Act 16.

Patrick caught Amy before she hit the ground.

He lowered her to the grass and made her comfortable, before turning to her brother.

"What was that about, exactly?" asked the King.

Prince William looked a little pale as he answered in a slightly trembling voice.

"Those Arrows." he said pointing to the ones in Margaret’s hand. "They are used only by a very specialised group of assassins."

He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat of his brow. If they hadn’t seen the fear in his face it would not have meant much as the man sweated constantly. Not surprising considering the layers of clothing he had on.

Not to mention his large girth.

"We were lucky." he continued. "Usually they never miss. It seems The Lady Champion looked up just at the right time."

"How do we know these are those specialists?" asked Margaret. "How do we know they aren’t just some group that likes to use this colour, or want us to think they are this group?"

"Were there two of them?" asked William.

"Yes." answered Margaret.

"Both dressed in black?"

"Yes."

"When one of them was about to be captured, the other one killed him?"

Margaret narrowed her eyes at the prince.

"Yes." she said. "How come you know so much about this?"

There was no mistaking the suspicion in her voice.

"Because." said a soft voice from the grass. "We were told that someone had hired them to assassinate father."

Everyone turned to looked at the princess who was in the process of sitting up.

Patrick knelt down by her side.

"Amy." he said. "You shouldn’t move. you have had a traumatic experience."

She smiled up at him with a genuine smile of thanks.

"I’ll be fine Patrick." she said. "Just help me up. I only fainted because I was surprised by the fact they were out here."

The King help her to stand.

"That is odd, if they are supposed to be going after your father." said Linda. "That could mean one of two things. Either they have assassinated your father and want to finish off the rest of the family, or..."

"They are here to assassinate us, and not father." finished the princess.

The prince just stared open mouthed at his sister, who remained steadfastly calm.

"Either scenario is not good where you two are concerned." said Linda.

"There is a third possibility." said Margaret.

Everyone turned to her.

"They could have sent two parties. Your father could still be in as much danger as you are now."

No one said anything.

"Since you seem to know so much about these people, I have a question." said Linda turning to the prince.

"I know a lot about them, hoping that knowing as much as I could would help us in any encounters with them." he said. "But I don’t know everything. If I can answer your question, I will."

"There was once a warrior from my world who thought like you." said Linda.

"Now that he has lost one half of his team." she continued. "What will the remaining one do?"

Prince William seemed to ponder the question before answering.

"I am not sure." he finally said. "I believe that his mandate will be to finish the job he was sent to do, or die trying."

"I am willing to help him achieve his second goal." said Margaret.

"That is neither here nor there at the moment." said King Patrick. "Our first priority is to see to the safety of our guests."

He turned to the captain of the guards who was always standing nearby.

"Captain Mandrake."

Mandrake stepped forward.

He was a tall man. Not overly large or muscled, but solid. You knew by looking at him that he was not a push over. He had been the Captain as long as the King had been King.

The story was that each had saved the others life during the overthrow and both decided that their being together was lucky. So the king made him captain of his personal guard and his right hand man in questions of battle and tactics.

The Captain bowed.

"Your Highness." he said. "What may I do to help?"

"Move our guest to more secure rooms." said the King. "I want each of them to have two guards who are to not let them out of their sight for a minute."

Mandrake turned and motioned to four of his guards. Two males moved to stand near the prince, and two females did the same for the princess.

The King turned to his guests.

"I apologies for the inconvenience." he said. "Please be assured I only have your safety in mind."

"You don’t hear me complaining." said the prince.

"I understand your highness." said Amy. "You are a good man. You would never do anything without a good reason. But may I ask a favour?"

"Anything." said Patrick.

"I worry about father." said Amy. "Could you have a message sent to see if he is all right, and to let him know the situation here?"

He smiled at her.

"I will have my mage send a message to your father’s. They have a way of communicating that takes less time than pigeon, though it takes a lot of energy. I know he will be willing to do it."

"Thank you." she said and smiled back at him.

"One last question." said Linda.

"I don’t suppose these assassins have some sort of mark on them? Like a tattoo or or something?"

William shook his head.

"I understand that they have signals they can give each other to identify themselves to others in the group. But there are no special body markings as far as we can tell."

With that the two dignitaries, and their guards, went back into the castle.

When they were out of sight, the King turned to the two warriors.

"So?" he asked. "What do you think?"

"I think you are still in danger." said Margaret. "Just because they say these guys were after their father, does not suppose they were here for them. Though that is the more likely scenario, I don’t want to rule out you just yet."

"Charming." said Patrick. "Where does that leave us?"

"On the wrong end of the stick right now." said Linda. "If what the prince said is right, the other one will keep trying."

Two guards walked by carrying a stretcher with the body of the first assassin on it, followed by Findlay and his two apprentices.

Sheldon was last leading the horse. He still seemed in a bad mood, but Findlay either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

"So." said the King after the others had passed. "Does anyone have a suggestion as to what to do now?"

"I do." said Linda.

They all waited for her to continue.

"I say instead of worrying about the return of the other assassin, we prepare a greeting for him when he does."