Act 22.

Linda heard the intake of breath as the basilisk prepared to spit its venom.

Linda dove to the right grabbing the Princess as she moved and taking her down with her.

Margaret dove the opposite way.

Linda and the Princess landed hard on the ground as an arc of venom splattered on the ground where the Princess had been standing.

"Go and hide." Linda told the Princess while pushing her to her feet and shoving her in the direction of the thicker growth.

"We will try to distract it and you get back to the castle."

"Which direction is it." she asked.

Linda realised they were disoriented and even she was not sure right now where the castle was.

She stood up and quickly brought the Princess to some trees and put her behind them.

"Then just stay here and we will come for you and we will return all together." she said.

The Princess nodded her understanding.

Linda turned back to access the situation.

Margaret was at the opposite end of the clearing from her. The Basilisk had entered and was now noticing the prone figure of the assassin lying on the ground.

It swiftly moved towards him.

The man tried to scramble away from the creature but the two arrows in his shoulders hindered him.

Before anyone could move, the creature lunged and picked him up in its mouth.

There was a brief scream and then just the sound of the crunching of bones and rending of tissue.

Linda signaled to Margaret to join them while the Basilisk was otherwise occupied.

She began to slowly walk over to the two of them.

Everything seemed to be going well as the Basilisk continued its meal.

But as she was half way to the others the Basilisk raised its head.

Margaret stopped moving.

The creature sniffed loudly and then quickly turned itself in Margaret’s direction.

It struck at her.

Margaret rolled out of the way barely being missed by the large teeth.

Linda notched an arrow and let fly.

The arrow lodged itself just at the base of the creatures head.

It cried out and turned to see where the attack was coming from.

This gave Margaret enough time to notch an arrow of her own and she too attacked.

She struck the creature in the middle of the snake like body.

The Basilisk whipped its tail, striking Margaret.

She landed amongst the vegetation a few feet away.

The creature lunged at Linda and the Princess.

Linda pulled the Princess behind a tree. The creature stopped to sniff again.

Slowly it moved around the tree sniffing loudly.

Keeping the Princess behind her, Linda moved the two of them away from the tree and readied another arrow.

As the head came into view, she let fly.

She struck the creature in the lower jaw.

It cried out shaking its head trying to remove the missile.

Another arrow struck its body followed by another from Linda.

The creature moved back into the clearing, clearly trying to get away from the barrage.

Margaret came into view and joined Linda.

Both waited, arrows at the ready, to see what the creature would do.

It was looking at them and seemed to be pondering.

It scrapped its head on a large boulder near the edge of the area, all the while keeping its eyes on them.

The arrows broke off on the boulder. It did the same for the ones on its body.

Once all the arrows had been taken care of, it picked up what remained of the assassin in its mouth and moved away deeper into the wet lands.

The two warriors relaxed their stances.

When they were sure the creature was not returning, they put up there bows.

"Are you alright?" Margaret asked the princess.

"A little shaky but other than that I am fine." she replied.

"Then we better get back." said Linda. "We don’t really want another match with that thing."

Margaret picked up the torch that was still in the ground and the three of them walked back to the castle.

As they neared they were greeted by the King and the Prince.

Princess Amy hugged her brother, and then went to Patrick. She hugged him as well and he looked happy to have her in his arms again.

He looked up at the two women and mouthed the words "Thank You."

Linda nodded.

Margaret had a smile on her face as she watched her brother walk away with Amy’s arm through his.

Linda nudged her friend.

"I think they look cute together." she said.

"Yeah." said Margaret. "And if you tell him I think that...."

"I know, I know." interrupted Linda. "I’ll regret it. I don’t know why you insist on having this tough reputation."

"To keep the admirers away." said Margaret.

"Oh Lady Knight." said a voice from further away.

They looked up to see the Prince waving his handkerchief at them.

"You must come and regale us with how you saved my sister." he said. "I am sure it will be most entertaining."

"It doesn’t always work." mumbled Margaret.

Linda burst out laughing as the two of them followed the others into the castle.

The rest of the visit was uneventful.

Word came from King William that the Shadows had apologised for their rogue member.

Linda and Margaret entertained the young Prince, much to his delight, with stories of their adventures. He liked the world Linda used to inhabit and was fascinated by the feats of strength shown by Margaret.

Soon the day came for goodbyes. The guest were seen off in their carriage by the King and the two warrior women.

As the carriage grew distant Margaret asked.

"So everything go as planned while you were alone with your Princess?"

The King only smiled at his sister.

"Thought so." said Margaret.

She put her arm through Linda’s and pulled her close.

"Come on." she said. "You and I are going to get good and drunk." and the two started off towards the nearest tavern.

Patrick watched his sister as she and her friend went off to relax and unwind.

He sighed.

"You are lucky Margaret." he said softly to himself. "Those days are over for me."

And he turned back to his home.