Roddy was busy the next two days with his tutor. The moment he had spare time, he'd head for the Floodgate. His day off finally came. Whistling a happy tune, Roddy ironed his nicest shirt. It was a white collar shirt. Not the dorky kind but with thin fabric. The sleeves went down to his elbows. Nicely hung on the doorknob of his closet were his favorite black pants. Beside those were his shined black shoes. August came in.

"Since when did you care about how smooth your clothes were?"

"Huh." Roddy put the iron down. "Just going somewhere."

"Dressed so nice?"

"Ok, you caught me. Oh, father I'm in love."

"Stop acting boy."

"No I mean it. Chances are I'll have a queen by today. She's a wonderful girl and I'm going to purpose today."

"Oh really."

"I'm going to give her a surprise visit and I'm going to ask her when the time is right."

"Well that's wonderful. You know how long we've been waiting for this to happen?"

"A long time?" Roddy guessed sarcastically.

"Well, when are you going?"

"Once I'm done ironing my shirt."

"Well then I'll leave you to do that."

After the King left his sight, he rushed to finish.

"Cheeses? Check. Roses? Check. Ring? Check. Clothes? Check. Smile? Check."

Roddy gave himself one last look in the mirror before gathering his items, putting on his formal jacket, and leaving.

Everything was almost set. Remy was coating the cake with creamy white icing with gold rose petals on it made from frosting. He whistled happily as he was nearly finished with his masterpiece. His human friend, Linguini would have been proud. Other chefs were preparing a variety of desserts like crème brulee while other made dinner and appetizers.

"Wa la!"

"Good." Said Spike. "Now take that to the reception room and don't drop it."

Three other chefs came to assist Remy. They lifted it up and slowly followed Spike to where the maids were setting up the tables.

"He's treating this wedding like its some big deal." Said Ofelia. She was on a ladder working with some gold ribbon. "What's so special about this? I mean, Whitey's just a hitman."

"Must be the bride." Said Mercedes. At the same time as working, she was holding onto Francisco. Le Toad wouldn't let her stop to take care of the newborn. Fortunately, he was sound asleep.

"Do you even know who the bride is?"

"No." said Mercedes. "But she must be really special. I never saw him spend so much money before."

"This better be worth it. I need to know who that bride is."

"Well." Said Spike. "Since you won't be able to escape, the bride is an emerald eyed redhead. She's young, about seventeen and is very aggressive. Hopefully you can figure out the rest."

"Rita!" Mercedes gasped in surprise. Francisco woke up and started crying.

"He can't do that!" said Ofelia.

"Until New Year's he can."

"You rotten little demon!" Ofelia snapped as she stomped towards him. Mercedes tried helplessly to calm down the child in her arms. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Said Spike. "Now keep working or it's off with your tails! This includes the baby brat!"

Ofelia ran up to Remy.

"I'm a little busy." He said.

"But it's important. I know who the bride is."

"How important can that be?"

"If her name is Rita then yes it's very important!"

Remy placed the cake down.

"Rita?"

"She's being forcefully wed to him. I don't know what that toad is up to but it's no good. Spread the word. We need to hold it back as much as possible. The weddings in three hours!"

"Right away." He chocked.

Roddy walked over to the Floodgate. He carefully mad his way across the bridge when he remembered he had to sneak in through the back. As he silently walked around, he noticed a piece of an aqua sweater stuck to the fence. Above it was a strand of red hair.

"Rita…"

He moved against the walls to see a small hole where he could see inside a room. He could see two rats, one short and the other one huge. The big one was wearing a tuxedo and the smaller one was just dressing in his best man tux.

"Well 'ow does it look, Spike? Ye think Rita will like it."

"Ladies love a man in a tux." Said Spike pointing to himself. "I cant believe you convinced Le Toad to let you marry Rita. Even I'm whacked out about it!"

Roddy gasped. His coffee brown eyes widened and he paid more attention. He didn't know Rita was engaged. How come she didn't tell him?

"It'll all be worth it." Spike continued. He helped Whitey place a red buttoner on his jacket.

"Well, better return to my post."

"You can't just sit in front of her door. What if she wakes up and see's you? It's bad luck!"

"Your right, Spike. I'll call Thimblenose to do it."

He picked up the phone and dialed a two digit number.

"Ello. I need you to guard Rita's room for me. Make sure no one gets in."

He hung up.

"Let's get back to work."

Everything in Roddy's hands fell out. He was lucky that they didn't notice him. He began to look around for a possible entrance, realizing immediately that Rita needed his help. He looked up to see the giant tower above him.

"Wow… that's has to be some chamber." He muttered.

He saw a giant hole in the wall where Rita would always sneak out to see him. As he walked through, there was no sign of anyone. He crawled in as many shadows as possible.

"Now, where are they hiding her?"

He remembered the tower, and the story his mother told him when he was a kid. A prince found out about a beautiful young maiden, locked up in a tower. It was always the top floor of the biggest tower. She would either be asleep or daydreaming about her rescuer. As he kept a close eye out, he saw a maid with white hair in a single braid, walking by with a wedding gown, sobbing. He believed she was a nice lady so he went up to her.

"What's going on here?" he said. "Where's Rita?"

"Your highness." Maria curtsied.

"That isn't necessary. Where's Rita. I overheard some albino talking to a twit about a wedding."

"She's being forcefully wed." Maria explained. "I don't know what they did to that poor girl, but she must be up in her room, locked in crying her eyes out."

"Take me to her."

"I wish I could. There's a guard at the door. If anyone see's you, they will kill you."

"Is there anything I can use to get past them?"

"I don't know." Maria sighed. "I can sneak you into the weapon room. It's right over there. Take a gun because you'll need one."

Roddy stepped into the small closet and looked around. There were series of guns on the shelf. He picked up a long silver rifle and checked to see if it was loaded. There were bottles of pepper spray and knock out gas. He picked up some spray and put it in his pocket. Then he walked out.

"They should seriously lock these door." He said. "Are stupid are amphibians these days?"

"You'll be surprised." Said Maria. "Good luck."

"Where are you going?"

"Young man, if I don't deliver this dress now I'll lose my tail."

"I see. Well, I'll follow you. Go on. I'll watch you."

"Thank you for coming. We've been desperate to call for help." She walked away and made way down the empty hall. Then Ladykiller appeared.

"Are you slow lady? You supposed to put the dress in Rita's room minutes ago!"

"I'm sorry sir, I was distracted."

"That's no excuse peasant! Now get up there or I'll have to watch you myself!"

Maria would talk back but instead she walked off. Since the guard didn't move, Roddy had to pass him quickly before he lost Maria. He walked down the hall, his hands in his pockets, whistling an innocent tune.

"Hey!"

He pulled out the spray.

"What are you doing here intruder?"

Without saying a word, Roddy sprayed Ladykillers eyes. The French rat smeared his fingers against his eye balls as they turned red. He fell on the ground, too brave to scream. Roddy walked by and went up the stairs. He would of called for Maria but didn't want anyone to hear. He looked up to see he had a long journey ahead of him. There were about twenty loops of stairs that Rita had to go up everyday! He ran up the stairs and after two loops, he was exhausted. He clung onto the rail and forced himself to move. He panted.

"Get a hold of yourself Roddy ol chump." He told himself. "Rita's up there."

He walked up ten more loops when Maria passed him by.

"Thimblenose Ted is up there, sleeping. The door is locked so make sure you get the keys without waking him. He's a light sleeper."

"Thank you for everything."

"It's my pleasure." Said Maria. "Good luck."

Roddy continued walking when he finally reached the destination where there were no more stairs to climb. There was one door. In front of it was Thimblenose, asleep on the job, the keys looped to his belt. Roddy snuck over to him and calmly bent down.

The moment he reached for his belt, Thimblenose snored and moved.

"Nose… cut… off." He said in his sleep. Roddy sighed with relief. He successfully grabbed the keys and stepped over him. He tried the first key. It was too big. The second was too small and the third was too fat. He tried the last one and the door opened. He slowly walked in and gently shut the door.

The first thing Roddy noticed was the wedding dress. He didn't like it. It was a strapless, tight corset dress, very low cut. Above it were two long gloves folded over, a veil and a tiara. Soon all of this will have gone to waste, he thought.

He walked up to the bed to see his princess lying there. Instead of her hands being nicely folded, one of her boney arms hung down. Her long red hair was spread all over the pillow. Some of the strands were blindfolding her eyes. He moved them out of the way to see how miserable her expression was. He removed the blanket and stroked her cheek.

"Now, how can we get out of here?" he asked.

"Theodore! What are you doing sleeping on the job?"

Roddy gasped but then remembered that the door was locked and he had the keys. He raced through the drawers to see if there was anything he could use to help them escape. Since there were people behind the door, they had to go out the window. He looked down to see how high they were. It would take a miracle to get them out. He finally found Rita's bungee cord.

"Yes!" He looked out the window. In the distance, he saw a hook, supportive enough to swing them out of the Floodgate. He took the cord and gently pulled Rita out of bed, trying to find a way that she wouldn't fall. He heard the door banging.

"Try again Whitey!" Le Toad demanded. Roddy swung out the cord. When it reached the hook, he tightened his grip on Rita and jumped. His fingers began to sweat. He tightened his fist on the handle so they wouldn't fall in the bitter cold ice. He looked back at the tower to see a hideous toad looking at him.

"There she is!" he yelled. Rita picked up Rita and ran off with her. He had no choice but to take the long way, afraid that the press would catch him. He brought her to the halfway mark in the fly valley.

"I think we lost them." He said.

"R-r-Roddy."

Rita was awake. Her eyes opened very slowly and she was still weaker than a newborn animal. She expected to be in her room, surrounded by a bunch of ugly guards. But she saw a good looking prince instead. She gave him a weak but gorgeous smile and he returned the favor. He kissed her forehead as he felt tears of happiness fall down his face. Rita's head lolled down as she moaned. She lifted her head up to see Roddy's face. Then, she took a deep breath and dared herself to say what she wanted him to know.

"Roddy, I—"

She was interrupted by a voice.

"They went this way!"

Roddy held onto Rita as he took her to a hiding spot. He found a pipe and hid behind it right as the henchrats came in.

"Well their not ere." Said Whitey.

They passed by. Rita sighed with relief as Roddy held her, trying desperately to keep her warm. She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.

"You saved me from my worst nightmare… thank you."

"No problem."

"I love you Roddy."

"I love you too."

Moments later, she went back to sleep.