Hey, here's chapter eleven! I hope you guys have been enjoying this story so far, and we are nearly at the end of the story! The only thing about this chapter I really want to mention, is that it (and the next) are taking place about a week after the majority of the chapters.

-owl

It had been a week since Abby had been given her flower crown. She had worn it for as long as she could before it had started dropping wilted flowers on the ground behind her. In that week, Tony and Ziva had continued to hang out, and though they often were doing things together, they never had another official date. Abby and Timothy were also hanging out when they didn't have other things that they needed to do.

It was getting late, Abby had been about to call Olivia to help her get out of her fancy dinner gown, when there was a soft knock at her door. She crossed her room quickly, navigating between her furniture and through the bursts of light that the many candles in the room gave.

She opened the door to see Timothy, a worried expression on his face.

"How can I help you, Timothy?" she asked, leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I have been thinking, Tony and I will be returning to DiNozzo within the fortnight. I have not been sure what we have had between us, but I fear that when I return home, it cannot continue."

"Why don't you come in and we can talk about this?" Abby suggested.

"I really shouldn't," Timothy said, his voice weak, lacking the conviction to keep to his word.

"Get in here before I make you, Timothy," Abby groweld in out-of-character anger.

He stepped into her room, sighing. "Your father will kill me if he catches me in here at this time of night."

Abby shrugged. "I don't think he really cares. Tony is in Ziva's room, or she is in his, nearly every night. Dad can't really care that much if he hasn't yelled at Tony."

Timothy took another step into the room. "I had been wondering where he was most nights. I often go to talk to him after dinner but he makes excuses and runs off pretty quickly."

As soon as Timothy was far enough into the room, Abby closed the door, standing in front of it. "We get along great. Why do you want to stop hanging out?" she asked.

"You're a princess. I'm only a knight. You need to marry a prince."

"I'm not the heir. I've no obligation to marry a prince."

"What? I knew Kate was the heir, but why wouldn't you marry a prince?"

Abby shook her head. "I've spoken with my father, when I first gave up my place in the line of succession. I knew that if I were ever to marry a prince, I would end up being queen."

By now the pair was sitting on Abby's couch. They had been slowly moving that way as they spoke. The pair sat at opposite ends of the couch and faced each other.

"You didn't ever want to be queen?" Timothy asked.

Abby shook her head. "No, well, maybe when I was really little. I gave up my place in line when I turned fifteen. I didn't want the responsibility of being queen. I still don't. There is no issue with me hanging out with you, Timothy."

He didn't look like he wanted to give up his argument, so Abby changed the subject.

"Tomorrow Ziva and Kate were planning on sparring tomorrow, and I think Tony was going to join. Jimmy was also planning on being there if he can get Max to let him have the day to himself. Why don't you come with me?"

"I'll think about it."

With that, he left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Abby woke up slowly, as the light in the room around her brightened considerably. She opened her eyes to see Olivia opening the curtains. The sunlight streamed in, lighting the room entirely. At the end of her bed, Olivia had left a breakfast tray.

"Good morning, my lady," Olivia said, once she noticed Abby had woken up.

Abby smiled at her. "Good morning, Olivia. Do you think you could get me one of my calf length, black dresses? The one with the black and red tulle skirt, and the red belt."

Olivia nodded and entered the wardrobe to search for the dress Abby had asked for. After only a minute of searching, she returned with the dress hung over her shoulder. Abby had two dresses that were identical apart from the neckline and sleeves. One of them was a one shoulder dress, and the other one had two off the shoulder straps. The one Olivia had grabbed that day had the one shoulder strap.

Olivia laid it on the bed as Abby was eating her breakfast. There were fried eggs, a sausage link, and a piece of toast with jam. Her favorite was the cherry jam. She ate quickly, excited to get going and meet up with her sisters and the boys.

Abby dressed quickly, letting the tulle of her skirt adjust itself as she moved. The bodice was entirely black, and a thick, bright red belt made the transition between the bodice and the red and black tulle skirt.

"Thank you, Olivia," Abby said as she sat down at her desk to check on the progress of her newest experiment.

Olivia left then, as Abby pulled out her journal to begin writing observations about her plants. She had two different pots, in each she had planted seeds from the same bush, as she was trying to see how they would grow in comparison to each other when they were genetically the same. In her notes, Abby wrote that the first plant had yet to sprout, but the second one was already two inches tall. Then she roughly sketched the second plant and put her journal away.

Abby then grabbed a silk parasol she had been given the day before, and walked out of her room. Her journey to the gardens was uneventful. No one tried to stop her or speak to her, and there wasn't anything else she needed to do.

As she passed through the doors into the garden, footsteps sounded from behind her, growing louder quickly. Abby turned around to see Jimmy jogging through the hall towards the garden.

"Thank you, Abby," he said as he passed through the door she held open. "I was worried I would be late. Max kept me for a while, making sure I had herbs organized correctly. Then Sir Mallard wanted me to help him with something. I told him I was meeting you and your sisters, and he decided that I could help him later, so I can hang out for about an hour."

Abby nodded and they walked to the middle of the gardens together. The flowers along the path were in bloom, the bright, bold colors in stark relief against the deep green grass. The trees swayed gently in the wind, and, as Abby and Jimmy approached the middle of the gardens, they could see the willow branches dancing.

Ziva and Kate were already locked in a heated spar, both girls putting all their strength into their blows. Tony was standing away from the sparring ring marked by the stones in the ground. Timothy was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, Tony," Abby said, sitting in the grass, leaning back against a large boulder. "Do you know if Timothy is going to be joining us today?"

Tony smiled at her. "Hi, Abby. I have no idea if Tim will be joining us. He did say he was thinking about it, though."

Jimmy bowed. "Good morning, Prince Anthony," he said.

Tony looked uncomfortable. "Please, don't bow. And, please don't call me Prince Anthony, everybody that I care about calls me Tony."

"Of course, my deepest apologies, Tony," Jimmy said, a look of slight panic on his face.

"How long have they been sparring?" Abby asked, interrupting Jimmy.

"Nearly ten minutes."

Clang!

Kate's sword was knocked from her hands and onto the ground. Ziva stepped on the blade, making it unable to be picked up. Both Kate and Ziva were covered in sweat, but they were both smiling.

"You did great, Kate," Ziva said, handing her back her sword. "You have improved since the last time we have sparred."

Kate grinned wider. "I've been practicing more since the assassins. Besides, that Ari guy, Lord Haswari's son, was being creepy. I want to be prepared if he is still hanging around."

"Didn't Dad have him thrown out of the castle?" Abby asked, joining her sisters. "You would think he would be smart enough to not anger him."

Kate was about to respond when Timothy came into the center of the garden. "I'm sorry if I'm late. I had to respond to a message from my father."

Tony shuddered. "How'd that go, Tim?" he asked with an audible shiver in his voice.

"Not too bad. He was just nagging me that I am nearly twenty and hate yet to begin courting anyone."

"Timothy!" Abby shrieked, standing up and launching herself at him. "I'm so glad you came!"

He just smiled at her, trying not to let her unexpected weight off-balance him. "Tony, would you be willing to spar with me?" he asked, drawing his sword from where it was attached to his belt.

Tony nodded and the two boys moved into the middle of the sparring ring. They began fighting without delay, and their moves were so in sync with each other it was clear they had sparred many times before.

Their blades flashed in the sunlight as they swung through the air. While Abby was not well-versed in swordplay terminology,even she could tell that Timothy and Tony were both remarkable fighters.

Their spar lasted nearly twenty minutes, only ending when Ziva threw herself into the mix. Once Ziva had joined, the fight was over in two minutes. Ziva ended up with her sword flung underneath the willow tree, but holding both the boys' swords. Tony had even been knocked to the ground.

"Not… fair," Tony wheezed, as he began to pull himself up.

Ziva shrugged. "All is fair in war."

Kate grabbed Ziva's sword from under the willow. "Why don't we let the boys rest then have a two-on-two match?" she suggested as she handed Ziva her sword.

Ziva in turn gave Tony and Timothy their own weapons back. "Alright," she said. Then she picked up her bow and quiver from the ground and began shooting at the target at the opposite end of the clearing.

After fifteen minutes, Ziva waved Abby forward. "Have I ever taught you how to shoot a bow?" she asked.

Abby shook her head. "No, I can't say you have."

"I am going to teach you now, then."

And so, Abby was dragged over to about ten feet from the target. Ziva helped her shift her feet into the correct stance. Then Ziva handed Abby the bow. She nocked the arrow for her and helped her to begin to aim at the target.

Abby had to pull the string and release it herself, though. The string was at once coarse and smooth at the same time as she drew the bow. It also took a lot of strength to pull the string. When she finally released the bow string, the arrow flew downwards, to the ground. It buried itself halfway into the ground, three or so feet from the target.

Ziva smiled. "Good job, Abby. I will give you credit for getting so close to the target."

Abby beamed in return and, with the help of Ziva, nocked another arrow and shot again. This time it went above the target and buried itself into a tree branch. They continued shooting for a few more minutes, until the boys stood up from the benches they had been sitting on.

"Are you ready to spar?" Tony asked, drawing his sword.

Ziva turned from helping Abby and nodded, drawing her own sword. Kate and Timothy also drew their swords and faced off with each other, Ziva and Kate on one side, and Tony and Timothy on the other side. Abby and Jimmy stood off to the edge of the sparring area.

"We'll be the officials," Abby said, pulling Jimmy further away.

Ziva nodded and Aby counted down to the start of the spar.

"Three, two, one, fight!" she called out.

At once the four fighters threw themselves at each other, the terrible sound of metal against metal erupting from their swords. Ziva had immediately jabbed at Tony, which he barely blocked in time. He struck back and they were locked in a fierce battle. Meanwhile, Timothy had gone after Kate. However, though he was probably the better swordsman (being a knight and all), Kate had the stubbornness to fight back and was able to more than hold her own.

With one final swing, Kate pushed Timothy away from her and launched herself at Tony, helping Ziva. As much as the sisters had been at each other's throats in their own spar earlier, they were working together perfectly. Tony was knocked down onto his butt by a combination hit from both Kate and Ziva.

Abby couldn't help but gasp and cheer while watching the match. She had seen Ziva and Kate spar, yes, but only against each other, never on the same side.

Then, just as Kate was smiling from their victory against Tony, she was knocked down and disarmed by Timothy as he got the opening he had been waiting for. Then it was just Ziva and Timothy left, both heaving for breath, holding their swords at the ready.

"You beat me last week," Timothy called out as they circled one another. "You won't beat me again."

Ziva smiled, a sly, feral, evil grin. "Oh, really?"

Instead of answering, Timothy shot forwards, towards Ziva. His sword was swung back behind his shoulder before being brought down with all his strength at Ziva. Ziva raised her sword to block his, and a terrible screeching came from the swords as they pushed against each other.

Ziva then shifted her feet, widening her stance, and put more force into pushing Timothy's sword away. It worked, and he was knocked away from Ziva. Before he had the chance to recover, Ziva swung again and knocked him to the ground.

"I yield," he gasped, trying to regain his breath.

Ziva herself was also breathing hard, but she nodded in acknowledgement of Timothy's words. Then she offered him her hand and pulled him up from the ground.

Abby grinned. "Good job, Kate, Ziva!" she exclaimed, pulling them into a big hug.

"I'm sorry I can't stay," Jimmy said, drawing the attention of the group. "Sir Mallard said I needed to be back by the noon bell."

Kate nodded. "That's ok, I needed to leave at the bell as well. Father needed me for a meeting. If you are still outside when I am done, I will join you"

Abby waved and she, Ziva, Tony, and Timothy stayed behind as Kate and Jimmy walked towards the castle.