Chapter 4

Sir Rhyse arrived about three days later, holding his red and purple flag of the Hawk kingdom. What Gabby knew about the knight was whatever was told through stories and gossip. Nothing more, nothing less, and for all she knows most of it could be stretched truths and almost lies that the knight didn't really care to figure out. The way the story is told, Sir Rhyse was King Albert Hawk's insignifacant son from when he'd impregnated one of his whores. The woman was financially helped out, but was other than that not aknowledged by King Albert until an illness threatened the life of his son with his wife and the Queen, Winnifred Hawk. The king summoned the boy and told him of who his father was, and lived in the castle for many months while Prince Jesse lay bedridden. Many times, the Hawk family was sure that Jesse would die, making Rhyse the only known heir to the Hawk Kingdom. Prince Jesse Hawk recovered a few seasons later and Rhyse was given one thing in return for the months he was there. Rhyse decided he wanted to be knighted, so that he was. It was told about the Pennyworth kingdom that Rhyse had a son, Alexander, whom was the result of a marriage that ended when his wife died 5 years ago from childbirth. If Rhyse were to win, Helena would be an adopted mother to this little boy.

Gabby, so far had been enjoying her stay at the castle, and from the looks of it, Dinah was as well. The knight hadn't seen the younger blonde in the daytime while she trained, and she assumed she was making friends with the women she had met the night they got there. Not long after Gabby had re-entered the great hall after Thadius told her that she was there to compete for what she knew she couldn't win, Dinah had gotten to talking to a redhaired woman and a very pregnant young woman the knight's own age. Gabby never got their names, but she was sure that by the time the tournament was over, she'd be meeting them. While Dinah was off to her own devices, Gabby was having a good time training in jousting, which was a good way to excersise Nix, take much desurved aggressions out on Thadius , and make her look good to the royal family all at the same time. When she didn't train, she tried to find the seer, only to see that she wasn't to be found. The day of Sir Rhyse's arrival was one such occasion. In the midst of her search, she'd run into Princess Helena and her guard Guy in the corridors. She'd invited the knight to go on a horseback ride. Guy had just gotten Helena onto her horse when Sir Rhyse Hawk had arrived. Immediately after, Guy had to let her back down. "I have to go greet him. Perhaps another time, Sir Gabriel?" the princess asked apologetically.

"I understand, Princess." Gabby said, bowing to her. Princess Helena took Guy's elbow, and if Gabby hadn't known that the guard was there to protect her, she would have thought that they made a wonderful pair with how well they talked and got on together. "You're not getting out of this ride, Nix. I am not about to let you get fat." Nix only stared at her as if she was insane, but made no movement or sound otherwise as Gabby continued to prepare him for the trails.

"Gabriel!" Gabby turned at the sound of her name. She saw Dinah, whom had picked up her pace and was trying to get to the knight. "I have been looking everywhere for you."

"Everywhere but here, Dinah, which is where you would have found me if you hadn't been looking everywhere first." the knight said to her.

"Haha, don't be smart." Gabby couldn't help but laugh at Dinah's sarcasm.

"What is it then, that requires you to search for me so?" Gabby asked, leaning against Nix.

"I... Well..."

"Dinah?" the knight asked, silently encouraging her to finish her sentence.

"I hope you aren't preoccupied, but I actually just wanted to speak with you, seeing as you are my travel companion for this tournament." Gabby stared at her.

"Well, I was about to go for a ride. Would you care to join me? We can talk and not be overheard." Dinah nodded, and Gabby went to prepare Dinah's horse.

Minutes later, Gabby and Dinah were riding aimlessly around the outskirts of the castle. They'd entered a man-made horse trail and let Dinah's horse and Nix walk along it. "Are you enjoying your stay at the castle, Dinah?" Gabby asked after a while when she felt the seer wasn't going to be the one to start the conversation.

"Oh yes." The younger blonde said, and Gabby could feel a little bit of excitement roll off of her as she spoke. "I did a little wandering around, and there is a large garden that Queen Selina really enjoys. I only got to see her for a minute, but she is always out there, covered in her royal robes and watching as the earth whispers to her. Sometimes it is as if she is a part of that natural surrounding." She said.

"And what of your new friends? Where have they run off to?" At the mention of Dinah's new friends, Gabby hadn't meant to sound so... jealous.

"Well, Carolyn Lance, the pregnant woman, was feeling a little bit ill, so Barbara had to go help her to bed. Remember when I told you of the dream about the large sundial and the three masked women?" Dinah suddenly asked. "Well, two others besides myself."

"Yes, I remember." Gabby said slowly as if to wonder where Dinah was going with her question.

"I think Barbara was the red haired woman that was there... only... In my dream... the red haired woman sat in a chair that had wheels on them, and she maneuvered these wheels with her hands." Dinah said, breaking off her sentence as she let her mind wander to the dream and what it actually was.

"You believe that God let's us die and then become reborn again?" Gabby asked.

"Yes, a little bit." Dinah responded, completely confused. "Though how that is relevant-"

"Maybe this is the future. You know, maybe you meet again in the future, and we all know each other. You know? Maybe everyone we know now we will meet in the future. Perhaps in that life, you ARE heroes, known by a name but never by the face... And- And maybe even you know Sir Rhyse and he helps you out."

"Yeah, and King Bruce will run around this future dressed as a deranged rodent and Queen Selina of a disfigured house beast..." Dinah said sarcastically.

"I wasn't trying to be smart that time. You told me that this dream was real to you, and I assumed that when you dream a dream that is real like that, then it is one of the future. Perhaps you were having a premonition."

"There were horseless carriages, Gabriel."

"That's right..." Gabby trailed off, wondering what horseless carriages looked like in this dream. She had forgotten that part of the seer's dream, and felt a little stupid for suggesting it.

"If this is some future, then it must be further than I would ever expect to dream." Dinah whispered. Gabby nodded, not sure what to say to that. The two women rode on, both thinking about the possibilities of Gabby's theory, Gabby thinking it made more sense than anything, and Dinah thinking it was rubbish, but saying or showing nothing in fear of offending her riding companion. "So, tell me about the tournament. Do you know what is to come and what to expect?" the seer asked when she was no longer comfortable with the silence.

"There will be three tasks to this tournament. One hunting, one sword fighting, and one jousting. King Bruce will eliminate each knight from the tournament if they are the weakest in the task. I think the main elimination task will be the sword fighting. I heard that half of the knights will be eliminated after the first task, and then there were be sword fights eliminating all the rest until there are only two. These two will joust. Best of 5, I believe. Whomever wins that joust will be awarded the prize money of 500 gold coins or the princess' hand if they talked with King Bruce ahead of time about it." Gabby rattled off, feeling herself become less and less sure of her abilities. She'd seen over the last few days the strength and agility in these men who were larger than herself, and even if she'd wanted to win the princess, she felt she had no chance against them.

"Sounds exciting. I will be cheering for you in the arena." Dinah said with great sincerity, and Gabby smiled warmly, glad that someone was on her side. "Sir Gabriel? What is on your mind?" Dinah asked suddenly.

"I feel insecurities rise within me now, Dinah." Gabby said, surprised that she was able to speak out about how she felt to the seer, when she was so used to holding everything within her mind and her heart. She silently wondered why she didn't seem intimidated by the younger blonde anymore, but she pushed it all aside.

"Do explain... please."

"You know that I was only in this tournament for fun. For a sport. Thadius changed all that. Now I am competing for the princess' hand. You and I both know that can't happen, but if I purposely fail the first task, I know I will be failing Thadius." the blonde knight admitted. "I am just afraid."

"I understand. You are unsure when to purposely fail that would bring you the most glory, right?"

"I don't want Thadius to look at me with that look of failure and almost regret. I don't want him to regret taking me in because I am not the greatest knight."

"Listen to yourself. You were knighted only 5 nights ago, Gabby. How can he expect that from you when it has taken years before Thadius became the man he is?" The knight knew the younger blonde was right. She nodded and she felt a little bit better, but that didn't resolve her problem. 'I reckon that is for me to decide alone.' There was a loud silence between them. Gabby noticed as they went along that Dinah pet her horse now and then, whispering to it in encouragement.

"How come you have yet to name your horse?" Gabby asked, more out of curiosity than as a way to break yet another silence. Naming a horse was usually the first thing a woman did upon receiving one as a gift, and the fact that hers remained unnamed seemed a little odd to the knight.

"It was a gift from King Alfred. During the season of giving, he'd wanted to take me riding and teach me to ride a horse, so he gave me her, only this is the 4th time since I had gotten her that I had actually ridden."

"That doesn't tell me why she's gone unnamed for this long." Gabby said. Dinah shrugged.

"I can't think of a good one for her."

"I see." Gabby responded slowly, making the girl look at her.

"Do you have any suggestions, Gabriel? Perhaps you can come up with another unique name like Nix for my horse."

"Perhaps, but I'd rather you came up with it on your own. She is, after all, in your possession. You should name her, otherwise she will go on feeling as if you do not love her."

"I s'pose you're right. I bet if you loved men, Kafka would be the perfect husband for you." Dinah said, grinning at the disgust on Gabby's face.

"That has got to be the weirdest thing you've ever said." Dinah laughed, and after a few seconds, Gabby joined in the laughter, both of them sounding like they were back into their childhood mischief's and troublemaking. They joked on in such manner, and all tension that ever was between the pair melted as they bonded. As the sun started to set, Gabby and Dinah headed back to the Wayne castle, and were inside the stables by the time it had become fully dark. As Gabby hopped down to help Dinah from her horse, Kafka returned Nix to his stall and started to take off his saddle.

"Carrah." the boy suddenly said after petting Dinah's horse.

"Excuse me?" Dinah asked when the stable boy turned her way.

"Your horse. She wishes to be called Carrah." Dinah looked at him with an odd expression on her face, partially of curiosity and mostly of confusion.

"He can talk to the horses, so to speak." Gabby grinned at her pun, but no one else got the joke, so she said nothing further for a minute. "Hello Carrah." the young knight said, petting the horse. "You know, the other knights, Thadius and them think I am mad because I talk to Nix all the time." Gabby said conversationally. "One time I was drunken and I was talkin' to him. Thadius found me and started to make funna me for it. I'll never live it down according to Cashius." Dinah smiled, trying to hide her laughter. Gabby grinned, glad to have gotten a smile from her riding companion. Over her shoulder, she saw a large man approach them.

"Sir Gabriel?"

"Aye?"

"Hi, I am Sir Rhyse of the Hawk kingdom. I have heard a lot about you from the gossip around the castle and thought I would come and say 'Hello' and good luck on the tournament." Dinah turned around and both blondes looked the man. Sir Rhyse was a large man, easily 6 feet tall. He had long black hair that went to his broad shoulders. At the moment it was put into a tie. His skin was darker than any man Gabby's ever seen, almost the color of his brown eyes.

"Hello. Nice to meet you at last. I am Sir Gabriel Andrew, and this is Dinah Redmond." Rhyse took Dinah's hand and placed a small kiss upon the top.

"A pleasure to meet the two of you. Princess Helena told me about you while you were out riding."

"I hope these things she told you were good things." Gabby said, not sure why the princess would say anything good or mean about her since they hadn't really gotten a chance to know each other.

"Don't worry about mean spirited words, lad. I heard nothing but good things about you from her. She seems to like you, which is a rarity. I know I'll have my work cut out for me." There was something in the man's voice that seemed a little odd, but Gabby pushed it aside, telling herself that it was just her competitive nature boiling within her.

"I have heard many things about you as well. I'm sure this will turn out to be at least an interesting tournament, in which I wish you good luck." Gabby said. They nodded to each other in their goodbye, and Sir Rhyse was off again, back into the castle.

"Something's not right about him." Dinah muttered, turning around to face Gabby for the first time since Sir Rhyse's arrival.

"Something bad?"

"I don't know. Something feels not right about him. He likes to cheat. I wouldn't make a bet with him ever." Dinah said. Gabby nodded. "Just watch out for him, okay? He frankly scares me."

"I will. Come on, I believe it is about time to eat." Gabby said, rubbing her stomach to show she was starving.

"I could use a little food." Dinah admitted, and Gabby escorted her to the great hall.