William sat in his dirty, cold cell in the Tower of London. He was unable to move his arms, for they were restrained. There was no escape for him.

I hope Eleanor made it out alright. I couldn't bear it if Adhemar had her too.

William stood in the stocks, wallowing in his shame, self-pity, and anger that he had not competed against Adhemar. A little peasant boy ran up to him and hit his head. He should have been grateful that it was a child, or it would have hurt immensely.

At the corner of his vision, he saw a slightly pudgy man wearing a brown-ish tunic and work pants with a stick walk up to stand by his side, ready to defend him. "Leave, Roland," Will said. It wasn't worth it for him to be humiliated as well. "Let them have me."

Roland looked away from the crowd to the blond man in the stocks and said, "God love you, William. So do I."

Another man wearing pretty much the same thing minus the stick walked up. His hair was red, and he was younger than Roland. Watt. "Go! Disperse!" he yelled.

From behind him, a woman with black, braided hair holding blacksmith hammers came through the crowd to defend him also. Kate. She merely stood by his side.

Watt continued to yell pointless threats. "Or I will fong you! As Jesus crossed the Nazarene and his most holy mother, the Virgin Mary, as my witnesses, I will fong you!" The crowd of course began to yell back at him. Watt continued to yell as another blond man in much the same garb walked out to stand by William. Geoff.

"Geoff, where is she?" William asked, raising his head slightly.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. However, his voice cracked and his eyes shone with sadness. Who does she love if not Geoff? Or is she with our father?

"Listen to me!" Geoff yelled, "Listen to me!" The crowd merely began to throw rotten vegetables at William and every single person who was defending him.

Quite suddenly, a set of three black cloaked people threw back their hoods and removed their cloaks. Underneath, the two flanking men wore armour and unsheathed swords while the third revealed the royal crest of the House of England. He was Edward, once again. The question was, would he help or humiliate?

The crowd grew quiet at the presence of this royal person and the armed men at his side. The prince walked forward and leaned down to speak with William. "What a pair we make. Both trying to hide who we are, both unable to do so. Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough. But you also tilt when you should withdraw. And that is knightly, too," he said quietly.

The Prince was about to stand straight once again, but Will said, "Wait. Have you seen my sister? Have you seen Eleanor?"

"She is safe at the castle," he assured the man in the stocks. William was visibly relieved at this.

"Release him," Edward commanded. William looked up in surprise and shock at the prince. What was he doing?

As Roland and Watt helped him to walk, Edward announced, "He may appear to be of humble origins, but my personal historians have discovered that he is descended from an ancient royal line. This is my word, and as such is beyond contestation."

"Now," he said, turning toward William. "If I may repay the kindness you once showed me, take a knee."

Chaucer helped him to kneel in front of the prince. He was still wobbling from tiredness, lack of food, and lack of water. Edward reached across his body and drew his sword. "By the power invested in me by my father, King Edward, and by all the witnesses here, I dub thee Sir William," Edward said, tapping the sword once on each shoulder.

The crowd began to cheer. Chaucer, who had sat in the process of helping William kneel, dropped his head in relief. That man deserved knighthood more than most knights did, but that was not the only reason. Eleanor was safe now. She would no longer have to fear being arrested.

The prince sheathed his sword and held up his hand for silence. The crowd quickly quieted down. Edward smiled and held out his hand to help William. "Rise, Sir William," he said.

William looked up at the other man and took his hand, using it to rise with more ease. "Do you joust?" the prince asked.

William was rather confused, visibly so even. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"Is my tournament to finish?" Edward asked. "Now are you fit to compete, or shall the forfeit stand?"

"Oh, I am fit," William answered. He knew who his opponent would be.

Edward nodded and said, "I shall have your opponent informed of it. You looked for his shield on the lists once." William and his group quickly left. As they did so, Edward smiled and the crowd began to cheer once again.

"Eleanor, please at least come for the Championships match. No one can harm you now," Edward pleaded, taking one of her hands in his own.

"There's no point now that Will's out. Adhemar will win," she said, turning to look out the window at that bright blue sky.

"Please, Eleanor," he said, taking a step toward her.

She sighed before looking directly at him again. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked.

Edward smiled, or rather grinned, and said, "It's a surprise. Trust me, you'll love it."

Eleanor carefully studied his face for a few seconds before saying hesitantly, "Alright."

"Thank you, Eleanor," he said sincerely, taking her hand in his.