The Guards swung open the giant wooden doors of the court chamber as the Squire and his Master passed by. Mike couldn't help but shake with fear. He knew that one day when he became a Knight he would have to protect his King in battle, but right now... right now he was more frightened then he had ever been. He had failed in his duty to his Majesty. Would King Edwin take his nobility away?

   Sir Dunling kneeled in front of his King and pulled on Mike's tunic when he recognized his Squire staring at the King before him.

   Mike shook himself out of his paralyzed state and fell on one knee before his lord.

   King Edwin stared down at the Knight and his Squire before him, contemplating on how to handle this situation. Of course, stripping the Squire of his nobility would be a much easier and quicker thing to do, but he did not wish such a thing on the lad.

   "I would like to speak to the Squire alone," King Edwin told his company. He circled around the Square gazing down at him.

   Sir Dunling rose to his feet leaving the teen to fend for himself as he marched out of the chamber. The Guards standing beside the door also left along with every servant in the chamber. Mike and King Edwin were completely alone.

   Mike could feel his heart about to leap out of his chest. He knew he was going to get the punishment of a lifetime. He knew the king had a pair of icy, blue eyes piercing into his back. What was the King going to do to him?

   "Micah," the King began sternly. Mike was very surprised at the tone in his Kings voice. It was not filled with anger or wrath. More of disappointment and heartache rather than anything. "My daughter was supposed to be home hours ago." He paused and cocked his head looking down at the young man. "Care to explain?"

   Mike breathed in a shaky breath. "Th-There was an accident, my lord," he replied, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat before continuing. "An accident that I caused." He sighed deeply as he summoned his courage. He wasn't going to act like a scared little boy. He was going to speak boldly like a fellow Knight. He remained with his head down as he began to speak once more. "Something came out into the woods to hurt the Princess. I shouldn't have stayed to fight. I should have ran with the Princess in front of me knowing that she was safe. I know I should have done everything I could to keep her safe but I didn't. I am to blame for everything."

   "What was in the woods, lad?" King Edwin pressed, seeming to forget about the matter at hand.

   Mike raised his head an inch. "A sorceress, Sire," he answered with hatred in his own tone. "She wasn't after me. She didn't even want to fight me. I fear she was after the Princess, Sire."

   Edwin nodded his head, obviously still thinking as he wouldn't reply immediately. He went and sat on his throne contemplating Mike's words.

   Mike lowered his head again and remained kneeling on his knees waiting for his King's reply. Whether it be imprisonment, stocked, banishment... or even death, he knew he deserved whatever came his way. Allowing a sorceress to get so close to the Princess was unforgivable.

   Edwin slowly stood from his chair with his head still bowed. His shoes echoed on the marble flooring as he approached the young lad.

   Mike was ready for his punishment, whatever it may be, but he was surprised by Edwin's actions as his King extended a hand down toward him. Mike was hesitant at first but graciously excepted.

   "My lord?" he asked with a questioned brow at his King. He was completely shocked when Edwin grabbed him by the shoulders and drew him close to his chest in an embrace. He was totally disoriented now! What was he suppose to do? Embrace him back? That wouldn't look professional for a Knight, let alone a Squire. But then the King began to speak.

   "You have been my daughters best and only friend since the day your family arrived here ten years ago," he told the Squire. He pushed Mike away from him slightly and smiled. "I have decided to pass mercy on you, Micah Waldo."

   Mike's eyes lit up with delight but also confusion. "Mercy? But, Sire... I do not deserve mercy."

   "Of course you do not!" said the King loudly. "If mercy was deserved then it would not be mercy to begin with." He paused. "I'll admit. I did have my doubts about you at first, Micah. But the way you will take the blame for everything just makes you a greater man. I know you would not put my daughter in harm's way unless you thought it was necessary."

   "I wanted to prove I was brave and strong enough to become a Knight," Mike confessed. "That is why she was in harm's way. Because I was too stupid to run away! That wasn't good judgment."

   The King bellowed out a deep laugh. "I'm sure you will make a fine Knight someday." He slapped the Squire on the back hardly making Mike have to regain his balance. "That day is just not today. You still have much to learn, and admitting your mistakes and learning from them is the first step."

   Mike smiled sheepishly. "I guess I should be thankful you even let someone like me even become a Squire."

   Edwin coughed slightly at the boys remark. "Of course, my dear boy! It's not very often we get young men with such talents like yourself in the village," the King beamed brightly.

   Mike grinned merrily. He had no clue why the King had chosen to bestow mercy upon him, but he was truly grateful!

   Edwin shoved him toward the door. "Sir Dunling was kind enough to pardon you from any punishment as well as I have... with a little convincing I might add."

   Mike's eyes squinted in confusion. "My lord?" he questioned again.

   Edwin could only smile and even laugh imperceptibly. "Sir Dunling thinks you were doing the right thing... as do I. You're a great lad, Micah. I trust you with mine, my wife's, and my daughters life. You got her home safely. That's all that matters."

   Mike's grin widened as he placed his hands on the giant doors. "Thank you, Sire," he said gratefully. He turned back around to face his King one more time. "I can't tell you how much this means to my Father."

   Edwin grinned and nodded his head in response. "A promise is a promise after all."

   With those final words, Mike turned back around and pushed open the doors of the chamber.

   Saphira raced down the hallway to see Sir Dunling and two other guards standing outside the court chambers doors. She kept on running knowing Sir Dunling would try to stop her, but she would still press onward. She ran toward the double doors ready to burst through and save her friend.

   Sir Dunling stepped in her path, but she still kept up her pace ready to charge the Knight if necessary.

   "My lady, you must stop!" Sir Dunling shouted across the courtyard.

   Saphira didn't listen. She had one thing set in her mind and that was going to be to save her friend. She wasn't going to let her Father remove Micah from his service.

   Just before she could push open the doors, Sir Dunling gripped her tightly by the waist holding her back. She kicked at him trying to break free.

   "Let me go!" she shouted. "You must let me go. You don't know what my Father could do to him!"

   "My lady, you cannot go in there," Sir Dunling tried to reason as he dragged her away from the door. "The King wants to speak to him privately. We must obey his wishes."

   "No!" Saphira screamed. "They can't be by themselves. This wasn't his fault!"

   As Saphira kept kicking, and Sir Dunling kept struggling, the chamber doors opened and out stepped Mike.

   "Whoa, what's going on here?" Mike questioned at the scene he had just walked in to.

   "Micah!" Saphira shouted. Sir Dunling let go of his Princess, and Saphira ran right into Mike's arms. "I was so afraid of what my Father might do. He didn't hurt you did he?"

   Mike chuckled and looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Of course he didn't!" He leaned in closer to his friend's ear and whispered, "I told you he liked me." Which earned him a playful punch on the shoulder.

   "Glad to see you're not in any real trouble," Sir Dunling said with relief in his own voice. "I know many Knights are not as lucky as you are."

   Mike grinned at his Master before smacking his hand lightly against Sir Dunling's armored bicep. "I probably wouldn't be so lucky if it wasn't for you."

   While Sir Dunling and Mike were talking, Saphira stood to the side studying her hands as her fingers began to tingle. Something wasn't right, that much anyone could tell. A strange glow encircled her hands. It started off very faint but grew to a brighter yellow. What was going on? They kept glowing in and out, in and out, in and out. This must be how a firefly feels, she thought. She couldn't feel anything around the glow. Even her fingers had stopped tingling already. It was all very strange. What was happening to her? Had the sorceress really done something to her?

   "Saphira, are you okay?" She heard her name but she couldn't make out where it came from. Her mind was too occupied by her situation... then it registered in her mind.

   Saphira gasped and crossed her arms quickly hoping no one had noticed.

   Mike stepped up behind her looking over her shoulder. "Let me see your hands," he demanded with his hand stretched forward, palm facing up.

   Saphira shook her head as she swung around to face him. "I'm... alright," she answered playfully with a slight smile before becoming more serious. "It's nothing." She began backing away from her friend ready to sprint to her chamber. "Glad to see you're okay." Mike grasped on to her upper arm and pulled her closer to him before she could take off.

   "I know you better than that, Saphira. What are you hiding?" he asked.

   Saphira lowered her gaze to the cobble floor. She cautiously uncrossed her arms so that Mike and Sir Dunling could see her hands as they faintly glowed.

   Sir Dunling stepped forward and clasped the Princess' hands tenderly. "This is like nothing I've ever seen before," Sir Dunling stated. "After what you kids have been through today there must be only one explanation." He paused. "Sorcery!"

   Saphira's and Mike's eyes both widened. "No, that can't be it," Saphira argued. "There must be another reason!"

   "Think, Saphira," Mike told her. "Sir Dunling has a point. When that Sorceress hit you with whatever force that was, could there be a possible chance they hit you with something else? That's what happened to me, is it not?"

   Saphira shook her head. "No. There can't be. This happened when I healed you. Why would something like this heal someone if it's meant to hurt me?"

   "Heal?" Sir Dunling questioned with astonishment. "You two haven't told me the whole story. What are you children not telling me? You could get hurt, my lady."

   "I'll explain later," Mike told his Master. "Let me take a closer look."

   Saphira extending one hand as Mike gripped it gently. She let off a soft yelp as a jolt of pain immediately shot through her body, and a bright glow blinded everyone.

   When the light died away, Mike quickly reached out to catch a falling Princess. "Saphira? Saphira, are you alright?"

   Saphira shook her head trying to chase away the dizziness that flooded her vision, but the pain was no longer inside her. "I'm... okay," she replied numbly, not sure if she was even saying anything.

   "Yeah, you are anything but fine," Mike told her. He gripped her under the legs and hoisted her upward in his arms. "I'll feel better once Peter takes a look at you."

   "I'll come along," Sir Dunling informed. "In case any news has to be spread to the King and Queen."

   "No!" Saphira shouted weakly. "They've already got enough on their plate. Don't worry them for nothing." She tried to jump from her friend's arms, but he held her tightly.

   "My lady, this may be more than nothing," Sir Dunling stated sadly. "Especially considering the fact that you had an encounter with a sorceress earlier today."

   Mike swiftly carried the Princess up a flight of stairs beside the court chambers doors that lead up to the physicians chamber with Sir Dunling following closely. The valiant Knight kindly opened the physician's door for Mike to easily bring in the Princess.

   The old physician, Peter, was sitting at a wooden table against the wall on the left side of the chamber— probably his desk— as the three entered. Peter straightened from his slouched position at the sudden entrance. He jumped to his feet when he noticed how pale his young Princess looked.

   "Peter, we need your help," Sir Dunling said motioning to his Squire who held the Princess tightly in his grasp.

   "Of course!" Peter replied hurriedly, stepping around his desk. "Set her over there." He motioned to a small cot that sat to the right side of the chamber.

   Mike immediately obeyed stepping over the spilled remedies and feeling broken bottles crushing beneath his boots. He gently laid his best friend down on the soft cot as Peter swiftly walked over to his patient. He examined her from the right side as Mike knelt on his knees to her left. Peter looked over her for a good ten minutes while Sir Dunling explained the whole situation, involving the detail about the sorceress.

   "Well?" Mike asked. "What's wrong with her?"

   Peter sat back on the stool that he had brought with him, his long white beard brushing against his chest. "That's just it," he replied. "I can't find a single thing wrong with her."

   "What?" Mike questioned doubtfully. "You're a physician! It's your job to figure out what's wrong!" He realized his voice was raised a little higher than necessary.

   Peter raised his hands in defense. "All I meant was there is nothing physically wrong with her," he stated. "She is sixteen. It is time for her to discover who she is."

   Saphira slowly turned her head toward her wise physician. "I don't understand," she told him half dazed. "What do you mean? Who am I?"

   Mike glanced down from Saphira up to the old man across from him. Peter rubbed his shiny, bald head. As a young boy, Mike would always make fun of how Peter could be bald on top but have hair along the sides of his head. Mike had always looked up to Peter.

   Peter scooted his stool closer to the Princess. "I suppose your Father has never told you." He cleared his throat. "Not that I wouldn't blame him. There is something hidden deep inside every young royal. A power of some sort... or a gift as I like to call it. Your Mother and Father both discovered their gifts as a young child. Each and every royal has this gift... but it is up to them to discover it." He leaned back on his stool. "If this gift of yours is not discovered by the age eighteen..." He paused and turned his gaze up from Saphira and stared into the azure eyes of the boy who was listening so intensely. "It will be gone forever."

   "So, you're saying what happened to Saphira," Mike cut in before Saphira had a chance, "was her discover this gift you speak of?" He sat back and crossed his arms with a smirk. "I've never heard of this. It sounds completely ridiculous. The King and Queen have never shown any signs of having a gift, it has to have been the sorceress we faced. That's the only reasonable explanation."

    "Micah, you are only a Squire," Sir Dunling chastened. "It is not your place to speak out against our physician." Sir Dunling glanced up from the boy to he old man. "But I must agree with the boy. This does appear to be all too odd."

    Peter shook his head in an irritated way. "I have been the court's physician since my young years. I believe I understand everything that happens with a royal. When I say Princess Saphira has discovered her gift, then that is what has happened."

   Mike looked down at a terrified Saphira. He gripped her hand benevolently seeing her expression. "It's okay," he whispered to her. "We'll get whatever this thing is under control. If you healed me, it must be a good gift. Not something to fear."

   Saphira's eyes only grew wider at his comment. "But what if you're wrong? What if the Sorceress did do this to me? What if this thing kills me?" her voice quaked in horror.

   "I will not let that happen, Saphira," Mike assured her. "You have my full protection." He watched as Saphira's face relaxed. "And you have my word."

   Peter patted Saphira tenderly on the shoulder. "Don't you worry, my dear," he said in a calm voice. "Micah is right about something. This is not something to fear. Your Parents learned to control their gifts, and I know you can as well."

   Saphira grinned slightly. "All right. I guess I can give it a try."

   Peter smiled back down at her. "You should begin to feel your strength returning in about a day or two. You'll just have to be patient. Your body's system is still trying to get used to this new change."

   Saphira nodded her head in reply. "Can I go to my own chamber?" she asked. "I would like to rest there."

   Peter shrugged. "I don't see why not."

   "I'll help her," Mike said swiftly before Peter offered someone else. He put his hand under Saphira's back to help her sit up and shift her legs off the bed. He wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled on her gently as she stood to her feet. With her friend's help in staying upright, Saphira began to leave the physicians office and hobble to her own chamber— which was a little ways down the hall.

   Sir Dunling sighed and puffed out his chest. "I better make sure everything's okay with the Princess before I return to my duties."

   "Eh, Sir Dunling!" Peter called before the Knight had a chance to leave. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

   Sir Dunling turned to face the old physician with a slight look of worry on his face. "Certainly! Is everything okay?"

   Peter wrung his hands together nervously. "I would appreciate it if the King did not find out about his daughters new found ability. Not yet anyway."

   Sir Dunling looked at him with a questioned brow. "Peter, what are you saying?" He stepped closer to the old man. "I thought you were saying his Majesty would be pleased to learn about the Princesses powers?"

   Peter worked his tongue trying to think of the correct thing to say. "Yes, he would... but... without further testing of her gift..." He trailed off and sighed. "I just want to make sure the Princesses gift is something that she can control. I don't want no maybe, or might be able to. I want to know she can before we tell his Majesty."

   Sir Dunling looked to the ground. It was not the knights code to keep secrets from his Majesty. Such acts could mean death. The Knights were suppose to be the only men the King could trust with his life in dire situations. Now, Peter wanted him to keep a secret this great? To betray that trust he had with his King?

   "You must do this, Dunling," Peter said, breaking the silence. "The future of this Kingdom depends on it."

   Sir Dunling was still silent, unable to answer the Physician. "Are you sure that's all, Peter? You just want to make sure she can control it?"

   Peter nodded swiftly in a misgiving way. "I give you my word."

   Sir Dunling knew the physician was hiding something, but he wasn't going to pressure him for answers. With a quick nod of his head in understanding, Sir Dunling marched out of the chamber.

   King Edwin stood gazing out at Nara from the court chamber window. He called for another of his Knights that he most trusted before moving over to his throne as he waited for him to arrive. It wasn't long before the middle-aged man stepped in.

   "My lord?" the Knight began as he bowed. "You summoned me?"

   "Yes," Edwin replied with a nod of his head. "I have heard of another sorcerer attacking in my Kingdom."

   "What?" the Knight asked shocked with disbelief. "That can't be! My men and I have been hunting night and day for those creatures. There hasn't been sighting of one since the last time Nara's full form shone brightly in the night sky."

   "I understand that, Sir Giwique," Edwin answered with a straight face. "But this particular creature attacked my daughter and one of our Squire's last night." Sir Giwique stood before his King in astonishment. "Now, it was you who I gave the task to of ridding this land of those foul beasts." He paused. "So far, I've heard you have only killed five, and Sir Dunling has killed how many? Thirteen I believe it was..." He placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

   "But, my lord!" Sir Giwique interrupted.

   Edwin held up his hand silencing his Knight. "If these creatures continue to stay in my land, then I am afraid I will have no other choice then to appoint someone else for this task." Edwin stood to his feet.

   "You have had three years, Giwique," Edwin almost shouted. "Three years! My daughter could've been seriously injured last night just like they murdered my son. I want those vile beasts out of my land and I want them gone as of yesterday!" He paused to calm down as he noticed his Knight's frightened face. "I do not mean to frighten you, Sir Giwique," the King apologized, "but do you understand what I am saying?"

   Sir Giwique bowed in respect. "Of course, Sire."

   Edwin nodded his head. "Good. Then be gone! You have another sorceress to catch."