Author's Note - I hope people are still interested in this story ^.^
I received a mild 'poke' to get this story moving again, if I wanted to retain people's interest. So, I hope that you all enjoy this new chapter~ =3

"She's wonderful, Bass! Simply stunning. Such strength and courage resides in her. I can easily tell. Just by the way she strides...her swagger...and the way she didn't even look remotely cowed by my Father. Oh Bass, I do so hope I get the chance to truly talk with her, before she leaves to continue her travels. What adventures she could tell!" Maura could barely contain her excitement, as she spoke to her tiny pet tortoise 'Bass', whom she kept hidden away in a little open-air pen in the corner of her expansive closet. She knew her parents knew that she had a small, baby tortoise. She also knew that her Mother especially hated her having what she would deem a 'filthy little creature' living in her room. But her Father condoned it, in the sense that her Mother had yet to tell her to remove Bass. Even though her Father was strict and wildly over-protective, Maura knew she could get away with certain small things with him. After all, she was her Father's one and only precious daughter, and he'd do practically anything to make her happy...anything of course, except go off on wild adventures with dashing rogues, instead of marrying an arrogant, conceited Prince.

Maura let out a soft sigh, then leaned forward to press a soft kiss against the shell of her one and only true friend, whom she was holding in the palm of her hand.

"I better get ready for dinner, Bass. I want to have as much time together as possible with that rogue and her partner, before they go on their way," Maura said to her little friend as she gently placed him back into his small habitat. Sometimes being a Princess to one of the most powerful and wealthy Kings in the country, had its advantages. She'd been able to purchase Bass from a merchant, who's trade was the import and sale of exotic creatures. A tortoise like Bass would never have been found in her country, as he was an African spurred tortoise, found on shores far far away from her own.

She had her own dinars of course, which was the currency her country used. So, she'd bought Bass while her parents were occupied...which they always were considering they were the ruling King and Queen...and smuggled him away to her room. She'd also purchased from the merchant a small booklet, that had detailed Bass's care and feeding requirements.

He was very partial to strawberries.

Once again being the wealthy daughter to a wealthy King came in handy for her, as in this instance she would never have been able to afford Bass's meals if she'd been...less financially able. Things like strawberries and the certain leaves he ate, were not easy or cheap to come by. But there was a 'specialty' foods and fruits merchant within their Kingdom also, and Maura had become one of his most valued customers.

There was also a merchant who sold books...those wonderful sheaves of paper, filled with wondrous words bound in oiled leather, which were almost as rare and difficult to come by as dragon scales. Purchase of books in her Kingdom was not cheap. Because of their rarity, their prices were far above what the common citizen could ever hope to afford. Her Father was a good King, and did his best to ensure that his people didn't go hungry. But the people still would rather spend the majority of of their hard-earned dinars on caring for and raising their families.

So, once again Maura was the most valued customer of one of her Kingdom's merchants.

"I wonder if that rogue can read, Bass. It's not the easiest or cheapest skill to acquire, and I seriously doubt she'd need to know such a thing, while she's charging around doing things like slaying dragons," Maura mused quietly to her pet tortoise, who just continued to studiously nibble away at the leafy greens in his small pen.

Maura allowed a small smile to play at the corners of her lips as she left Bass to his meal, and went to the royal bathhouse to wash up for dinner.

~o~o~o~

"Frost, I'm telling you we have to get out of this Kingdom as soon as we can. I don't trust that old King. He's a crafty one. I can see it in his eyes. He's got something planned for us, and I don't mean this so-called dinner in our 'honour'. He's practically forcing us to attend," Jane groused loudly to her partner, who was taking a bath on the other side of the stone wall, separating the male and female bathhouses.

Frost just allowed himself to sink further down into the warm, lightly-scented water he was relaxing in, while leaning his head back against the side of the stone bath's edge.

"Jane relax, you're taking what's a simple invitation to dinner...and a damn amazing bath that we earned with all that dragon scale...as some kind of clandestine ulterior motive of the King. The man just wants to reward us for bringing him all that fine treasure," Frost murmured lightly under his breath, as he allowed his body to sink a bit further down into the soothing water. This was by far the single best bath he'd ever had in his life, and as much as he loved his partner like family, he was not going to waste this opportunity for a good soak.

Jane scowled a bit at the wall separating her from her partner, before she let out a resigned sigh.

Maybe Frost was right.

Maybe the King was just...overly pushy. After all, one didn't become ruler of an entire Kingdom by being soft. Maybe he really did just want to show his appreciation for the dragon scales. But her gut was tingling...and whenever it did that she knew she better pay attention to it. The old codger was up to something. Jane could feel it in her bones, and that same feeling had gotten her out of enough scrapes and close calls in her life, that she'd learned to listen to it every time. She couldn't do anything about their situation right now, and she really did want Frost to enjoy what was probably the single greatest bath he'd ever had in his life...hell it was the best she'd ever had. She just wasn't able to relax and enjoy it like her partner, because of all the anxious energy running through her body.

Jane decided that as soon as the dinner was done, she and Frost would ask for their reward again, and then they would take their leave. She had absolutely no interest in getting wrapped up in whatever scheme the King probably had in store for them.

Jane took in and released a deep breath as she finally allowed her body to relax into the warm water, now that she'd worked out a plan of action.

Get their pay, then get out. That was the plan, and one that she fully intended to stick to. The vision of shimmering hazel-green eyes filled with teasing mirth, slipped into her mind as she allowed her body to sink further down into the warm water.

I wonder if I'll get to meet the owner of those beautiful eyes...Jane wondered to herself with a small grin, as she closed her eyes and fully surrendered herself to this one...truly earned...luxury.

~o~o~o~

"I now present His Highness King Patrick, his Majestic Lady Queen Constance, and their Glorious Daughter Princess Maura. All Rise and Hail the Royal Isles Family!" the court herald cried at the top of his lungs, and Jane just managed to stifle the sigh that wanted to slip through her lips, at the man's incessantly loud voice.

They must feed him chicken eggs or something every morning, for him to gain the vocal muscle strength needed, to pull off that kind lung power off each day, Jane thought dourly to herself, as she stood up from the massive dining table she'd been sitting at beside Frost. They had both been decked out in the finest Knight's armour, and Jane found that because they were truly designed for male warriors, she was chafing a bit at the neck. But she did have to admit that she and Frost looked damned good in the armour, and she wondered briefly if the King would allow her and Frost to keep them when they left.

He's now got a ton of dragon armour plating, so he should at least be able to part with these two for me and Frost, Jane thought to herself as her eyes went to the front of the room, to watch the Royal Family enter the large and lavishly furnished dining room. Her eyes quickly slid passed both the King and Queen and immediately took up residence on the most angelic, beautiful face she'd ever seen in her life. And she'd traveled to many places throughout the many realms, and the stunning vision standing before her now, far surpassed any and all beauty she'd seen previously.

Her heart shook and vibrated in her chest...gently rattling the bars that were so solidly wrapped around it.

"She's a vision..." Jane found herself whispering, as eyes the colour of shimmering jade and golden honey, flashed quickly and shyly over to her before just as quickly looking away.

Those were the eyes! The same eyes that had peeked at her earlier, from behind the heavy purple curtain in the King's public court.

"Yeah, you're right, Jane. She is a vision..." Frost whispered back with a soft hum of approval.

Jane stole a quick glance at her partner, and then slowly lowered her eyes in a slight glower. Frost caught the look out of the corner of his eye, then so quickly if one weren't looking they'd miss it, he flashed her a completely unrepentant grin, before going back to watching the royal family take their seats at the head of the table.

Jane sat down and chanced another quick glance at the stunning Princess, before she focused her attention on the King who had just cleared his throat to draw all attention to himself. He led off by thanking her and Frost, for the precious and rare gift of the dragon scales. He then promised them that they would be given their reward in the morning, as by his reasoning it was much too late right now to open the Royal Treasury.

Jane gritted her teeth and just kept from 'commenting' on the King's 'reasoning', only because Frost placed a hand on her armour-covered leg, and none-so-gently pressed down to get her to keep her mouth shut. Jane let out a faint huff under her breath, and just concentrated on eating her meal while trying not to pay attention to the fact, that the Princess kept sending what she surely believed were surreptitious glances her way.

Jane tried to keep an amused and slightly-flattered grin off her face, as she continued to dig into the veal that was surrounded by every other kind of food imaginable on her plate. Truly she and Frost were being treated like royalty themselves this day between the bath, the armour, and now the lavish dinner. But for all the 'trappings' that these royals for whatever reason were heaping on her and her partner, Jane still just wanted to leave. She just wanted to get back out on the open road, heading wherever the wind blew, or wherever adventure called. That was her life and her passion, and she just hoped that this King wouldn't keep holding her and Frost up for too much longer.

"My dear Jane, I have a bit of a business proposition for you," King Patrick suddenly stated, as he lightly wiped a bit of rich gravy from his lips.

Jane's head immediately snapped up and she chanced a quick glance over at Frost, to see that her partner was also paying hawk-like attention to what the King was now saying. The look Jane sent Frost was one that plainly said, I told you something was up with this King. He wants something from us.

Frost frowned slightly as he quickly interpreted Jane's look, then re-focused all his attention on the King.

Maura was now also paying close and careful attention to her Father. He was up to something. She knew all his mannerisms; all the small movements of his face and body, that gave away his every word and action. She was very good at doing that...reading other people. It was a skill she'd developed from countless hours spent watching the many people who came in day-after-day, to either seek favour with the King or to conduct business with him. And now she could see it as plain as day...her father was about to ask the rogue and her partner for something...something big. And she could tell by the rogue's rigid posture and expression, that she also suspected that this would be no ordinary business proposition. Her entire body just telegraphed the intense desire to leave.

Her father wasted no further time in getting to his point, now that he'd begun speaking.

"Jane...Frost...I want you both to become Knights of my Kingdom. And Jane you especially, I would like for you to become my daughter's personal Knight."

Maura felt all the air in her lungs rush out, and she could tell by the similarly stunned expression on her mother's face, that she'd had absolutely no idea her husband was going to ask this.

Jane sat up ram-rod straight as the requests filtered in through her ears, and penetrated straight through to her brain. She turned slightly to give Frost a quick hard look, and she didn't need to actually hear his opinion to know that he would agree with her current thoughts perfectly. Jane turned back towards the royal family; the powerful, confident stature of the King; the elegant though surprised look of the Queen; and finally those beautiful golden-green eyes of the Princess, who was looking back at her with a curious tilt of her head...all of them waiting for her and Frost's answer.

Jane took in and released a long, deep breath before she squared her jaw, and looked the King straight in the eye as she gave her answer.

"No."

~o~o~o~

"Please...please don't do this...please don't do this..." the soft voice of a female whimpered tearfully, as a thick piece of twine was wrapped firmly around her wrists, and she was shoved unceremoniously down onto her small pallet bed. The agonized, muffled cries of her husband reached her ears, as a sinister shadow fell over her body. She turned tearful eyes towards her cloth-gagged and chair-bound husband, and tears of despair and remorse fell steadily from her eyes.

There was no hope for them.

They both lived in a little farm cottage on the outskirts of the Isles Kingdom, and there wasn't another soul for miles around. Even if she tried screaming again...she'd learned very quickly not to do that after the first attempt...that no one would hear to come to their rescue. She and her husband...they were both going to die...she could see the agonized realization and resignation of that fact in her husband's eyes.

She only hoped that it would be quick.

Oh please dear Creator, let it be quick...let it be quick...the woman cried deep within her soul, as the dark figure above her pressed down like a shadow of death...then swooped down and devoured her whole.

~o~o~o~

Charles Hoyt was a very satisfied man. He was a very satisfied man indeed.

He ran the wet-stone-sharpened edge of his blade lightly across his tongue...tasting, to him, the sweet flavour of fear and passion. How opportune for him to have come across this lovely couple, just sitting here waiting for him to come visit.

And visit he had. Especially with the wife. He'd visited her again...and again...and again. Enough so that eventually she could take no more. And then when he'd had his fun with her, he'd then moved onto the husband who was openly weeping now; breath muffled behind the dirty, dingy cloth that had been stuffed into his mouth. Hoyt had then brought the husband into the fun, but he was fairly quick with the man. Just a simple, clean cut that resembled a lovely smiling face across his neck.

Another work of art for him.

Yes, it had been a very satisfying day indeed. And very soon his days would become even more satisfying, as Hoyt had made himself a plan. It was his most delicious plan devised yet. He was quite pleased with himself in fact, at his own genius.

The marriage of Princess Maura to Prince Garrett would be happening soon. Very soon, in fact. And once it did, Hoyt would have the perfect wedding present for them both. They would become his greatest masterpiece to date.

And there wasn't a soul alive who could stop him.

AN - I'm doing my very best with this story, so please review and let me know what you think of it, thanks~ =3