A/N: I'm back! I don't have much to say here, so I'll address a couple of anonymous reviewers and then we'll get on to the story.

Debby and Guest: I'm so glad that both of you are enjoying this story and are excited to read more. I'm excited to write more and I hope you both continue to enjoy the story.

Now everyone enjoy chapter 4

Gail and Hayden were lead into the throne room where King Brian was sitting on his throne waiting for the two to arrive. They walked to the end of the isle right before the steps that lead to the throne. There they dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. "Rise" the king ordered after only a few seconds. He got uncomfortable when his subjects bowed to him for too long. He had been a commoner in the time where the old tyrannical king had been in power. When he was recruited into a rebellious army he had fought bravely and had done everything that he could to not only bring down the king but also to help the other commoners. After the fall of the king and during the time of rebuilding the people had seen Brian's loyalty and decided to make him the new king. He worked hard every day to be worthy of the praise he received even if he personally felt there was nothing special about him that qualified him to be king, but he cared about his people and made sure to take care of every single one of them.

"You're highness" Hayden spoke as she returned to standing, she and Gail both automatically standing at attention. "It is an honor to serve you and protect the princess." Brian looked back and forth between the two women. He had seen the skills that they each possessed. "I am a lucky king. I have an amazing daughter who has helped me through the most difficult time of my life. Now because of that she is in danger." He looked up and down each woman, not in a sexual way, seeing that they both seemed to take pride in the uniform that they wore. Everything about their uniforms was in perfect order. "Despite the danger she is in my daughter refuses to back down from her duties. She refuses to stay within the city to take care of her business, insisting that if she shows that she is afraid that those who are after her win. Holly will be attending balls and making speeches within the palace and the city as well as in other cities. She has also set up a meeting to negotiate our treaty with the human king. He refuses to negotiate with anyone but her because she created the treaty in the first place. This meeting will take place on their land. You both will attend every event and travel with her to keep her safe." The two women were looking straight ahead and nodded at his statement. They had already known that. "My daughter is all that I have left, she means more to me than anything. Please keep her safe." The vulnerability in his tone at that last statement shocked both women. They had only ever heard their king speak with confidence.

After his speech Hayden and Gail began to explain to him their plans for protecting Holly. They were surprised by the informality of the meeting. Of course the king had questions about the effectiveness of their strategy, especially the part where Gail would be hidden trying to spot danger. He worried that she would not be fast enough to protect Holly from a threat if she did spot one. Even though he had concerns Brian continuously cracked jokes about the meetings Holly would be attending. The two women became more and more comfortable and found themselves slipping out of the serious facade that they had been trained to wear when in uniform and on the job.

Finally Brian stood up from the table he had brought in for them to sit at. He did not like sitting in his throne and having people speak up to him, he much preferred to be on the same level as them. "Now that I have seen your plans I have more confidence in your ability to protect my daughter. Follow me, I know she has been waiting impatiently to meet the two of you."

The two followed the king and his guards as they walked down the corridors. After a few minutes of walking they stopped outside of a large wooden door. Brian knocked loudly and mere seconds later the door was thrown open by the most beautiful woman Gail had ever seen. "My dearest daughter, I have brought your guards to be introduced to you." He said. Gail and Hayden moved to drop into bows, but before their knees hit the ground Holly spoke up "please do not bow to me." Her request, which anyone who heard it knew it was more of an order, had both women shooting back up to their feet. They stood at attention once more unsure of how to act in this situation. "Holly, this is Hayden" Brian pointed at the brunette with his entire hand, "and Gail" he pointed to Gail in the same manner. Holly smiled at the two and it was the most beautiful smile that Gail had ever seen. She was mesmerized, and she almost missed what the princess was saying because she was hypnotized by the movement of her lips. She caught herself though and managed to pull herself out of her stupor and began to pay attention. "It is wonderful to meet the two of you. I am so grateful that you are willing to protect me. I know based on what I saw that you are both amazing warriors." Gail's chest swelled with pride at the compliment from the beautiful woman.

"I will leave the three of you to get acquainted." Brian said as he and his guards walked away.

The three stood in silence for a little while before Holly began to speak again. "Please come in and have a seat." There were a couple of chairs set up around the room, but all of the chairs faced into the room and would not allow anyone sitting in them to see the door and the other chair was angled in a way that would block the view of the window. Gail and Hayden shared a look both having noticed the same thing. "Thank you for the offer your highness, but the two of us are more than happy to remain standing." Gail said. She was shocked that she was able to string together that sentence properly and respectfully, because ever since she had laid eyes on the princess her brain had been unable to function properly. "As you wish" Holly said claiming one of the chairs for herself. Gail and Hayden stood against the wall opposite the princess bodies angled slightly outward away from each other. Gail's body faced the window so she could keep an eye out there, and Hayden's body was angled towards the door so she could do the same there. The two both still stood at attention their faces expressionless.

"You guys can relax" Holly spoke softly. The two moved out of their stances at attention and stood slightly more relaxed with their feel shoulder width apart and their hands behind their backs. Holly was intrigued by the two. They had continuously moved as a unit since she had seen them. "Have the two of you known each other long?" She could not stop herself from asking. It was Hayden who answered her, "no we have only known each other for a few hours. We spoke briefly at the competition, but that was more of a polite 'hello' as we passed by each other or a nod of the head to acknowledge each other's victories." Holly was shocked by this. The three continued to talk. Well by "talk" it was more Holly asking questions about their training and skills and the two giving the best answers they could.

Holly had been about to answer another question when Gail spotted something at the window. She turned her head to get a better look when an arrow was fired through the glass. Gail had already been in motion so she got to the princess before the arrow did and she grabbed it out of the air a full foot before it hit Holly. Then through the shattered window came two people dressed completely in black with black masks over their faces. One of them was tall and muscular, Gail assumed this one was a man, the other was petite, but anyone with eyes could see the power held in her body, there was no assuming this one was a woman. Gail stepped forward to meet them. She blocked one punch to the face from the petite one and aimed a kick to the chest of the taller one causing him to crash back into the wall. She pushed on the arm that she held sending the petite one into the larger one. She turned her head just enough to yell "get her out of here! Go back to the throne room, find the king, and send help if you can! Go!" she yelled. She watched Hayden nod and grab a shocked Holly by the wrist pulling her out of the room.

Gail turned back to the assailants and was met with a hard punch to the face by the big one. When he aimed another punch at her she grabbed his wrist with both hands, turning her body in the same direction as his momentum, as she turned she pulled down on his wrist flipping the giant over her hip and onto his back on the floor. He was winded so Gail turned back to the woman. She was definitely more technical and careful about where her punches would go. She waited for her opportunities. She had just gotten a combination two body shots and an upper cut on Gail when she heard the man approaching her from behind. He did not seem to be focused on anything except for her. Just before he attacked her from behind the woman shifted her weight to punch. Gail dropped down and spun kicking out her foot, much like she had done to Nick during the competition, and swept his leg out. The difference between this and the kick she sent at Nick was that this man had been moving forward, so when she kicked out his leg his momentum sent him flying over her body and right into the woman.

Gail stood back up in a fighting stance and saw that neither of them seemed to be able to continue to fight. She moved forward swiftly but carefully and reached for the mask of the woman. She pulled it off to reveal Traci, not only her brother's fiancee but also a member of the elven army. Shocked she quickly reached down and removed the man's mask revealing Christopher another elven guard and someone she had actually trained with. Her shock and the betrayal she felt was written on her face.

Before she could say anything she heard clapping behind her. She spun quickly dropping back into her fighting stance. She straightened up when she saw the king and his guards smiling at her and clapping. Holly and Hayden stood just behind them looking just as confused as Gail was. "I must apologize Gail and Hayden, but I had to make sure that you would be able to protect my daughter if something were to happen. I saw you fight in a controlled environment, but I had to see how you would react when the pressure was increased. I hired Traci and Christopher to stage this attack." Brian admitted. Gail let out a relieved sigh that this had all been set up. "Wait so you hired someone to shoot an arrow at your daughter's face?" Gail asked incredulously. Traci spoke up from where she ad Chris had picked themselves off of the floor. "I knew you would get there in time, and even if you hadn't the arrow would have missed Holly and hit the back of the chair she was sitting in." Gail was a little wary of that but she let it go.

"I hope I have not offended either of you with this. From what I have seen you are both more than qualified to protect my daughter. You are dismissed to return home for the evening. Please return early tomorrow morning to really begin your duties." Brian said before he and his guard left. Gail and Hayden shook hands with Traci and Chris who congratulated them again before leaving. Finally it was just the three of them again. "Thank you both for what you did today. Even if it wasn't real it sure felt like it was." Gail and Hayden dropped into less formal bows simply bending at the waist rather than kneeling on the ground. Then Holly dismissed them with one final "thank you" and they left.

When they got outside they prepared to go their separate ways to get home when Hayden turned to Gail, "would you like to come back to my home for dinner?" She asked. Gail was stunned for a moment. She had never been asked to do that. "My wife, Elinath, is making a celebratory dinner for my first day in this job. It would be great if you could join us." Gail, not wanting to go home to her empty house, smiled at the other woman and agreed.

A/N: So what do y'all think? Leave a review and let me know whether or not you liked it or if there is something that you want to see happen. If you send me a review or a PM with a suggestion I will try my best to work it into the story somehow. I will be updating as soon as I can. I may do some writing over the weekend when I go camping since I only have one more chapter outlined, and I hope to have it up in the next week or so but I am not making any promises about that.

Until Next Time
Hold the Line and Don't Look Back