Rudy sat watching Cecilia in wonder as she gently twisted her short blonde hair into pre-heated rollers. He had never seen her with her hair up, not properly at any rate, and he then realised how long her neck was as she caught his eye in the mirror and turned round. She smiled and his lips curved instantly in response.

'What?' she asked then. 'You've been staring at me ever since you came in here. Is me putting my hair up really that fascinating?'

Rudy looked down at his gauntlet. 'Sorry,' he mumbled.

Cecilia laughed. 'No need to apologise Rudy. There's nothing wrong with you being interested. Unlike some people,' she added loudly as Jack entered the room.

Rudy turned. Jack was looking more and more bedraggled the further into politics they got. Perhaps the lack of treasure was beginning to get to him.

'What are you pitying me for this time?' he asked, throwing himself down beside Rudy. Hanpan leapt between their shoulders as Jack lay back to avoid being crushed.

'You need to talk to him,' he hissed in Rudy's ear. 'I'm getting worried about him.'

He then jumped off Rudy's shoulder, ran along the arm he had outstretched towards Cecilia and jumped lithely onto her hand, settling down comfortably in her lap.

'Jack,' Rudy asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. 'Are you okay?'

'Just peachy,' Jack replied sarcastically, his hands over his face.

Rudy looked at him confused for a second and then looked up at Cecilia as she gently ran one finger down Hanpan's back, causing him to squeak and turn around on the spot before settling down again.

'I'm trying to sleep, C. I don't need you interrupting me.'

'Sorry. I couldn't resist. But I need to move and talk to Karla. She's going to give me some tips for this ball.'

'I don't see why we have to go to it, anyways,' Jack mumbled through his fingers.

'Oh, we only have to go because it's Adlehyde's most important royal festival, and it's held in our honor for saving Filgaia. That's why,' Cecilia said, slipping off the chair she was sat in, her hand under Hanpan. She passed him across to Rudy and ran a hand across the young man's shoulder, mystifying him. She'd been doing that a lot recently and he didn't know why. He watched her go and then sighed, putting Hanpan by the rip in his trouser leg.

'Go on, say it,' Jack groaned, sitting up.

'Say what?' Rudy asked, his eyes honestly confused.

'What you were about to say.'

'I wasn't about to say anything,' Rudy protested.

'You were going to say she's got a great ass. Admit it,' Jack teased, prodding Rudy's shoulder.

He turned away, blushing slightly.

'I knew it! You like her, don't you?' Jack asked, a triumphant tone in his voice.

'She keeps putting her hand on my shoulder and I don't know why,' Rudy said after a minute.

'She likes you, youngster,' Hanpan supplied. 'Use the ball as a way to get closer to her.'

'I've not been invited. Because of that,' he told the sprite, indicating the ARMs that sat a few feet away from him. 'Anyway, Jack's her official consort.'

Jack snorted. 'I am not going to no fancy pants ball. Not if I have any say. She likes you anyway, Rudy, so you'll be the one she twists into going with her.'

'But the officials…' Rudy began but Jack broke him off.

'Rudy, let me give you a lesson about politics. They don't care. They couldn't give a flying toss if Zed walked in. All they care about is making sure that there's no disturbance in who's dating who in the royal family. If they ask you why you're there instead of me, you tell them to stick it, or you tell them that you're taking my place. Either way, Hanpan will be there, spying. He said so himself. You can deal with a few idiotic bureaucrats who stick their noses in anyway, can't you?'

Rudy looked around the room for a minute and then nodded. 'I suppose I can. But what if Cecilia doesn't want me to go with her? What if she chose you for a reason? I'm still a year younger than her don't forget.'

'That isn't the point. I think she chose me because she knows I don't want to go. She knows that I'll try and get you to take my place, which is what she wants anyway, so it's all an elaborate hoax. She probably thinks I'd have been offended if she asked you outright, which I would have been, so she merely used me as a link to ask you for her. And she thought that she was being polite.'

'How do you know all that from one question she asked you a month ago, Jack?' Rudy asked. The older man's knowledge often dumb-founded him, as Jack could pull thoughts and answers out of the air, and was often smug about how right he was.

'I had to think about it, but Hanpan's been speaking to her about you.'

'Really?' Rudy asked, prodding the small rat-like sprite curled up, nearly asleep on his leg.

Hanpan nodded wearily as he sat up. 'She really likes you R. She needs your help to maintain order in Adlehyde. She's having trouble coping with the death of her family.'

Rudy nodded, remembering how upset Cecilia had been when her only family had died mere months ago. She had cried for weeks and used both Jack and Rudy as a pillow. Even now, Jack joked he can't remember being dry since then. Rudy was lost in his thoughts for a moment, and then Jack thumped his friend's shoulder lightly.

'You thinking about her using you as a tissue?' he laughed.

'You could tell?' Rudy relied, snapping out of his memory.

'Of course. I've only ever seen you go like that when you're thinking about her.'

'Well, it's hard not to,' Rudy replied. 'She's just so pretty.' And then he realised what he'd said. His face went scarlet.

Jack was still laughing when Cecilia came back in a few minutes later, a set of clothes in her arms.

'What's got you laughing, Mr. Van Burace?' she asked, putting the clothes down beside Rudy and brushing her hand against his arm as she straightened. As she sat down in front of the mirror, she noticed Rudy was blushing. 'What's happened?' she asked exasperatedly.

Jack sat up from where he'd fell back, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. 'Oh, nothing. It's just something Rudy said. I don't think he realised the implications of the teasing he's gonna get. Oh yeah, he said he'd go with you to the ball instead of me.'

Rudy choked on air. 'When did I agree to that?' he asked.

Cecilia, whose eyes had sparked when Jack had said, saddened and she looked down. Hanpan saw this and dug his small claws as deeply as he could into Rudy's leg, enough to make him notice, but not yelp in pain. Rudy batted Hanpan lightly round the head with two fingers and then laughed.

'I guess I dropped myself in it. I shouldn't have offered to take Jack's place,' he said.

Cecilia's eyes lit up. Jack prodded Rudy in the shoulder, still trying to quell his laughter.

'Didn't I say?'

Rudy nodded, conceding defeat. Jack had been right about Cecilia wanting him to go instead of Jack, but he couldn't help but feel…scared, though he dared admit it. He'd never been to something like this before. He didn't even know how to dance, neither had he taken his gauntlet off, and he was unsure as to whether he'd be able to maintain the façade of being calm and collected. Cecilia stood suddenly and went to the clothes at his side. She studied them for a second and then plucked at his jacket collar.

'Change out of that,' she told him. 'I need to see whether this lot will fit you. It was made for Jack's measurements.'

Jack was sure he saw Rudy blush and Cecilia wink at Hanpan as he dashed up Cecilia's bare arm onto her shoulder. Rudy stood and took the clothes up into his arms, heading out the bedroom and across the landing to the nearest room he knew to be empty.

I DON'T NEED THIS, he thought to himself as he changed into the posh dance clothing that Cecilia had given him. I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO. DANCE? ACT ALL KNOWLEDGEABLE AND PRETEND THAT I'M NOT WHAT I AM? HOW CAN THEY EXPECT THAT OF ME? As he finished fastening the boots, he found that the clothes fitted him perfectly, yet he knew none of his friend's could possibly know his clothes size to the centimetre. Unless…some sneaky little madam had crept into his room when he was asleep and got the measurements form his clothes. That was hardly the point however. It was more the fact Cecilia knew that he would come. He sighed again and wandered back in to Cecilia and Jack, the latter promptly bursting out into another fit of laughter.

'Oh, aren't you handsome?' Cecilia cried, going over to him and tugging faintly at the lapels of his jacket to straighten them.

Rudy looked down at himself, trying his hardest to keep the disgust from his face. The boots Cecilia had chosen for him, unfortunately, looked like a horse riders and were extremely tight on his legs, looking almost sardonically like Jack's with the turnovers and hard soles. His trousers, a perfect pitch black, were tighter than his own, yet they also held some looseness to him, but not enough to make him feel comfortable. He had had to wear a proper shirt that ticked into his trousers, held flat against his stomach by a black cummerbund. There was a tie worn loosely around his neck, well, supposed to be a tie, but not having worn a tie before, he'd just knotted it like he guessed it was done, and made a complete mess of it. His jacket was lengthy and went to at least the back of his knees and was supposed to be buttoned over the cummerbund, but Rudy had left it undone and stuck his hands in the pockets, finding a small red handkerchief which he pulled out to find out what it was.

'Ah-ha!' Cecilia exclaimed, snatching the red cloth off him and tucking it into his breast pocket, leaving it partially hanging out for effect. She then took hold of his tie, undid the knot, and began winding it intricately to form the perfect bow tie. 'You could have left you're tie undone you know. I would have done it for you anyway. How you managed to knot it that much I'll never know.'

Rudy shrugged as Cecilia finished and patted his chest, stepping back to get a better look at him.

'What do you think, Jack? Lose the bandana?' she asked the older man.

Jack sat up, brushed a few strands of blond hair from his eyes, and looked Rudy up and down. 'Mate, you need to stand straight. You look like a cowboy.'

Rudy snapped his heels together and wobbled trying to stand straight.

'Oh, Rudy, not that straight,' Cecilia laughed as Rudy stumbled backwards to regain his balance.

'I'll remember that,' Rudy said, letting his feet apart slightly. He flicked a blue strand from his eye and brushed the bandana off his shoulder. He looked disgruntled.

Hanpan looked at Rudy for a minute and then shook his head. 'Leave the bandana I think. It ties with the handkerchief.'

'Good point Hanpan,' Cecilia said and scratched the rat-like sprite's head. 'Anything that needs to be changed?'

Hanpan looked at the pallid skin on Rudy's left hand where the gauntlet would usually be. 'He doesn't look right without it. I've always known him to have a gauntlet on. It just looks weird.'

You're right. But he can't wear his gauntlet with that dress. It doesn't work like that,' Cecilia told him.

'Dress?' Jack asked, and then laughed again.

'It's used as a general term for outfit, Jack. Don't be stupid,' Cecilia chided. Turning back to Rudy, she said, 'What about a basic glove.'

Rudy was shifting uncomfortably on his feet and looking for somewhere to put his hands. 'I don't know,' he said.

Hanpan nodded. 'That might work.'

'Since when were you a fashion expert, Hanpan?' Jack asked.

'Just because I'm three inches high, it doesn't mean I can't know about things like fashion and food.'

There was a knock at the door before anyone could answer Hanpan's statement. A pretty young woman with dark hair entered and curtsied to Cecilia.

'Your Majesty, the ball – Oh my god, you're fit!' she exclaimed dramatically upon seeing Rudy.

Rudy frowned and turned away, folding his arms. THE LAST THING I NEED, he thought viciously.

'Isn't he just?' Cecilia said, drawing the woman's attention from Rudy's back. 'What is it you wanted to say about the ball, Karla?'

'Oh, err…AH, that's it! The ball starts in two hours, but they expect you to be there an hour earlier to go over the proceedings.'

Cecilia sighed and shook her head. 'This is supposed to be a light-hearted ball to celebrate Filgaia's freedom, not some political meting.'

Karla nodded and curtsied again. She headed back to the door, but looked over her shoulder before leaving at the tails on Rudy's jacket. She smiled to herself and left.

'Has she gone?' Rudy asked, turning around.

'She got a look at your ass, but yes, she's gone,' Jack said, just keeping a straight face.

'It looks like you've got an admirer, R,' Hanpan laughed. 'C, I guess you'd better get ready.'

Cecilia forced back a tear and nodded. Jack stood and reached out for Hanpan, calling his companion onto his shoulder.

'C'mon, Rudy. Let's give Cecilia some woman time.' There was a tone in Jack's voice Rudy picked up. It sounded like he was expecting something to happen or for someone to say something.

'Wait, Rudy, can I talk to you for a minute?' Cecilia asked, as they were about to leave.

Jack patted Rudy's shoulder as if to say "good luck" and shut the door behind him. Cecilia waited until the plaintive sounds of Jack walking down the corridor could be heard before she said anything.

'You don't want to come, do you?' she asked, sitting in front of the dressing table mirror.

Rudy sat on the bed behind her and said, 'I don't mind. I've never been to something like this before, so I guess I'm scared.'

He saw a smile flit across Cecilia's lips and then it was gone. 'You don't need to be scared, Rudy. Just tell anyone who asks you ate something funny earlier today, so you feel off or something. They'll leave you alone when it gets round.'

'Why did that woman say I was fit?' Rudy asked suddenly.

Cecilia looked at him in the mirror. 'Because you are handsome Rudy, you just don't allow yourself to think that. Can you come to this thing? For me? I don't want to be alone.'

Rudy looked into her eyes for a minute and then nodded. 'I guess I can for you. As long as I don't have to dance.'

Why?' Cecilia replied as she began to take her hair out of the rollers.

'Because…because…I…I…don't know how,' Rudy stumbled, nearly forgetting his answer as he watched her hair tumble to her shoulders in perfect ringlets.

Cecilia finished and applied some make-up, making her seem the innocent, longhaired she used to be. Rudy couldn't help but smile at her expression. Sometimes he forgot how much older she was now.

'You can't dance?' she asked incredulously. Rudy shook his head in response. 'Well, I'll just have to teach you.'

'What?!' Rudy cried as Cecilia grabbed his hands and pulled him upright.

'I'm going to teach you. Put your hand here.'

She put his right hand on her hip and took his left in her right. She then proceeding in leading him around the room, carefully guiding his feet to follow hers. After several minutes of this, during which he stumbled several times, Rudy finally got the hang of the basic steps. Cecilia stopped and looked at the space they had.

'Rudy, can you help me move this desk into the corner?' she asked, going to a lengthy table against one wall.

Rudy nodded and easily pushed the table into the corner of the room. 'Why did you want to move it?' he asked.

'I'm going to teach you that weird spin move you've probably seen people do. Don't know what it's called though,' Cecilia explained, putting his hands in their appropriate places on her frame. 'For space purposes, let's say we've danced. Now let go of my hip and don't press so hard next time. Your grip does hurt you know,' she scolded.

'Sorry,' Rudy said, letting go of her waist.

'No need to apologise. Now, slide your foot behind you and stretch your arm out behind you. That's it,' she encouraged as Rudy did so. 'Now, I'll spin out and back in again, at which point you catch me and lower me back, as if about to kiss me. Got it?'

Rudy blushed faintly, but nodded. 'Sort of,' he admitted, feeling foolish.

Nevertheless, Cecilia span out and back in, close to his chest. Rudy had been astonished by the move, but recovered in time to catch her and let her back gently till she was nearly lying flat.

'Perfect! You said you couldn't dance! Rudy Roughnight, you're a liar.' Cecilia poked his ribs accusingly.

Rudy pulled her upright and grinned. 'I guess I didn't know I had it in me.' Cecilia stopped and looked at him. Rudy's grin vanished. 'What is it?' he asked her then.

'What am I doing? I shouldn't be in your arms in my petticoat when bureaucrats are walking freely! You must leave now! Go!' she exclaimed, pushing him out the room.

'But Ce-' Before Rudy could finish; Cecilia had slammed the door on his face. He paused for a second and heard a sob from inside.

'Yo, R!' called a voice as he began to walk off.

Rudy turned back to see a small, bright blue rat-like creature running along the banister towards him. 'What is it, Hanpan?'

'How'd it go with C?'

Rudy leant on the banister. 'It didn't, I guess.'

'Did you kiss?' Hanpan asked, thoroughly interested.

'No, were we supposed to?' Rudy replied.

'Supposed to?' Hanpan cried. 'That was the whole point of your little meeting!'

'Oh.'

'You'll have to wait until after the ball to talk to her privately again.'

'I'm not going,' Rudy replied with a tone of finality. He pulled off the bow tie and cummerbund and walked off, leaving the two garments on the banister.

Hanpan stood shocked for a minute and then dashed after him. 'R, you have to go!'

'I didn't want to go in the first place, so why should I go now?' Rudy demanded.

'Because you want to make C happy, don't you?'

'I'd rather go back to being a Dreamchaser.' Rudy honestly missed his old title; despite the reputation it got him.

'R, don't you think you're being a little over-dramatic?' Hanpan asked.

'Hanpan, you were wrong about Cecilia liking me. She hates me!'

'RUDY, GET OUT HERE!' Jack bellowed before Hanpan could reply.

Rudy looked down at the sprite and then dashed down the stairs, realising he'd left his ARMs in Cecilia's room. He grimaced and then ran into Jack, who was about to come tearing up the stairs.

'What is it?' the younger asked.

'I just saw some shady characters enter the castle. I don't know where they've gone though,' the older replied.

The though hit them instantaneously. 'Cecilia!'

They both turned and dashed up the stairs. Rudy was the first at the door and so slammed through it, landing at Cecilia's feet. He looked up, and turned crimson. Cecilia was wearing a magnificent creamy white ball gown and her crown sat atop her head, glistening like a halo. Her ringleted hair sat on her shoulders and glistened perfectly. She was looking down at him with an expression somewhere between confusion and hatred.

'What are you here for?' she asked him.

'Jack saw some shady characters, Cecilia. We just wanted to make sure you were safe,' Rudy explained, standing.

'Well, I'm safe so there's no need to worry. Why did you take your bow tie and cummerbund off?' she asked then.

Rudy walked across the room, tightened his bandana and picked up his ARMs, heading back to the door. 'Because I'm not going to the ball. I appreciate you teaching me how to dance and all, but it isn't like I can use it anywhere.'

'Why not?' Cecilia asked, her eyes hurt. 'Go to the ball I mean.'

'Look, I didn't want to go to the ball in the first place, but Jack forced me into doing it, by making me believe that's what you wanted. I honestly thought you liked me. But I guess that's a no.'

'Don't you go off in one of your moods. Don't you dare!' Cecilia warned, her fist clenched.

Rudy turned and went to walk out, his ARMs over his shoulder, but Cecilia grabbed his hand.

'Rudy, please.'

'No. I'm going back to Surf, or what's left of it.' His answer was final.

'You were right. I hate you!' Cecilia bellowed and stormed out the room.

Jack put a hand to his face and shook his head in disbelief. 'Original, I'll give you that.'

Rudy merely nodding in acknowledgement and walked out the room, smacking his ARMs along the banister as he went, like some stroppy teenager. Jack looked at Hanpan and then left the room in search of Cecilia.

He found her sat at the dining table, her head on the polished stone surface. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs and he could see two fingers flicking, causing the fire to billow and back down as she used her magic.

He went silently over to her, and put a hand on her shoulder, but her own threw it off.

'Jack, leave me be. I WANT TO KILL HIM!' she cried.

'Killing that arrogant idiot won't solve anything.'

'It's a start! I can't believe you set him up to it, Jack! You know how much he hates being pressurised.'

'He needs to learn, Cecilia. If he lives out the rest of his life as a kid with no responsibilities or pressures, he'll never know what it's like to truly achieve something.'

Cecilia sank back, wiping her eyes. 'I guess you're right, Jack. Where'd he go?'

'Dunno,' Jack replied honestly. 'He was breaking the banister with his ARMs last time I saw him. God knows where he's gone now. Maybe back to Surf. Like he said he would.'

'Jack, I don't hate him. But you knew that, didn't you?' Cecilia asked, her head still on the table.

Jack sat down on the chair next to hers. 'Cecilia, I've known you for at least four years. In all that time, you and Rudy have always got on. Yeah you've argued. Yeah, he's gone off in a mood, but you've always been there for each other. He does like you; he just won't allow himself to feel that emotion. It doesn't help really that he's a bloke, and all blokes get on your nerves, now matter how sexy they are,' he said, a hint of mirth in his voice.

Cecilia looked up. 'How did you know that?'

Jack jerked a thumb at the creature on his shoulder. 'He's a snitch.'

'Hanpan! How could you?' she cried, but there was a smile in her eyes.

The sprite shrugged. 'Just the way I've become.'

'We have to find him! You know what happens when he's moody!' Cecilia cried suddenly, leaping up.

Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her down. 'Hanpan and me will find him, don't worry. He may be a bit bruised when you see him next, but don't worry. I won't hurt him that much. You go into the dance and act like nothing's happened. Right?'

He spat in his palm and held it out. Cecilia grimaced but copied him and they shook on it. Jack stood and wiped his hand on his coat, and brushed a blond strand from his face and tightened the green ribbon at the back of his head.

'C'mon Hanpan, let's go find out where the "look at me! I carry ARMs!" kid's gone,' Jack said, walking out the room.

Cecilia wiped her hand and stood up. She couldn't think straight without him. Was it really love, like Hanpan had said it was? Or was it just an infatuation for a pretty face? She shook her head, trying to clear Rudy's eyes from her mind and carried on into the great hall, where a blast of music and shouting bureaucrats met her.

'Where's you consort? That blond treasure hunter?' one asked.

'Have you been crying? Who's upset you?'

'What food should we have?'

'Should we be drinking water or wine?'

'How long have we got?'

'What time is it?'

'Have you got the tear drop?'

Cecilia raised one hand to signify silence. It took the bureaucrats a few minutes to realise she's raised her hands, and Cecilia soon lost her temper.

'SILENCE!' she bellowed. They fell silent, all staring at her. 'We are not going to use this ball as an occasion to deliberate with ambassadors. We are going to dance, and have fun, and celebrate Filgaia's freedom! Got that?' she called around the room.

There were a few mumbles, but a general consent.

'Now, what's on the menu?' she asked.

Meanwhile…

THUMP! THUMP! CRACK!

Jack was hitting Rudy as hard as he could with the ARMs. He'd found him sat outside a few minutes after leaving Cecilia and had pinned the young man to the wall. After shouting for several minutes, he'd given up, and decided it would just be easier to hurt him. He'd been punching the young man now for several minutes, and his eye had already bruised, a few of his ribs cracked, his mouth bleeding, and his defence lowered.

Jack stepped back and looked at the damage he had done. Rudy used the wall as a balance and clutched his stomach, snapping his ribs back into place. He had kept silent, not a word issuing his lips at all, and that surprised Jack.

'Have you learnt now Rudy? Don't ever upset Cecilia,' he threatened.

Rudy nodded out of force and the fact he knew Jack would hit him again if he made no reply. He remained silent however.

'Wipe your mouth and get into that ball.'

At this Rudy shook his head, and stood straight, one hand on the wall to steady himself. He took a breath and walked pat Jack, pulling the ARMs out of Jack's hand as he went past. Jack's foot however, thought otherwise, and shot out at Rudy's knees and tripped him up. Rudy back rolled to his feet.

'I will fight back!' he shouted.

'Oh, so you are speaking. Good. You can explain to Cecilia then why you're acting like a stupid selfish brat.'

Rudy snarled. Jack was more than annoying, sticking his nose in where it wasn't wanted. 'What I act like is my own business,' Rudy replied.

'Not when you're upsetting Cecilia with your poor acting skills it isn't. Cecilia's well-being is one of my highest priorities,' Hanpan shouted from Jack's shoulder.

Rudy looked at the sprite for a minute and then lowered the ARMs. 'You're right. I am an idiot.'

'Good that you think that way. Now, let's get you into that ball.'

'I can't go in like this!' Rudy cried, indicating his bruised eye, swollen cheek and muddied front.

'Never mind. Just splash some water on your front and you'll be cool. As for your face, I warned Cecilia you'd be a bit bruised when she saw you next. The bureaucrats won't annoy you with endless questions when she knows what happened.'

'Yeah, right,' Rudy scoffed as they walked back inside.

'She does! Honestly,' Jack replied in his defence.

'I believe you,' Rudy said. 'She'd believe anything you two told her.'

Rudy paused at the nearest mirror and looked at his reflection. His cheek looked like a hamster pouch and his eye was bruised thickly, but other than that, his face was fine. His front was stained with dirt, easy to wash off however. He turned and headed to the nearest bathroom, where he threw some water over his shirt and washed off the dirt. The wet cloth now clung to him, but it would soon dry off.

When he came out the bathroom, Jack was stood there with the cummerbund and bowtie in his hand, looking at Rudy's wet front with a funny expression.

'Oh, don't go there,' Rudy said, taking the cummerbund off his and putting it one. As his shirt was flattened against him, the coldness of the wet cloth made him shiver.

'Come on, we have to get Cecilia to redo your tie. I don't know how they're done,' Jack said, and they ran across the foyer to the great hall, where Cecilia ran across the room to them.

'Where have you -?' she began and then took Rudy's chin in her hand and turned his face side to side, inspecting the damage to him. 'Jack how could you?'

'I told you he'd be bruised, Cecilia,' Jack reminded her. He handed her the bowtie.

Cecilia took it off him and pulled it round Rudy's neck, fastening it again. She looked him up and down, and sighed. 'Tie and tails does not suit you. Oh, well, it'll do.'

Rudy remembered to stand straight and slid his heels together slightly.

Cecilia laughed. 'Oh, you do do things properly, don't you?'

Rudy shrugged. 'Way I am.'

'THE GRAND DUCHESS OF ROSETTA TOWN!' a voice announced suddenly, admitting the princely woman.

'Oh, my, they're turning up now!' Cecilia exclaimed.

'I'll leave you to get on with it, then,' Jack said, and ran out the room before either could stop him.

Several dozen more people gathered over the next few minutes and soon Cecilia was swamped with questions as to who Rudy was. Rudy had tried to walk away, towards a quiet corner, but Cecilia had grabbed hold of his arm and held him place, introducing him as her official consort.

'I expected him to look so much older. He scarcely looks out his teens,' one duke said, eyeing Rudy almost warily, as I expecting him to explode.

'I'm 20,' Rudy said, keeping his voice steady.

'A year younger than you, your Majesty,' the duke said. 'Considering marriage?'

Cecilia laughed, elbowing Rudy's cracked ribs to do the same. Rudy grimaced, but turned it into a smile.

'Hardly, my lord. He's too much of a handful,' she laughed.

The duke smiled and went off to join another conversation. Cecilia visibly sank as she sighed on Rudy's arm.

'Why did you tell him that?' he whispered and they walked to the other side of the room.

'They're all trying to make me marry, but I'm just not ready to. I have to keep them off me for as long as possible,' Cecilia replied, leaning on the bar.

Rudy followed suit and kept close to her throughout the evening, acting more like her bodyguard than her consort.

'I feel like we're in the ship graveyard again.'

Rudy smiled at Cecilia's comment. He remembered that period of their journey and hated it. But nonetheless, he could see where Cecilia was coming from. The evening so far had gone without a hitch, and Rudy was wishing it would end.

'TIME FOR THE DANCING!' an announcer bellowed and the music picked up.

'Oh god,' Cecilia whispered, trying to keep her hand from her face. 'I didn't teach you this dance.'

A flash of blue caught Rudy's eye and he spotted Hanpan mere metres away from them. 'You go dance with one of the loner's and I'll talk to Hanpan.'

'You sure?' Cecilia asked. 'I don't really want old men hitting on me.'

'Positive. Hey, with a beat-up consort who carries ARMs round with him, no one's going to.'

'True,' Cecilia said, and then went off to dance.

Rudy slid down the bar and looked down at the sprite, who was busy climbing the bar's side.

'All right, Hanpan?'

Hanpan nodded. 'Just fine. How's it going?'

'Feels like the ship graveyard according to Cecilia and I'm bored out of my mind. Other than that, I wouldn't say anything's gone wrong.'

'Yet,' Hanpan said. 'On my way here, I saw those shady characters Jack mentioned. They were talking quiet, but I heard that they were going to try to assassinate Cecilia. Get near her quickly. I'll get Jack,' Hanpan said, and then he was gone.

Rudy looked around for a way to get Cecilia's attention. Other than bellowing her name, he could see none. And then it hit him when he looked at the musicians. He dashed over to them and tried to explain the music he needed to be played.

'We can't change music in the middle of this dance!'

'Do you want Cecilia to die?'

'What do you mean?'

'There's going to be an assassination attempt on her life. If you want her to live, I have to warn her. The only way I can do that is to dance with her.'

The musicians looked shocked for a minute, and then the music changed. Rudy nodded in thanks and went over to Cecilia, one hand outstretched.

'Would you dance with me?' he asked, feeling more than a little stupid.

She nodded and they went to the most abandoned section of the floor. Rudy pulled Cecilia as tight as he could to him, and held on.

'Rudy, what is it? You weren't jealous were you?' she joked.

'The shady characters Jack mentioned. Hanpan heard the going to try to assassinate you. He's gone to get Jack,' he replied.

He felt Cecilia freeze against him, and he held her tight. 'I'm not going to let them get you. Don't worry. I'll protect you with my life,' Rudy assured her.

As if that was it's cue, a bullet sliced through the air and pierced Rudy's shoulder. He looked up and tried to find where the bullet came from. He kept Cecilia behind him, feeling his back heat as se began to weave the fire spell.

'Someone get my ARMs!' he bellowed.

It appeared at his side in the hands of a young nobleman. Rudy took it off him, nodded and checked the bullets. He had enough. Good. Without Jack, this could be a long fight.

'Who's trying to kill Cecilia?' he shouted.

'A man you'd know, Rudy Roughnight,' a voice murmured from above him. Rudy looked up and aimed the ARMs, but no one appeared.

He didn't recognise the voice. Fire exploded behind him, singing the ends of his hair as Cecilia shot the spell above him. There was a brief light in the rafters of the great hall, and a shadow appeared on the wall. Rudy recognised the shape.

'I thought you'd left!' he bellowed.

Zed dropped down and landed metres from Rudy. 'Hello, Rudy.'

ARMs appeared between Zed's eyes. 'Get out.'

'Care to make me?' Zed asked.

There was a bang as Rudy pulled the trigger, but nothing happened to Zed. Rudy looked at the barrel of ARMs.

'You can't beat me.'

Rudy's fist slammed in Zed's ribs. Again and again. Rudy was panting before any damage had been done to him.

'Just give me Adlehyde and all will be okay again.'

'Which Adlehyde?' Rudy asked.

'The girl. Why would I want a Crum bucket city like this?'

'Because you're insane?' Rudy asked. 'As for Cecilia, you ain't gonna lay a finger on her.'

'And how will you stop me?'

'Like this.' However it wasn't Rudy who replied, it was Jack. His sword sliced between Zed's neck and shoulder, slicing through him to the middle. 'Rudy, get Cecilia out of here!' Jack said, ignoring the screams of several women in the hall.

'But…' Rudy faltered.

'Rudy?' Cecilia asked suddenly, her hand appearing over his shoulder.

She was pointing at a gunman who was hiding in the rafters. If it hadn't been for the fire Cecilia had cast up there, they wouldn't have known he was there. Rudy got Cecilia as close behind him as he could, trying to keep her out of eyeshot. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the gunman on the rafters behind them. Two gunshots went off, one piercing Rudy's shoulder, the other coming from behind them. Rudy span and caught Cecilia as she collapsed to the floor, her stomach bloody. He bellowed an oath and raised the ARMs, letting off several shots in each direction. Both assassins fell off the rafters, dead. More women screamed, several passing out, as Rudy lifted Cecilia into his arms.

'Get her to Curan Abbey,' Hanpan suggested.

'That's to far. She'll die by then,' Rudy protested.

'Not if you use your stopwatch.'

'Good idea.' Rudy took the stopwatch from Hanpan, who'd taken it from his red jacket and pressed it, beginning to run with Cecilia in his arms.

It took a long while, but eventually Rudy reached Curan Abbey. Cecilia was cold in his arms when he burst through the doors.

'She got shot. Please, I don't want her to die,' he said to the nearest nun.

'Right, come this way, Rudy.'

The nun led him to the healing room, where they forced him to stay out whilst they healed her. Rudy paced anxiously up and down the corridors, smacking the walls with his fist as he walked past. He sank to the floor after several minutes, giving up on hope. Then the door opened and the nun appeared.

'Well, you'll have to be quiet, but she's desperate to see you.'

Rudy leapt up and went inside, keeping silent. Cecilia looked pale as death, but she was breathing fine. One hand was on her bandaged stomach and the other reached out for him.

'You tried,' she whispered as Rudy sat down beside her and took her hand.

'I failed to protect you. I promised I would, but you nearly died. What if Zed had got you, or I hadn't used the stopwatch? You could have died because of me. I'm so sorry,' Rudy said, looking at his feet.

Cecilia let out a sharp breath he supposed was supposed to be a laugh. 'That's the third time in as many hours that you've apologised to me. Are you going to make that your object of life? To apologise to me for everything?'

'But, I nearly got you killed.'

'But I didn't die because Hanpan suggested Curan Abbey. I could have been shot in the head if you hadn't forced me behind you.'

'But I could have got you into more protection that behind me,' Rudy replied. He was trying his hardest to find a reason to blame himself.

'Don't kill yourself about it, Rudy. I'm thankful that you were there to protect me. I don't hate you, you know,' she added, almost as an afterthought.

'I worked that out,' he smiled. 'I still like you.'

Cecilia smiled, lowering her eyes. 'I feel tired. Will you stay here?'

'Of course. I won't let you out my sight,' Rudy said, and Cecilia fell asleep.

Rudy realised he must have fallen asleep, for when he opened his eyes; it was bright in the room. He looked at the bed where Cecilia had been and found her gone. He leapt up and was about to run out when a pair of hands closed around his eyes.

'Cecilia!' he exclaimed, hugging her.

'Owwwww. Not so hard. I feel like I've just been shot,' Cecilia chided as Rudy put her down. 'At least you don't look like a hamster any more.'

Rudy studied Cecilia in awe. She looked so much livelier suddenly. Perhaps the sleep had down her good. 'At least you're up and about. We'll have to deal with Zed again, you know that?'

'We'll be ready next time, don't worry. Hey, our dance went a bit pear-shaped, didn't it?' she asked lightly.

Rudy smiled. 'Did a bit.'

'We should finish it now.'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'I forgot how to dance.'

'No you didn't.'

'It was worth a shot.'

'C'mon, Rudy. Dance. I know you can,' Cecilia dared, taking his hands.

Despite their bloody clothes and weariness, they danced together perfectly. When they were done, Cecilia clung onto Rudy, her chin on his shoulder. He hugged her hard, not as hard as he would have, he knew how much pain she was in. They were there for minutes, maybe hours before Cecilia looked up and gently touched Rudy's lips with her own. Rudy stood shocked for a split second and then kissed her back.

Maybe dancing wasn't so bad….

The End