Chapter #2: The Journey there and an interesting introduction.

Disclaimer: I own the plot and OC's if I choose to add them, but none of the character by J.P. Unfortunately…. :'(

Max POV

I saddled my horse, Blaze, a pure black Arabian; he was my favourite and nobody else but Ari and I were able to ride him. Blaze had my stubborn personality and wouldn't let the other knights ride him and then I showed up, and he walked straight to me while I was eating my apple, after looking into his eyes I just couldn't not give it to him, and that's what started our beautiful friendship, his greedy hungry ass wanting a treat, and me being a sucker giving him one. Oh and the only reason Ari could ride him was because he was the one who showed me how to look after Blaze in the first place, so I guess Blaze figured out if Ari can teach me to be a good mater, more like a friend though, to him then he must be alright too. And I guess he understood that Ari was a capable person and able to look after him properly, and I still had a tonne of stuff to learn.

Anyway getting back to the present, I finished saddling Blaze and his reins on, Blaze always struggled when I put the bit in his mouth so most of the time I left it out and controlled him with my legs, I guess like me he didn't like to be restricted. He trusted me and responded to my commands so I was comfortable with leaving it out today. I saw that The Queen and the princesses had arrived. The Queen looked regal in her gown; it was dark grey with white lace on the hem lines, it cinched at the waist and fluffy out at the skirts trailing along the ground, the countless layers of fabric seemed to not give her any trouble though. Her deep brown hair drawn back in a chignon that sat and the nape of her neck and a pulled back neatly so not a hair was out of place, leaving her pale, heart-shaped face to be displayed. She had a small smile on her face when she turned to look at me; I nodded to her in recognition and swung onto my saddle. I saw Bridget and Lisa looking at me, they seemed to be checking me out… Oh god I hope not, that would be too much. So I turned Blaze around and rode to the front of the carriages and looked ahead.

"Yo! Knight! Hey travel safely and don't get almost killed this time. Seeing you collapsing from blood loss once is more than enough, alright?" Ari said riding up next to me on his horse, wearing his hunting uniform, dark green shirt, long sleave for a bit more protection with brown pants that were loose enough to be comfortable, allowing lots of movement but not enough so they snagged on ever bush he ran past, and sturdy black boots.

"You're coming with us? I thought that the King of Midnight said only I could come?" I asked, since it was a gesture of good faith that my Queen and the Princesses travelled with only one guard just for precaution of bandits. If we messed that up there could lead to war, maybe that's a bit over the top but…

"Nah I was going out to scout the area, check the traps and bring the cooks something, I just thought I'd stop by to say good luck before I left you with the 'red-haired wonders'" Ari said with a smirk, and turned around to look at the two princesses and grinned at them. They saw this and giggled their annoying high-pitched giggle that made grimace, it was supposed to be attractive, sometimes it worked, mostly not, because it was all nasally and painful to listen to.

"Please don't make them do that! You know I have extra sensitive ears!" I said, giving him a soft punch to the shoulder, well soft in my opinion. Apparently my versions of a soft punch, leads to Ari almost toppling form his saddle and disrupting the horses.

"Oi, I didn't realise that it would affect you from over here! And that hurt, you shouldn't hit people, you know that the power in your punch is different to normal people" He said grumbling as he righted himself and calmed down his chestnut Arabian, Coco. I shrugged my shoulders and smirked beneath my mask, and laughed a little when Coco still wouldn't calm down.

"You'd better stop laughing at me before I make you!" Ari said finally getting Coco under control, and then with a flick of his wrists and no backwards glance, Ari was off and out the gates and heading in the direction of the forest, that surrounded the Kingdom of Darkness, Coco's hooves thundering across the ground, stirring up dust as she went. I watched in slight jealousy as he disappeared through the trees. I would love to be able to ride anywhere, and set my own schedule if there wasn't training. I couldn't though, when I wasn't needed as a body guard, I was a maid and cleaned multiple rooms around the palace. I think I cleaned more than others, just because I once spilled Princess Lisa's food over her, but it wasn't like it was on purpose! Her floor was covered in clothes; I tripped on the dress she wore the previous night, so technically it was her fault, but that didn't mean that I was let off the hook.

Oh well, at least I have more time to be the Knight than Max the lowly servant, more time to explore that way and I get to do pretty much whatever I want and can pass it off as training… He he he. Oh the joys of being man, I just wish Angel, and other girls could live like this, just without the double life part, because that's quite tiring. No I mean the freedom to do what you wanted, to go on adventures and seek thrills and not be looked down upon. All that and everything more that came with being a man status wise. Still a girl, just equal to a man, if not better *Insert smirk here*

The trumpet sounded loud and really annoying no matter how many times you hear them, waking me up from my daydream of total kingdom domination, alerting me that the gates were open and I was to head off in the direction of the palace. I don't want to be at the front, all my instincts are telling me to go in the middle, so I can protect both of the carriages easier. I have been told to stay at the front by the war General, because it's my duty to protect the Queens and the Princesses first, and then if possible, without risking the royals, go and try and save the servants. Yeah right! I would drag them all to safety, so much easier and quicker, and a guaranty that they would all stay safe after leaving them alone. Call me over protective but I would protect those I love with my life, obviously not just giving it up for them willy nilly, I am going to try and survive… Otherwise that would be pointless, because then who would look after them?

I tap Blaze's flanks with my heels and he starts off at a trot, smooth and even strides and I heard the drivers of the carriages flick their reins to get the horse to move. I feel Blaze's muscles ripple beneath my legs as he trots down the road, with me looking around and peering through the forest for any signs of danger. I know that the forest is pretty safe, with a patrol going on all the time, not just for the safety of the palace, but for travelers to and from the palace as well. Still it pays to be cautious, not matter how good those patrols are, they are only human and could miss something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~TIME SKIP AN HOUR AND A HALF~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun is climbing high in the sky after an hour and a half of riding, I can sense that blaze is getting hot and so am I. It's in the height of summer now, and even under the shade of the trees I can feel the heat settling down on us. I spotted a stream up ahead and turned around on Blaze, signalling for him to slow down and pull up beside the first carriage (with the Royals inside).

"I'm going stop here and water Blaze; I think those two need a brake as well, tell the other driver would you please?" I said in my 'male voice' to the driver and he nodded in agreement.

"And I think that the Ladies will need to stretch their legs and get out of their stuffy carriages as well, we should give them time to refresh themselves" I said to him before swinging my leg around and jumping off Blaze to lead him to the stream. I go behind a tree and pull my mask up over my face so it rested just above my hairline, and splashed some of the cool stream water onto my face.

"That's much better isn't it boy?" I said as I said and stroked his face and mane. I laughed when he seemed to whinny in agreement at me. The breeze was cold on my wet mask, it cooled me off more, although only slightly it gets really hot in these black clothes all sweaty and gross, and I mean it, who wants to sit in a tight suit covered in sweat all day?. I turned around and walk swiftly to help the Queen and princesses out of the carriage.

"Thank you Knight, it was getting stuffy in there" Said Queen Valencia with a smile. See Valencia is cool and doesn't like to talk all proper if she doesn't have to. I bowed slightly to her, I mean I had to show respect and all! Then I turned to help the twins or Red Haired Wonders as I call them (in my head of course!)

"Yes, thank you so much Mr Knight!" Lisa and Bridget smiled fluttered there eyelashes at me, I just nodded slightly in reply. Let me tell you that is one scary sight when their faces are covered in a thick layer of makeup, that's seems to be sliding down their faces. I stepped backwards and went to help the girls get out in the servant carriage.

"Hello everyone" I said when I opened the door, Angel was at the front and when she saw me she jumped into my arms. I barely managed to stay up right, but since I'm so awesome I did and twirled her around before placing her down gently.

"Really Ang, the next time you do that, give me some warning please" I said bending down to her level and ruffling her hair. She batted my hands away and I straightened up to help the other girls out. My interaction like this with her were normal by then, so no one thought anything of it.

The Queen and the Red-Haired Wonders ate quietly and drank some tea and then went back into the carriage. The servants were left to pack up and we headed off again. I noticed the trees thickening ahead of us, and I was immediately on high alert. I knew we had entered into the land of the Kingdom of Midnight then, no patrols here free roam for bandits and other evil doers. I gripped Blaze's main and swung up onto him, he sensed my urgency and stayed still and did exactly what I told him to. I rode up next to each of the drivers separately and said.

"I think somebody's watching us, be on the lookout, if I see anything I want you to alert the ladies inside and tell them to remain silent, okay, Don't ride away, there will be a chance that they have an ambush waiting for us up head I need to protect everyone. Kingdom of Midnight is said to be bandit country so keep your eyes facing forward" They did and everything was going well, then we heard a battle cry from up ahead. Oh no!

Prince Fang's POV

"Okay so here's the plan, once they enter the palace, Gazzy will set off a stink bomb to the right of them, and Iggy, you'll set off a paint bomb to the left, making them reek and look horrible, oh and we'll best the Knight" I said smugly looking at our plans.

"What type of stinks do you want to put in the bomb? Like skunk spray or rotten eggs and off meat or stinky swamp" Gazzy asked me, and I thought about it for a while then came up with my decision.

"Well, since we want this to be a day to remember, make it all of them combined, is that possible for you?" I said and turned to him and looked into his eyes, watching the mischief swirl in them, oh god they're scary, well not scary but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that mischief. "Heck yeah this is going to be so awesome, I can't wait to see their faces. I wonder how the Knight will react. I can't wait, best plan ever Fang!" Gazzy said and I turned to Iggy.

"Can you make the paint splatter all over them and indifferent colours too, sort of like a rainbow effect? I heard that the Knight likes black more than me. Which by the way means you can't call me emo anymore!" I said and smirked at them.

"Yeah I can, and yes you are still emo Fang, but the Knight is just more emo than you!" Iggy said and they both jumped up and ran to their rooms probably to start their bombs, trying to make them perfect. Oh and if you were wondering why I talked so much then, well that's because it was necessary to tell them my plan… We aren't telepathic you know! Oh and I figured out that the carriage I saw this morning wasn't the Darkness Kingdom's, it was my uncles Fredrick and cousin Sam (he and I don't see eye to eye on most things, I'll explain that when it becomes necessary). What joy, oh well I have to be the perfect host and be polite, hey maybe I can ask him to a friendly spar and totally kick is royal behind and knock his ego down a notch. He and I haven't gotten along since we met, the reason being? He's jealous about my fighting skills, the fact that I'm a chick magnet.

~~~~~~~~~Time skip when Sam arrives~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello cousin, I can't say that I am pleased to see you" Sam said sneering. I just nod and glare only slightly, enough to get my obvious disdain about him, without actually saying anything. Yeah that's how much I don't like him, I at least say a couple of words to others, basic one word sentences but that's about it.

"Hello Fredrick you look well, oh and Sam dear, you've grown quite a lot since I last saw you" My mother called to them, and she gave them both a hug (Uncle Freddy is mum's brother).

"Good to see you too little sis, you haven't aged a bit!" Uncle Fredrick said squeezing her back. They had a good relationship with each other as children and it's carried on to their adult years, surprisingly mum can still put up with him. Ha.

"Good to see you Fredrick, I trust you had a pleasant journey?" My dad, King George, (A.N. I know that's not original but I couldn't think of anything else to put… suggestions?) said when he reached them, giving Uncle Fredrick a guy hug, you know the one armed ones? Well then there was the typical tour of the palace and the comments on how everyone has grown so much ya da ya da ya da. I was so bored. When are the Royals of Darkness coming?

"Fang… EARTH TO FANG!" Well THAT definitely got my attention. I turned to glare at the person who dared yell at me and found out the group was looking at me expectantly…

"What?" I said and looked around me, making sure that there was nobody behind me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," My mother said and turned sightly away, they she whipped her head back and yelled "Just the fact that our guards found the carriage driver of the Royals of Darkness and his horse was attached to the carriage and the Royals arrived safely but their servants haven't shown up yet… Oh and the fact that he said that there were at least ten bandits who were heavily armed, that were currently attacking the Knight, the queen is worried sick for them and you have been off in la la land staring out the window clearly not giving a damn!" She finished and spun around and stormed over to Queen Valencia, who promptly threw herself into my mother's arms and held her close. I looked over at the princesses and saw them ogling me; I of course smirked and winked at them, sending them into a fit of giggles. Jeez, girls are all the same, they see a good looking guy and automatically turn into a flirting, giggling mess, it's great for me though, I'm not complaining much.

I'll quickly describe the twins to you. Both dull red hair, but bright green eyes, slightly different face shpes but prominent cheek bones, lack of eating I'd say. They have pale skin and a very small figure, their waists are tiny. They are wearing short pink dresses with purple lace but on of them had it the other way round. The dresses show a lot of cleavage and they're short at the front so I could see their shoes and ankle, quite short for these times but that just means they're what I call desperate, but they're pretty good looking so I might just talk to them, besides it's just another way to annoy Sam… he he he got to love your family…

"Your Majesties, Your Majesties! I saw a carriage emerge from the forest!" A palace guard called, Queen Valencia looked up immediately and ran over to the window, in the most un-lady like fashion, and grabbed the spyglass from the guard's hands and focused on the edge of the forest. All of a sudden she cried out in happiness and I knew that she saw them.

'Wow' I thought 'this Queen sure loves her servants, she's really kind hearted for someone that could have been a rich snob… "They're safe, they're safe… oh thank the heavens… "Queen Valencia repeated "she's safe" I thought I heard, but dismissed the idea quickly, I mean what person would care about one maid so much? With that ridiculous thought squashed I looked over to where Gazzy and Iggy had been standing, and saw them missing… 'oh no!' they're going through with the plan. They can't do that! No, mum will murder us then I'm sure Queen Valencia will bring us back to kill us again for hurting her servants! I've got to stop them, just got to find them first, gods help me this will take forever, their traps are always too good for anyone to spot, and they even can get me! That's saying something. Back on track brain! Find the trap, stop imminent death. Damn its times like these I really wish I had a normal and average family. (AN I know fang's OOC here but come on it's not like you would be COMPLETELY fine with the threat of your mum about to kill you…)

The sound of the trumpets rang through the halls of the palace… that's the arrival trumpet, the doors will open soon and they will all be a stinky rainbow mess and my head will be fed to the hounds. Okay a little over dramatic but I think I am entitled to it after showing basically no emotion most of my life. I raced down the main hall and saw the door start to open, and I just stopped running and waited for the inevitable to happen, the gap between the doors continued to open I jogged over to the rest of my family, who instead of running to the twins room to stop them from attacking the servants just arriving, they had walked straight to the doors to await them, of course they didn't know and couldn't do anything but what about a mother's intuition?

I stood further to the back next to my mother and blended into the shadows, no one could see me when I did this, black clothing olive skin and long dark hair tends to not stand out in the shadows. I had to, if my mother saw me I would be toast and it would be the OPPOSITE of what I had hoped for. I didn't realise that the servants were important to Queen Valencia; I thought that she would laugh at them and I would be deemed awesome for pranking the Knight. I guess that Iggy and Gazzy missed the memo about the servant being important to the visiting Queen because when they showed up to stand next to our mother they hunched over and tried to cover up their laughter. The doors were open now and we could see the silhouettes of a group of people. The servants were about to walk through the door, the trip wire would be triggered any minute and then we would be the laughing stock of all the kingdoms when they heard of us getting yelled at by our mother for pulling a prank on the best fighter in the kingdoms and the Queen of Darkness's important servants. They kept coming closer and I saw that the tallest was in the middle of the group, scanning the area, not paying any attention the grand décor of the palace, or the fact that they were about to be in the presence of Royalty from another kingdom, not like the others were, the girls were staring at everything in wonder, including us (and ogling me) oblivious to the fact that they would be screaming in a matter of seconds. Oh god please help me was my last thought before the girls nearest to the trip wire…