**19 Years Later**

Derek stood in the great hall of the castle at Swan Lake. At first, he had only been passing through, but the look on a winded messenger's face stopped him. The young man bowed deeply, showing respect, and stood back up, his face red from the obvious rush he had been in.

"A message" – pant – "from King Corin."

Derek immediately accepted the letter and thanked the emissary. He was good friends with the King of Lincolnshire. About 19 years ago, Corin's father died, leaving him to take his place on the throne. Two years later, his first and only child, a daughter named Erin was born. For awhile now, the country had been threatened by a madman who, through preaching against Corin, acquired many followers, large enough for an army. The entire kingdom had been teetering on the edge of a bloody civil war for some time.

Derek slowly opened the letter, hoping nothing bad had befallen his friend.

My dearest friends Derek and Odette,

As you know, the stability of Lincolnshire has been balancing on the blade of a sword for a few years. But it has finally happened. A few days ago, a fort not far from my castle was sacked, with very few survivors. The soldiers there, though they fought bravely by all accounts, were simply overwhelmed by the enemy forces.

I do not fear death, but I do fear for my daughter, Erin. She is brave, but trust me when I say she is not strong enough to stand against such power. Should this kingdom be destroyed, I at least want her to live. This is why I ask – beg, plead, what have you, for you to take her into your castle at Swan Lake. It will be a secret arrangement, and I will personally see to it you have everything you require if something were to go wrong. I pray you say yes as I pray this war will end soon.

Yours,

King Corin of Lincolnshire

Derek reread the note. He picked it up and put it down over and over, trying to make sense of it. He knew there was a threat in Lincolnshire, but he had no idea that it was at such a critical lever. For Corin to send his daughter away, it had to be pretty grim. He quickly took the note to Odette, who read it once, and looked up at him, her decision made.

"Derek, we have to say yes. Think of all he and his father have done for you, for us. We owe it to him."

Derek smiled, glad she had given her blessing. "I was hoping you would say that. I should warn you, there is a certain amount of danger in taking her."

Odette merely grinned at him. "You mean you haven't gotten used to danger?"

"That's ten out of ten!" Prince William called proudly to his friend, Logan, who had been patiently playing 'Catch and Fire' all morning. William was grinning from ear to ear, the bright smile illuminating his sun tanned face. Logan merely maintained his proud, scholarly look as he watched his friend bask in his small victory. Although both boys were the same age, Logan was viewed as 'the smart one.' That wasn't to say William was unintelligent, for he had his mother's, Odette's, wit, and when he needed to, he put it to good use.

William was every bit the son of Derek. Although his name came from his maternal grandfather, there was no denying he was Derek's son. He had his father's good looks and about three times the strength. He was clever when the situation called for it, but strong always.

He good naturedly walked over and clapped Logan on the shoulder, making him cough a little.

"How about another round?" he asked mischievously.

"No, thank you," Logan replied indignantly. "I've had quite enough of putting my life on the line for your entertainment for one day." At that, his serious face broke into a grin of its own, joining William. The two had been the best of friends since boyhood, and they were inseparable even as William neared his twentieth birthday.

Their friendly jesting ended as Lord Rogers, Derek's counselor, came outside, beckoning toward William. "Your father would like to speak to you, alone," he added as Logan moved to follow. William stopped and told Rogers he would meet with Derek shortly. When the old man was finally gone, William looked toward Logan, who was thinking the same thing as he was; Why did Derek only want William? Usually, Logan accompanied William everywhere, acting as his advisor, and Derek knew this.

"Must be pretty important," William said.

"Yeah, you'd better move. I don't think he meant he wanted to see you in an hour after you try to figure out what he wanted in the first place."

William rolled his eyes at his friend's roundabout reasoning, but agreed and went in search of his father.

When he found him, Derek did not look angry. He looked… concerned. William wasn't really sure why. Things, as far as he was concerned, had been quite, dull even. Every waking minute he seemed to be trying to find some new way to test his strength. He couldn't imagine what could be wrong. But whatever it is, he thought, it must be bad.

"William," Derek began. His son held his breath. Derek rarely called William by his full name unless it was very serious. Everyone he had ever known had called him 'Will.' "I want you to read this," Derek went on, handing Will the letter from King Corin. Will recognized it immediately, knowing his father was good friends with Corin. He read the letter and looked back at his father, who hadn't said anything else.

"That's awful," Will said, trying to break the silence and see where his father was going with this. All he could get out of the message was that Lincolnshire was about to be at war and a princess might be coming to stay with them until it was over.

"Erin is coming. She will need to be taken care of while she's here. Will, you're going to look after her."

Will swallowed. His father had never trusted him with such a serious charge before. Truly, he didn't mind looking after the girl, that wouldn't be a problem at all. However, why didn't his father just put her in the care of one of the senior guardsmen, or better yet, a well trained knight? Derek answered, as if reading his thoughts.

"Will, I wouldn't trust anyone other than you to take care of her."

"Why? Because I know if I screw up you and mom will kill me?"

Derek smiled at his son. "Well, that and the fact I know you won't screw up. Either way, she should come in about two days. Get ready. This might become dangerous."

Will awoke the morning of Erin's arrival strangely excited and a little nervous. Then again, who could blame him? For the duration of a war, which could last a few years if went unchecked, he would be with a strange girl whom he knew nothing about. But then he had an idea. He might not know who Princess Erin was, but Logan, who knew just about every royal and noble within the tri-kingdom area, probably would.

Later, that afternoon, in fact, they waited at the doors of a small reception room, used when big entrances weren't necessary, or, in this case, practical. Will leaned casually in the doorway. Logan stood straight opposite of him. Both of them looked toward the gate, where Erin and Corin were due to arrive any moment now.

"Lo, what do you know about her, Princess Erin?" William could not remember ever meeting the girl, not even once, although both their fathers were good friends. Then again, as his mother reminded him constantly, he had inherited his father's gift for being a little unobservant. Maybe he had just forgotten about her.

Logan smiled, amused by Will's ignorance and confusion once again. "She is the daughter of Corin, obviously. She is his only child, seeing as how her mother died shortly after she was born."

"From what?"

"She took sick, that's all anyone has ever heard, including Erin herself. Anyway, she generally lies low, which is probably why you've never met her. She's shy, but I heard she can be a fireball when you get to know her. She's headstrong as well. I've also been told that she's very beautiful, even if she is… vertically challenged."

"Vertically challenged?" William asked, having never heard the word 'short' expressed in such a way before.

"As in, she's short," Logan elaborated unnecessarily. "Not inhumanly short, she's just… not tall."

"Well, duh! How short, anyway?"

"The top of her head would be probably at your mother's shoulder."

Will whistled. Odette wasn't short, but Will was still a good deal taller. He could only imagine what Erin looked like.

"Like I said," Logan went on, "stunning face, you just have to bend down to see it."

Will punched him in the arm as a carriage rolled up to the gate. Soon, it was on castle grounds, and before he knew it, Will was watching possibly the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen step carefully, gracefully down from the carriage. She looked… unhappy, to say the least. But when she saw Will, their eyes caught and held for a moment until Will, feeling uncomfortable, dropped his eyes. Odette and Derek joined them in welcoming their guests, relieving Will, if only a little bit.

Corin was every inch a king. With his dark grey hair and bright green eyes, he seemed to be able to command the attention of anyone within the vicinity. Erin's eyes, combined with her pitch black hair, had the same effect, although they were a light brown, obviously inherited from her mother. They smiled at Derek and Odette, though it was blatantly clear Erin was trying only to be polite. She was not happy at all about the arrangement. Will would have found this a little funny, had he not been the one who was going to be looking after her. He hoped, for some reason, she liked him. Derek's voice was the first to be heard as everyone was just about to start greeting each other.

"Welcome to Chamburg."