiting for Flicker outside the castle, pacing up and down, and muttering, 'Confound it, where is that Flicker?'

'Loungelot!'

Loungelot stopped short, turned and saw Queen Griddle on the drawbridge. She was standing with her hands on her hips and looking most displeased.

'Your Majesty.' Loungelot bowed.

'What's this I hear about you marrying some princess?'

'Majesty, the marriage is not my concern. I wish only to rid Singetagel Castle of its terrible monster, as is my knightly duty.'

'Why can't Singetagel's own knights kill the dratted thing? You can't really mean to leave us, Loungelot!'

'Your Majesty.' Loungelot bowed even lower. 'What could be better than an alliance between Camelhot and -'

'Well,' said Griddle, 'if you really must marry this princess, maybe you could bring her to live here at Camelhot.'

Loungelot jerked upright. 'Er… well… that is, I…'

'There, that's settled. It's not ideal, but it'll have to do. See you later, Loungey!'

Griddle turned and trotted back into the castle, not noticing that Flicker was just leaving it, laden down with a case of armour and weaponry. He leapt out of her way as she approached, almost falling into the moat.

'How far is it to Singetagel Castle, Milord?' asked Flicker.

'Oh, not far,' said Sir Loungelot. 'Only about twenty or thirty miles, I think.'

Flicker looked at the case in his arms. 'Oh, good.'

'But then again I could be wrong. Well, come on, don't dawdle.'

Sir Loungelot set off, and Flicker staggered after him.

'Queen Griddle would be sorry if you left,' said Flicker.

'Yes, well,' said Loungelot, 'I'm sure she'll get over it.'

'Flicker!'

Loungelot looked up. Flicker put down his case and turned round to see Princess Flame running towards them.

'Flicker,' she said again, when she reached him. 'I talked to Princess Solder. She is in love with someone, but she won't say who it is.'

'What's this?' said Loungelot. 'You wouldn't be attempting to disrupt my plans, would you, Flicker?'

'Sir Loungelot,' said Flame, 'you needn't be so vague about it. I know very well what your plans are, and you can be sure that I am making plans of my own. While you are away, I shall be thinking of how I can ensure Flicker stays here at Camelhot, if it transpires that you are to go and live at Singetagel Castle. There are ways, I am sure.'

'Humph!' Sir Loungelot puffed himself up. 'Well, we shall see. Whatever happens, I don't see what Flicker can do with that snippet of information you just gave him. It wasn't very helpful, was it?'

'I don't think you should speak to me like that, Sir Loungelot,' said Flame. Then, turning back to Flicker, she went on, 'She doesn't want to marry Sir Piston, or Sir Loungelot. She also mentioned a human enemy called Lord Thomas de Nancy, but I shouldn't think he knows about -'

'Lord Thomas de what?' said Loungelot.

'Nancy, Milord,' said Flicker. 'It's in France.'

'Flicker, listen to me,' said Flame. 'I don't know who else is at Singetagel Castle, but there's someone else here that she didn't rule out. I might be wrong, but… well, it's something to bear in mind, isn't it?'

'Yes,' said Flicker, 'I suppose it is. Thanks, Flame.'

'Oh, do come along, squire.' Loungelot picked up the case, thrust it into Flicker's arms and strode onwards.

Count Geoffrey and his Evil Knights stood surveying Singetagel Castle. It was a huge, grey stone building overlooking the sea.

'Well,' said Count Geoffrey, 'it's not bad, is it? I'm not sure about it being right on the edge of a cliff, though. Surely it's only a matter of time before it starts falling into the sea.'

'Maybe Merle can keep it up with her magic,' said Evil Knight Number One.

Just as he finished speaking, a puff of smoke erupted in front of the evil quartet, and Merle the Wizard appeared.

'It wouldn't be the first thing I'd kept up with my magic, Geoff,' she said, winking at the evil count.

'Well, it's about time,' said Geoffrey. 'Did you find the monster yet, Merle?'

'Sure. It's fast asleep, right at the bottom of that cliff. Come on, I'll show you.'

Merle grabbed Geoffrey's left arm, and the three Evil Knights all grabbed onto his right. A moment later they all vanished, and reappeared on the top of one of Singetagel Castle's towers.

'Take a look,' said Merle, pointing downwards.

They all looked. Even from such a great height, the monster was clear to see. It was asleep, a head of human hair resting on its cat-like front legs.

'Hmm. Kinda looks like a sphinx,' said Count Geoffrey.

'Sphinx my foot,' said Merle. 'That thing'll eat you first and ask riddles later.'

'All right,' said Geoffrey, 'so how do we kill it?'

'Here.' Merle snapped her fingers and conjured a small bottle. 'This should keep it distracted while you sneak up and slice its head off. Let me know when you're done - I want to use some of its parts for my wart treatment.'

Merle snapped her fingers again, and was gone.

'Isn't Singetagel beautiful?' said Flicker, as he strode up towards the fortress.

'A little too hilly for my liking.' Sir Loungelot, panting, was several paces behind his squire. 'Stop a minute, Flicker. I think it's time for a rest, don't you?'

Sir Loungelot sat down on a hillock. Flicker put down the case of weapons and perched himself on top of it.

'So,' said Loungelot. 'Think you might like to live here after all?'

'No,' said Flicker. 'It's a lovely place to visit, but Camelhot is my home.'

'All right, Flicker, we both know perfectly well why you want to stay there.'

'Well, why don't you?'

'Never mind that now. Come along, break's over. Why don't you fly around a bit and see if you can find this so-called monster?'

'Yes, Milord.'

Flicker took off, and flew a brisk circuit of the castle. He stopped and hovered when he reached the edge of the cliff, and looked down at the monster's sleeping form.

'Blazing dragons!' He turned and flew back to Loungelot's side. 'It's a manticore!'

'It's a what?'

'A manticore, Milord. A deadly monster that paralyses its victims with a powerful venom, and then devours them whole, leaving behind not a scrap of clothing, nor anything the victim is carrying!'

'You mean it eats their smelly old socks and everything?' said Loungelot. 'How revolting. Well, take care of it, Flicker. I'll be inside the castle, checking out my new digs. Bring me the monster's head when you're done.'

'Um… Milord,' said Flicker. 'Are you sure this is what you want to do? If Princess Flame meant what she said, about making sure I could stay on at Camelhot…'

'Well, what if she did?' said Loungelot. 'You're not indispensable, Flicker.'

'If you say so, Milord.'

'I do say so. Now get on with it!'

'Yes, Milord.'

Flicker picked up the case of armour and made his way towards the cliff path. Sir Loungelot watched him for a moment, his expression pensive. Then he turned and made his way towards the castle.