The Pink Princess and the Blue Knight II

Down at the training fields, Lord Wesley and Sir Jack were helping Sir Sky to prepare for his duel with Mirloc. The three had been at the training session for nearly two hours, and Sir Sky was sweating buckets.

"You need rest, my son," announced Lord Wesley. "We have gone over the basic rules of combat well enough for one day. Tomorrow before dawn she shall enhance your skill with a blade, though I know there cannot be much improvement on the famous blue knight."

Sir Jack looked relieved at Lord Wesley's proclamation. "At last, Lord Wesley calls it quits. Thank the gods for their small mercies."

However, the red knight's enthusiasm was not shared by the blue knight. "I can not lose my pink princess to that despicable creature. I will not let my Sydney wed that vile animal."

"You have your mother's stubbornness, my son," observed the lord of Silverhill. "Well, I suppose if you wish you may carry on for some time, but it is almost dark. I do not want to have to come and fetch you, Sky. Jack, stay here with my hardheaded son, if you do not mind."

Jack's formerly happy and relieved expression vanished. "As you command, my lord," mumbled the former squire. "I shall stay and see that he does not injure himself."

"Spoken like a true Knight of the House of Grayson," boomed Wesley good naturedly. "Until dawn then, Sky. Remember, not too late."

Sir Sky and Sir Jack bowed Lord Wesley, at Marin's customs dictated. "Now then," continued Sir Sky, "Where were we, Jack?"

"Defensive maneuvers," muttered the red knight. "Honestly, if they wanted me to act as your squire still then they should never have knighted me."

"Not everything is about you," snapped the princess' fiancé. "There are bigger things than you and I happening, Jack. Mirloc is here for revenge upon my house and the house of my ancestors. I did not allow Marin to fall to Gruumm, and by the gods I will not let Marin fall to Mirloc either. If you do not want to help me succeed in bringing Mirloc down once and for all, then simply get out of my sight."

"Temper," Jack said, taking two steps backwards from Sir Sky. "I did not say that I will not help you, Sky. I am merely a little weary."

"I am willing to bet that if you and Lady Allison's future together was in jeopardy that you would not be weary."

Jack's round face hardened. "Why do we stand around jabbering, Sir Sky? Let us get on with this training session."

Sir Sky raised his sword and with a metallic clanking sound, Sir Jack pulled his from the embossed hilt. "Defensive maneuvers with blades," announced Jack. "I have no difficulty assisting you, Sky, but all of Marin knows you are the best fighter in the land. What good will my presence do?"

"Practice makes perfect," said the blue knight. "Did I not tell you that countless times when you were still under my tutelage?"

The younger knight made a face at his mentor. "Well, yes, but…"

"There are to be no buts, Jack," Sky said firmly. "Now let us commence the second half of this training session."

And the two knights continued until the sky turned inky black.

Up in her tower bedroom, Princess Sydney and Lady Allison and Lady Elizabeth were preparing for bed. As was her custom, Elizabeth gently pulled the forget me not comb from Sydney's golden waves and began brushing her hair. "Sydney," chirped the yellow lady-in-waiting, "I do think you should lighten up a little bit. Things will be better soon; you'll see. Sky adores you, Syd, and you know he is the best at combat in all of this fair country. There is nothing for you to fret over, Princess."

Across the room on her trundle bed, Lady Allison, or Ally, as she preferred, nodded in agreement. "Z is quite right, Sydney. Mirloc is no match for your Sky. So please remove that scowl, as it is most unlike you."

Syd ran her hands through her blond locks. "I can not help but worry about this duel with the intruder Mirloc. There is something not quite right about him, and it is not just that he wished to marry Lady Jennifer at one time and that now he tries to steal me away from Sky. Something in his eyes makes me very uneasy. He is planning something, and he is planning something vicious and most likely underhanded."

The pink princess crossed the circular bedroom to her mahogany wardrobe and pulled out her pink silken nightgown. Ally scrambled up off of her trundle bed and went to help the princess take off her dress, loosening the cords like an expert. Once her nightgown had been put on, Sydney found her way to the tower's window. Perching on the ledge, she sighed, rather dramatically. "If only I could interrogate the beast…"

Allison stood by her friend. "We will think of something, my princess."

Elizabeth joined the other two young girls at the window. "Tomorrow, we shall see Bridge and Jack and Sky. We shall take them out on a picnic and together the six of us will hash this problem out. Between all of our brain powers we will come up with some solution to the problem you fear, Sydney."

Syd allowed a brief smile to flit across her face. "Oh Elizabeth, you make everything sound as if it is so simple. I honestly do not know what I would do if I did not have your friendship."

She stood then, and drew the thick woolen draperies across the window. "I honestly do not know what I would do without either of you," Sydney amended, looking at the newer lady-in-waiting. "The two of you are the best friends a princess could ever ask for."

Elizabeth and Allison grinned at Sydney. "And you are a very good friend yourself, Syd," replied Ally. "You accepted me just as I was, welcomed me with open arms. My parents never approved of my tomboyish ways, but you did. I thought this time at court was to be dreadful, but it is quite the opposite."

"Everything was lovely until Mirloc showed up," said the princess, scrubbing her tiny hands through her golden tresses once more. "Then it turned dreadful."

"Hush now Princess," soothed Elizabeth. "It grows later still as we sit here and chatter. When we join up with Sky and Bridge and Jack, we must be well rested. There is nothing more we can do for the moment, Syd. The three of us should all go to bed."

"Of course you are right once again, Z," murmured the princess. "I shall blow out the candles and we will retire."

But despite the kind words of her friends, Sydney had a hard time falling asleep that night.