Killer Tuna Redux: Dream Hard with a Vengeance

by illusorygentleman

This spinoff SVAD/IG Team-Up lines up with KTR, beginning with the characters' dreams after their well earned rest in KTR2, but this 'story/one (or two) shot collection will continue as long as KTR does. This will interact with conversations in the main KTR series and vice versa. Rated a very hard M for content and language.

2. A Knight in Sour Armor

So, here we are again with another dream on the horizon. This time, it's Cat's warped my mind we take a trip into. This one is guaranteed to be completely different from the last entry, but I think it should answer a few questions about how she feels with these other characters. And where her hopes lie coming out of what seemed to be an unhappy bath with Sam. This is for all the Puckentine fans for sure.

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A Knight in Sour Armor

In a kingdom far, far away…

…a lovely young princess with long red velvet braided hair and lightly tanned skin comfortably rested in the back of the enclosed and elaborately decorated carriage as she, her entourage and heavily armed escort were making the final leg of their journey from her small kingdom of Venice to the capital of the neighboring—and far, far larger and stronger—kingdom of Sea Atoll.

Fortunately, it had been an uneventful trip, free of any highwaymen or any raiders attempting to disrupt her meeting with ruling monarch of Sea Atoll, so the princess could let her thoughts be free of the burden that had troubled her mind and her heart and enjoy gazing out of her small window to see the beautiful countryside. The first flowers of spring were blossoming after the kingdom's well-known rainy season had ended, renewing life to the bountiful land. She would occasionally see a passing forest creature lazily grazing or frolicking around to celebrate the return of Spring.

However, as beautiful as the passing scenery was to her eyes, she couldn't help but let her eyes occasionally turn to one of the accompanying knights that were escorting her to the capital and ultimately the castle, a fierce young woman with flowing blonde hair. She was dressed in tight-fitting leather armor bustier which cupped her breasts nicely, though they were covered by the dark undershirt, and equally fitting leather pants. Over the leather armor was dirt crusted armor plates over vital areas such as over her breasts, around her abdomen and on her shoulders along with metal gauntlets and shine/foot guards.

Princess Cat had witnessed the woman in battle as she led the relief forces from Sea Atoll to battle the raiding forces of the Northern Ridge into her own kingdom of Venice. The blonde knight had been ferocious as she waded into battle, cutting down all those that challenged her and leading her men to bring forth the complete ruin of the raiding force, forcing the survivors to flee for their lives.

The redhead noticed that the blonde would spare a look from the corner of her eye once in a while and struggled not to smile in return. Cat gently bit into her lower lip, fighting the urge to giggle at seeing that the blonde had noticed her. She finally worked up the nerve and rested her forearm on the frame of the window and called out to her escort, "Hello? Brave knight?"

The blonde turned her head, surprised that the princess had called to her of all people. "Ah… yes, milady?"

Cat easily grinned, glad the knight responded and praised, "You were very courageous against those raiders that time. They've been terrorizing the countryside for weeks and I heard that you just had them run away with their tails between their legs."

The blonde knight shrugged a shoulder and lazily answered, clearly to Cat's eyes she was trying to come off as it wasn't a great accomplishment, "It was nothing, Princess. I was simply doing my duty to King and country."

"Still, you were very valiant and hope the king will reward you greatly…" She bashfully bowed her head and spoke just above the sound of the rolling carriage and hoofs of the neighboring horse, "We may be a poor kingdom, but I hope there is some way that I'll be able to reward you."

The fair skin blonde struggled with a stoic expression, embarrassed and flattered with the praise. "Your gratitude is all the reward I need, princess."

Cat deviously smiled, her mind turning over ways that she could express such gratitude to the brave warrior, if she was willing. She set aside those thoughts for the moment and continued, "Tell me brave knight, what is your name? In all the excitement, I didn't catch it."

"Samantha… but you may just call me Sam, milady."

Cat nodded and repeated, "Lady Sam… it has a lovely ring to it. But you fought so bravely they might as well call you Sir Sam."

The knight fought a smile, unsure if she should be embarrassed or insulted with the remark. "Thank you."

The princess let out another giggle as the caravan passed out of the forest and into the expansive green fields with farms and homesteads dotted all about as far as the eye could see. Her attention turned to the sight and her jaw dropped, seeing the fertility of the land, something that her land struggled with from time-to-time; to produce enough to feed everyone.

Several miles past the vast green fields and farmlands and further down the road, Cat could see the city glinting and sparkling from the overhead sun as it sat on top of a hill that overlooked both the land and behind it, the vast ocean.

The traveling convoy drew the curious attentions of some of the farm hands and others traveling back and forth from the city, but they were wise not to interfere in their travels.

The caravan finally arrived at the edge of the city and made its way through the main gates of the walled city with a bit of fanfare of a crowd lining the top of the wall shouting out their approval with some raining down flower petals.

Cat stared up in wonder, giggling with excitement and reaching out to grab a few of the petals.

Once they cleared the gate, they proceeded down the main cobblestone road towards the castle. Cat partially stuck her head out of the window to lay her eyes upon the jewel of the land. There were shops and houses and taverns as far as the eye could see with people bustling about their business unless they were by the street where they politely stopped and watched in awe of the convoy of foreign dignitaries. The sights were exciting and thrilled her curious spirit in wanting to visit them all, yet she had a tugging feeling of embarrassment in her heart that her own kingdom could not provide such wealth and comfort to her own people.

Any negative feelings that clung onto her heart receded when she saw children that were playing about would wave as the carriage would pass and Cat couldn't help but wave back, sharing in their excitement.

After several minutes navigating the city, she looked in wonder and completely awestruck at the castle sitting upon a large hill overlooking the rest of the city with its high towers and almost polished walls that allowed sunlight to glint off of them. It was right out of a fairy tale to Cat's eyes seeing such a magnificent castle. If she felt small just seeing the city, she felt like a tiny mouse looking up at the fortification.

The gate rose to allow the caravan to enter the castle. Once the lead horses were several yards inside the gates, they turned to the right and the rest of the entourage followed. They traveled in a semicircle until the right side of the carriage stopped perpendicular to a large red carpet, lined on each side by a number of alternating knights in full armor and buglers, which led up a number of steps to the entrance of the main structure of the castle. Standing at the end of the carpet and in front of the entrance was the monarch and his queen, King Fredward I and Queen Jade.

The king was dressed in his leather and chain mail armor with a royal blue tunic over the armor and his legendary sword hanging from his left hip and simple crown upon his head. The Queen was regally dressed in a royal blue dress made of the finest silks that hugged her curves then loosely hang from her hips and adorned with various braids of gold and silver. On top of her head rested a similar simple silver crown with a few jewels.

Once the carriage came to a stop, an attendant approached the right side of it and opened the door while another attendant sat an additional step in front of exit.

Cat took a moment steady her nerves and to look down at her attire. She was dressed simply for a princess in a plain baby blue cotton dress with slim silver embroider around the square neckline and simple decorative belt hanging on her hips and a simple tiara resting on her head. She momentarily felt inadequately dressed in comparison to the queen and other attending nobles. She took a deep breath then put on a smile as she slipped out of the carriage and graciously took the hand of the first attendant.

The buglers sounded their instruments, filling the courtyard with the celebratory noise of the princess's arrival as she walked the red carpet.

Once she reached the end of the carpet, being a few steps below the monarchs, the bugles stopped and with a flag motion from one of the attendants at the king's side, the courtyard became silence.

The attendant next to Cat called out for all to hear, "Your royal highnesses, may I present to you, Princess Catarina of the Kingdom of Venice."

The king was about to welcome Cat to his kingdom, but Queen Jade departed from her husband's side and briskly walked down to her dear friend to pull her into a hug.

Freddie suppressed a small chuckle at being interrupted, but simply allowed his wife to take over the lead in the welcoming of their guest. If the other nobles thought it was too much of a breach of protocol, they were wise enough to keep their mouths shut in not wanting to be on the wrathful end of the dark Queen.

Cat eagerly returned the hug, relieved to feel her longtime friend's comforting embrace, feeling that she was finally safe and being absolved of the royal show she was expected show to the crowd.

Jade whispered in a restrained panicked voice, "I'm so glad you're safe. We were so worried."

"I'm okay… thanks to you."

Jade pulled away, but placed a chaste kiss on the shorter girl's forehead as a mother would do her child before Cat could fully leave her embrace.

Cat looked to the King and curtsied.

Freddie smiled to his honored guest and asked in a formal, but still quite warm greeting, "Hello Princess Catarina. Welcome to the great Sea Atoll. I trust your journey was a safe one?"

Cat nodded and answered with a beaming smile, "Oh yes." She looked to Sam, who had dismounted from her horse and had followed up behind her, letting her eyes linger on the lovely knight for a few seconds and answered, "I was under the best protection. Lady Sam…antha is a great warrior. I don't think I could have felt any safer."

Sam fought any sign that she wanted to show of embarrassment with the praise. Especially given who was standing in front of her.

Jade deviously smirked and innocently commented, "Samantha is the bravest knight in all the land—next to my husband of course, so I wouldn't expect anything less."

The blonde turned an embarrassed look into a partial scrawl at the use of her full name, something that surprisingly didn't affect her when the Princess said it.

The Queen kept her smirk, pleased to get a little under the blonde's skin as they did have a playful one-upmanship going on between them… in and out of the sheets.

A smile about the antics of his wife and the champion threatened to appear on the monarch's face, so he quickly introduced Cat to the accompanying nobles, each being polite to the new ruler with a broad smile and a kiss to her hand.

Cat tried to hide her nervousness as she was always been bashful when meeting dignitaries in her parents' court and didn't want to make a fool of herself. It wasn't just a matter of personal embarrassment, but she was representing her kingdom.

After the last introduction, the King suggested to his nobles, "I'm sure Princess Cat would like something to eat and have a bit of a rest after her journey. We'll meet later at the banquet then we can discuss the political considerations facing us."

They each in turn politely nodded their acceptance of the king's suggestion, one they could not argue. They began departing to mingle in the courtyard while Freddie instructed one of the attendants to see to it that Cat's belongings were taken to her royal quarters and her entourage was shown their quarters.

After giving his instructions, Jade looped her arm with Cat's arm and joined her side to follow behind Freddie leading them into the castle. As Freddie led the way further into the castle, guards not so inconspicuously following behind, but instead of leading them to the throne room, the king led them to the private dining hall. The guards standing on either side snapped to attention then each opened one door for the group.

The double doors parted to reveal an expansive dining room with a square table in the center with several dishes already placed on the table and two serving girls patiently waiting at the end of the room for their arrival.

The quartet walked further into the room and as soon as the doors closed, Cat turned to Freddie and exuberantly thanked him, "Freddie, I can't thank you enough for saving my kingdom." In her enthusiasm, she pulled the King into a hug and gave him a tight squeeze.

Freddie smile and easily returned the hug, rubbing up and down her back to assure her. "You don't have to thank me, Cat. You know we're here for you. And you know I would make sure nothing happened to you."

The redhead pulled her head off his shoulder and continued to smile her thanks, once again appreciating the handsome young king's willingness to always be there for her. She was so grateful to have him as a friend.

The king looked to the servers and politely stated, "Thank you ladies for all your hard work. We would like to be alone and please thank the cooks again."

They politely nodded and curtsied then slipped out the side entrance.

Freddie walked to the door they had exited to and locked it, wanting to make sure that they weren't interrupted… or some assassin slipped inside without warning. The people loved him, but there were always those in the shadows that wished him harm and with Cat's presence, some spy from the Northern Ridge would no doubt try to take the opportunity to assassinate her and send the peaceful kingdom into chaos.

The king stopped by the table where the drinks had been placed to be served and picked up the tray then returned to the table. He sat it within easy reach of everyone as he took his seat at the end opposite the door with the queen taking a seat to his left. Cat took a cattycorner seat to Jade's left and Sam took a seat on Freddie's right.

Cat's eyes traveled over the meal, especially the desserts and licked her lips. She had her share of fine meals during royal court, but this was far more appetizing to her.

Jade stifled a laugh, but encouraged her, "Anything you want, Cat. Enjoy."

Cat decided to spoil herself and grab one of the sweet pastries topped with a cherry. She bit into it, the soft sugary cream causing her taste buds to electrify. She stifled a squeak of pleasure, not caring if she embarrassed herself with her childlike antics.

After enjoying a few more bites of the sweets, she reached for the empty goblet next to her plate and held it up.

Jade stood up and picked up the pitcher, ready to pour Cat a drink.

Sam questioned with her voice devoid of the usual carefree demeanor, "Are you sure it's not poisoned? You didn't see them get the drink."

The Queen easily answered, "I enchanted the pitchers and goblet to neutralize any poison. You can't be too careful."

The blonde smugly smiled and spat out as a playful insult, "You witch…"

Jade proudly stated with a smirk as she poured the liquid in the goblet, "I'm not just the wicked witch of the West anymore, but the wickedest witch of the North, South and East and the rest of them best never forget it."

Freddie amusingly chuckled at his wife's description of herself that was actually quite accurate and if the people found out, would most likely demand she be burned at the stake.

Cat took a cautious sip of her drink, avoiding taking a gulp in fear on how she would react to the drink. She giggled as the taste tickled her senses and the grape flavor danced on her tongue.

Jade questioned with a hint of concern, "A little strong?"

The redhead sat the goblet down and covered her lips with her fingertips before answering, "No it's alright. It tastes great."

Sam picked up her goblet and took a quick swig. She swallowed the sweet content and sat the cup back down. She swirled her tongue around in her mouth and put on displeasing expression. "I think it's a little watered down to me."

Jade coyly pointed out, "It's only fermented for a few days then it was watered down. It's practically grape juice."

"That would explain it." She slugged back another gulp despite her disapproval then sat the goblet on the table then grabbed a chicken leg and pulled it off the cooked bird sitting at the end of the table. She bit into the side of the leg, tearing off the meat with her teeth as if she was a wolf devouring her prey.

Cat laughed at the lack of proper table manners of the knight.

Sam stopped in mid-chew with her mouth clearly full and mumbled out her question, "What?"

The redhead shook his head with a laugh and answered, "Oh nothing."

The blonde knight wasn't sure how to respond. She was quite well aware of her table manners or lack of them, but no one ever found them amusing.

Cat finished her sweet drink and Jade passed over the plate to Cat and the princess eagerly dug into the fine meal, not realizing the hunger she felt from her journey.

The king took a quick sip from his goblet then began, "The messenger arrived with the news of the victory, but what's the situation since then?"

Sam finished the bit of chicken in her mouth, but kept the chicken leg close to lips ready to take another bite, then answered, "Those on the Northern Ridge are licking their wounds after we demolished them. There hasn't been a peep out of them since. I wanted to chase after them, but I didn't know the lay of their land, nor could I risk us being drawn into an ambush."

Freddie nodded his head in approval. In his exuberant youth, he may well have pushed his advantage and chased them down and raided their closest villages in retaliation, but rashness could be a hindrance. However, that wasn't to say that a retaliatory response wasn't called for, but simply razing villages and farmlands was an acceptable option.

"We need to correct that blind spot. I want scouts and spies to start surveying their territory. I want every merchant that has ever visited their land is to be spoken with and find out what they know."

Sam nodded her head in approval as she saw it as a chance to bash in a few more heads. She was itching for another fight and while jousting in the tournaments were great outlets for her 'violent' tendencies, there was just something utterly satisfying of battling a real enemy and triumphing over them.

"I'll make sure of it right away," the blonde said with a shrug, hiding her eagerness. "Are you planning for us to invade the Northern Ridge?"

"It depends if they're willing to see reason and stop with their raids—and make sure they pay restitution to Venice. If not… we'll have to look into ways of… punishing them. In the meantime, we'll keep a contingent of soldiers in the kingdom for security and make sure those of the Northern Ridge know we're willing to defend Venice from any more incursions."

"Assuming…" Freddie looked to Cat, who was happily enjoying her biscuit and potatoes, and asked, "that's acceptable to you?"

Cat nodded, her mouth trying to finish chewing the delicious piece of bread, heeding the advice of someone far more adept in the affairs of statehood and war.

Jade, always keen to pick up on the fluid politics of the region, pointed out a potential problem, "Cat's nobles might think it's a prelude to us annexing her kingdom. They may be grateful for the moment for the contingency of forces that drove the Northern Ridge army back, but… if they stay for any considerable amount of time, they may think of it as an occupation, especially if there are any incidents with the locals."

Freddie put on a thoughtful expression laced with a hint of anger. "It would be a rather shortsighted view on their part, wouldn't it? If I wanted to annex Venice, I could do so with very little opposition and would have done so years ago."

Once the words left his mouth, he looked to Cat and reassured her, "Cat, you know I would not do that. Venice will remain a free and independent kingdom."

Cat finished the food in her mouth then smiled and thankfully whispered, "I know you wouldn't Freddie, but…" She glanced down, apprehensive in completing her thought.

Freddie's brow knotted, concerned for his friend's sudden apprehension and questioned, "But what? I assure you that once the Northern Ridge is no longer a threat to Venice, I will withdraw every one of my soldiers from your land."

"It's not that…" Cat said, clearly mulling over the ideas in her mind, "perhaps the Sea Atoll should annex Venice and incorporate her into your kingdom?"

The king's jaw slacked, stunned by the young redhead's suggestion. He looked to his faithful wife, looking for an explanation as to why one of her closest friends would suggest such a thing.

Jade looked to him just as stunned with the proposal then looked to Cat to see if she was serious. The girl was nearly blushing in embarrassment, but she was serious.

Freddie awkwardly laughed then cautiously asked, "Cat, why would you suggest such a thing? You'd be essentially handing over your kingdom for a lower place in mine… what would you have to gain?"

Cat looked down at the table, suddenly feeling bashful and a bit ashamed that she had practically suggested treason against her own kingdom. She started ringing her hands on the table, but Jade reached out to grasp over them in a comforting squeeze.

The Queen quietly asked, "Cat?"

"Because, we're just such a small and poor kingdom…" She looked down at her dress then to Jade, seeing the contrast in the quality of the material and splendor of the vibrant color that was a testament to her statement."…with the Northern Ridge ready to gobble us up like the wolf from the fables and with my parents dead and my Nonna getting too old to rule, I just don't think… I can rule as well as they did, but you…" She looked to Freddie, giving him a pleading gaze. "You and Jade are such a good king and queen, you would be treat my people right, and you would make sure they had enough food and you could protect them from raiders and the nobles that would just steal from them… because I can't. I don't know how to be a good queen. I barely know how to take care of myself much less my people."

Jade got up from her seat to kneel in front of her friend and protectively grabbed her shoulders then firmly stated, "Cat, I know that you weren't expecting to rule this soon, but I know you will make a fine queen. I know it's scary to rule and have everyone depend on you to make the right decisions, but you're not alone in this. We are right here for you and Venice will be fine under you."

Cat stared back at her confident friend, wishing she had that confidence and grace in the face of adversity. "But I want them to be more than fine. I want everyone to be happy."

Jade partially smiled, hoping to give her friend support.

Freddie patiently followed up his wife's words, hoping that his words and tone was supportive instead of patronizing, "Cat, I know the overwhelming feeling of having the responsibility fall on your shoulders before you're ready. I wasn't ready when I pulled the sword from the stone, but had people that supported me enough to help me learn how to be a good king and you do too. You just have to trust that."

Cat forced a smile, one she only partially felt as his words were reassuring.

The royal couple shared another look, debating without words how else they could help Cat's confidence.

Sam was not one for being the most compassionate person; in fact, she could be downright abrasive, but even she felt for the young monarch. The girl had the weight of her world on her shoulders and the princess didn't think she could carry it.

Jade decided on the matter for the moment with a sweet voice, "Let's not worry about the affairs of the kingdom right now. Just enjoy this fine meal then you can relax a little bit to clear your head then I can show you around the city. There are so many places that I know you'll love."

Cat's spirits picked up with the suggestion as she had been doing nothing but worry since the first report of the first raid into her kingdom. She looked across the table at the lovely knight and a thought occurred to her. "I was wondering if Sam would give me a tour of the city."

Sam looked up from her plate with a biscuit stuffed in her mouth.

The princess continued, hoping that they wouldn't guess her true motives in just wanting to spend more time with the young woman, "She's kept me safe so far and… if you took me, you would have to have all your guards and it would just disrupt a lot of people."

The knight's face showed that she was not thrilled of the idea of playing babysitter to the princess.

Jade grinned, instantly getting the feeling about this, and slightly tilted her head as if she was giving it considerable consideration. She glanced to the faithful knight and remarked, "That's a very good point Cat. I'm sure Sam would love to give you a personal tour of the city."

The blonde champion gave Jade a dark look, not appreciating being volunteered to play tour guide.

The Queen returned with scarcely hint of a smile before sipping on her goblet as if nothing was amiss. Jade knew very well that Cat had an… affinity for girls, especially girls like Sam.

Sam finished the bit in her mouth and reluctantly answered, "Sure, I guess I can spare the afternoon with a trip into town. It would be good to blow off a little steam after the last week."

"Yay!" the princess cried out, looking genuinely happy with the planned trip.

The blonde knight felt worse at how the rest of the day would play out: babysitting an overgrown child. She looked to Jade again, almost promising her that sometime down the line she would make the queen pay for this service.

Cat eagerly dug into her meal and the rest of the feast was far more celebratory with Cat, now in a better mood in feeling a sense of peace that things would work out. Jade suggested a number of places that the redhead could visit during her touring of the city, each one annoying Sam more than that last as they were the usual tourist traps for merchants and pilgrims.

After Cat finished her last bite, she licked her fingers to get the sweetness off of her second dessert. She patted her stomach and commented, "That was delicious."

Jade sweetly smiled to her friend. "We're glad you enjoyed it."

A yawn surprised the young princess and quickly covered her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm suddenly sleepy."

Freddie laughed at the childish expression and answered, "It's okay. It's a good meal. It will do that to you."

Sam readily agreed with a pat over her leather covered stomach, resisting the urge to undo the laces of her pants to let her nonexistent pot belly out to relax, "I think you need an after meal nap."

Jade followed up, "Cat, I think it would be a good idea if you took a nap. I know you probably haven't had a decent night's sleep with all the worry since this whole thing started and the journey from Venice must have been tiresome."

Cat thought on her friend's words and knew Jade had her best interests at heart. "You're right. I haven't slept well at all, not even with Mister Purples."

Sam looked to Freddie for an explanation as to who or what 'Mister Purples' was, but the king mouthed, "I'll tell you later." He looked to Cat and followed up his wife's suggestion, "I'll have one of the stewards show you to your quarters." He looked to Sam and partially cocked an eyebrow.

Sam hid a partial grimace, knowing exactly what he was asking of her, so she offered, "I guess I'll walk you to your quarters too, show you a little bit around the castle on our way."

Cat's expression brightened again and eagerly stood up from her seat.

Sam sighed and stood up, feeling the same tugging of a good nap after such a good meal. She wasn't expecting that the redheaded princess to literally grab her wrist and start dragging her.

Once the pair left the room, Jade grinned and commented to her husband, "I think our little Kitty likes Sam."

Freddie lazily smirked and took the last sip of his drink then remarked, "I picked that up too."

Jade's tone shifted to one of mild disgust, "At least it's one bright thing in this mess."

"If Sam reciprocates. I'm not sure that Cat is her type. She's… you know Cat."

"Yes, just like you know Sam…" Jade smirked, knowing their history together, parting ways when they were no longer equals in the knighthood. "But I think Sam will come around… something to soften her edge."

Freddie remained quiet, trusting his wife's judgment on the matter.

Jade decided to turn to the more pressing matter-at-hand. "What are you going to do about the situation? Really? Do you really believe you can just talk to the king of the Northern Ridge?"

"I'm going to talk to him and he'll either see reason or… we will take the corrective measures."

The queen showed a contemplative expression on her face, working out the various ramifications, be there politically. "There are some nobles—the ones that haven't been with us since the beginning—that wouldn't be too thrilled with us going to war over such a small kingdom. They wouldn't see much spoil to gain from it."

Freddie drummed his fingers on the table and leaning back in his chair, taking the same considerations that his quite intelligent and cunning wife had already thought through.

Unlike other kingdoms, most of his nobles were actually knights that fought with him during his consolidation of power and reunifying his kingdom instead of those just sitting on their estates and pledging knights and money to him. They were personally loyal to him and the kingdom at large, but there were others, the ones on the fringe of the kingdom that wanted to join for the protection and economic opportunities of being part of the kingdom brought them and a few others that had resisted being back into the fold and initially refusing to recognizing him as the rightful king that didn't have any such loyalty. He could have a problem with that minority voice that could sow dissent from expanding.

"I'll simply remind them of some simple hard truths: our reputation is on the line if we don't defend an ally, the Northern Ridge would simply use the kingdom as a staging point to start raiding into us if we allow them to gobble up Venice and…"

"And what?"

"I'm their rightful king and they will do as they are told or…"

The king's words carried with them the steel necessary to carry out some very tough decisions that would lead to bloodshed. He had Jade's sympathy for having to make those decisions, knowing that his choices, no matter what they were, were bound to stain his hands with crimson.

"What about Cat's suggestion? Simply turning the kingdom over to us?"

Freddie took a breath then slowly exhaled, "I'm not going to snatch that poor girl's—"

Jade placed her hand over her husband's hand and gently answered with a smile shared only between them, "I know you wouldn't. I know you're not some greedy king that would just like to take everything around him and declare himself some kind of emperor, but as much as I hope that Cat will rise up to the challenge of being a queen, if she can't…"

The king studied his wife's eyes, trying to asking him something without having to finish out verbalizing her thought. He slightly bowed his head and offered, "If it comes to it, we'll see about turning Venice into a protectorate until Cat can get a firm handle on being queen and be able to defend her kingdom. Which won't be easy since they are about the furthest thing from fighters and you know how your old friend feels about conflict… but at least that could buy us some time."

Jade turned on a radiant smile to him, one that she usually reserved just for him. "Good, now that business has been settled and we're alone…"

She stood up from her seat, pulled up the hem of her dress then straddled his lap, resting her hands on his shoulders. "I thought we could back to our little project…"

The king was quite pleased with the sudden turn of events. He teased his beautiful and powerful queen with a coy rising of an eyebrow, "Our little project? I wasn't aware that there were any new construction projects happening in the kingdom."

"The one where we increase our populace by one…" Jade moved her lips to his ear and sensually whispered, "I was talking about the one of us making a baby."

Freddie grinned, letting a soft chuckled, "Oh, that little project…"

The queen kissed just in front of his ear and replied, "Yeah, that project." She scooted from his lap and began to slither down his body, reaching to undo his belt. "Now let's see about the royal scepter…"

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Royal Banquet

In the main dining hall, the royal banquet was about to begin as the King and Queen were seated behind the large rectangular table at the end of the room reserved for them, top nobility, the bishop of the church and honored guests. The monarchs were dressed in the same regal attire as they had worn when the welcomed Cat to their kingdom, looking just as handsome and beautiful as ever.

Cat was seated next to Jade while Tori dressed in a blemish free white scoop-necked dress as bishop of the church was seated on Freddie's right. It was odd of course for a female, especially one so young, to hold such a position of power, but Freddie and Jade seemed very adamant that she remained close to them for 'advisement' reasons.

The rest of the room had several smaller tables on the edges of the room for the lower nobles, other high ranking clergy, knights as they and the various well-to-do merchants and their companions mingled about and beginning to sample the fine feast set about for the occasion. In the background, music played in the background by various minstrels and the court jester Robbie was entertaining a number of the attendees and their children.

Cat felt like nervous butterflies were about to explode from her stomach with being with such a large crowd as her kingdom didn't have that many nobles or knights. The sensation threatening to overwhelm her and potentially embarrassing her was capped with Jade's serene presence and the kindness of being given one of her dresses that one of the seamstresses had altered to fit her beautifully. She really did feel like a princess in the dress.

Seeing that the majority of the guests had arrived and eager to start the celebration, Freddie stood up from his seat and raised a goblet. He called out in a commanding yet welcoming voice, "Noblemen, brave knights and honored guests, I'd like to welcome you to this celebratory banquet to honor the bravery of our soldiers and their accomplishment in repelling the raids from the Northern Ridge into our dear ally Venice." He turned and motioned his goblet to Cat and continued, "I would also like to welcome once again, Princess Catarina of Venice."

The guests started clapping and giving a good cheer, intending to give the young woman the warmest of welcomes.

Cat stood up and waved in return, a thankful smile plastered on her face. The warmness of their welcome was enough to suppress her nervousness so she could cheerfully answer, "Thank you so much for all the help you've given my kingdom and hospitality you've shown me. I cannot thank you enough. I just hope I can repay this kindness someday."

The gathering gave her applause and she retook her seat, hoping to get out of the figurative spotlight.

Jade leaned over and supportively whispered, "Well said."

Cat smiled in relief, "Thanks, but I don't think it was enough."

The queen patted Cat's hand on her lap and answered, "It's fine. You didn't have to give some long speech. They just have to see that you're grateful and deferential towards us and they'll like you just fine… and if not, they won't voice it."

As the friends conversed, Freddie continued with a mighty cheerful shout, "Now that the warm welcomes are done, let us celebrate!"

The gathered celebrators wholeheartedly embraced the king's instructions and went about really mingling or taking their seats to be served at their tables.

As the celebration went underway, Cat's eyes wandered over the crowd, hoping to spot a certain individual among the gatherers. She smiled when she spotted the blonde knight dressed in a light blue dress talking to several other knights, André and Beck she could recognize. The dress fit Sam very well, forming around her upper curves, and accentuating her lower shape as well, with a dagger hanging from the belt, and allowing a fair amount of cleavage to show from the V-neckline that threatened to slip off her shoulders. Cat had to resist the urge to lick her lips as she was having a very similar reaction at the sight, just as the men would drool over the creamy skin and cleavage.

Jade noticed her friend's gaze towards the kingdom's champion. She leaned over and discreetly whispered, "Has Sam caught your eye?"

Cat snapped her head to look to look at the queen, a flush of embarrassment forming on her cheeks.

The Queen easily commented, "You were practically begging with your eyes last night that she go out in the city with you this afternoon and the way you're looking at her now… you look like you're about to jump out of your skin to get down there to her."

The redhead princess stuttered, as if her tongue had lost all feeling, before she could answer, "I just felt safe with her, that's all. It's just been very nerve wracking these last few days."

"Of course…" Jade answered sardonically, but not believing a word of it. "How did that go, by the way?"

Cat's nervousness was replaced with excitement as she answered, "Oh, it was fantastic. We visited so many shops and this really nice inn for a snack then we stopped by this bakery with the best treats. They had something call a 'cupcake'. It was this miniature little cake with frosting on it. After that, we even saw a play. It was so much fun."

Jade could imagine the constant excitement from Cat as she visited each of the places she described and easily imagined that Sam was probably miserable through most of it except for the parts where they got food. Given their 'friendship,' Jade couldn't help but revel that the blonde was put the adorable girl's wringer.

"So it was a nice date?"

"Date?!" Cat said, her eyes firing wide open.

"It sure sounded like one."

"It can't be a date. She's ah… she isn't… she can't be… you know…"

The queen shifted her weight to her left arm on her armrest and lowered her voice further, "If you're wondering if she could be interested, I can tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt that she does find the fairer sex very appealing."

Cat turned an embarrassingly stunned expression to her oldest friend.

Jade coyly smirked and glanced at her food. "She is my, and Freddie's of course, champion after all… and sometimes the service to her queen requires her to take care of some… unexpected needs while the king is taking care of important business of the kingdom."

"Wait…" The princess could be a bit slow at times, but she realized what her friend was conveying. She uttered barely above her baited breath, "You and Sam?"

"Freddie goes off, and when he does, he leaves her to look out for me and my needs…" Jade lazily shrugged a shoulder and took a quick sip from her drink before answering, "And as I said, sometimes I require someone to take care of some needs and it can be stressful being a queen. And I know it's stressful being a knight, so sometimes we just need to relieve a little… 'tension'. Just like you and I used to do when we were younger after I broke up with Beck."

Cat's mouth became dry and she reached for her goblet of juice, taking a quick sip.

The dark haired queen fought to keep a laugh off her face.

Cat sat her goblet back down and bashfully asked, "But there's… there's nothing going on between you two now, right?"

"As I said, she's the champion of Freddie's kingdom and our… friend who I sometimes have a little fun with, but in the actual relationship department… she's as free as a bird as long as you don't count us 'relieving tension' from time to time."

Cat face brightened at the opening to make a move on the brave knight that led the defense of her kingdom. She glanced back to Sam, laughing as she was conversing with André.

"There are a couple things if you are really interested…" Jade added to give her a bit of warning, "She's a little abrasive, not much different than me, so you'll have to be a little patient with her and then there's-"

"I could tell this afternoon…" Cat said, just staring out at the beautiful blonde whose hair shone like gold in the sunlight. "She could be a little sour like you."

Jade cocked a lovely eyebrow, finding her friend's bluntness amusing instead of offensive as she would have any other person making such a comment. She might have commanded 'off with their head' if such a interruptive statement was made towards her, but that would be quite extreme and frankly ridiculous. Maybe the second point wouldn't matter now. She didn't want to give it another thought and suggested to the grinning redhead, "Why don't you go over and say hello… I'll keep your seat."

The redhead giggled then got up from her seat and walked around the table to join the celebratory gathering. She maneuvered her way among the people, pausing long enough to share a polite greeting, to reach the attractive blonde.

She stopped just a few paces from behind Sam and called out, "Hello."

The lovely dressed knight turned and the others turned their attention to their guest of honor.

André opened his arms and pulled her into a hug and greeted her, "Hello Little Red, it's been too long."

Cat returned the hug with a playful laugh then pulled away to accept a hug from Beck.

Beck patted her back and agreed with his friend, "André's right, it's been too long."

Cat let out another giggle and answered, "I know, I'm sorry, but everything's been so busy being a princess. Who would have thought it could happen?"

The pair nodded in sympathy then Beck commented, "Well it's good to see you. We're happy that everything turned out alright for your kingdom."

"Thank you." Cat playfully picked at André's clothing and commented, "You look so handsome in your ceremonial knight attire."

André rubbed his fingernails on the decorated tunic and confidently remarked, "Thanks Cat, but I'm kind of retired now. We both are. If we were still in the service, we'd have rushed to defend your kingdom with Sam. I'm a bard now and Beck's a full-time actor. We just got out the old stuff for the celebration."

Cat clapped her hands and asked, "Ohhh, will I get to see either of you perform?"

The dreadlock wearing musician laughed, "I might steal a lute sometime tonight and serenade you."

Beck idly followed up, "I actually have my next play the day after tomorrow. If you're still here, I'll make sure you get a front row seat."

Sam half-heartedly joked before taking a sip from her glass, "He's an adequate performer… I think he just gets by on his looks."

The handsome former knight threw a dirty looked to Sam, a bit annoyed from the jibe.

"And yet, that's why he gets such crowds at the theatre." André snickered and quickly hid his face behind his cup. "And behind them…"

Cat looked to Sam, "Sam, Andre… be nice."

The blonde pulled her lips from the mug and turned a frosty look to the princess.

The other knights seemed to stop, looking wide-eyed and fearful to hear the other shoe drop. Cat may have been a princess, but there were just some things one didn't tell Sam and one of those was to 'behave'.

Sam surprised the others by calmly answering, "I am being nice. He knows I'm just teasing him a little. It helps to keep his ego from getting too big with all the ladies throwing themselves at his feet."

"Sam?"

André joined with laughter, "She's right. The ladies are still swooning over you."

Beck half-grimaced, not appreciating André tentatively agreeing with the blonde knight, but thought better of it than arguing and asked Cat, "Are you enjoying the festivities?"

"Yes, the food is great and I'm glad everyone is having such a good time."

Sam raised her glass and smugly pointed out, "We deserve a little celebrating after that fight."

"Oh yes you do. I can't thank everyone that was so brave to help my kingdom."

A random male knight with sandy hair graciously thanked the princess, "Your thanks is most welcome Princess. It is but our service to defend the right and just."

Cat politely nodded her head then looked to Sam and added, "And you were very brave… and you look very beautiful tonight."

Sam lips slightly parted and her eyes opened a little, clearly taken aback with the compliment.

The other knights covered their mouths with their cups or unfortunately visibly snorted out. Beck and André shared looks, enjoying seeing the sometimes brash blonde being knocked on her heels.

Cat easily noticed the other knights' reactions and struggled between a smile and a frown and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

The other knights and men-at-arms realized their mistakes in snickering in front of Sam and the princess and inadvertently embarrassing them in the process. They had every right to fear the King's reaction despite his reputation of being a fair and just man- it was the Queen's wrath that could be far deadlier as well as their commander's discipline.

One of the other knights quickly covered the potentially embarrassing moment, "No, of course not, nothing at all milady."

Sam spoke up through slightly gritted teeth and a forced grin on her face, "Why don't I show you around and introduce you to some of our guests? I'm sure that plenty of them would like to meet you."

The princess jumped at the chance at the invitation and answered, "Oh I would love that."

The 'First Knight' looked to her fellow knights and instructed with a warning grin, "Behave yourselves and don't get too drunk. The king always needs your protection. We don't know if any Dilben's assassins have infiltrated the kingdom."

Beck sighed with a roll of his eyes, even though his days of following military orders were over. "Freddie and Jade will be fine. He wouldn't try to assassinate either of them."

Sam slightly lowered her chin and raised a cocky eyebrow, sending at least a warning to her fellow knights.

The actor may have still thought Sam was being a little over concerned about the monarchy's safety, but the knights took a second look at their drinks with struggling and embarrassing expressions.

Sam put on a satisfactory grin before beginning to escort Cat around the great hall.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the knights, Cat quietly apologized, "I'm sorry if I said something wrong."

Sam lazily smiled with an unexpected sympathetic look in her eyes. "It's alright. They sometimes forget that I'm a woman, but when the chance comes up, they think they can tease me about being feminine… until I best them in a joust."

"I couldn't forget," Cat sweetly praised the blonde.

Cat palmed her hands over her mouth, feeling as if she has stepped out of line with her comment.

Sam cracked a smile. "Thank you. I'm glad there are a few that remember. There are times where mama likes to be acknowledged as hot."

The redhead dropped her hands and let a relieved expression that she hadn't offended the girl. She twirled her finger around the end of her red velvet hair resting on his shoulder, becoming bashful around the brave knight. She tried to remain cool and collective even if she was a bubbling bag of sunshine and rainbows. "Would you like to get something to drink?"

Sam's cup was only half empty, but she was not about to turn down a drink, so she motioned to one of the food tables and the pair headed to one of the tables.

The princess stayed close to the knight as they made their rounds by the food tables, forgetting that Sam intended to introduce Cat to the various other nobles and well-to-do citizens of the kingdom. Cat found it hilarious that Sam could pick up a food item, pop it in her mouth then move onto the next tray without seeming to ever get full.

They stopped by to watch Robbie, Rex and his fellow performers with their juggling acts and comedy routines, leaning heavily on physical comedy with tumbles and falls. Robbie made an awkward pass at Cat, but Sam deflected it away that signaled that the jester shouldn't try a second time with a mocking laugh from the puppet resting in his hand that he had been shot down.

André decided to get into the entertainment and borrowed a lute, wanting to get on the act of entertaining the guests. He began with a tale of great bravery and romance that enthralled the guests. Cat looked off dreamily as her mind replaced her as one of the actors and Sam as the other. She subconsciously grabbed Sam's hand to keep her close.

Sam glanced at the princess's action, but remained quiet as she watched the soulful play continue telling his tale.

After he finished his tale, the attendees gave an overwhelming applause and the soulful bard thankfully waved to the partiers.

Cat looked to Sam and laughed, "That was fantastic."

Sam attempted to act like she wasn't impressed, but she did appreciate André's gifts, "Yeah, André does have the talent."

After André handed off the lute back to the owner, the court minstrels picked up their playing and drawing more and more of the attendees to the center of the room to share in orchestrated dancing.

Jade stood up and glanced down to her right at her husband, secretly smiling and stated, "I think it's time that we had a dance."

Freddie returned the smile and stood up, taking her hand to lead her around the table and out onto the main floor.

The crowd parted to allow the king and queen to have the center of the room to dance then the other nobles joined them a respectful distance away.

Cat patiently waited her turn by the side with Sam sipping on her drink again, hoping that she would get an opportunity to dance with the blonde knight. As she waited, she commented, "Don't Jade and Freddie look so regal?"

Sam lazily answered between sips of her drink, "Yeah, yeah… the always happy royal couple look reeeally great."

"That didn't sound very sincere…" The petite redhead's expression softened to worry and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Princess."

"Sam…" Cat said, trying to be stern, but softly tugged on the blonde's arm, eager to know where this… whatever this was… came from. "You can tell me, you know."

"Fine…" Sam squinted and partially rolled her eyes, gnawing on her tongue before admitting, "Freddie and I used to… be together… before the whole king thing happened. We were just kids going through the knighthood thing, and we had it all and I was… happy. Then some magic rock basically fell into his lap, and I knew he was meant for something better so I ended it, but remained by his side, hoping he'd see me like he used to. Then, of course, Jade came along… and I never had my second chance. To be honest, I don't think I ever had the first chance either."

"Wow…" Cat quietly comforted her, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. It all worked out, I guess. Freddie's happy and Jade's… great, I guess. I even get a chance every so often to revisit what might have been… I'm just having a little problem moving on. Never really courted or been courted by anyone since then."

"Well…" Cat reached over and slipped her hand into the knight's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Sam turned her head to meet Cat's eyes, struggling with avoiding a vulnerable expression. "You never know what fate has in store."

---

When it was ladies' turn to share exclusively in a group dance, Cat was able to convince Sam to join her. She was as thrilled as possible while Sam struggled with a smile in not wanting to feel embarrassed. They danced for a bit, dancing in a circle singing along with the minstrels' songs with a few of the other noble ladies then an interlocking line dancing.

After the dance, Sam and Cat headed to one of the smaller tables to have a seat. There were several trays sitting on the table and the knight grabbed a bit of finger food and popped it into her mouth. She complained with a stuffed mouth, "I looked ridiculous."

"No way," Cat laughed with gentle admonished, "You didn't look any such thing. You were beautiful and graceful."

Sam raised a challenging eyebrow, but Cat held her supportive gaze until the knight's expression softened and let out a sigh, "I usually look better swinging a sword… that's when I'm graceful."

Cat giggled at winning a small victory against Sam's brass demeanor. "I wouldn't argue with seeing that."

A bugle sounded, signaling the arrival of someone of great importance which caused most of the hall to turn to see the new arrival. The attendant standing beside the arrival announced for all to hear, "King Dilben of the Northern Ridge."

The celebration stopped and the hall became deathly silent at hearing the name of the person, the monarch over the very kingdom they were celebrating a great victory against.

Cat's jaw dropped and eyes widened, being the one most stunned with his arrival.

The king of the Northern Ridge was a young man, perhaps not even eighteen years of age with a scrawny frame, plastered down black hair with a curl going down his forehead and a pair of spectacles on his face. His clothing consisted of something a little more out of a time of swashbucklers and wore of all things a cap that ended just around his waist.

The foreign king slowly entered the hall, holding his head high, feeling the confidence of his position as all eyes were on him. He stopped a dozen feet from the king's table (as the royal couple had returned to their table after dancing), feeling comfortable distance to speak with Freddie. He politely bowed his head and greeted the monarchs with a higher pitched voice than expected, "Good evening your highnesses. I come under a flag of truce to discuss the situation among our kingdoms."

Cat slipped her hand into Sam's, while the other hand clamped around her arm around her elbow. Sam threw a curious gaze from the corner of her eye then realized that it was Cat's way of finding security like a blanket or stuffed animal.

Jade gave him such a deathly glare that it threatened to literally ignite the young king into a ball of flames.

Freddie outwardly showed far more patience than his wife, but internally was just as equally insulted by the man's presence, interrupting the celebration. He answered in a clipped tone, "I accept your flag for the time being, but make your business quick because as you can see, we're celebrating and you are disturbing our guests."

Dilben furled his brow to look like a mean ferret and asked, "You're celebrating our forces clashing over a simple misunderstanding. I assume you would care to talk after what happened, not celebrate. It's so distasteful."

The attendees of the celebration turned iterated if not outright angry glares at the intruder.

The king held most of his disgust for the young man off his face and answered, "You're quite right that I do want to talk to you, but not when we are celebrating. I thought my dispatch was quite clear that we would set a meeting place and time, not for you could just come to my kingdom unannounced."

The insolent child-king deeply frowned and glared at the far more powerful king. "I didn't receive your dispatch. I left as soon as I heard that your forces routed mine. I wanted to settle the issue as soon as possible since you decided to intervene on the side of the den of thieves' kingdom."

Jade rhetorically questioned with venom dripping off her voice, "A den of thieves? We already have a court jester; we are not looking for a replacement."

Rex resting on Robbie's left palm while the other was stuffed up his back laughed, "She's talking about you Robbie."

The red and green entertainer glaringly looked to the puppet.

The visiting king turned a fierce and petulant look to the queen, hoping to intimidate her, but one glance into her blue pools sent a shiver through his spine. He turned his look away from the dark queen and cleared his throat, trying to gather himself to make his claim.

His voice wasn't as steady and confident as it was when he walked into the hall, but he continued nevertheless, "I am not jesting, Queen Jadelyn. Venice has become a lawless kingdom after the Valentines' passing and now it is striking out at mine. I have a right to defend my kingdom, so I sent brave men to root out these bandits out—the very men whose deaths you are celebrating!"

He rotated in place to give a condemning stare for anyone that would meet his eyes. He finished turning in place and stared at Cat once he found her in the gathering.

Cat shouted, outraged at the accusation, not fearing his response that could include crushing her kingdom if he chose to send more than simply raiding forces, "It has turned into no such thing! You've sent bandits to harass villages along the border: terrorizing, burning homes and destroying what was left of our dwindling food stores after the winter."

He glanced to Cat, who stood closer to Sam to partially stand behind her left shoulder, finally acknowledging the princess's presence. He answered with a raised pitched voice, "We did no such thing. We simply responded to attacks from your kingdom."

Jade spoke in a low, threatening voice that put a chill down the young king's spine, "Princess Cat says otherwise."

Freddie followed up with a running out of patience voice, "And so do my knights."

Dilben swallowed, his fear of the more powerful king bubbling more and more to the surface. He rallied the last of his courage and answered, "I thought the great Sea Atoll was a kingdom of truth and justice, not blind loyalty that would just overlook what their friends do."

The older king cracked a smile, not a friendly one, but one that showed that the king's patience was running dangerously thin.

"And it is. You've made a claim, a claim where I have seen no evidence to support it. Princess Cat disputes it and my knights dispute it. "

"I have dozens of farmers and villagers living on the border that would support my interpretation of events!" the boy king shouted back.

Freddie lazily answered, "And I'm sure that Princess Cat can provide plenty of grieving families that would testify on the pillaging and murder that your raiders committed."

The snot-nosed king put on a pout and was ready to throw a temper tantrum, but rallied his last bit of self-control, "How about we take our case to a neighboring kingdom where they can decide what happened?"

"A third party arbiter?"

"Yes, let them decide the merits objectively."

Freddie cocked his head to the side as if he was in deep thought, but quickly pointed out the glaring flaw in the young king's plan, "As noble as that would sound from a fairness standpoint to reach an equable solution to this conflict, there is a practical matter that would prevent such an option."

"And that would be?"

"Any kingdom that we would ask to decide would make an enemy of the kingdom that was found to be in the wrong and since the Sea Atoll is the far greater power… they would naturally be more inclined to simply rule in my favor in the matter. We'd solved nothing but if you want to waste time and resources for another embarrassing loss, so be it."

Dilben was ready to stomp his feet in frustration, but had one more option to suggest, "How about we simply divide the kingdom up and that would solve the problem? I would take the border region that's giving me all the problems and you can have the rest as you're clearly interested in the welfare of the kingdom. I know that you would keep law and order with that half and they will never bother my kingdom again."

Cat darted her eyes back and forth between the kings, torn at the prospect of Dilben advocating to Freddie that they should divide her kingdom. As she told Freddie earlier in the day, he taking over her kingdom would be a preferable solution, but the idea that Dilben would take even have a portion of her people was an abhorrent idea.

Freddie took a calming breath, resisting the urge to growl, and answered with a hint of his anger slipping through, "And what basis would you have to suggest that we carve up Venice like a Christmas turkey?"

The fear that had been lacing his voice was replaced with smugness, "Venice used to be part of my father's kingdom when Queen Mother Valentine took over the kingdom. Now that her son is dead, I have every right to push my claim to the throne especially now since it is being ruled by a clearly weak monarch and order needs to be reestablished—assuming it isn't incompetence and not simply her ordering the killing of my innocent peasants—so I can negotiate trading land for peace with my neighbor."

He looked over to Cat and taunted, "I would also refrain from advocating wanting the princess to return to my kingdom to answer for charges of her ordering the deaths of my citizens so long as she would remain in your kingdom."

Freddie's hand itched to reach for the sword given to him by the Lady of the Lake resting by his left thigh and use it to split the young king's skull. He could hear the faint sizzling to his left of Jade conjuring up a fire ball in her right hand under the table, ready to hurl it and torch the poor dumb soul to a cinder.

Sam's nostrils flared and her chest burned in outrage at him suggesting that Cat would be the aggressor and want innocent people to die. She walked around the table and reached for one of the knight's swords and drew it from his scabbard in a flash then crossed the distance and clocked the bratty king to the jaw with the pommel.

The young king spun in place before dropping with a considerable crash onto his back.

The king's guard grabbed the grip of his sword, but he didn't pull his weapon since Sam brought the tip of the blade under Dilben's chin and several of the guards and knights in the room drew their swords towards him.

The guard was loyal to his king, but he wasn't suicidal to go against battle-hardened soldiers that had reforged a kingdom.

The blonde spat out, "I have a better idea that will save us all a lot of time and trouble: I kill you right now and send your head back to their kingdom as a warning to your successor not to trifle with the Kingdom of Venice."

Dilben rubbed his jaw that felt like she had cracked it and heaved a breath in panic, "We're under a flag of truce! You can't do this! It's a crime against the rules… it's an act of war!"

Sam darkly glared at the young man a literal blade's length away from the end of his life. "He can always execute me."

Dilben glanced to King Freddie and waited for him to intervene, but the warrior king shrugged a shoulder and lazily remarked, "She's quite right… or perhaps a jury of her peers would rule that you violated the truce with your threat towards Princess Cat and she was forced to kill you. She has a room full of witness."

The younger man's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets that Freddie was perhaps willing to allow his well-known attack dog to killing him.

Sam pressed her argument, "I won't kill you on the condition that you swear on your life that you will never bother the kingdom of Venice again and if you go back on your word… I will find you, wherever you are and no matter how many guards you have, I will kill you."

Dilben nearly wet his trousers at the stare Sam was giving him. He managed to choke out, "Okay, okay, I'll leave Venice alone."

Sam pulled the sword away from Dilben's neck and took a few lazy steps backwards.

The humiliated Northern Ridge king stood up, brushing off his pants then straightening the collar to adjust his cape while trying to look as if he had some dignity left.

Freddie let a barely perceived smile appeared on his face and calmly stated, "Now we can discuss our terms in a few days."

The younger king turned to a flabbergasted look to the seated king and stuttered for a second before he could get out, "Our terms? But I just agreed wi—"

The warrior king sharply interrupted, "You agreed to her terms. We still have much to discuss such as reparations for the damage you have caused to Venice, reparations towards my kingdom for the military expense of sending my brave warriors, many to their deaths, to defend Venice and the security of Princess Cat's and my kingdom in case you decide that the border we share is being overrun with bandits."

Dilben looked like he was about to throw a tantrum at the public humiliation.

Freddie graciously offered, "In the meantime, you are more than welcome to stay at one of the inns in the city. They are quite nice."

Sam didn't wait for an answer as she took the flat side of the blade and gave the young king a hard swat on his behind.

"Ow!" he shouted with a high shriek and bouncing on each foot as he fled the hall.

The hall erupted in cheer and jeers at the fleeing king and his bodyguards.

Freddie stood up from his seat and spoke out in a booming voice, "Now ladies and gentlemen, let us get back to our celebration."

Sam passed off the sword back to the original owner, muttering a thanks to him then headed to the royal table.

Freddie retook his seat by the time Sam reached the other side of the table. He muttered with a soft chuckle, "That certainly set the stage for an interesting negotiation."

The knight brushed him off with a lazy eye roll, "I wasn't going to let him get away with saying such things about Cat… and he looked ridiculous. Did you see that cape?"

Cat gently bit into her bottom lip and answered, "Thank you Sam."

Sam lazily shrugged a shoulder and answered, "Just doing my job in protecting you."

Cat threw her arms around Sam's back and around her stomach to hug her, freely giggling.

The blonde closed her eyes and slowly blew out a breath from her nose. She hated affection like this, especially in public, but there was something warm and sweet with this girl in particular that wasn't so annoying.

Jade snickered at witnessing Sam's uncomfortableness.

Freddie turned the conversation back to the matter at hand, "At least he was smart enough to back down before you had to kill him. That would have been a diplomatic mess to clean up… I would have had to put you on trial to have any hope of keeping my reputation intact."

"I would have just glared at them."

The king dryly answered, "Yeah…"

The conversation took a lull, one that Jade took an opportunity to give Cat a bit of a nudge in her crush, "Cat, perhaps you should retire for the night after what happened with Dilben—entirely too stressful for what was supposed to be a celebration, especially after the long day you've had. Perhaps you would like some quiet companionship for the evening." She looked to Sam, hoping that she would get the message that she would like the blonde to follow the princess.

Sam initially looked oblivious to the look that the queen tossed her way, but Jade casually brought up, "Sam, how about you escort the Cat back to her quarters? Someone could have slipped away from Dilben's entourage for the opportunity to make an attempt on Cat's life."

The brave knight tightened a smile as she slowly nodded, seeing what Jade was doing, but couldn't disagree with the stated reason for her request. "You're right. He looks that petty and stupid to try such a thing, but you and Freddie should have the same concern.

Jade mockingly smiled as she answered, "Oh don't you worry. I have taken plenty of precautions other than the guards to prevent some assassin in the night from slipping inside to get us."

Sam could only imagine what sort of nasty surprises Jade had magically set up around the royal quarters from someone sneaking inside for an assassination attempt.

Cat's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets at witnessing Jade maneuvering Sam in spending a little quiet time with her. She didn't waste another second and looped her arm through Sam's arm and practically pulled the knight along with her out of the hall.

Freddie eyed over to his wife, seeing the mischievous glint in her eyes that she had accomplished exactly what she wanted.

Jade smiled back to her husband with a devilish grin.

---

Cat's Royal Quarters

Cat opened the heavy door and stepped inside to the royal quarters. It was well lit by a low going fire in the fire place on the left side of the room as even though it was spring in the kingdom, it could still get chilly during the night, and several torches at key points along the wall. The light illuminated the well decorated with fine paintings and drapes over the doors with stained glass that led to a balcony. The room was furnished with finely crafted furniture that included a vanity, dresser, a lounging couch from Roman antiquity and a large four-post bed dominated the room.

The princess expected Sam to follow her inside, but after the first few paces, she realized that the blonde wasn't behind her.

She turned and gave a curious look to the knight, wondering if she actually didn't want to spend some time with her.

Sam struggled with a smile at seeing the slightly hurt expression on the princess's face. She cautiously stepped inside the room then closed and locked the door behind her as safety was first for the princess's wellbeing.

"You have to love royal quar—"

She was cut off when Cat turned to her and crashed her lips against the blonde's, pressing her lithe body against the curved and soft body to force Sam's back against the door.

Sam blinked, startled from the unexpected aggression, but quickly gave into the kiss. She moaned in return as Cat ran her tongue over the blonde's lips to try to tease her way inside. She let the bubblegum tongue inside and cupped the figuratively smaller girl's cheeks and responded with her own playful tongue.

The princess giggled into the kiss, glad that Sam was so easily responding to her first move. She traded a few more kisses, slowing down the burst of lust to enjoy the taste of Sam's lips and tongue, both quite sweet from the drink she had been sipping all night. She pulled her lips away and moved to nuzzle her face against the side of Sam's neck and quickly placed some soft kisses against the fair skin while her hands roamed up and down her clothed sides. She desperately wanted to tear the material and let her fingers glide against the smooth and supple skin she knew the dress hid from her senses.

Sam closed her eyes and sighed, lifting her chin up and letting more of neck exposed for Cat's playful kisses. Cat's leg moved between her legs and her thigh started grinding against Sam's center, sending soft ripples through her and getting her wound up.

"Ugghhh, ahhhh…" Sam sighed out with clenched eyes from the added stimulation and naturally started rotating her hips to match Cat's leg.

Sam couldn't believe how fast she was getting turned on by the feisty redhead that was pushing her against the door, but quickly chalked it up as her being on edge after all the fighting from the last few days. She breathed out without realizing it, "More… I need more…"

The knight grabbed Cat by the shoulders and gently pushed her back, drawing a disappointed expression on Cat's face.

Sam pulled down the material of her silk dress on her left shoulder, allowing her to pull her left cup down to reveal the beautiful and perfectly proportional pale orb topped with a pink nub that looked as if was begging to be sucked. It wasn't quite as big as Jade's, but that didn't make it any less desirable to Cat's eyes.

The princess licked her lips, desperate to have a taste at the inviting nub, but didn't want to embarrass herself. Jade had told her more than a few times how… obsessive she could be when it came to showing her chest some attention.

The knight clearly saw the need in the redhead's eyes yet fighting the bashfulness of being so open with her desire. She hissed out in a sultry tone, "Do you want a taste? You looked like you were dying to have a taste all night and I could use the attention."

The redhead's cheeks flushed, feeling embarrassed at being caught in wanting to do something so primal.

Sam saw the young woman's embarrassment, intending for it to be a bit of a tease to heighten the mood. Her bravado tone dropped to something more soothing and assuring, "I'm sorry… go ahead, I don't mind." She cupped the back of the princess's head, brushing it to comfort her and put the faintest of pressure to get her to latch onto her.

Cat gave Sam one last glance before she locked her lips on the nipple and began to suckle from it. She closed her eyes and moaned, savoring the taste. She couldn't quite place the taste; salty seemed a too strong a word but it faintly reminded her of the seasoning. Savory… yeah… that was it.

Sam closed her eyes, sighing as the gentle suction tugged on her nipple. She was expecting to be mauled and probably would be by the end of the evening as she could see in the girl's eyes a sexual tiger hidden under the sweet kitten act, but the gentler approach was certainly welcomed.

The gentle approach only lasted a few seconds, wanting to establish a sweet bond with Sam before Cat picked up her sucking and licking of the nipple, becoming more aggressive as the kitten wanted more of the tasty flesh. As she focused her attention on the beautiful flesh melon, she hooked her fingers over the other shoulder and pulled the dress down, stretching the back tie further, and revealing the other heavy and supple breast. She moved her mouth to that breast and began to eagerly kiss, lick and even nibble of the pale flesh as if she was starving.

"Grrrahh… ahhhh…" Sam breathed out as the princess 'attacked' her nipple, doing her best to devour her and setting the blonde's nerves on fire. She licked and kissed and nibbled, unintentionally wanting to turn it raw with the hasty attention she was giving. Cat's other hand palmed back over the other one and started pinching and toying with the nub, simply adding to the electric feeling going through her breasts.

Cat pulled her mouth away from the flushed flesh and bashfully remarked, "I told you that I hoped to reward you, so…"

Sam heaved out a breath, her heavy chest lifting and falling with each word, "You're doing a fine job of it right now, but what how far did you intend to go to 'reward' me?"

Cat pulled away, taking Sam by both her hands to lead her to the bed. Cat spun to have Sam's back face the bed fit for a monarch.

Sam dropped on the bed, scooting back a bit and raising herself up on her elbows and giving Cat a feigned look of innocence.

The look on Cat's face turned from eagerness to slight bashfulness as she had never been one to really take the lead.

Sam encouraged her by lifting up the hem of her dress the flung it up over her hips to reveal a set of matching baby blue panties. There was a slightly darker shade of blue over her center, showing that the attention to her breasts had gotten the brave knight going for what Cat had planned for the night.

The princess found the little sex kitten inside wanting to play and moved between Sam's legs, hooking her fingers over the elastic band and pulled them off her hips, eager to have a taste. She dropped to her knees on the soft rug at the side of the bed to finish pulling off at the offending garment at this point and tossed it aside. She moved her face to get a closer look at the knight's delicate opening that she intended to have a feast. There was a neatly trimmed strip of blonde hair leading to her flower, already dripping with a tiny bit of what Cat thought would be delicious nectar.

Cat took a deep whiff of Sam's aroma, trying to find the words to describe the particular scent. It reminded her of something pleasantly tart and her taste buds demanded to have a taste. She playful took a lick, just wanting to get a quick tasting of the slickness beginning to cover Sam's lower lips.

Sam shivered just a bit, anticipating what she hoped was a good tongue lashing. She had a pretty high bar set by Freddie and Jade, so didn't want to be disappointed by the princess.

The redhead carelessly licked around her outer lips, cleaning her and getting a taste of her skin, trying to hold back her eagerness as this was intended for Sam to feel good, not quench an unfulfilled desire. Though the motives were running neck and neck at the moment.

Sam let her head roll back, accepting the slower pace the princess was taking as opposed to what was happening at the door where lust had flared between them. She could enjoy a lazy 'meal' from her as on more than one occasion she had spent a lazy afternoon enjoying such attention from Freddie.

Cat's tongue moved closer to Sam's center, slowly licking up and down the inner lips that where starting to heat and slightly swelling. She lapped over them several times them moved up to the knight's hood where her love button was starting to peak out.

She took a few tentative swipes at it, getting Sam's hips to gyrate in response and shortened breath to escape her puckered lips. She grinned in satisfaction and repeated the process just to tease her before moving her tongue further south to push her tongue between Sam's loosening folds, taking tentative wiggles and exploration with the tip of her tongue.

"Ohhh…" Sam sighed out, her breath getting heavier with each passing second.

Cat withdrew her tongue and smacked her lips, getting a real taste of her brave knight. A smile nearly broke her face as the taste was delicious and she wanted more. She moved her mouth back to Sam's opening and picked up the pace in licking, hoping to get more of that tangy taste while setting Sam on fire.

As she happily went about 'eating' her celebratory desert, she couldn't help but happily hum along to her pace.

"Shiiittt Catttt…" The unexpected source of added stimulation was welcomed by Sam as she reached out and brushed over the top of Cat's head to encourage her. Freddie used a similar trick when he really wanted to rev her up.

As Cat braced her hands on Sam's inner thighs, she could feel her muscles trembling, telling her further that she was doing a fine job of giving the blonde the pleasure she had intended, but she was getting a little impatient in getting her knight to see the stars.

Cat removed her mouth from the now slick opening of her saliva and Sam's natural juices. She stuck her right pointer and middle finger into her mouth to the knuckles, sucking on them for a second then pulled them out and gently slipping them between Sam's folds. She gently began to explore, wanting to feel if she couldn't fill Sam completely and touch all the sensitive places to heat the pale skin beauty up. She soon turned her palm upward and curled her fingers in a 'come hither' motion, brushing along the upper wall of her canal.

Sam closed her eyes and let out a long breath as the princess hit a particularly good spot, "Ooooohhhh…." She wasn't disappointed to find the princess was just as skilled with her tongue as her fingers and was quite eager to please.

Cat was quite eager to please as she could feel Sam's muscles tensing and relaxing with an ever shrinking time between them, signaling to her the knight was approaching her release. She didn't want to disappoint and picked up the pace, hoping to send Sam flying across the finish as fast as she rode her great steed. Her tongue frantically licked around her slowly pumping fingers, taking a detour every so often to sweep over the blonde's external bundle of nerves.

Sam threw her head back and thrust her chest out, unprepared for Cat's vigorous 'assault' and her slow pace to sweet oblivion jumped to a gallop.

The princess moved in for the kill with wrapping her lips around Sam's clit and brushing her fingers on the roof of her insides.

"FUCKINGSHITT! GODD! SHITT!"

Sam bucked hard once then twice, driving her crotch to Cat's face, then let out a mangled shout as her release overwhelmed her—her vision blurring for a few seconds and her nerves becoming raw to the touch—and her juices flowed into Cat's mouth.

Cat licked the initial rush of added juices from Sam's heated and throbbing opening, savoring the stronger taste. She kept her devouring up until Sam finished trembling and collapsed back on the bed, letting her legs dangle off the edge. She pulled her mouth away to excitedly shout, "Oohhh, so tangy!"

Cat braced her hands on Sam's parted thighs and planted her face back into Sam's crotch and began hungrily feasting on the flower as if she was already an addict wanting her next hit.

Sam moved her hands from her sides and clenched the pillow on either side of her head, sticking her elbows up to nearly pointing to the ceiling. Her hips rotated wildly, wanting more yet wanted to get away from the stimulation as she was oversensitive from her release.

She didn't mind the sliver of discomfort among the pleasure and it was a bit of a turn on for her. However, the licking, sucking and slurping of her pink lips by the princess's skillful tongue was causing her to race to another finish line sooner than she expected.

She didn't want to surrender so quickly again, seeing it as a matter of pride of being the greatest knight in all the land. She could accept that there were two people could make her that submissive, after all, they were the king and queen, in more than a few ways, but the idea that this childlike princess could bend her so easily was disconcerting. However, the princess was very good with her tongue and especially with her sucking skills.

She fisted the pillow behind her head tighter on either side of her hips and growled, focusing on maintaining control. She clenched her thigh and abdomen muscles help starve off the building tension in her lower gut that wanted to snap.

"I'm not going to cum… not yet… she can't make me… make me cum this… this soon…"

Cat could feel the conscious tightening of Sam's muscles as her hands palmed wouldn't have any of it. She was going to make her brave knight and feel fantastic and make her feel it again if she thought she was under the impression that this wasn't going to do it again. The redhead's mouth moved further up the lying knight's lower lips and latched her lips around Sam's protruding love button and sucked for all she was worth while her pair of fingers pumped and withdrew with nearly lightning speed.

"…she's just a dimwitted… no, no, no… FUCK!"

Sam's eyes rolled her eyes back and eyelids fluttered as the last of her willpower crumbled, her breath wheezing until another few seconds later she succumbed to the fire in her belly and screamed, "Oh fuck, oh fuck… of shit FUCK!"

She lifted her ass off the sheet and drove herself against Cat's face. Her tangy nectar flooded Cat's mouth again like a cork being popped from a champagne bottle. She eagerly lapped the juices up, enjoying, beyond words, the flavor on her tongue and being able to bring such pleasure to a girl that more than deserved it.

Sam turned her head and planted her face against the side of her bent left arm and screamed again, riffed with pleasure and a hint of pain from the overstimulation.

Feeling from Sam's trembles that she really did need a break this time, Cat removed her mouth and started kissing up the shivering body. Her honey covered lips left a trail from her sex to her pale abdomen. She let her tongue flick inside Sam's bellybutton, drawing a giggle from the tough blonde.

She slipped her fingers back inside Sam, gathering a bit more release on her fingers and causing her to moan with another sensation of pleasure. She smeared the release on her lips and Sam's right nipple then latched onto the nub and started to suckle.

Sam's eyes clenched for a second and a low hiss escaped her lips. Her nipples—her everything—was sensitive after such a nearly brain frying release. She tried to focus on something else other than the odd nursing manner in which the princess decided to treat the nipple.

"Damn Cat, you're good at that. Where did you learn that from?"

The confident princess pulled her mouth from Sam's breast and was hit with a wave of bashfulness and dipped her chin. "I ah…"

Sam smirked, relishing in having the upper hand for the moment, and innocently asked, "You learned that from Jade, didn't you?"

Cat's eyes opened wide and looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets.

The knight lazily leered and pointed out, "I'm the Queen's champion and her… friend and… girls talk."

Cat licked Sam's erect nub like a kitten getting some milk from a bowl then answered, "Yeah… there was a time after she broke up with Beck and… she needed a friend."

"If that's the kind of friendship you showed Jade, she was damn lucky to have you."

The princess let off a quick, high pitched embarrassed laugh then picked up her nursing from the reddened nub.

Sam didn't want to interrupt the playful princesses, but the constant stimulation even if it was minor to the sensitive nub was taking a toll on the knight. She regretfully spoke, "Cat, I wasn't expecting the one-two punch, so if you could give me a few seconds…"

Cat released the girl's nipple and giggled, "Okay."

Cat slipped off the bed and walked to the finely crafted dresser drawers. She opened one of them and pulled out a sleeping gown then stepped behind a dressing screen. Sam observed by the shadow she cast against the fabric from the many torches that lit the room, she could see the young princess slip out of her dress and reveal her thin silhouette. She could make out the princess's perky breast that were topped with harden peaks, no doubt aroused by making the blonde having such a monumental release. The sight vanished as quickly as it appeared with her pulling the gown over her head.

Cat stepped from behind the screen, now dressed in a loose white fitting gown that was nearly translucent, and glided to the bed. She slipped up to have a seat by Sam's right side, who still lazily lying on the bed with her dress pulled down under her breasts and bunched up above her pelvis.

Sam propped herself up to a seated position, using the large pillow at the head of the bed to prop her back up, curious as to see what the princess had further in mind.

Cat climbed on Sam's right leg and brought her knee just to the satisfied girl's crotch before throwing her arms over the stronger girl's shoulders. "Hi."

The fierce knight snorted out and half-grinned, appreciating the direct approach the initially timid princess. She intended to be just as direct.

"Hello," Sam teased as she hooked her fingers over the neckline of the nightgown and pulled the material off Cat's shoulders and far enough down her arms, trapping them momentarily, to pull the front down and exposed the princess's perky A-cups with puffy nipples.

Cat bowed her head as if she was ashamed in exposing herself.

The blonde leaned her head to the side in an attempt to meet her eyes. "What wrong?"

"I… I know that I'm not as… ample as other girls… not like you and Jade… not even Tori."

Sam cupped under the soft swell of flesh, giving a gentle squeeze and assuring her, "I think they're nice. They're smooth and plump and a nice little handful." She accentuated her point by dipping her head down and taking a quick tongue swipe over her left nipple. "And they taste pretty good too."

The timid redhead broke into another smile and shivered in delight from the quick physical affection.

The knight licked her lips and flicked a sultry eyebrow. "Mind if I have a real taste?"

The redhead eagerly nodded and Sam jumped at the opportunity by latching not only to the girl on her lap's left nipple, but the surrounding flesh, practically inhaling as much of her flesh as she could get into her mouth. She sucked hard and moaned, allowing her tongue to rapidly flick over the quickly hardening bud. The back-to-back releases really did the trick in relieving a lot of the tension of the last week and she wanted to return the favor to the princess, though it didn't hurt that she actually did find the girl physically appealing.

Cat closed her eyes and whimpered, perhaps a bit distressed from the aggressive licking and sucking. She trembled from the surge of tingling feelings traveling from the bud directly to her brain and causing the rest of her to further heat up. Her grip over Sam's shoulders tightened to hold onto the ride she was experiencing.

Sam heard Cat's moans and felt her tremble in her arms, so she pulled her lips off and looked up, questioning, "A bit sensitive?"

The redhead nodded, embarrassed that she had reacted in such a way and interrupted Sam's attention.

The knight kissed over her heart. "Okay, I'll slow down. I just wanted to show my appreciation, because damn princess… you had me seeing stars."

Cat giggled from the compliment and brushed her hand through Sam's golden locks to encourage her to start again.

The blonde knight latched her lips back on the nub, but gently and lazily taking her time to enjoy the taste of the young princess. She tasted sweet as her personality and wondered if there was a connection.

Cat lulled her head back and sighed, appreciative of the attention while her hips started rotating to grind her center on the soft flesh of Sam's leg.

Sam switched to the other breast, intending to give it the same treatment, taking a gentle suckle from the puffy areola and nipple, wanting to get it to a tight little nub to suck. She wasn't apparently as needy as Cat, but she could appreciate a nice suckle from a nipple from time-to-time as Jade's rack was quite desirable.

The knight let her hands slip around and cupped the petite girl's cute ass, slowly pulling her forward then pushing her back across her thigh.

Cat whimpered from the gentle friction across her petals, intending to grind herself against the knight's leg, but it looked like Sam had the same idea and literally took the matter into her own hands.

Sam switched back to the original breast and simply gave it a bath with her tongue as a cat would clean itself, giving it broad licks with the flat of her tongue to taste every centimeter of her sweet taste.

Cat wrapped her arms behind Sam's head, urging her to continue with her licking while she rotated her hips to grind against the increasingly slick surface of Sam's thigh.

The princess was a sensitive thing besides her emotional wellbeing, so the duel attention to her was sending her racing to her first, but hopefully not her only release for the night. She was whimpering and mewing with each passing sweep against Sam's thigh and suckle to her sensitive nipple.

Sam could feel her trembling in her hands while she finished giving the girl's breast a thorough cleaning. She pulled her lips away from her tanned skin and asked, "You're going to come for me aren't you little Kitty?"

The redheaded princess whimpered and nodded her head, a pleasurable grimace on her face as she squinted.

"Then come Cat, let me see how a cute little princess comes."

Sam picked up pulling and pushing Cat across her thigh, increasing the friction despite the added wetness of Cat's dew started to drip more onto Sam's leg. She even slipped a finger between the girl's tight cheeks to tease her little starfish.

After only seconds of the additional stimulation, the redhead let out a cry, "JANNNKKKK!" She bucked in Sam's arms, her legs clenching around the stronger girls thigh as the exquisite feeling exploded in her gut.

Sam pulled her to a stop and held onto her, keeping her from flailing about too much and felt as if her thigh was soaked.

Several more seconds ticked by as the princes floated down from her high where she would have sworn she saw rainbows then she dropped her head against Sam's forehead and huffed for breath, her small chest rapidly rising and falling.

Sam firmly took the princess by the hips and turned to roll her onto her back, allowing her a respite as she looked like she was about to doze off. She slowly crawled down, letting her lips kiss and tongue lick across Cat's bronze and sweaty skin. She paused to lap at the other nipple she didn't get enough of a taste, causing it to tighten further with the direct attention.

"Uweeewww…" Cat whimpered and eyes fluttered, signaling that she was still partially awake even after the draining release.

Sam reached the girl's center, seeing it glisten from her release and slightly puffy with the excitement. She took a broad swipe up one lip then the other one, coating her tongue with Cat's leaking juices. She was a sweet as sugary drink that parents would spoil their kids and she could admit that she had a sweet tooth. She gathered a bit more on her tongue then shoved her tongue inside the tight opening then teased the edges to get her to relax. If she hadn't felt the lack of a thin membrane, she would have thought the girl was a virgin clenching so tightly around her tongue.

As Sam's tongue started to work on the sweet flower, her hands moved up from the girl's hips, across her sides, pausing a second to tickle the girl bellybutton. Her hands eventually reached the girl's chest and palmed over the small and sticky mounds of flesh, giving the nipples a slight tweaking.

Cat rolled her hand back and forth, the sensations flooding her body and turning her simple mind into a mush of ever increasing signals. Sam's attention with her exploring tongue and teasing fingertips caused Cat to easily rush towards another release as her already sensitive areas were a live wire ready to be grounded.

The princess started muttering in a pleading, desperate voice that made it hard to tell if she was begging the blonde to stop or keep going, "Sam, Sam, Sam…"

Cat lifted her hips to press her sex against Sam's face, wanting to gobble her up and never let her go. She gripped around Sam's wrists while the blonde continued to hold onto the handful of flesh as Sam flicked her tongue around inside in a specific pattern to hit all the right spots but keep Cat's body guessing.

It was enough for the quickly mind numbed princess as moments later the cage exploded inside her gut and the beautifully winged creatures spread through her body, causing every nerve and threatening to overwhelm her mind. She cried out then started literally crying as she couldn't handle the pleasure coursing through her veins.

After several more seconds of wonderful torture her muscles snapped their tension and she collapsed back on the bed, heaving for breath.

Sam pulled her mouth away from the sweet nectar providing opening and got up on her hands and knees and crawled up the bed as if stalking her prey, which in a sense she was towards Cat. The tears of joy were a little distracting and a bit unnerving. She contemplated whether she had hurt the girl or not. The rarely used compassionate side of her that she really used in private with Jade and Freddie came out as she studied the princess.

Cat's breath heaved, racing for oxygen to fill her lungs and help cool her off as she felt flushed all over her body. She couldn't remember having such a release like that since her last time with Jade.

"You want some more or are you pooped out for the night?"

The tired princess had to wait a few more seconds to slow her breathing, still trying to regain her composure then answered, "I think… I think I have one more left in me."

Sam's gaze turned a little predatorily and answered in a low growl, "Good, because I'm going to take it." She softened her demeanor though and placed a kiss on her lips then stated, "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." She rolled to her side and off the bed, pausing only long enough to take off her scabbard and dagger to lay on the dresser then loosen her belt and let her dress slip off her form then headed to the door that happened to adjoin their quarters.

Cat just laid there, catching more of her breath, wondering what the knight that had saved her twice had in mind.

Sam returned with a rectangular highly decorated and polished wooden box. She sat it on the nightstand next to the bed.

Cat propped herself up by the elbows and looked over to Sam. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's just a little special toy that Jade and I share from time to time. I think we'll both enjoy it." She opened of the box and pulled out an anatomically correct glass phallus, about five inches long.

Cat nervously swallowed then timidly asked, "You want to use that with me?"

"If it's alright. Have you had anything ah… inside you before?

During Sam's thorough tongue lashing of the princess, she hadn't felt a barrier. She could have easily lost it any number of ways, so she didn't want to assume that the princess had her first time.

Cat's cheeks softly flushed and she answered a bit quiet, "Ah… a few times when I was younger."

Sam made a quick assumption that it must have been with Jade, but refrained from commenting.

The eager princess distracted from what could have been an awkward conversation and asked, "You said it was special. What makes it special?"

Sam licked her lips and answered with a devious grin. "I assume you know of Jade's… 'special talents'?"

Cat timidly answered, "That she's a witch?"

"And a thing or two that rhymes with witch…" Sam smirked as she offered the toy for the redhead to touch. "What do you feel?"

"It just feels like a fine glass sculpture. Hard, cold, and slick…" she said, eyes darting in confusion. "This might hurt someone."

"It sure can… but there's more to it than that." The blonde nodded as she strapped the harness against her sex and pelvis. "Jade put a particular enchantment on it so that when attached to a wearer it would feel as if it were real. For both of us."

The redheaded princess looked uttered dumbfounded for several seconds. She knew Jade began dabbling in magic when they were in their early teens and had grown quite talented over the years, but it was hard to fathom she could create such an item. As her mind turned over and over what Sam had told her, a wicked smile fell into place and she cocked an eyebrow, letting the little bit of the little minx out. "So, you feel this?"

She wrapped her delicate hand around the phallus, giving it a gentle squeeze and brushing her thumb over just under the head. She was amazed at how real it suddenly felt even though it looked the same. No longer cold, it felt warm and while it was still hard, it was wrapped in a velvety cover with an even softer head.

Sam closed her eyes and sighed, feeling the corresponding pleasure in her sex. She nodded her head and uttered, "Yeah… mhmm… I can feel that."

The princess's face nearly broke with a grin on how much fun they could have with such a magical device. She stood up and took a hold of Sam's waist to turn her around to have a seat on the edge of the bed. She eagerly took a position again on her knees in front of the edge of the bed between Sam's legs.

Cat brought her lips to the head of the glass phallus, breathing softly on the head.

Sam closed her eyes and shivered then let out a low moan as Cat parted her lips and let the head slip into her mouth, giving it a quick suck that felt as if it was directly on her clit.

Cat slowly lowered her head, taking more and more of the glass toy into her mouth until it gently touched the back of her throat, and she was surprised to taste something odd. A hint of Sam's cum release but not as strong. She wrapped her fingers around the point just past her lips then slightly pulled back, dragging her finger and thumb back just a hair to know how far she could safely go.

The redhead princess slowly began bobbing her head, slurping and sliding her tongue across the underside of the toy. As she enjoyed the start of pleasing Sam, she realized that instead of toy lacking taste, it tasted the same as the blonde's skin. She grinned around it as she thought on how talented Jade had become as a witch. She wished when they were younger that Jade had created such a toy.

Cat's hands moved to Sam's left thigh and the other one on her stomach, feeling the muscles start to tighten and relax. She smiled around the toy to see how well she could make the invincible looking knight quiver so easily.

Sam slipped her hand behind Cat's head and laced her fingers through her hair, encouraging her to bob faster.

Cat was getting surprisingly direct feedback while having the toy in her mouth, not the tell-tale signs of having the real thing, but she could feel Sam's stomach and thighs trembling under her palm and forearms. She smiled around the toy, knowing that Sam's third release of the evening was on its way.

Sam tried to come off as aggressive, the one in charge of the situation, but her voice came off as pleading, "Keep going Cat… you're going to make me… you're going to make me cum… keep going… I'm almost… oh fuck…"

The redhead smiled as she picked up her bobbing, pleased that she was giving her brave knight such pleasure and there was a bit of a thrill that she was the one in control of the situation.

Sam's shuddering picked up, showing she was getting closer to that sweet release as her love canal was responding to the stimulation of Cat's poutty lips around the magical toy.

Cat decided to send her over the edge again by slipping a finger under the harness and pushing between her folds for a few quick thrusts.

"Oh FUCKING SHIT!" Sam cried out, throwing her head back from the dual stimulation and bucking her hips, driving the toy to the back of Cat's throat.

The princess's controlled her gag reflex and squeezed and moaned around the object, pushing Sam further and longer into her release.

Sam shuddered several times, her breasts jiggling in a lovely fashion with each wave and her mouth hanging open as she lost the ability to vocalize in being so overwhelmed.

Cat stood up, wiping her bottom lip off with her thumb, being quite pleased with herself. She felt a flush of confidence and placed a hand over Sam's heart and gave her a gentle push, signaling that she wanted the knight to lie back.

Sam liked the idea as experience was draining for the moment and her arms that were bracing her to remain seated were starting to strain. She crawled back on the bed and turned to rest her head on the large pillow.

Cat crawled up to her knees and straddled Sam's thighs, smiling in feeling that she had satisfied the brave knight that had saved her kingdom. She took the toy back in her right hand, slowly pumping it with a twist of her hand, using her saliva as lubricant.

Sam clenched her eyes shut and whimpered out, "Ugghhhh…"

The princess giggled, enjoying the novelty of the new toy. "This is so much fun…"

The knight forced her eyes open and huffed out with a grin, "Yeah… pretty fun for me. The best damn thing Jade's ever conjured up."

Cat continued her gentle pumping, trying to keep the girl she was falling for stimulated enough and she liked playing with new toys. She curiously asked while she watched Sam's heavy chest rise and fall, "So you and Jade used this a lot?"

Sam panted out, feeling her insides tingling as if she was being manually stimulated inside her heated opening, "From time-to-time… ungh… I use it on her and she uses it on me… we switch… damn… back and forth… I usually always end up on the bottom… I think it's because she's taller than me."

The princess slowed down her pumping to a snail's pace, wanting to ease Sam back and allow her an easier time to answer. "Would you like for me to be at the bottom? I wouldn't mind, but…" Cat trailed off as her hand reached the knob of the toy and put a little pressure on the underside it with a small rotation.

Sam clamped her eyes shut and groaned out as she felt that Cat was toying with her clit. She rubbed her hands up and down Cat's thighs and huffed out, trying to focus with the gentle attention to her sensitive nub, "But… what…"

Cat licked her lips, feeling a rush of power having Sam almost literally in her hand and bending to her will, "Can I be on top just for a little bit?"

The blonde nodded and licked her lips. "Sure, not a problem. Usually a knight would allow a lady to ride his or her steed, but I guess you want to ride me?"

The princess eagerly nodded. She licked her lips and asked, "Do you have anything to…"

Sam motioned her hand to the nightstand and answered, "They're in the box."

Cat looked to the nightstand and saw the open box. In the inside lid, she saw a small heart shaped bottle in the foam. She regretfully let go of Sam and slipped off her thighs. She picked out the bottle and opened the cap, taking a quick whiff of the pleasant fragrance. She giggled as it smelled like strawberry.

The princess eagerly dashed back to the bed then crawled back onto Sam's thighs and turned it to its side to let some of the lubricant drip on the toy. She rubbed it onto the toy with a gentle twist motion, wanting to prepare it to enter her, as she had not been penetrated by more than a finger in a long time, and give Sam just a little more encouragement before slipping it inside her.

Sam opened her eyes and showed her starting to get desperate, that the teasing had to either stop or take it up a notch.

The choice was easy for Cat, so she lifted her knees up and lined up the glass phallus with her entrance, rubbing the tip against her heated lips. They sighed in unison from the gentle stimulation until Cat slowly lowered herself down on the head, drawing a high pitch whimper from her lips, until the head slipped inside her folds and let out a long high pitch moan.

Sam bit into her lower lip as she felt the sensation around the enchanted toy run into her sex and up her spine. She thought Jade could be tight, but Cat felt like a damn vice around the toy and the feeling was incredible. She rubbed her hands up and down the princess's thighs, hoping to relax the tight princess and distract herself from the nearly overwhelming sensation.

Cat gulped several more breaths, adjusting to the toy as it had been a while since she had anything bigger than her fingers. She initially braced her hands on Sam's stomach to find her balance then moved them up to side just under the girl's beautiful marshmallows. She let her fingers tickle the side of them and gently squeezed, letting some of the flesh squeeze through her fingers. She lifted her bottom up, letting some of the toy withdraw from her canal then lowering herself back down.

Sam moved her hands up to Cat's hips to help her along, huffing a bit with her chest flushed as she experienced the warmth, tightness and slickness of Cat's love canal.

It wasn't long after a few testing the water of Cat riding her, that the redhead picked up the pace as if she was on a Hobby Horse, galloping to her heart's content and flesh audibly slapping flesh.

Cat's hair may have been braided, but above her forehead was becoming loose and beads of sweat formed on her forehead while she continued to ride the blonde. Sam in turn helped her along and took the time to admire the sight of the light from the fireplace and torches flickered on the bronze skin that was becoming slick with perspiration on her upper chest, her perky breasts that bounced just a little with each falling and face.

Much to Sam's surprise, after only a few minutes, Cat slowed down her gallop, wanting to draw out her pleasure and not have her butterflies escape. She wasn't eager for this encounter to end so soon.

Sam teased with a short breath, "You need a break?"

Cat brushed some of her loss hair off her sweaty forehead and answered in a pant, "I ah… just not ready for this to end yet."

"Why don't you let me take over for a bit?"

"Okay."

Sam shifted to her right to let the princess roll and relax on her left side for a moment, trying not to crush the girl's left leg with her body weight. She took over lazily kissing the redhead, hoping to slow things down for her. It wouldn't matter if Sam had another climax because it was still a toy and not the real thing and she usually shot for having several during a romp, but Cat was reaching her limit and didn't want to accidentally set her off.

She finished rolling Cat onto her back then sat up, resting on her shines and pushing her knees forward a bit to raise Cat's thighs. She leaned forward and braced her hands on either side of Cat, hovering and trapping the girl under her. She dipped down to share a sweet kiss, something she wasn't posed to do with the girl she had only known for a few days, but nevertheless enjoyed the sensual act.

Cat's hands reached up and cupped her cheeks, returning the playful and sweet kisses, wanting to keep the rough around the edges girl close and express her gratitude and love for her.

They kissed and nibbled each others lips while their hips ground against one another, trying to convey pleasure to each other by every mean.

Sam broke the kissing first and straightened back up, taking a hold of Cat's hips and began slowly move her hips back and forth, pumping into the silky vice. She felt a sensual quality in the gentle lovemaking of taking her time slipping the toy in and out of the slick folds as opposed to the times she could go to town on Jade—and the queen loving every second of it until she fell apart then returning the favor. The atmosphere certainly added to the affect of the fire going beside them with the gentle crackling and flames giving a flickering light and shadow across their bodies.

Cat's hands shot out to grab one of Sam's wrists and the other one to tweak a nipple, not caring that the added stimulation could set her off sooner than she desired. She clenched her eyes shut and mewed out with each gentle thrust, "Ahhh, ughhhh eewwww Sammmm…"

Sam lifted Cat's right left up to rest her calf against her left breast and upper chest, letting the foot dangle near her face.

She slowed her thrusting to an even slower pace, but the action didn't reduce the pleasure of Cat's slick vice clenching around the toy. She felt the tip bump something, assuming it to be Cat's cervix. She withdrew just a bit then pushed back inside, making her pelvis flush with Cat's crotch and once again feeling the same 'obstruction'.

Cat whimpered out in a strangled mixture of pain and pleasure. She gripped Sam's left wrist by her hip a bit tighter, clenching her fingers around it to signal to keep going.

Sam couldn't help but to think if the toy was real, she would paint the entrance to the girl and most likely give the cute little Princess an heir to her throne. She thought on Freddie's size and guessed how he could accidentally push straight through as he was almost double the size and width of the toy. She disregarded such silly ideas and began to slowly push and pull her way out of the warm orifice.

Cat's eyes rolled back in her eyes, mewing and moaning as the feeling on her insides were bouncing around inside. She gripped the sheets on either side of her, digging her nails into the material. She wanted to come, she wanted to come so bad but she wanted to hold out for her brave knight as she knew she would be pooped after her next release and didn't want to leave her hanging. She thought she could slow down the pace a bit and give her a bit more control over her butterflies that wanted to escape.

Cat rolled to her left side and closed her legs and if possible, Sam felt the young princess even tighter than before and had to slow her pacing.

The dominating blonde tightened her grip on Cat's thigh to ride out another wave of pleasure. Sam took several deep breaths then slowly pushed back inside then withdrew.

"Uhhh, ahhhh… eewwww…" The princess's left hand gripped the pillow while her right latched back onto her Sam's left wrist.

Sam momentarily stopped and withdrew about three-fourths of the toy from Cat's opening. Sam slipped her hand between the sheet and Cat's side, lifting her up to turn over to her stomach then pulled her onto all fours with her knees and elbows.

The princess understood what the knight wanted and picked herself up to brace against the mattress with her hands little further than shoulder width apart.

Sam brushed her hands over the princess's cute little tush, liking the feel of small lump of flesh. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a nice little ass?"

Cat looked over her right shoulder and teased in an exhausted breath, "Maybe…"

"Well you have a cute little ass."

Sam slowly re-sheathed herself into the petite princess and slowly sawed in and out to readjust to the new angle. She knew Cat didn't have much control left, so she quickly picked up the pace, driving in and out, the smacking of flesh overcoming the crackling sound of the fire.

Cat bucked forward with each smacking of Sam's pelvis against her behind and forcing out air from her lungs. She closed her eyes and just tried to keep up with her breath as the toy forced her muscles apart and sliding across her internal bundle of nerves with each stroke. She relished in the feeling and was surprised that her stomach hadn't exploded in pixy dust, but didn't think too hard on the matter as the blonde continued to make love to her.

Sam's heavy breasts swayed with each thrust, sucking in breath to her demanding lungs. She wasn't sure how long she could last inside the tight hole and sight of piercing the tight cheeks. She could only imagine the tightness of the girl's ass and enviably wondered if she would get a chance to feel it.

The princess was soon a whimpering mess, fighting to stay upright but her arms felt like jelly. She was feeling tingly all over and felt she was going to drown any minute in pleasure.

Sam felt that strange sense of power having the princess on her knees, bent to her will to obtain her pleasure. She had been in the same position with Jade a few times, but that was always an allusion of being dominating. Jade was still the queen and personally, they seen each others as equal and trade off in positions.

Another feeling that nagged at Sam that was a strange sense of sentimentality as she could see Cat was near the end of her race. She wanted to finish with looking into the girl's eyes. She pulled out, drawing a disappointed moan past Cat's lips and gently flipped her back onto her back.

Cat looked back at Sam with a disappointed and curious gaze, but didn't get to voice any objection as Sam slipped back inside her then pulled herself to sit up and wrapped her arms around Cat's lower back then shifted her weight back, bringing the princess to rest on her lap.

"SAM!" Cat wailed out as the toy sheathed completely inside her and filling her to the brink.

Sam smashed her lips against the princess's puckered lips to silence her then took a good grip on the princess's hips while Cat reached up and lanced her fingers to lock behind Sam's neck to hang on.

The blonde knight picked up letting the girl bounce on her lap. She can see little beads of sweat start forming on Cat's forehead with her cheeks becoming quite flushed. The look in Cat's eyes showed to Sam that the princess was ready to fall apart, barely holding back the pleasure that overwhelm her.

Sam huffed out a breath, "Is the… is the cute little princess… going to come on my cock?"

Cat nodded, brushing against forehead against, and huffed out, "Yes… yes… I'm going to… I'm going to… cum."

The knight kissed her cheek and growled into her ear, "I want you to Cat. A good little kitty deserves to come."

The pair looked into each other's eyes, pausing in the heated moment. Sam saw the princess's love and admiration for her while Cat saw the embarrassing uncertainty in the blue pools, but it didn't bother her. She would wait for her to work out her feelings.

Sam pulled her down and they grounded and bucked against each other, trying to send the other one off that cliff of pleasure.

Cat would be the first to take that tumble and she signaled it by throwing her head back and let out a shout, echoing off the stone walls. Her tightening love muscles squeezed the toy for all of its worth, stopping it from thrusting any further and sending Sam to tip off the edge to sweet oblivion.

Sam buried her face against the side of Cat's neck to muffle her scream as the rush ripped through her. She felt the same euphoria as she did in battle but greatly magnified. She grounded the tanner girl against her pelvis, drawing out both their releases for a few more seconds and their laps soaking one another with their simultaneous releases of their juices.

The impromptu couple heaved for breath as they struggled with falling apart in each others arms for several more seconds until their nerves started to settle and muscles released their tension.

Cat was the first to lean back and uttered between her heaving breaths, "That was…"

Sam nodded against her shoulder, "Yeah…"

The remained like that for a few more seconds, Cat letting her fingers run through Sam's golden locks.

Sam finally leaned forward and laid Cat on the bed and head hitting the pillow. Cat's legs parted, releasing Sam's thighs and hips to allow the dominating girl to scoot back and withdrew the toy, letting a low groan escape both her lips.

This was the part where the other would clean off the phallus of her own release, but Cat looked too exhausted to continue. She slipped off the bed and undid the buckles before removing the harness. She placed the now inactive magical device on the dresser then crawled back into the bed.

The blonde knight reached the center of the bed and rolled onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling to settle in to relax. The relaxation was short-lived when Cat rolled to her side and immediately latched onto her left nipple to nurse from it.

The blonde squinted and hissed at the attention on her oversensitive nipple, but didn't verbalize any complaint. She slipped her hand behind the princess and brushed the back of her head.

Cat smiled around the nub trapped between her lips, content that she would get to suck from the binkie until she dozed off, which was how the pair ended their night.

King's Private Dining Room

The Next Morning

Freddie and Jade were sitting side by side, enjoying their breakfast. Freddie was dressed in rather simple attire of a simple dark tunic and pants that could almost have him be mistaken as peasant while Jade wore a fitted dull white sleeping gown that hugged her curves.

The side door to the dining room opened and Cat entered wearing her sleeping gown and wearing a radiant smile. Sam followed her in a simple linen dress, feeling a bit more apprehensive as if she was doing a walk of shame.

Jade smiled at the considerably pleased expression on the redhead's face, assuming her night was just as pleasant as her night. She sipped her drink then innocently asked, "So, did you enjoy your night?"

Cat took a cattycorner seat to the queen then spared a glance to Sam, fighting a giggle that wanted to escape and answered, "I certainly did."

Sam's eyes turned to the queen in a near judgmental look as she didn't know how to feel about the double entendre, nor the setup, that Jade had wrought.

Jade continued by asking Sam, "How was the rest of your evening? I hope it wasn't spoiled by watching over Cat? I assume you watched over Cat since you have adjoining rooms."

The look in the queen's eyes told Sam that she perhaps engineered this coupling from the start. She debated whether to confront her, but decided not to give the girl the satisfaction for the moment. "It was fine. I had no complaints." Sam passed a side glance to Cat, who was digging into the laid out food, "The company was nice."

Cat let out a soft laugh at the praise.

Freddie idly commented, "Good. I'm glad the rest of your evening wasn't spoiled by Dilben's interruption."

"It wasn't," Cat happily answered while picking up a cup to get some juice. After she pored herself a cup, she bashfully looked to Freddie and began, "You've already done so much for me and I hate to ask, but I was thinking…"

Freddie finished the bite in his mouth and turned a disarming smile to her. "You don't have to hesitate in asking for anything from us."

The princess licked her lips then timidly asked, "I was wondering if Sam could come back with me to Venice for a little bit?"

Sam looked a little surprised by the request, but surprisingly not too troubled by it.

Jade looked to her husband and casually answered for him, "I think we can spare Sam for a while. We're going to need someone in charge of the garrison there and whip your army into fighting shape to make sure Dilben doesn't get any more ideas."

"That would be great!" the princess shouted then looked to Sam with a hopeful and nearly pleading gaze.

Freddie nodded to the side, considering the proposal. "What do you say Sam? Would you have a problem spending a few weeks in Venice?"

Sam looked to the princess, trying to keep a pretty detached expression on her face as 'feelings' wasn't something she liked exploring.

Cat looked back to her with a hopeful, practically pleading expression.

The events of last night flooded Sam's mind with the feelings rushing in behind them that she couldn't argue were pretty good. If she experienced them again several times over for a few weeks, she wouldn't consider the trip that much of a burden. She rolled her eyes and dramatically sighed, "I think I could put up with being in the backwater for a while."

"Yay!" Cat shouted out as she leaned over and sideways hugged the blonde.

Sam forced a grin as she might have enjoyed the other aspects of Sam, the open affection was something she was going to have to get accustomed to.

Jade raised her cup to the blonde and teased, "Enjoy being roommates."

Cat laughed while Sam half grimaced, promising that she would find a way to 'thank' Jade in the future.

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And that brings us to the end of Cat's dream. I did say it would be something more than a little different, and if you liked it, so much of the credit goes to my partner SVAD who really breathed life into these versions of the characters and the world they inhabit together. Please review/follow/favorite and all that jazz I always ask for. Really means a lot. Not that its your fault readers, but the foot traffic on this story so far has not been great so spread the word. I wonder if people have gotten thrown off by the spinoff aspect of KTR2, or maybe they hated the last chapter and I'm being neurotic. Either way, again, thanks for reading and I hope to have either Jade or Sam's dream up in a couple weeks.