A whole week dragged on in preparing for Princess Kate's expedition, gathering food provisions, horses and a carriage, bedding and other comfort items, and much more. The various courtyards and pastures outside the castle buzzed with activity as servants and aides in abundance scrambled to provide necessities and luxuries alike for the princess' journey.

By the time the sun had fully risen above the eastern mountaintops, the whole entourage had assembled in an expansive pasture on the west side of the castle. Arrayed in an orderly train with mounted bodyguards in the front and rear and several supply wagons surrounding the princess' carriage in between, the fact security had been an utmost priority was visually apparent.

Kate strolled outside and took in the sight of her retinue with smiling lips and a nodding head. She eyed the bodyguards in their heavy suits of plate armor, with spears in their hands and bows in the side pockets of their saddles. Each bodyguard carried a quiver of arrows on his hip, and a quarter of one of the supply wagons was occupied by a crate full of replenishment.

A wiry servant spotted Kate and hurried over to her with a pleasant face. "Good morning, your highness! I hope you slept well."

"Well enough." Kate said absentmindedly after sparing him only a second's glance. Her attention was fixed a noticeable lack in her entourage. "Where are the knights?"

"Knights? Uh...guess they haven't showed yet. If you'd like, I can—"

"No, you keep doing your job. I'll look into this dilatoriness myself."

After giving an awkward salute, the servant hurried off. Kate narrowed her eyes and headed back toward the door she'd just exited.

Once Kate had stepped up to the entryway, it swung open before her, revealing King Maxwell's face. He gave his daughter a brief smile before noticing her own troubled countenance. Then with concerned eyes, he laid his big hand on her shoulder.

"What is troubling you, darling?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "My knights haven't shown themselves, and I intend to find out why. Surely a week is enough time for them to have picked out their candidates and sent them my way."

Maxwell nodded. "I would certainly imagine so. Juan has told me nothing of any delay, so this baffles me. Are you sure—"

"I'm sure they're not there, Father, and they ought to be. So excuse me while I find out what this delay is about."

Maxwell stepped through the doorway to allow Kate through. Once she'd stepped inside, she hurried her pace to find the passageway that would take her to the exit nearest the knights' hall. Hardly even glancing at anybody along the way, she soon emerged and crossed the expansive stretch of grass between the two buildings. Then she swung a side door open to enter the knights' hall.

Kate quickly made her way to the High Council chamber and rapped on the door. A few seconds passed, and no response came her way. With a huff, she knocked again, harder this time. Still no answer. She narrowed her green eyes at the wide door and grasped the knob. An unsuccessful twist informed her it'd been locked.

Princess Kate buried her face in her hands while letting out a long sigh of frustration. Not another delay! she shouted inwardly, What could possibly be so hard about simply picking four knights and putting them on horses?

The thump of footsteps accompanied by heavy breathing drew Kate's attention up, and she removed her face from her hands. At the sight of Alden Holt, with his downturned mouth and labored gait, she pursed her lips and stepped his way.

"Excuse me," Kate began, polite only in her words and not her tone, "Would you mind explaining why it has been a week since I requested knights from your order, and I still have not seen them?"

Alden eyed the princess for a long moment in silence with confusion written all over his features. Then it appeared something clicked in place, and he offered the slightest of smiles. "My apologies, your highness. It has been an arduous process to select the four you requested, as we can only bring ourselves to send you the best of the best."

"And that process takes over a week? Doesn't that sound a bit inefficient?"

"Well, I confess the voting procedure has been difficult, as Juan has his candidates, I have mine, and an equal number of our fellow councilmen agree with each of us. Much discussion is required to bring one side to the others' opinion."

Kate crossed her arms. "I reiterate my previous question. Should your selection process really take you over a week? I'm ready to leave now, and I still haven't heard a single word from you!"

"And for that, I apologize, your highness." Alden said with a subtle bow, "You must understand, there are many other matters we must attend to as well, some of which we consider of higher priority than this selection process."

"Excuse me?" Kate asked, the pitch of her voice rising in concert with her disbelief, "You mean to tell me your princess' request can be supplanted in importance by some other thing? Who do you lazy old men think you are?"

Alden recoiled with his one good eye widened. His mouth opened a little, but no words emerged until he had taken a moment to calm down. "Perhaps our priorities have indeed been skewed. If you will give us but one more day—"

"I will not." Kate looked down at the necklace she occupied her fidgeting fingers with. A gleaming gray gemstone hung from its dainty chain, and staring at it brought back memories of her favorite knight who had given it to her eight years ago. "Consider yourselves supplanted."

****

After storming off from Alden Holt, Kate gave her father a loving farewell and entered her carriage. And with that, her journey to the Innutukian capital began. The entire first day of travel took her entourage across the Monteraynian countryside headed west, stopping for the night in the foothills of the mountain ring surrounding the kingdom and forming its border.

The next day was spent on navigating the maze-like mountain pass leading out of Monterayne, a path that proved rocky, full of splitting trailheads and dead-ends. But by nightfall the second day, they'd emerged into Monterayne's northwestern possession of Aroria.

The third morning faded into midday, and Kate slid her carriage door open to let the refreshing breeze into the cabin. She stared with fascination at the intricate metal sliding mechanism that glided the door aside and clicked into place so it wouldn't jolt back shut again. Perhaps it was silly of her to be so intrigued by such things, but she found such engineering innovation incredibly interesting.

She craned her neck out the open door to view the vast stretch of lush grass and grain surrounding them as far as the eye could see. Kate's lips parted at the verdant brilliance around her, an agrarian paradise. When she spotted a kind-faced farmer in a fenced-off pasture waving at her with a wide grin on his face, she returned the favor and blew him a kiss. She watched as he returned to his labor with a cheerful vigor.

A few minutes later, Princess Kate's procession slowed to a stop in an expansive field sprawling out in front of a handsome house constructed of dark-stained wood. Kate had requested this stop along the way to augment her force of four bodyguards through an alternative means, given the disrespectful tardiness of the Knights of the King's Table.

One of the armored bodyguards gave Kate a gloved hand to help her down from the carriage. She stepped out and took in her surroundings with pleasure. Spaced out across the field, several swordsmen with youthful faces sparred, their energetic spirits largely making up for their general lack of finesse. The clang of metal rang out in the air as their swords beat together.

A trio of middle-aged men paced through the midst of the sparring pairs, offering encouragement to some, admonition to others, and an even mixture to most. Kate hardly noticed the other two, her eyes singling out one with a thick but well-trimmed light brown beard and an eyepatch covering a missing left eye. It'd been quite some time since she'd seen Tom Holt, her favorite knight, but seeing him now brought a smile to her face.

Tom spotted Kate in the midst of giving some pointers to a pair of the most amateur students, and after motioning for them to wait, he hurried his steps toward her. A wide but lazy grin spread across his bearded face as he approached, cobalt blue right eye sparkling with an internal mirth. Once he'd come close enough, he took her hand and kissed it, following the gesture with a bow.

"Your presence here is unexpected to be sure, your highness, but not unwelcome." Tom remarked pleasantly. He smirked. "I do hope I'm not in any trouble."

Kate giggled. "You're not in trouble, Tom; I've merely come to ask you a favor."

"In that case, you've come to the right place. How may I help you?"

"Well, I'm actually en route to the Innutukian capital right now to discuss a potential peace treaty. And as you and I both know, Innutuk is hardly a place a Monteraynian should go lightly armed."

"Of course."

"So," Kate said, "of course I have my bodyguards, but I thought some extra protection would be preferable."

"I see. Excuse my asking, but why couldn't you have called on the Knights of the King's Table to provide that added security?"

"Actually, I did. But they failed me. They had a whole week to prepare, but they still haven't even managed to vote on the outgoing personnel."

Tom shook his head. "Wow. Their inefficiencies have only grown since I left, and likely their corruption too."

Kate's eyebrow twitched. "Is that why you resigned? Some corruption that never reached my ears?"

"Oh, certainly. The injustice of Peter Raska's trial awakened me to the bias that blinds them. They were far more willing to vote for his unproven guilt than they are now to vote for the service of their own princess. The Knights of the King's Table are supposed to serve the crown, not merely eat his delicacies. But you're not here to hear me rattle on about their imperfections, your highness."

"No, but it has been informative, nonetheless. It appears I have reforms to initiate upon my return."

Tom smirked. "Don't such matters fall under your father's authority?"

"Well, yes, but as of late, I have served as his brain, while he basically sets his seal on everything and attends the assemblies I'd fall asleep in."

"I see." Tom said with a chuckle, "Your transition to Monterayne's queen will only be a natural progression."

"Precisely." A pause lingered between them before Kate spoke again. "So, enough pacing around the bush. I know you resigned from knighthood, but I would nonetheless like to request your service in augmenting my security force."

Tom Holt pursed his lips and let his cycloptic gaze wander briefly over to his sparring students while he scratched his grizzled beard. "I would certainly like to, your highness," he said slowly, "but their evaluations are coming up soon, and they all have been training vigorously in preparation. If you insist, I will certainly oblige you, but I do believe they will be sorely disappointed."

Kate nodded, her own eyes studying the swordsmen appraisingly. "I will not force your hand. But I will ask...do you have any good men here ready for graduation?"

"You mean for knightly trials? Only three. Are you thinking—"

"Yes, I am. Depending on how amiable the Innutukians turn out to be, they may very well get their trials over with during this very trip."

Tom folded his hands behind his back and strolled through the rows of grappling swordsmen, and Kate quickly moved to follow. Thudding footsteps behind the princess reminded her of her chief bodyguard's silent presence. When a stray sword stroke hit his shoulder armor, the man shouted at the offending student, his spearhead dancing as he did so. Profuse apologies assaulted his ears, to which he only grunted and refocused on following his charge.

"Yes," Tom began, calling Kate's attention back forward, "one of the three I mentioned is my niece, who I'm sorry to say is out of commission at the moment. She broke her arm during a sparring match just last week."

"Ouch." Kate said with a grimace, "That does sound mild for a sparring injury, though."

"Well, we were using wooden swords that day. Those blunted edges won't kill you, but they won't caress you either."

"I see."

Tom stopped not far from a pair of students who sat together on an oblong boulder and pointed at their fellows, apparently making commentary on their performance. The more vocal of the two flashed his teeth at the other in a charming smile that lifted Kate's mood just by looking at it. With sun-kissed skin, well-groomed black hair and an overall well-structured face common among the Marcocian people, he reminded Kate much of Juan Feliz. Minimalistic facial hair completed his appearance.

Less animated in his gestures but equally striking in appearance, the other man sat a little taller on the boulder. In fact, everything about him appeared longer than his counterpart, from his facial structure to his nose to his legs. Dark blond hair crowned his head, but much less groomed than his friend. His deep brown eyes contradicted his slight smirk with their graveness.

When Tom cleared his throat, the two men snapped to attention, and after glancing at him for a second, they noticed Kate, and their eyes rapidly hopped between the two. When Kate focused her gaze on the bearded instructor, she noticed in her peripheral vision that they followed suit.

"Men," Tom began, "this is Princess Katherine Alder of Monterayne. Please introduce yourselves, politely."

The dark-haired man rose with an easygoing smile on his lips and eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'm nothing but polite, sir, and you know that." He rose to his feet and took a few steps to close the distance between himself and Kate, reaching his hand out once he was in reach. "Greetings, your highness, I'm Andre Feliz. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Kate returned the grin with no effort; it bubbled naturally from her heart upon seeing Andre's. She placed her hand in his and flashed her teeth at him. "Likewise. No relation to Sir Juan Feliz?"

"Oh, he's my father." Andre remarked before kissing Kate's hand, light brown eyes locked with hers as he did so. "I'm surprised you couldn't tell, Katherine."

Kate's heart fluttered in her breast at the sensation of his lips on her hand, but she reclaimed her poise and shrugged. "I had my suspicions. And you can just call me Kate."

Andre chuckled and backed away. He motioned his friend forward, who rose to his full towering height with some reluctance and stepped toward Kate. The messy-haired man wrung his hands as he approached, eyes dragging along the ground until the last second. Even then, he only met Kate's gaze for a brief moment before looking away. He reached out for a handshake.

"It's...a pleasure to meet you...your highness." he stuttered, giving her another quick moment of eye contact when their hands met, "I'm Manfred. Manfred Rickland."

Kate nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, Manfred."

Manfred acknowledged her with a twitch of his lips approximating a smile. Then he stepped back toward Andre.

Tom soon filled the silence with a clearing of his throat. "Princess Kate is en route to the Innutukian capitol to negotiate a peace treaty, and if you two feel up to the task, you will accompany her to supplement her guard force. Hopefully, you'll only be there to stand pretty and make her look tough. But if it comes down to it, you'll spare nothing to protect her, not even your lives. Am I understood?"

Andre and Manfred nodded. "Yes, sir."

"The question is, are you up to it? Are you ready to enter a new stage in both your swordsmanship and likely your careers overall?"

"This is an amazing opportunity, Sir Holt." Andre said in his pleasant baritone voice, "I would be foolish not to take it up and hopefully enter a new arena of service for my country."

Tom nodded and shifted his one-eyed gaze to Manfred.

Manfred visibly swallowed. "Yes, sir...I accept. I'll make my family proud."

"Good." Tom said before turning to Kate. "If you have no objections, they'll retrieve their swords and you can be on your way."

"I have none at all." Kate replied cheerily, "I'm as eager to bring you both into my entourage as I am for it to resume its progress."

Andre gave a thankful smile before hurrying off to the house, Manfred close behind. Kate watched them depart with lightened spirits.

"They're a little rough around the edges," Tom said, "But they should serve you well. Where one is weak, the other is strong, making them all the more effective when working in concert. All they need is a little more experience and some refinement."

"I can see that." Kate replied as her mind drifted inward, "I believe they will serve me well indeed."

**** 

A/N: Second update of the day! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it, and if so, please remember to vote and comment, please and thank you! 

(I should briefly mention my planned posting schedule here. It'll be two chapters each time on Friday mornings [6-8 PST, basically]. Any veering from that schedule will be announced on my message board, so unusual as it is for me to deviate, a follow would be nice if you wanna keep up with the goings-on of this account. 😉) 

And now, can we talk a bit about those fine young men Tom's sending off with Kate? How're we feeling about 'em? 

And for those of you who have read the first trilogy, how was it seeing Tom again? 😁 

Well, that'll be it for me this morning. The weather's cooling down after a heat wave where I'm at, so I'm gonna be enjoying that. Have an awesome day and week, and I hope to see you on next Friday's update!