Clavius paced around his lair, not quite impatient, but eager to put his next move into action. It was simple, really. Knuckles, his henchman, would burn up the nearby fields, which would lure both Derek and Odette away. With the two of them, and probably most of the guards and soldiers, gone, he would sneak into the castle, disguised as a servant, and find the remnants of the Forbidden Arts he and Rothbart had left behind. It was almost too perfect.

However, it would take time. He had to wait a while, so as not to make the event of burning fields seem related to his threat. Although the latter may have seemed foolish, as it tipped Derek off of impending doom et cetera, it was actually more of a psychological attack. Derek would be edgy, not really thinking straight. He would be blinded by his determination to defend his home, and he would waste no time in finding the arsonist. Odette would probably try to tag along, but even if she did stay home, she would be no trouble when he would go to find the Arts.

"But what if Derek found the notes?" Knuckles asked, breaking his thoughts. "I mean, they've been living in the castle for a whole year. Maybe they found them."

"I don't care if he lived there for ten years, Derek did not find those notes," Clavius answered indignantly. "It's impossible. They were hidden below the castle, and only Rothbart and I knew where the door was that led to them. And now that Rothbart is dead, only I know." Clavius' voice was shaky as he answered. Henchman as he was, Knuckles' point was good. Yes, there was a slim, a very slim, chance that Derek stumbled across the underground room where the notes were hidden. That was possible. But it was not probable, in Clavius' mind.

Derek probably thought everything concerning the Forbidden Arts died along with Rothbart.

Wrong.

Clavius knew exactly where they were, and the moment he found them, the first thing he would do would be take care of Derek. After that, send Odette to meet him, and third, he would make his name well known to the world – as its king.

"Wouldn't that mean you're avenging Rothbart?" Knuckles asked slyly. Although he was a very large man, he was also fairly smart. He knew Clavius couldn't stand Rothbart, even if he was dead.

Clavius grimaced, annoyed with his cheeky assistant. "Shut up. I just don't need Derek around to meddle with my plans." Clavius reflected on his time with Rothbart. Things had gone just fine in the beginning. They worked together, both putting their lives into developing the Arts. The days had been long, and the nights sleepless. But for years, they continued working. Finally, it was done. The Arts were perfect. But then Rothbart turned traitor on Clavius and drove him underground, even threatening him with exposure to King William. Clavius complied with Rothbart and left him, fearing execution, which would be the penalty if he was caught. Ironically, the next night, King William attacked and arrested Rothbart, and the next morning, he was banished.

"What are you, scared of Princess Derek?" Knuckles chided. Clavius was not finding him amusing in the least, but Knuckles didn't really care. He and Clavius met up in a pub in town. Clavius needed an assistant, and Knuckles needed money and a roof over his head – one that didn't stand over drunken brutes. So, the partnership worked out, although Knuckles did wear on Clavius' nerves after a while. "Don't worry about that little whelp. I can handle him with these," he said as he showed Clavius his two powerful fists.

"That little whelp is mine," Clavius answered. "I'll be the one to kill him. You just stick to your job."

Knuckles rolled his eyes, but nodded in compliance. He wasn't going to risk a huge cut of the spoils when Clavius took over the world, so he just found it best to shut up and listen. There would be time for killing whelps later.

Clavius looked around the hollowed out volcano that was serving as his and Knuckles' hideout. It was bleak, to say the least, with only the bare necessities in furniture to be found. Clavius grimaced in superior disgust, feeling he was above living in such a ramshackle place.

"One day," he swore, "That castle will be mine, and I'll never set foot in this place again."

*****

Meanwhile, at Swan Lake, two days after Clavius' appearance, things were back to normal, or the best impression of it given the circumstances. Odette didn't know what to think. Part of her wondered if Clavius would wait until they were completely vulnerable, and thus, she remained on alert and careful. Another part was sure Clavius was just some mad man, wanting only to play a horrible joke on them.

Derek seemed to have chosen a side. He believed Clavius was a threat; that much was evident. Odette had never seen him train so hard. She knew he liked to stay fit, but now, things were different. He wasn't working out. He was actually training.

She watched as he trained with Bromley, the exercise a seemingly mindless game. However, Derek had a determination about him that made Odette rethink that idea. He didn't even seem to be competing with Bromley – which was no surprise, considering Bromley was no good at the game at all. He seemed to be challenging more with himself and the timer, trying to beat his score every round.

Even his technique changed from time to time. Sometimes he would simply stand still and shoot at the 'animals' – which were, of course, servants dressed up as various animals – as they appeared, not moving much. Sometimes he would chase them around a little more. Regardless of what method he used, when Rogers called time, there were always more orange marks from Derek's padded arrows than blue from Bromley's.

And then there were the endless matches of 'catch and fire.' Odette wasn't quite sure how she felt about this game, she had to admit, as it was far more dangerous than the other exercise. But after watching only one round of it, she knew she had nothing to worry about. Even she could see the beauty in how quickly Derek whirled around and fired the arrow, sending it with perfect accuracy into the very center of the apple that was placed on Bromley's head.

One afternoon, after a long day of practice, Lord Rogers, Derek's advisor, passed by her, looking exhausted. He looked at her and said something that surprised her: "I haven't seen him train so hard since you were kidnapped by Rothbart."

It was very rarely that anyone had said anything about her time with Rothbart. Technically speaking, it wasn't a 'forbidden' topic of conversation. It was, however, generally avoided, which was why Odette was so caught off guard when Rogers mentioned it. No one, especially Odette and Derek, spoke of her time away, simply because it was so painful. However, with Clavius' appearance, the past she and Derek hoped to lay to rest was reemerging.

"What do you mean?" she asked, stopping him just before he walked away.

"When he found out you had been kidnapped, he was miserable. I remember the way he regretted not telling you he loved you. Then, he knew he had to find you. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, thought you were dead and thought him mad. He was persistent, though, and he never gave up. He trained hard with Bromley everyday. It worked, though. He found you, and well, you know the rest."

At that, he walked away, having nothing more to say. Odette was a little awed by Derek. She had no idea how hard he had fought for her. Truth be told, being royalty, neither one had ever had to work hard for something. But then she was kidnapped, and they had to work hard to find each other. Something about being told how hard Derek had trained and fought for her made her feel… safe. Despite the situation, she felt safe.

But she could see Derek didn't. While everyone else was quite tired of training for one day, he seemed to be fully energetic. But he mercifully let the servants go. He walked up to her, smiling a little.

"I always liked this part of training," he admitted.

"I can see why," she answered, taking his arm. "You always win."

"Well, my only opponent is Bromley…"

"And the servants," Odette laughed, glad they were such good sports about it. Anything short, and they'd be hiring new teams every day. Derek laughed along with her.

She was so good humored, even is he wasn't, and it made him feel better about the situation. It gave him hope, and one more thing to fight for; her laughter. And then there was her smile, which was one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with her. If he didn't see those two things about her every day, it would be like the sun not coming up or the stars not shining. It would be just plain wrong.

They walked inside the castle, laughing, talking, and just plain getting their minds off Clavius. Honestly, it wasn't really hard. They were so tangled in each other, so lost, that it didn't even matter. They fell into an intense kiss, feeling fire from their lips down to their throats.

Derek broke the kiss and grinned. "Better watch out, someone might come and tell us to leave the castle." Despite the circumstances, they burst into laughter. That was exactly how things had started off. But then again, there was something underlying about the joke. Derek didn't want to be caught off guard again. So, he remained alert and aware, ready for Clavius.

Waiting…