Together we wandered the field. We were careful to avoid where Paislee still talked with her group because there really was no 'thing' Kol was going to show Curtis and Clover. We also avoided Christian at the other end of the field. It seemed Curtis and Clover already knew to do this though and did not lead us over that way. That left us to wander the long edge of the field as the sun went down. There seemed to be many more people competing on this day than the others. As we walked, Kol told us made up information about each one. That one has a third arm and that's why he can throw so far or this one once hit a bird of the sky he threw his javelin so high. We laughed at his stories and made up our own to go with his. Even though I was not with Christian, I still was enjoying the tournament.

"That one's name is Sir Bob and in the last tournament he was in he got so distracted by a bee flying by that he only managed to throw his javelin two inches." Curtis told us as he pointed to the man stepping up.

Kol looked thoughtful, "I've heard about Sir Bob. He is deathly afraid of bees now, poor man."

"That's why he wears yellow and black," I added. "He hopes that any nearby bees look at him and think he is the biggest bee there is so they leave him alone."

Curtis started making buzzing noises and chasing his laughing sister around the groups of people. Kol watched the chase with an affectionate smile. It seemed he was rather fond of the pair. I remember Christian had said that his younger siblings were good friends with Kol.

"I thought you may have been angry with me," Kol stated without turning his eyes from where he was looking straight ahead. His statement interrupted my thoughts on the conflicting opinions of Christian and his younger sister and brother.

"Angry with you," I asked confused. "Why would I be angry with you?"

Kol shrugged. Now he turned to face me and he was smiling, but his eyes did not hold their usual sparkle. "I thought perhaps after you found out about me being who I am, your opinion of me might have changed. You did not come to see the acrobats and at the ball you seemed a bit cross."

"Oh. No," I quickly assured him. "I am not angry with you. The prince just invited me to accompany him and my stepsister that morning. I wanted to go with you to see the acrobats but I couldn't turn down a prince. Besides, he was planning on spending an entire day alone with Giselle and I couldn't let him endure that alone. At the ball, Ivy was just getting on my nerves. I'm sorry if I may have seemed upset with you."

He laughed and I was relieved, though it sounded a bit forced. I thought that he had forgiven me at the ball for not going with him to the Shetland Theater. I'm glad I got a chance to explain and I hoped he didn't still bear any bad feelings towards me for what I had done. "Of course you cannot turn down a prince and what am I to a prince charming? Is your stepsister really so bad?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "She's much worse I can assure you; both of them are. They are incredibly shallow and arrogant. I think Giselle even punched a poor shop girl who said she couldn't buy a dress once. Victoria has been spending time with Prince Hector and she is not so bad any more. I just hope she rubs off on Giselle now. She is so jealous of me spending time with Christian, it's really annoying."

"I can't imagine anyone being that jealous of two people's relationship," Kol remarked with a smirk. "We had best catch up with those two or else they will get in even more trouble for running around alone."

We caught up with the pair of them near the end of the field where the royal tent was erected. When I looked over my eyes met with Giselle's and she grinned slyly before leaning over and whispering in Christian's ear. He too looked up at me and frowned when he also noticed Kol. I wished that Christian wasn't so against Kol as a person. He seemed nice enough to me, if a bit odd. I couldn't imagine what he could have done that would have made Christian distrust him so.

Kol noticed Christian's gaze as well and winked at Curtis and then at Clover. "Uh oh, it looks like we've been spotted. What say you, should we go over and say hello to your big brother?"

Both of them laughed and skipped off in the opposite direction, pulling Kol along with them. Just before I decided whether or not I should return to Christian and Giselle, Kol reached back and grabbed my arm to pull me off with them. People looked at us strangely as we skipped by hand in hand with each other. I wondered how often they saw the young prince and princess skipping along with a grown man and woman. I imagined it wasn't very often. Together we laughed at the looks we got and before long we were back at the other end of the field. We stopped our merry pace when we entered the small groups of people having conversations again. It looked as if the crowd was thinner than we had left it. That meant I could see more faces, and that more people could see me.

I had not noticed before but there was an all-too-familiar woman with blonde streaks in her dark hair talking to one of the axe throwers. Ivy caught sight of me and grinned in a most unpleasant way. I watched as she drew a finger across her throat with a very clear message. It seemed that Kol was wrong and she did remember me very well and did intent to exact her revenge on me somehow. I really hoped he wasn't wrong about her having a witch for a grandmother. I quickly turned my head away from looking at her.

Clover noticed my face and asked, "Ebony, what the matter? What did you see?"

Her question caught the attention of Kol and Curtis. I tried to put a less distressed expression on but my face wasn't cooperating. Kol looked around for the source of my distress and saw Ivy before I had a chance to explain. He knew what was wrong right away and informed the others. "Look there, poor Ebb has gone and gotten herself one nasty enemy. She practically got into a fistfight with Ivy at the ball. Luckily I was there to pry them apart."

Curtis's eyes widened, "You got in a fight?"

Clover's eyes matched her brother's, "With Poison Ivy?"

"No, of course I didn't. Kol is just making up stories again." I laughed. "I didn't do anything to Ivy but she has taken to disliking me anyway. It seems she is intent on getting back at me somehow for my imagined sleight."

"You better be careful," Clover said seriously. "Her grandmother is a powerful witch and she curses people for fun."

I eyed Kol suspiciously. "That's what I've been told."

The tournament was coming to a close and the victors were being announced. We maneuvered out way to the front of the crowd to watch the men claim their prizes. We had moved closer to the side of the field that the royal family sat at because it was where the awards were being presented. We made sure to not get too close to Christian so he would not confront Kol. I did not think Christian would feel the need to affront him in such a public place, but Curtis and Clover assured me that it was better that the two of them stay away from each other. The winners stood with their trophies raised high in the air. Four men from each competition had won and the crowd was cheering wildly for them. I snuck a peak at where Christian was now standing. He was cheering just as enthusiastically as everyone else, and Giselle was right next to him doing the same. For a brief moment, I imagined that Giselle was the one who was standing in the crowd looking at me standing with the prince. The crowds were starting to disperse now and everyone was starting to head home.

"Well, I should probably find Paislee so we can return for supper. My parents insisted that she join us. Will you two be in need of an escort tomorrow?" Kol asked.

Curtis shook his head. "Crimson doesn't have that day off and she will be flitting around us all day."

"No doubt she will keep us away from all the good things and stop us from having fun." Clover muttered.

"That's what you get for exploding the food at a ball," Kol laughed.

"It was your idea!" Curtis and Clover exclaimed in unison.

My mouth dropped open, "You told them to do that?"

Kol raised his hands defensively with a joking smile on his face. "I merely said the ball was getting quite boring. I didn't tell you to put the dragon snaps I gave you last year in the food."

Again, my mouth hung open. "You gave them explosives?"

Kol shook his head. "I should just go before I incriminate myself more. I can't have people thinking of me as irresponsible. If you tire of sitting in the stuffy royal box, you can find me with Sir Marc."

Before leaving he hugged Clover and ruffled Curtis's hair. Curtis tried to look annoyed as he fixed his rumpled hair, but he still smiled adoringly at Kol. He just nodded at me in farewell before striding out to where Paislee was no doubt waiting for her husband-to-be.

"Do you have to leave too, Ebony?" Clover asked. "Oh, please say you don't."

I looked back at the now half empty tent that stood a short distance away. Giselle and Victoria were not there. If I could not find them, I had no way of finding our carriage, and no way of getting back to the inn. I searched the nearby crowd and still did not see them. "I should leave, but I do not see my stepsisters." Then I added under my breath, "I hope they haven't left without me."

"You should just ride in our carriage." Curtis offered.

Clover bounced up and down a few times excitedly. "Yes, yes, yes! You can ride with us. Then you won't need to look everywhere for your stepsisters. Curtis and I have our own carriage. It's a bit small, but we can all fit. I'm sure Hans won't mind making another stop. Come on, let's go find him."

I looked around once more for Giselle or Victoria. I didn't see them anywhere and I didn't want to have to find my way back to the inn on my own. The sun had almost set and I was scared of walking the streets at night alone. I gratefully accepted their offer and they lead me to their carriage. It was small and not as grand as some of the other carriages I had seen the royal family travel in, but I did not care. We laughed and joked all the way back to the Gilded Leopard and I was sad to see them off. I liked the two rascals and I hoped I would see them again tomorrow at the final day of the tournament.

"Do your homework!" One side of my mind says while the other answers, "But I must write more story!"

I suppose I must do my homework though as it is due tomorrow and not listen to the side of my brain that is saying I can do it in a few hours after just one more chapter.

Sigh, only one more week of class.