Here we are already! o: The second book of the series: the Knights of the Rainbow Heart! :D I can't believe it. Can you?

Oh! How do you like my portrait of the witty Richard? ;) Drew it myself, just like I did with Prince Artorius. Hope it's how you imagined him. I'm kinda torn between drawing Lancelot and John for the third book cover, since I like to plan ahead, and drawings these portraits take time. Will you guys let me know which one you'd prefer in this chapter's Reviews please?

I'm getting ahead of myself. Ready to dive into the second book? Well, ready or not, here we go! ;D

Emeric de Mousquetaire's P.O.V.

"Well then, fellow Knights of the Rainbow Heart," beamed John Hawkwood. "Now what?"

"I don't really want to face those knights I sent out any time soon," shivered Prince Artorius. "All the knights in Avalon are gonna hate me… And after facing those pages and squires, I don't think the next generation will be any different..."

"We've got your back Art!" Lancelot patted him heartily on the back. "Ain't that right John?"

"You betcha!" nodded John. "Even if it does ruin our popularity in the dormitory, I think this group is way better. You can finally be yourself instead of following the crowd..."

"I'm sure there's a lot of good in you John," I wagered. "You've just been following the wrong crowd for far too long. I'm sure you have your reasons for acting the way you do too Lancelot, even though they are sometimes unbearable..."

"Heh heh… Yeah right! It's not like I'm hiding something at all, right Johnny boy?" nervously chuckled Lancelot, nugging John.

For once, John didn't back him up. He simply stared at him suspiciously as the rest of us did.

"Please stop doing that to me guys!" Lancelot begged until he finally cracked. "Fine! I'll tell you!"

"You're terrible at lying Lancelot," Edward observed.

"Well, better to be an honest man than a lying cheat," compared Richard.

"Just let him talk!" silenced John.

Lancelot let out a huge sigh. "I've been secretly threatened to do all those pranks, okay? I used to find my end of the bargain reasonable since I've always been a bit of a prankster and a joker in the first place, but the biggies are not my ideas, like the one with you Art. I'm regretting that more than anything now... The deal was, I get all the credit, the fame, popularity, and so forth, in return for their praise and support. When I finally drew the line by refusing to do that prank on the Prince of Avalon here, they threatened to pound me if I didn't! I'm so sorry Art."

"Hold on a second," paused John. "And you never told me this?! This is huge! I would have gone straight up to those people and punched their faces for making me follow all those wrongdoings!"

"That wouldn't be such a wise idea," warned Lancelot. "All the pages and squires are in on it."

Lancelot hid his head in his arms and legs. I wasn't sure, but I think he was actually starting to whimper and cry.

"Well, at least you have your parents to support you," comforted Artorius, patting Lancelot on the back in turn. "Mine are always too busy with their 'royal duties' to care about me..."

Lancelot sighed. "Yeah…"

At the word 'parents', I went back to my suitcase and finally found what I was looking for: a photograph of my mother and father hugging me along with our family of dogs and our once beautiful mansion in the background.

All our workers were furious at us for giving them each low salaries, when we were struggling to keep up ourselves. We did all we could to help them cultivate the best of the land, maintain the mansion, put food on their plates, even share rooms with them. But it didn't seem to be enough for them. They wanted those gold coins so badly, they discarded our true payment of gratitude and necessities. They tore down our mansion brick by brick and set all those antiques passed on through generations on fire. I couldn't believe what they were doing after all we tried to do to support them. Now, my parents are on the run from them and the tax collectors, while the parents of those families are unemployed.

I remember playing tag with a few of the children of our workers in the corn fields. Unlike other households, we didn't care about our last name or who we hung out with. My father ran away with my mother for that very reason: because she was considered a peasant in his family of aristocrats. Even though I wasn't into drama and romance, I could identify it when I saw it.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Richard asked me, curious.

"Huh? Oh. No. I didn't find it..." I slipped the picture back into the pocket I found it in.

Edward's P.O.V.

Emeric turned to me. "So, how about you Edward? Any struggles you've had to deal with on your own? If you share, it might lighten the burden."

Finally! For once in my life, I can loosen up a bit!

I slouched. "I know it's not right to complain, but where to begin?!"

"Who told you that?" inquired Lancelot.

Richard took a guess. "I'm assuming… your father? Why is he so difficult with you?"

I shrugged. "It's always been that way since my mother died when I was born..."

"Oh. I'm so sorry Edward..." apologized Emeric.

"Not your fault. It's mine. I'm the failure of the family. My father never even revealed to me my last name because he saw me as unworthy of the family name! He definitely didn't hide his disappointment in me. If he had a choice on who could have died, he would have chosen my mother to live," I revealed with a heavy heart.

"No way are you a failure Edward!" Artorius encouraged. "Look at you now! You've probably got the best traveling benefits being my advisor, many servants envy your job, which is probably why they're pretending it's no big deal, and most of all, you're in a secret society with people that care and look out for you!"

"You mean the Knights of the Rainbow Heart? It's nothing important we'll get recognition in," I underestimated, but for some reason, I ended up smiling!

"Okay. I take that back when I said magic doesn't exist," surrendered Richard. "I don't what could cause my miserable roommate to smile!"

We all laughed uncontrollably at that. Though I didn't understand what or why I was laughing… It wasn't that funny.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to admit something," Richard finally said in turn once he stopped laughing.

"And what's that?" wondered Artorius.

"I hate these glasses!" Richard ripped them off his face and threw them hard on the ground.

"So? You look smart in them," complimented Emeric.

Richard's eyes seemed like thin slots now compared to when he had his glasses on. I could no longer see his intelligent sapphire blue eyes that reflected the world around him.

"And I get assumed that I am!" squinted Richard. "I'm not a know-it-all. I'm only ten for crying out loud! When people realize I'm not that witty, I end up being a good-for-nothing loser with glasses! But I don't have a choice with those things. I can't see a thing without them..."

He kneeled down in search for them. He kept feeling around them, but never actually found them on his own. I couldn't stand seeing him so blind! If he were attacked from behind at any moment, he wouldn't see it coming. I carefully dusted the dirt on the glasses, then placed them back on his face.

"Thanks... Guess you're not as cold-hearted as I thought..."

"I only did it because you're my roommate," I covered up, then realized I was blushing slightly.

"You've just gotta let go about your past and move on Edward. Your father won't be here forever! You can control your own life. It's not his," persuaded Emeric. "That saying helped me a lot..."

"What is your past?" pried Lancelot. "You secretly came down a long line of wizards?"

"Ugh! No! I thought we went over this! I'm not a wizard!" exclaimed Emeric who went to his suitcase.

"Then what's your problem?" asked John. "Let's face it. I don't think anyone here is problem-free."

He sighed, and took out to show us what he was looking for the entire time: a picture with a shiny haze to it.

"That's my family, and my home, at least, it used to be..." Emeric stared off into the distance. "We tried everything we could to keep everyone happy… We gave them meals, a roof above their heads, helped them with their work, I even shared clothes. In the end, it wasn't enough. They wanted to see the money, so did the tax collectors, so they rioted and destroyed the whole property..."

Emeric put the picture back where he found it gloomily. "But the past doesn't matter anymore. Now I'm here with the Knights of the Rainbow Heart!"

Saying that immediately cheered him up. That name seemed to have some type of spell on it, making whoever said it smile at the very least.

"Group hug!" John cried gaily, bringing us all together for a hug.

"Help! I'm choking!" coughed Lancelot.

"Oops… Sorry." John immediately let go.

After a long, awkward silence, Richard asked, "So, now what?"

Emeric planned ahead. "I'd say prepare for survival. We've got to be ready for whatever comes at us, no matter how long we'll be hiding here."

He's right… We've got to keep ourselves busy before boredom gets the best of us, I rationalized. Let's just hope we'll be ready for whatever we'll face...