As you can tell, postings are fewer and farther between, due to the beginning of school.*Twitch.* Not to mention the ability of teachers to suck the "creativity" right out of ya! But, despite these hardships and setbacks...I've finally updated a story! :D Enjoy!! Review! Thank you to those who've reviewed! I almost forgot! Bev and Tyn belong to David Eddings!

By the time Bevier returned to the fire, Marjory and Carol were eating a meal that Tynian had prepared. They had honestly tried cooking, but after starting Tynian's saddle blanket on fire (don't even ask why it was that close to the flame...) he thought it better that he cook. Bevier scowled at a scowling Tynian, and singed, Tynian. "What happened to you?" he muttered, finding a whet stone to sharpen his axe blade.

"You really don't want to know," Tynian replied. He cast one irritated glance at his partially burned saddle blanket and then another at the two girls, sitting innocently by the fire and eating happily. Tynian stood up abruptly. "Lets just get going. The sooner we get to Vanion, the sooner we can make them his problem."

It didn't take long for the camp to be taken down. It took a bit longer to decide who was riding with who. "I am not riding with you, Tynian!" "That's right, she's not riding with you, I am!" could be heard echoing throughout the quiet valley. The two knights finally gave up, tossing their hands into the air and giving in to the girls demands.

Marjory approached Bevier demurely. "I can ride," she announced. "I've had lessons." She delivered a dazzling smile his way.

"Good," he muttered. He swung up into his saddle, then leaned down and helped Marjory up. She wrapped her arms around him, grinning broadly.

Tynian mounted up and held his hand out to Carol. "I don't know how to ride," she said. "And I'm afraid that I'll fall off if I ride like Marjory." She was twisting her hands behind her back, acting coy. Tynian sighed and leaned down again.

"You can ride in front of me then," he said resignedly. Carol grinned even more broadly than Marjory and allowed Tynian to swing her up in front of him. Marjory stared at Carol in admiration.

"You know, that was a good idea." She studied Tynian's arms around Carol and Carol's smirking face. "Why didn't I think of that?" she exclaimed.

"Cuz you were too busy showing off," Carol retorted. Marjory stuck her tongue out at Carol and Carol smirked and settled back against Tynian. The two knights gazed at each other in horror.

"I believe that we're surrounded by master manipulators," Tynian muttered.

"Perhaps we should deliver them to Azash...let him deal with them," Bevier answered.

Tynian looked at Bevier in admiration. "You know, these girls may be good for you. I've never heard you joke so much," he grinned. "Or have so many good ideas that don't involve lopping someone's head off with your Lochaber." He nudged his horse into a walk and Bevier followed.

The majority of their morning ride consisted of Marjory and Carol talking-loudly-to each other. When Bevier and Tynian tried to shush them, Marjory smartly replied, "We snuck up on you didn't we?" The knights stuttered and muttered and eventually fell silent. After all, hadn't they?

It was nearing noon when bandits suddenly burst out onto the road, surrounding them. "Well, lookee here!" one of them said, smiling broadly. "If'n you two fine ge'tlemen would be so good as to par' wif yo' horses, women, an' purses, we'd be more'n 'appy t'take 'em off yo' hands fo' you." He grinned, exposing several missing teeth and bad teeth.

Tynian glanced at Bevier. "What do you think?"

Bevier shrugged, then looked at the ruffian. "I'd be more than happy to give you the women," he kept talking over Marjory and Carol's exclamations, "but we really need our purses and horses. Besides, our horses are war-trained and wouldn't allow you to ride them anyway."

"I can't believe he just said that," Carol fumed. "What kind of a barbarian do you like, anyway?" she demanded of Marjory.

"Oh, I can guarantee that we'll be having a discussion about this later tonight!" She smacked Bevier in the back of the head. The bandits looked on in amazement. "Whatever happened to chivalry?" she snarled at him. Because of his armor, she settled for jabbing him in the back of the neck to make her point. "We're damsels in distress! You're supposed to protect us! But do you?"

"Noooo," Carol broke in, getting caught up in Marjory's tirade. She twisted and glared at Tynian.

"What did I do?" he asked desperately, alarmed by the look in the two young women's eyes.

"What did you do? You can ask us that question when you sit there like a clod on the back of your horse and encourage your companion to give us away like so much garbage? Do you realize how bad of a night we've had? Oh no, it wasn't enough that we had to sleep on the ground, but we got cold during the night! Did you two help? NO! You snored on in your blankets and left us to fend for ourselves in building up a fire!" Carol snapped.

Tynian looked confused. "How does last night fit into our current situation?"

"And you used my Lochaber axe to cut your firewood!" Bevier protested. Marjory scrowled, pulling the tiny neck hairs on the back of Bevier's neck. "OW!" he shouted.

"If you wouldn't have left us to freeze," Marjory answered, "we wouldn't have had to resort to such extreme measures!"

"You can keep the women!" the bandit suddenly blurted out, eyes wide. The entire group of bandits were staring at them in wide-eyed amazement.

Marjory and Carol's backs straightened and they turned on the bandits, glaring. "What, suddenly we're not good enough for you?" Carol asked.

"We're not feminine enough for you?" Marjory continued.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Carol demanded. Marjory gasped, as if scandalized.

"No, NO!" the bandit said. "It's jus' tha'...jus' tha'...um..." He trailed off under the looks of rage that Marjory and Carol delivered him. Bevier and Tynian glanced at one another, then mouthed to the bandit, "We're gonna go." The bandits nodded and stepped out of the way, looking like someone had just hit them over the back of the head with a hammer.

The two knights urged their horses into a walk again, sighing. The bandits tossed them pitying looks, acting as if a funeral procession were passing from among their midst. "And another thing," Carol shrilled, "we wouldn't even be here if it weren't for these two dolts who call themselves knights! And we wouldn't have been viciously attacked by you if they wouldn't have insisted on riding down this road!"

"It's all their fault!" Marjory agreed.

The bandits watched the receding knights with the two women in shock. "I'm thinkin' we jus' got slau'ered," one of them muttered.