"Our Sophie claims you are quite powerful," the King said, eyeing Robert.

"I do fine. I'm also not alone. I get the layout of your Palace and inspect it for possible breaches, I know I can stop any intrusion from outside or within." Bob explained.

"You were walking by yourself," the Queen stated.

"I was. Anne is going coming to the palace in a little more sneaky method. We'll meet later on tonight with Kelly and discuss what we find." Bob replied.

The King shook his head. "They will be caught by the guards and taken to the dungeon. Upon report of their capture I will inform you."

Bob only smiled. "We'll see."

"No one unauthorized is allowed inside the Palace," the Queen stated.

"Normally, I'm sure that is true," Bob told her. "I know assassins, they will do whatever it takes to get to their targets. They know how to blend in, to hide themselves in places you don't think a cat could hide in. They move silently, they know how to climb smooth vertical walls. They know how to set up, unseen to get their target. They won't come charging in. They will sneak in, usually at night. They have a hundred tricks to get into places they need to be."

"You'll protect us, won't you?" Sophie asked, looking scared.

"I will," Bob said firmly. "I have a few tricks of my own. I will ensure no one gets to you."

"Who told you these assassins are coming?" the King asked.

"No one directly. A wizard hinted at it and I picked up some other tips.," Bob told him. "From the information I collected, the assassins will act the night of Sophie's wedding. I imagine due to the joy of the day and maybe all the drinking, they will expect you to be less cautions. Easier prey. I don't take that is a for sure. These guys will mostly strike on any good opportunity."

"You returned to guard Sophie," the Queen stated.

"Yes, and you as well." Bob replied.

The King said, "I think an effective tactic would also be to get close to a target, say by saving a daughter to gain access inside the palace."

Bob stared at him. "If you believe that, then let me out here and now. Don't worry, I'll still be there to protect Sophie."

Sophie gaped at her Father. "How can you say that!" she cried.

"That would be effective, wouldn't it, Robert?" the King asked.

Bob replied, "Anything is possible, but it's good you're thinking of possibilities. Just so you know, if that was my intention I would have killed you all right after I was inside this coach, and no one could have stopped me. True assassins are like good soldiers, they will die to fulfill their goal. Remember that."

"You are armed," the King stated.

"I am your Majesty, heavily so. No one's getting near you when I'm around."

The King grinned. "I'm surprised you don't have a bow."

"I got better than a bow," Bob stated.

The King replied, "That, I'd like to see."

Bob notice they were coming through the gate at the outer wall. Peeking out, Bob looked at the gate, then toward the palace. "Your Majesty, have someone put a tall urn full of water on top of the gatehouse, then come and show me to a place inside the palace where we can see it."

"The inner wall?" the King asked.

"No, the outer wall gate we just went through."

.

When they stopped at the steps to the Palace, the King called a guard captain over and gave him instructions. Six guards bracketing them followed them inside. Sophie stayed right by Bob's side as they went in to a large dining room with a long table. Servants were putting place settings down of silver cutlery and real ceramic plates that had gold edges.

It was the fanciest lunch Bob ever had. Sophie told him all about the big kitchen that the cooks used to make the food with the stoves, ovens and grills they had. ''The king then had a real question. "Robert, Sophie says you killed 12 men all at once to free her from those scoundrels?"

Bob shook his head. "I'm sure it was only nine that charged me. I got rid of that pack. The boss man, some Duke, didn't want to fight. I had to goad him into it with insults. He finally got angry enough to raise his sword, then I got him too. The pair holding Sophie ran away. We went back to the coach, everyone there was dead and the horses were gone. It was a real mess."

"You've been a soldier then?" the King asked.

"A couple times. The first was a direct army VS army fight. The second we had to go hunt them down after they attacked our town. It was a sneaky, low down attack, so we chased the ones responsible all over the continent before we finally got them all. There were other attacks on us too, but nothing that large again," Bob explained. "I'd rather be fixing things and tending our gardens than going out to kill others."

"You had a unit, or regiment then?"

"Yes, third division, Texas Guard. Still in it. It's basically everyone in town, a volunteer unit. We only go when we're called for in an emergency." Bob said.

"One of those wars was when Hanna died?" Sophie asked.

Bob nodded. "Yeah, that whole thing was brutal. They showed no mercy and neither did we."

"You don't like being a soldier," the Queen noted.

"Not really. It's one of the things I have to do," Bob told her. He motioned to Sophie. "Like now. If I don't make sure Sophie's protected against the slime coming, she might get killed."

"With your rewards for saving Sophie, I will allow a suitable amount of coin," The King assured him.

Bob shook his head. "No rewards, no coin, please. I'm only doing what's right. I'll make plenty of money when I get back home and go back to work."

Sophie looked at him. "You're going to leave?"

"I have to. I have many responsibilities at home." Bob told her. "Sorry, that's the way it is."

Sophie frowned at him then got up and stomped out.

Bob huffed and called out, "Kelly, go watch over her!"

"Who's Kelly?" the Queen asked.

"Someone who's helping me."

"There's no one by that name here," the Queen insisted.

Bob smirked. "Yes there is. You just don't see her."

"Do you have any other invisible helpers?" the Queen asked.

"Anne, but she''s not mine, The Sheriff in our town is just letting me borrow her." Bob explained.

A guard came in and went up to the King and whispered something. "Thank you," The King told him, then said to Bob, "There is a chest high vase set up on the outer gate house full of water."

Bob nodded. "Perfect timing, Would you like to see your demonstration, your Majesty?"

"Yes, follow me."

Bob went up to the second floor following the King. The Queen and couple guards came with them, and from somewhere Sophie showed up to tag along.

They came out on a second floor balcony. The king pointed. "You can barely see it but that's the gate house the vase is up on. You have something you can hit that from here?"

Bob slid his arm out of the left sleeve of his cloak and unslung his rifle. He said to the small crowd, "This is a sniper rifle made to hit things at long distance. It shoots a 30.06 caliber shell with a 180 grain bullet. Gauging the distance he added. "It's good for 800 yards, I'm thinking that gatehouse is only 600 yards away."

"We can't even see the vase." the Queen noted.

"Have it in a minute," Bob said. He knelt down on a knee and looked through the scope. "OK, got it. The vase it kinda left from the middle on top. You should see when I hit, water's going to go everywhere."

Bob took his time and got a good aim, then squeezed the trigger. The gun barked loudly, Bob shook briefly from the recoil. A second later, he said, "Got it, see the cloud of water vapor?"

The King did. "Amazing," he breathed.

"Something fell out of it," a guard said and picked up the empty casing.

Bob nodded to it. "That's the shell the bullet came out of."

"That little thing can kill someone?" the King asked.

"That little thing can kill just about anything living," Bob replied. He put the gun back on safe and slung it over his shoulder and put his arm back in the sleeve. "Got other things to get rid of bad guys also. A little everything from very short range to long range. If I can see the assassins, I can kill them."

The King looked out at the gate house again. "And you have helpers here?"

Bob nodded. "Kelly you keep watch on Sophie. Anne, could you keep watch on the King and Queen? If they separate, I'll watch the king."

"Yes, Robert," Kelly said, appearing beside Sophie, making her jump with a squeak.

Anne appeared behind the King. "Kelly, you are suppose to stay hidden!" That made the king turn and stare at her.

"And what did you just do?" Kelly asked, eyeing Anne.

Anne giggled. "I just wanted to see his reaction."

"Enough! Just watch who I asked you to," Bob told them.

"How did they get in here?" the Queen asked, eyeing the now normal looking women.

"Hey, everyone," Bob announced. "They are working for me, they are not a cause for concern." As people turned to him, Anne and Kelly disappeared.

The King looked for the two women again. Not finding them, he asked Bob, "How do they do that? I never knew they were there!"

"I said I had more tricks," Bob replied. "Any assassins will also not know they are there. That makes you safer."

The King laughed. "Robert Tanner, you are truly someone special. Can you find out who is the source of these attacks against us?"

"Not yet. I had thought that Duke was behind it, but he was only a player, not the main driver." Bob explained. "I'm thinking it's another King, or a rebel faction that wants your throne. In hindsight, I can see killing that Duke was a mistake. I should have used him to discover who the real leader was. I'm hoping we can capture one of these assassins when they come to get information out of them."

"Perhaps spying on that Duke's territory may provide some hints," the King said in a mussing tone. "We have had no trouble in a long time, so whoever this is must be a recent addition to the land."

"Logical conclusion," Bob agreed. "If you have a map of your Kingdom, maybe we can figure out an area of where the trouble is coming from."

.

One thing Bob knew was he could really use that wizard Anne had buried in her , maybe burying him was a mistake also. He decided he'd have to risk leaving Kelly here by herself for a couple days while he took Anne to go dig that wizard up. Kelly wasn't happy she was being left behind, but agreed someone had to stay to keep an eye on things here.

With food and water, Anne teleported with Bob back to where her cabin was buried. She brought it back to the surface and they went inside.

The wizard was still bound in his chair, his head was down. He also looked a little pale. Bob grabbed the other chair and sat down near him. "Hey, you still alive?" he asked.

The wizard slowly lifted his head and eyed him. "Water, please," he croaked.

"Anne, untie him," Bob said and got the flask of water and the bag of food out.

When the wizard was free, Bob gave him the water. The wizard drank hungrily.

Bob told him, "I think by now, you know we're seriously angry at the way you do things. You kidnap me for missions, but have you thought about the big picture? Or letting us know what your big plan is?"

"I thought for sure I was to die a slow, agonizing death." the wizard said. "Why did you come back and save me?"

Bob replied, "I'm not angry about you protecting your Kingdom or land. Just how you do it. If we are to succeed and get rid of the bag guys, we need to work together. That means sharing all information and finding out everything about these assholes. Can you do that?"

The wizard smirked. "You are much more than I took you for, Robert Tanner. I had thought by using magic, I had the ultimate power. You proved me wrong."

"Magic is a powerful force," Bob agreed. "But not the only one. Can you work with me?"

The wizard nodded. "I shall. The danger is great, and I can only see so much. Yes, I will work with you to protect this land."

"Good. Eat and get yourself together. Then we'll get started."

Anne spoke up. "Bob, I'm going to take the cabin back to the palace grounds. There's a place I found that will be perfect for us to use as a base. Mr. Wizard can have a room to work his magic in and not be exposed."

Bob nodded. "Thanks, Anne."

.

The sudden appearance of the log building appearing in the courtyard of the palace to one side of the entrance was a shock to the guard and raised the alarm and many spears at the cabin. Bob asked the wizard to transfer his workshop into a room in the cabin so they could stay in close contact. Since the cabin was protected against magic, the wizard couldn't do that.

Once they got the guard settled down and the King approved of Robert bringing his building here, the wizard brought his cylindrical stone workshop here and made it appear right beside the cabin. The wizard also made magical protections to the buildings. Only the wizard himself, Bob, Kelly and Anne could enter either structure.

Bob explained to the king why the wizard and the buildings had to be here. "If we are to succeed, our forces need to be consolidated in one place so we can communicate information quickly."

The king looked out at the new buildings. "And since this is for our benefit and protection, your forces need to be here."

"Yes, your Majesty. There is also the fact that if your enemy learns of us, they may attempt to take us out first, before attacking you. We have prepared for such an attempt."

The King regarded him. "It appears you are not only a very strong man, but a thinking one as well, Robert. I know Sophie would like you to stay and marry her. In the years to come, I believe you would make a good king."

Bob held his hands up in surrender. "I already have more women than I know what to do with, and I do have a home far away and many responsibilities there. I cannot possibly accept any permanent responsibilities here."

The king laughed. "I can see why you collected so many women. Women are drawn to strong, confident men like yourself."

"Yeah, and at times, that can be a real pain," Bob replied with a wince.

The King held up a finger and said, "Remember this, Robert. Pay attention to your women besides in the bedroom, and even if they make no sense, listen to what they say."

"That is good advice," Bob agreed.

.

Sophie finished her harp lesson and decided to strum a little more. For some reason, she began thinking about Kelly and what her relation to Robert might be. She was alone in the room now. She stopped strumming and asked, "Kelly, are you here?"

Kelly appeared to her side in human form. "I am. After all, by you is where Robert told me to be."

"I see. Just what is your relationship with Robert?" Sophie asked.

"I am his."

"His what? Servant? Wife?" Sophie prodded.

Kelly replied, "Not really either, but we are bound together. I do whatever Robert wishes me to do."

"So you're like, his slave?"

Kelly thought about it and said, "I suppose you could say that."

"Would you want to break free of him?"

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Why? Robert is the perfect one for me I have been searching for. Why would I give that up?" Looking at Sophie, she said, "I see, you want him."

Sophie strummed a few random strings. "He's going to go away again. He already has a home, and women who love him. Doesn't that bother you?"

"No, why should it?"

Sophie stared at her. "But … won't they be rivals for his affection?"

Kelly eyed Sophie then said, "Ahh, you want someone just for you."

"Yes! Don't you?"

Kelly shook her head. "What I care about is that Robert sees me and knows ME. I can be myself around him. I don't have to pretend or hide anything from Robert. He appreciates who and what I am."

"What you are?' Sophie asked.

Kelly looked at the harp and said, "I have something I was hoping to sing for Robert. May I try it out on you to see if it's any good?"

Sophie moved way from the harp and motioned to it.

Kelly took her place behind the harp and began picking strings like a pro. She then added some short strums and began singing in a clear, passionate voice

For your eyes only can see me through the night

for your eyes only, I never need to hide

you can see so much of me, so much of me that's new

I never felt until I looked at you

for your yes only, only for you

you'll see what no one else can see,

now I'm breaking free for your eyes only

Only for you!

The love I know you need in me,

the fantasy you freed in me

only for you

Only for you

for your eyes only, the nights are never cold

You really know me, that's all I need to know

Maybe I'm an open book because I know you're mine

but you won't need to read between the lines!

For your eyes only, only for you!

You'll see what no one else can see, and now I'm breaking free

for your eyes only, only for you!

The passions that collide in me, the wild abandon side of me

is only for you

for your eyes only!

Sophie's jaw dropped and her eyes grew round. As Kelly sang the last part, horns appeared on her head and large bat type wings burst out from behind her. Her fingernails grew very long and a thin tail spaded on the end swished back and forth behind her. She also swore she saw fangs in Kelly's mouth. Sophie clapped both hands over her mouth, staring at the transformation.

Kelly eyed her, looked at her hands then giggled. "Oops," she quickly returned to her human form. Sheepishly, she said, "I didn't mean to do that. Just thinking about it, I got a little excited."

Meekly Sophie said, "That song was beautiful, but … WHAT are you?"

Kelly shrugged. "As you can guess, I'm really not human. I'm a succubus. At least you're not running and screaming in fright."

"Robert has seen you like that? He accepts you looking like that?" Sophie asked, still wide-eyed.

"Yes. Robert didn't judge me on my looks. He took it in stride and accepted me." Kelly added with a shrug, "Most people see the real me and either run screaming or try to kill me. It's very special that Robert accepts me as I am."

"I can see why," Sophie replied. "How do you hide what you look like?"

"What you see now is an illusion. I use it so people don't go nuts when they see me and I have a chance to interact with them calmly."

"Wow. Just plain, wow," Sophie said in a breath. "I think just by appearing as yourself, you'll scare any assassins away."

Kelly giggled. "Let's hope so."

.

In the hallway, the queen was talking to the music teacher. They heard the song and came not long after Kelly finished it. When they entered, only Sophie was in the room.

"Sophie, who was that? Where did she go?" the queen asked.

Sophie sported a sad smile at her mother. "That was Kelly. She sings and plays very well. She's still here, you just can't see her." Letting out a sigh, she added, "I know now, there is no chance for me with Robert. In her own way, Kelly is very special. She also needs Robert. I think they are fit for each other."

"There's no one else here," the music teacher said firmly.

Anne appeared beside the Queen. "Kelly got to do a song, can I do one for our Sheriff?"

The music teacher spun to gape at her. "Where'd you come from?"

Anne grinned at her. "I've been here, you just couldn't see me."

The queen nodded. "Go ahead Anne, I want to her your song."

Anne went over and too her place at the harp. Like Kelly had done, she picked the strings and did short strums to make a tune like Kelly did. She then began singing

Hey baby can't you see my mind's a burnin hell

I got razors a ripping and tearin and shredddin my heart apart as well

tonight you told me that you ache for somethin new

some other woman who's looking like she might be good for you

Go on and hold her til this feelin is gone

go on believe her when she tells you nothin's wrong

But I'm the only one who'd walk across the fire for you!

And I'm the only one who drowns in my desire for you!

It's only fear that makes you run

this demon that you're hiding from!

When all your promises are gone, I'm the only one!

Hey baby can't you see, I'm trying to explain

I've been there before and I'm locking the door

and I'm not going back again.

Her arms and lips and skin won't make it go away.

You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow that holds you down again.

Go on and hold her til this feelin is gone

go on believe her when she tells you nothin's wrong

But I'm the only one who'd walk across the fire for you!

And I'm the only one who drowns in my desire for you!

It's only fear that makes you run

this demon that you're hiding from!

When all your promises are gone, I'm the only one!

Anne then played her tune in strong quick plucks and strums for a moment then sang on.

Go on and hold her til this feelin is gone

go on believe her when she tells you nothin's wrong

I'm the only one who'd walk across the fire for you!

And I'm the only one who drowns in my desire for you!

It's only fear that makes you run

this demon that you're hiding from!

When all your promises are gone,

I'm the ooonlyyy one!

Yeeeaah!

More fast string picks and a strum, and Anne finished.

The queen and the music teacher were silent. Sophie asked, "Anne, the Sheriff didn't accept you?"

Anne shook her head. "Not at first, no. It took quite a few years before he did. It was Joan Connor who finally talked to us, rather, yelled at us before things changed. I owe a lot to Joan."

"She's a friend of yours?" Sophie asked.

"Robert's wife, with Allison. He's got a big harem now. I think Kelly is number nine, or ten. I forget exactly. He's got quite the menagerie at the lake house."

"Menagerie?" the queen asked, looking confused.

Anne counted on her fingers. "Let's see, Janet is human, Joan and Allison are part human, part Terminator, Ellen is a mermaid, Malinara is a fire elemental, Gilda is an elf, Hanna was an air elemental but she died, Tenya is a Draco, I think that's it, so Kelly will be number nine."

Kelly appeared near Sophie. "Number nine and fine as wine!" she cheered. "Can we do more songs?" she asked.

They all looked at the queen. The queen said, "If you like."

Anne turned to Kelly. "In Driftwood, we did a few concerts. The band isn't here, but we could do some of those songs if you want."

"Show me!" Kelly replied eagerly. They stared at each other for a moment. Then Kelly nodded vigorously. "Yes, let's get more instruments out!"

Anne pointed. "The harpsichord, that horn, the drums, the lyre, we can get that to work. Oh, we'll need that xylophone too."

"I should go get Robert! He can sing too, right?" Kelly asked.

Anne nodded. "Robert sings good. I'll get things ready and watch the Queen and Sophie, go get him."

Kelly disappeared.