Sydney realized she was shivering in the darkened stone throne room of the emperor's fortress. There was very little light in here, much like the rest of the castle. Across the gargantuan room, on a throne made of gold, sat Emperor Gruumm. He was dreadful, Syd observed, completely frightening, the kind of hideous that gave small children nightmares. She hoped she would be safe from them, though that would be doubtful.

"Come here, my bride," he rasped to her.

Syd smoothed her curls away from her face and straightened herself up proudly. Clasping her hands behind her back, she crossed the strip of plush red carpet that covered the floor leading directly to Gruumm's throne. She was very nervous at the prospect of being so close to the grotesque creature, but she must not show it. She was bred of the finest blood Marin had to offer; she was a princess.

"Excellent, my dear Princess Sydney…I mean, my Empress Sydney. My mistake, my mistake," Gruumm growled. "Curtsy for me," he commanded.

Sydney did as she was told hastily, her curls brushing the floor.

"Let me see you. Come closer."

Syd recoiled when Gruumm cupped her cheek in a gnarled hand. He was even more horrid up close than he had been before Syd had crossed the room. He wore a vest fashioned of what horribly appeared to be human bones, and his eyes glowed eerily red. Two horns sprouted from his head, but half of one was mysteriously absent. Part of his skin had been scraped away from the top of his scalp, revealing, Sydney noticed, part of his brain. It was very hard to look at him.

"I trust you are looking forward to becoming Empress," he shot at her. "It would pain me to fight a war with your precious Marin, dear Princess."

Sydney was spared answering the emperor because Mora burst in to the throne room, clutching a doll with a few strands of black yarn attached to its head.

"Gruumm, the beloved spoiled princess has decided to bring along own servants," she tattled. "The great big idiot in green is demanding it."

Gruumm looked from Syd to Mora and back again. "Is this true?" he snarled to the princess.

"Your Highness…"

"Tell them they may stay to appease my bride," growled the emperor. "Next time, Mora, do not interrupt me without my permission, or you will be punished in the very worst way."

Mora made an odd noise and stomped out again.

"Now, to take care of business. Sydney, the wedding will be tomorrow morning, a private ceremony. I have made arrangements for your gown; it is waiting in your bedchamber. Now get out of my sight."

Syd did as she was told once again, crossing the room like a woman possessed. All the while she was pondering what information she'd just been given. Gruumm was insane enough to arrange the wedding for tomorrow morning? That gave her only sixteen hours of freedom. Sixteen precious hours, and half of that time she was to be asleep. By the gods, she needed a plan.

Elizabeth and Bridge were still outside the chamber, looking a bit worried. Bridge was pacing and Elizabeth looked close to tears, which was very odd for her. Syd was the crier of the two, and both girls knew it.

"I have fixed it with the Emperor, Elizabeth," Sydney offered to her yellow companion, trying to be comforting. "We shall see what the three of us will be able to come up with, Z, do not worry."

Mora reappeared at the end of the corridor. "I am to show the lot of you to your new bedrooms," she muttered. "Come along, I do not have all day."

The trio followed her, each thinking hard about means of possible escape.

Back in the entrance hall, Jack was glaring at Sky. "I do not know how you could even think about leaving her here alone, Sir. She is a princess; she needs your protection!"

"Princess Sydney is more than capable of taking care of herself. Surely you remember that night with the wolves, Jack. Now as soon as Gruumm's servants bring us some more supplies, we are getting back on to those mares and going home."

"You will never get another chance, Sky," Jack mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Another chance to do what?" Sky demanded, completely bewildered at his squire's statement.

Jack's tawny gaze bore into Sky. "Another chance to tell her you love her," he said after a moment. "And do not think for one moment of denying it. It is true, Sir, and you know it."

Sky considered this for a long while. "It is not my place anymore, Jack. She is here with Gruumm now, our quest has ended. We have to be on our way once more."

"She needs you, Sky, to help her out of this marriage. War does not matter; you and Sydney are destined for one another."

"I cannot throw away Marin just to be able to hold the princess in my arms, Jack," Sky shot back. "It was never my decision. Sydney does not need me to protect or rescue her, and you know it. She is to marry the emperor. That is the end of the discussion."

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but was struck dumb when both he and Sir Sky noticed an odd creature striding down the corridor after what could only be Emperor Gruumm. Sky's first thought was that Sydney had to be utterly repulsed with her fiancé. His second was that he and Jack had to eavesdrop on Gruumm and the henchman's conversation.

"Follow my lead, Jack," hissed the blue knight. "Come on."

"…but my liege…surely you are not serious. Surely you have a plan that rids you of both the princess and her pathetic mother country."

"Ah…but I do not, as of yet. Rest assured, Broodwing, we will expand Troobia yet again before the new year is upon us."

Sky felt his fists clench. Gruumm had lied in the letter, and he and this Broodwing were plotting to conquer Marin and kill Princess Sydney. His Sydney. He and Jack had to take action, but first they must gather more information from the emperor and his henchman.

"I have a source," Broodwing was saying now, "that deals in the rarest of fast acting poisons. Should I contact him?"

Gruumm was quiet for a moment, evidently thinking of his henchman's offering. "No," he rasped finally. "We shall not kill the princess yet, Broodwing."

"My plan is perfect, Emperor," Broodwing insisted. "We simply write to Marin saying the princess never arrived…a useful loophole, I believe, as the notice to those fools Carter and Dana said she must marry you. If she never arrived that leaves us free to declare war."

"I said no, Broodwing. First she must provide me with an heir. Then we shall take her worthless life and slaughter her people."

There were more footsteps down the corridor, and then Sky could not hear the emperor and Broodwing's evil plots any longer. Jack, Sky noted, looked furious and was slamming a fist into his palm.

"Why would anyone want to take the princess' life?" Jack questioned of his mentor. "She is a courageous woman and she possesses a heart of gold."

"Gruumm is a maniac," Sky spat bitterly. "All he wants is to expand his empire as far as it will go, Jack, he does not care who is hurt in the process."

Jack muttered something about mental cases and then sent a glare towards Sky. "So, what is our plan of action? We have to do something to keep her safe, Sky."

Sky let a sly smile cross his face. "I am already devising our plan, Jack. But first we must find the princess' bedchambers. We will need her help, as well as Z and Bridge's."

Jack clapped his hands together and grinned. "Wicked."

Luckily for the two of them, Gruumm did not seem to have many servants or soldiers in his fortress, making it easy for Sky and Jack to search the castle. Finally, on the third floor and climbing what seemed like hundreds of stairs, there was a door at the end of the corridor that could only be Sydney's chambers. This was made obvious by the fact that it had been painted pink and there was a plaque that read 'Princess'.

After checking to see that no one was watching, Sky crossed the rest of the hall to the door and knocked on it furiously. Z was the one to answer, and when she saw it was Sky, her expression noticeably brightened. "Sir Sky…thank the gods. Sydney is beside herself. The brute says the wedding is to be tomorrow morning. Do come in; we are plotting to get away."

Sky and Jack followed the yellow lady-in-waiting into the bed chamber. Sydney was sitting on the circular bed, her pretty face buried in her hands. Bridge was plopped down next to her, trying to be comforting to the princess.

"Princess, Sky and I have heard the emperor and his henchman scheming to rid themselves of you," Jack bluntly announced. "We are here to help, but the emperor and his henchman are going to prove difficult to eliminate. We must all put our heads together."

"Why do we have to eliminate the brute? Why can we not just leave?" questioned Sydney.

"Because," answered Sky grimly, "he plans to attack Marin regardless of the agreement between himself and King Carter."

The five set their plan in motion the next morning. After bathing herself and adorning the wedding dress (black silk, of course), Sydney sat herself on the small stool near the vanity Gruumm had provided. Z began combing the princess' golden curls and carefully put the comb of forget-me-nots in place.

"Oh, you do look lovely, Sydney," Elizabeth gushed, "even if you shall not really wed today."

Syd smiled grimly at her yellow companion. "I thank you, Z. And after we take care of Gruumm, I shall be giving Sir Sky a piece of my mind."

When Sydney was dressed in the wedding gown, she and Z descended down to the ground floor of the fortress and made their way down the dank corridor to Gruumm's throne room. The two were met by Bridge, who smiled grimly and then kissed Sydney's cheek shyly. "Best of luck, Syd. We shall need it."

Syd returned the grimace. "Let us go in, then. It will be his downfall, letting it slip the wedding was to be private. Serves him right."

At the end of the red carpeting stood Gruumm and Broodwing, and on either side of the two were two of Gruumm's strange soldiers. Sydney crossed the carpet swiftly, making sure to stand close to Gruumm upon her arrival. Feeling dirty, she blew softly on his neck. Gruumm's face twisted into a sick sort of smile. He too stepped closer to his bride-to-be.

"On with the ceremony," ordered the emperor.

Broodwing read through the vows, and just as he ordered the bride and groom to share a kiss, Sydney made her move. Taking out the same dagger with which she had slain the wolf, Syd stabbed Gruumm, just nicking an artery. Then chaos broke loose.

Broodwing made a funny gulping noise and tried to flee, but the two soldiers stopped him in his tracks, attacking simultaneously. The odd henchman seemed to be out cold.

The two soldiers removed their helmets, revealing themselves to be Sky and Jack. Gruumm was oozing a sticky black liquid, which all present assumed to be his blood.

Sky took it upon himself to give the emperor a few last words. "See what happens when you try to double-cross Sir Sky and his lady?"

When the emperor was quite dead and Jack, Z and Bridge set about cleaning up the throne room, Sydney took Sky aside. "His lady?"

Sky had the decency to turn red. "Oh, yes, well…"

Sydney smirked at him. "Well…I am supposed to be in mourning for him, aren't I? But maybe…if there was an interested suitor who did not wish to kill me…I suppose I might allow him to court me."

A happy balloon swelled in Sir Sky's chest. "Sydney. You know you are not being fair, but I have not been fair either. So, when we get home, it would do me a great honor to-"

But Syd did not want to wait any longer. She stepped in closer, filling the gap between them, and rested both hands on his forearms. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed her blue knight.