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 he town was bustling and the streets were crowded. People had come for miles to see the fair, many to see the Kings daughter. It had been rumoured that she was the fairest of all with beautiful long pale brown hair. However only few knew that she was not the Kings true daughter. She was infact an orphan, adopted by the King and his Queen. They had adopted her and made her their own. They had no other children as the Queen could not bear them. All the country knew that the King and Queen were looking for a Prince for their daughter and rumour had it that the choice would be made at the fair. Everyone wanted to be there incase they got invited to the wedding. Jugglers were along the lanes and alleys displaying their talents. Crowd had gather around magicians and gasped as they performed trick upon trick. Knights rode around full of self assurance all wanting to win the jousting that would be held during the fair. Skittering in and out of the crowd were three little munchkins. They were there for business and understood their master accepted no failure.
An ugly hand covered in warts swung across the crystal ball and the images where replaced with the princess in her room. The creature in the dark smiled cruelly and watched on while the Wizard sat in his chair overlooking the whole process. He knew he wasn't meant to interfear, that was the rules, however nothing said that he wasn't allowed to send others to do the dirty tasks. He grinned evilly and watched the crystal and what it revealed.
"I just don't want to mother" Kat cried
"I know you don't but you are the princess and that means you have certain obligations whether you like it or not. Sure being born into privelage holds certain downfalls but believe me you will have a good time." The Queen replied in a soft voice.
"Whatching Knights in clanking and rusty armor trying to prove that they are stronger than each other isn't exactly entertaining Mother. All it proves is that they have limited brains" Kat moved from her bed to her bedside table and started to comb her hair.
"Think my dear, when the jousting isn't going on you can always look at the magick"
"Can I?" Kat asked and the Queen nodded. Kat lepted up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her mother.
"Your the best!" Kat exclaimed as she let go of her mother.
"Thank you dear" The Queen said as she headed for the door.
"Now get changed and be ready for the banquet tonight, make your father proud and behave tonight please Kat."
Kat pouted but promised anyway
The banquet was really only just an official way to start the fair. The fair always started the day after the banquet. However it gave the Lords and Ladies an excuse to show of to the King and Queen and though it was just procedure to them they understood the importance of it for their nobility of the country. The banquet wasn't due to start for another two hours so Kat had plenty of time to get ready. She only really needed about half that time to get ready so Kat decided to see the town sorceress.
"Come in" a voice said loud enough for Kat to hear it just as she was about to knock. Kat entered the small hut.
"How did you know it was me at the door" Kat said pointing to the door and looking at the sorceress.
"Lady Kat" The sorceress never called her Princess for some reason "you are asking a great and wise sorceress how she knew that you would come tonight and how she knew you were at the door?"
"Guess that was a silly question" Kat laughs sheepishly
The sorceress nods and leads Kat into a room full of cushions around a small round table with a crystal ball in the middle. Kat sits and the sorceress grabs her runic stones.
"What wisdom do you seek tonight Lady Kat?"
"I seek guidiance of the stones for I need to know whether I will find my true love this fair?" Kat asked "Father is convince to have me married off and I don't not wish to be with one I do not love"
"A wise and fair question Lady Kat" The sorceress said and continued with her reading.
"Seek to find the man who has no ego, the man who's heart is pure and who's heritage is strongly bound for only he can tame such wild power that lays within" The Sorceress said cryptically.
Kat wanted to ask futher questions but she knew better and so after her reading was down she left silently. A figure in a cloak appeared behind the Sorceress and kissed her gently.
"Daru my love, what news doth thou bring?" She asked
"The deamons are here, they know she is the one, but the Elders wont allow the Wizard to interfere personaly. He is ofcourse trying to find other ways to destroy the good"
"Ofcourse my love" The Sorceress laughed.
***
Kat was getting changed when she heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Erick"
Kat jumped up and ran to the door open it and embraced Erick getting hit with a bell on his hat. He swung her around and then tickled her.
"Stop it! What are you doing here anyway, aren't you meant to be juggling somewhere?" Kat teased.
"I had to stop by and bask in your beauty before I could perform for your fathers guests"
Kat grinned. She had known Erick for ages and knew that he liked to dabble in the arts of magick but enjoyed making people smile. Probably why he was the Kings favourite jester.
"Here, help me zip up this dress" She said
"Yes my lady"
"Oh, stop it."
Erick laughed, gently turned Kat around, and zipped up her dress.
"Damn, girl, how many layers are you wearing?"
Kat laughed a silvery peal of laughter, and Erick fumbled.
"I mean... Uh... I mean..."
"I know what you mean, Erick. The answer is 'one hell of a lot' - and yes, they're uncomfortable, but-"
"It's expected," they chorused together.
Kat turned to face Erick, and they grinned at each other. Kat slipped on her shoes, and checked that the elaborate hair-do the maid had fixed had stayed neat through her struggling with Erick. She turned to face him again.
"Well? How do I look?"
Erick looked. Gaped in fact. The dress was hand-sewn especially for this occasion, designed to flatter, and revealed a lot more than was the style at the time - and hinted at what it didn't reveal. Erick swallowed several times.
"Am I to assume that's good?" teased Kat, softly, but slightly self-conscious.
Erick looked her square in the eye.
"You're damn lucky you're the princess & have all those guards to protect you."
Kat beamed at him, and threw her arms around his neck, burrowing her face into his neck.
"I *do* adore you, Erick."
Erick hugged her back with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, I know. Everyone does."
Kat laughed and looked up at him.
"Love you."
"I love you too, princess. Shall I escort you down?"
"To the door. I'm supposed to appear alone today."
"Typical. The day you look good enough to boost my image..."
Kat kicked him in the shins.
"Ouch!" he yelped.
Kat smiled sweetly.
"Shall we go?"
Erick escorted her out of the room
***
In the pavilion, knights were dressed in brightly burnished armor, awaiting the start of the competition. The princess was not yet in attendance, and the crowd's attention switched between looking for her arrival, and watching the knights. Deep in the crowd several people lay in wait, watching only for the princess. Some were good, some were evil, and not many people could tell the difference. Two of these such people were the town sorceress, and her lover, Daru.
"I have seen many underlings this day," murmured Daru in the sorceress's ear.
"As have I. 'tis almost certain He is planning something."
"How unusual," murmured Daru, dryly.
The sorceress smiled under he hood of her brown woolen cloak.
"Look. Here she comes."
Up on the platform, where the 3 cushioned seats were placed, a herald had gained the attention by means of his trumpet.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and other nobility! I have the honour to announce our good King Darren, overlord of the Eastern Kingdoms, holder of the 12 duchies, and his lovely wife, Queen Courtney, jewel on the crown of the east!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as the King and Queen mounted the podium and took their seats. The kingdom was rules justly and fairly, and most people had little reason to complain. With the abolishment of serfdom and slavery, the country prospered under the gentle guidance of the king. The leash he held in his capable hands was a loose yoke around the people he governed, and most were happy to pay the few taxes the King imposed.
"May I also present," the herald continued as the cheers died down, "the beautiful, *eligible* heir to the throne! The lovely Princess Kathryn!"
The crowd bust into cheer again as Kat mounted the podium and stood before her seat. Tradition dictated that she stand until the tournament began. Then she would sit in her chair and watch for an hour and a half while the untrained and merely hopeful were weeded out from the skilled and talented knights, and then she would freshen up and make an appearance at the banquet. The real tournament wouldn't start until tomorrow - a feat in endurance Kat was not looking forward to in the slightest.
The herald moved aside for the King, who made a brief speech, and commanded the tournament to start. Kat sat down gratefully. Her shoes pinched slightly and it was a relief to remove them under the cover of her floor-length gown. The tournament began, and attention of most of the crowd focused on the knights. Some few, however, were still watching the podium with intense eyes.
The little tournament went without many hitches. A few knights fell of their horses and their where a few broken bones but that was about all. The King and Queen watched on but Kat looked rather bored. The sorceress and Daru drifted into a side street and was meet with Mel the Pixie.
"There are demons in human form everywhere" Mel said flying at eye level "I even found Lexcie"
The soceress grimaced. She had way to many hassles with that particual deamon. Daru nodded at her. The sorceress gather her cloak around her and the slipped of into the night unnoticed by the crowd. Daru turned back to Mel.
"Gather the others, get them to meet me in an hour. Then watch Kat"
Mel nodded and did a fake salute then flew off searching for the others. Daru changed form into a bird and flew into the night heading towards the well just outside of town. He had to seek the Elders for guidance.
The sorceress scoured the city. She had to find Lexcie and destroy him. She just didn't trust that little runt of a demon. He had been trained well but in the black arts and so he was detested by the Elders and by the Sorceress.
The fighting was coming to an end and Kat was trying to stifle a yawn. She noticed Erick of to the side playing tricks on the little kids. He caught her eye and grinned as he pulled a penny out of a young boys ear. Kat laughed and waved wishing something exciting would happen.
Lexcie was watching Princess Kat from a safe distance. He saw Erick and snuck closer to him. He would have to dispose of Erick before he could get to the Princess. His plan was to enter Erick's body so that he could get close enough to Kat to kill her. He liked the Princess though and planned a few things before his master made him destroy her before her powers came into existence. He studied Erick for a little while. It only took a few minutes before the children ran off laughing. Lexcie snuck up behind Erick and was about to strike him when Erick turned around. Erick held onto a pendant Kat had given him and struck Lexcie with it. Lexcie screamed realing backwards. When he was able to gain his balance he looked at his arm. There burnt into his skin was the marking of the pendant. Lexcie glared at Erick and went to run of but ran into the Sorceress instead.
"Going somewhere?" She asked
"Yes now get out of the way Sorceress or my master will hunt you down." He grumbled at her
"Your master has been hunting me for a few centries now another few wont make much difference" With that comment the Sorceress brought her hands together and formed an blue energy ball in the palm of her hands. Lexcie stared at it in fascination as it grew larger. He saw his death in the blue energy ball and ran for his life. The Soceress sent the ball after Lexcie.
"Hello Erick"
"Will that kill him?" He asked
"Eventually, it will chase him for the rest of his puny little life"
Erick laughed and bent down to pick up his stuff and when he looked up the Sorceress was gone.
He looked at the podium and noticed Kat staring. He hoped she hadn't seen all of what had happened.
***
Mel had been flying for sometime looking for everyone else. She finally found Mark and landed near were he was. He was talking to someone she didn't recognise. Mark turned and spotted Mel and waved her over.
"Mel meet Lainy"
"Hi, I'm a gay faerie" She said grinning
"Great, that's all we need, a really happy faerie" Mikey said sneaking out from behind a tree.
Lainy laughed.
"Well Lainy, I am Mel the Pixie, this is Mark the Elf and behind you with the grumpy mood is Mikey the Gryphen. He is always grumpy when he hasn't had enough sleep but he is normally nice"
"Hi!" said Lainy again, brightly.
Mikey grumbled to himself.
"Anyway, we have to go see Daru," said Mel.
"Me too?" asked Lainy hopefully, jumping up from her rock.
"Why not? You can help too. Come on!"
The oddly assorted group jumped up and flew towards the fair.
***
At the conclusion on the preliminary tournament, Kat hurried to her room to "freshen up". She also wanted to speak to Erick before the banquet, about the ball of blue fire he'd used in his show at the tournament. That particular trick was one she hadn't seen before, and she wanted to know why. Unfortunately, Erick wasn't around, and Kat figured he was off somewhere preparing himself for his performance at the Banquet that evening. With a sigh, Kat moved down to the Great Banquet Hall. Everyone moved to their positions at the table, and the ladies were seated. Soon after that, the men sat down, and the first course was served.
Seated between her father and her Uncle, Kat listened intently to the conversation that ebbed and flowed around her. Unfortunately, there was little of interest in matters of state and taxes. The food was delicious as always, and Kat privately thought it was the best part of the banquet, with Erick's performance coming a close second - not that she would ever tell *him* that, of course. The Royal cooks - Mistress Sarah Buckley and her two trainees, Loan Ngo and Irene Stamp - were the best in the country and they always seemed to add a little something extra for social functions. Kat had a private suspicion that it was the antidote her father had paid the town sorceress to make up in case Kat was ever poisoned, but it tasted delicious, so she never mentioned it.
The conversation flowed with the wine, and became less boring and political as the evening wore on. By the end of the main course, most of the nobles were slightly inebriated, and the ladies were dominating the conversation. Kat had watched this happen many times. The men talked loudly and drank too much, the women drank little and managed affairs of state. Then the next morning, when the men woke up, the women told their husbands exactly how marvellous they'd been the night before, and they'd organised this, that and the other... It was always amusing to see the men brag and bluster, and the positions of estates in court were clearly ranked by the intelligence of the wife, not the husband.
Just before desert was served, Erick entered the hall and began his performance. Kat watched intently, but to her disappointment, he didn't use any balls of blue flame. Although the rest of his show was superb, Kat was left slightly unsatisfied. When the desert was finished, the ladies retired to the parlour to discuss more womanly matters, while the men continued to "talk" and drink their way into a stupor. Kat left the hall with her mother, bidding her father's guests good eve, and then moved towards her bedroom. Her mother always suggested she depart at this point in the evening, as the men got increasingly loud and crude, which was something the queen did not wish her daughter to be subjected to, and her mother had told her she was not to join the woman's circle until she was betrothed, as it was best she didn't know the sort of things they talked about until then.
"Now, Maya," said Queen Courtney, taking the arm of a Lady who lived in a manor near the castle. "Tell me, dear, are you pregnant?"
Maya blushed and said, "Well, yes, I think so... I have been feeling queasy most mornings..."
The Duchess Kate laughed in joy and took Maya's other arm. "My darling, that is the most fantastic news! This is your first, is it not? Well let me tell you, there is nothing to worry about. You and I will go see the sorceress next week and make sure she'll be around for the delivery..."
The voices trailed off as Kat rounded a corner in the hall.
Erick was leaning against the wall across the hall from her bedroom door. He straightened as she approached, and grinned at her.
"Hello gorgeous."
"Mmm, hi yourself," replied Kat, giving him a hug in return for the one she was getting. "That blue ball of fire was really cool, why haven't I seen it before?"
Erick paused. "You mean at the tournament?" he asked carefully.
"Of course, when else would I have seen it?"
Erick laughed, looping an arm around her waist.
"That wasn't me, honey childe, that was the sorceress. She agreed to help me with that show because I wanted to save some tricks for tonight."
Erick held his breath, hoping Kat would accept the half-truth, and let the matter drop.
"Oh," she said, sounding a little disappointed. "Well, learn how to do that. It looked great."
Erick laughed, and squeezed her.
"Yes, Ma'am, your wish is my command."
They stepped into Kat's room, and Kat moved to the bed, picked up a little black ball of fluff, and cuddled it to her face.
"Jadeikins, there you are, I've been looking for you everywhere!"
Erick looked startled.
"What's that?"
Kat laughed, and held out a tiny black kitten with brilliant green eyes for Erick to see.
"My cat. Her name is Jade. The sorceress gave her to me last week when I was there. Her mother got hit by a cart, and she was looking after the kittens until she found homes for them. I just couldn't leave little Jadey here behind."
Kat buried her face in the soft fur again.
"Did the sorceress name her?"
"No, I did. Why?"
"Just an interesting choice of name that's all. Why Jade?"
"Look at the colour of her eyes, honey. It's pretty self-explanitary."
Erick laughed.
"Why not emerald?"
"Emmy? You wanna be called Emmy fluffykins? No, I didn't think so. It doesn't suit her," Kat said, redirecting her attention to Erick.
He laughed.
"I can see I'm not going to be getting any sense out of you tonight! You're going to be talking to your cat more than you're talking to me!"
"Why not? She's a female too," Kat replied with a teasing grin.
"I have to go anyway," amended Erick. "I have a magick lesson with the sorceress. I promise to ask her how to make blue fire balls."
Kat laughed.
"Ok, that's acceptable then. Will you come by in the morning and sneak out to the fair with me?"
"Surely will, honey bunch. After breakfast, or before?"
"Before. We can grab something from the kitchen on the way out, because breakfast will be late due to the banquet."
"Ok, I'll stop by on my way out tonight and let Sarah know, so she has something ready."
"Sounds great."
"Good. Ok, Bye baby," Erick said and kissed her cheek.
"Bye, Erick," Kat replied with a laugh, then held out Jade for a kiss too. "Say bye to Erick, Jade."
The kitten mewled sleepily and Erick laughed, kissing the top of it's furry little head.
"See you tomorrow morning, Kat."
"Night, Erick."
Erick left, and Kat changed for bed, getting a passing maid to come in and unlace her gown for her, which she then hung over the back of a chair. Kat climbed into her bed and undid the curtains so they fell around, enclosing her from the outside world.
"I'm going to the fair with Erick tomorrow," Kat whispered to the kitten, who was curled up on the pillow next to her.
Jade blinked sleepily at Kat, seeming to say, "Really?"
"Yup, really. We always go together. I get to pretend I'm not royalty for a day, and I get to wear normal clothes, and go and look at the magick and everything. It's really fun."
Kat yawned and snuggled further under her covers. The kitten gave her a look that clearly said, "Well have fun, but be careful. You don't know what's out there. There's all sorts of bad people around at the moment."
"Yes, Mum," Kat replied sleepily and fell asleep.
The kitten blinked it's green eyes once or twice, then started purring and drifted off to sleep as well.
***
In the darkened eastern quarter of town, 2 hooded figures stood waiting out the front of a small cottage. A third figure approached, and pushed back the hood of his cloak.
"Erick," said Daru. "Glad you could make it."
"I checked on Kat, made sure she was going to bed, not out wandering tonight."
"Good idea," replied the sorceress. "Let us now move inside."
The three moved into the cottage, and were joined by Mel the pixie, Mark the elf, Mikey the Gryphen, and Lainy the faerie. They sat around the rounded table, and the sorceress and Daru also drew back their hoods.
"Has Lexcie been destroyed yet?" asked Erick.
"No, not yet. He's still running," replied the sorceress with a trace of amusement. "Daru, what news have you?"
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