Three years later...

"Come, my trusty steed!" Vic shouted, raising his sword to the heavens. "We are off to save the beautiful damsel in distress." He kicked the side of his mount and leaned forward to embrace the sudden rush of wind against his face as he bounced in the saddle of his ride.

From out of nowhere, a figure plump and hairy dragged his feet out of the shadows, stared up at Vic, and groaned.

"Halt..." the strange one mumbled. "I'm afraid I cannot let you pass."

Vic reared back. "Yow! My arch nemesis—Stubby the Crazed Dwarf!"

"Yes, 'tis I...Stubby the Crazed Dwarf...and I have come to kill you, Vic."

"Sir Vicaroth the Valiant," the hero whispered.

"Whatever."

Vic put the back of his hand to his forehead. "Oh, villainous dwarf! Will your evil plots never cease?"

"Apparently not, seeing as I have no say in—"

"It is against my moral code to fight, but against you I shall draw my blade. The safety of the princess depends on it!"

The dwarf raised his axe to waist-level and yawned. "Then I shall fight you to the death."

"So be it," Vic said. Summoning his blade, he stood on his mount and took a heroic battle stance. "But I warn you, I shall not hold back just because you are a wee midget."

"...What did you say?" The dwarf tightened his grip on the axe. "Damn you, Vic—I'll cut your tongue out!"

"Let this be our final battle!"

Their weapons clashed in midair, but the dwarf's rage was too much for the young knight. After only a few blows, Vic stumbled back, severely injured from the wounds he had sustained.

"It's no good," he coughed. Blood too thick to be his own trickled out of a packet up his sleeve. "The stubby one is too strong."

"Stop calling me that!"

"I will surely be killed if I stay here, but I cannot leave the princess to her fate."

"Perhaps you won't need to!" came a gallant call from above.

That voice! He had heard it before.

"Hail, Elven Ranger Eric!" Vic cried out. His heart gave a mighty push and carried him to his feet. "I see you have escaped from the Amazons."

"Escaped?" The blond figure who was standing on a nearby hillside laughed. "I had those busty savages running from me! Why, I must've sent arrows into the eyes of a dozen of them before they fled into the jungle."

The dwarf grunted. "Oh, brother..."

"I don't know how you always get captured by the pretty ones," Vic said.

"It's a gift and a curse, friend," the ranger said, before pointing his narrow chin at the dwarf. "But surely if I can take on an entire tribe of large, cannibalistic Women, you can take on a single Man who could barely wrestle a fire beetle at his size!"

"What?" the dwarf growled. "Come down here and say that, blondie."

The ranger slid down the hillside on the back of his bow and stopped a few inches short of the dwarf.

"How's this?" he asked.

The dwarf only came up to his waist.

"...I hate you guys," he muttered.

Beautiful but short-lived laughter filled the air.

"Hark!" Eric called out. He held up his hand as the noise began to disperse and listened closely. "I hear something. Are you...by chance...looking for a princess?"

"Yes!" Vic ran towards him. "Do you know where she is?"

"Aye. My keen Elven senses have caught wind of her serenading voice over yonder."

"Where!?"

Eric pointed, making a dramatic gesture out of a movement so simple. "Up there—in that tower!"

"Um...hello?" The dwarf waved his arms. "Evil villain down here. We have to do battle. I'm not just going to let you walk through me."

Vic bopped him over the head with the blunt of his sword.

"The terrible beast has been slain," he said quickly. "Now come, Elven Ranger Eric, so that we may rescue the princess before nightfall. That is when the much more fearsome foes come out from the forest."

They climbed aboard Vic's mount and waited for a large, delicately manicured hand to descend from the heavens and propel their ride forward. Cheering, they flew past the rounded orange hills and citrus-colored earth, coming at last to a large gap that stood between them and the base of an ivory tower.

"We'll have to cross this chasm on foot if we hope to save the princess," Vic said.

Eric carefully peered over the edge. "This is a rather deep hole, my friend. If we fall, we'll surely be killed."

"If we don't find a way across, the princess will surely be killed and our quest will be in vain."

"Then let us be smart about this and call out to the princess. Perchance she knows something that can help us."

"A splendid idea. Let us cry out in unison."

Putting their heads together, they yelled the princess' name over the chasm. Their not-so-angelic voices echoed off the canyon walls and eventually reached the ears of the royal princess.

"Vic! Eric!" she cried from the window at the top of the tower. "Is that you? Have you come to rescue me?"

"We have, princess," Vic said. "But this great divide stands between us. Do you know of a way across?"

The princess thought for a moment.

"You might be able to climb my hair," she said. "If it holds, you could ride it over the chasm and scale the side of the tower using my tresses as a rope." She leaned forward and let down her hair. "But do be careful! I just had my hair done before I got kidnapped."

Vic and Eric stared at the wondrous, chestnut-colored locks that dangled over the chasm in front of them.

"This is risky," Eric said.

Vic readied himself. "This is for the princess."

They each grabbed a handful of hair and jumped into the chasm. As gravity pulled them down, they held tight and aimed for the ivory tower. But it was too much. They overshot it, causing the thick strands to swing back like a pendulum and their bodies to be twisted wildly through the air. They were barely able to keep from falling. The princess closed her eyes, unable to watch.

As our heroes came back a second time, they were finally able gain a handhold on the tower. Its walls were silky and slippery, however, and they slid down almost to the base before they were able to begin their ascent.

"We're almost there," Vic cried out. "All we have to do now is—"

He was cut short by something hard that smacked him from behind. It was Stubby the Crazed Dwarf—swinging from the princess' hair!

"What are you doing?" Vic yelled. "I already killed you."

"Hey—if you get to climb around in her hair, so do I."

On the return swing, the dwarf tried to kick Vic off the tower, but the knight allowed himself to slide down just far enough to be out of the dwarf's reach.

"You're dead!" Vic said. "You can't just come back to life."

"Maybe I'm a zombie dwarf. Ever think about that?"

"You can't keep changing the rules!"

"I can do whatever I want. I'm evil—muahaha!"

"I'm telling on you. Princess!"

Hearing her name, she opened her eyes and looked down from the tower. "Is Stubby being a sore loser again?"

"He's always sore," Eric said. "He's just being a loser this time."

The princess sighed. "Stubby... If you're dead, you can't be moving."

"Well, I'm moving, so I must be alive," the dwarf answered. He tried to knock Vic from the tower again, but before he could, two fingers came down, pinched his head like a grape, and plucked him from the curtain of hair.

"Do I have to remind you about the rules again, Cain?" she asked.

Eric laughed. "Ha, ha! She called you by your real name."

"That's what I want to be called, numbskull!" the dwarf hollered.

"That's another thing," the princess continued. "You're too loud. Especially for somebody who is supposed to be dead."

The hand set him down on the other side of the great divide and then placed a banana on top of him.

"Hey, that was my horse," Vic said.

The hand carefully peeled the banana, tore off a small chunk, and popped it into the mouth of the princess, who only shrugged innocently. But her shrug was enough to shake Vic from the tower.

With the reflexes of an elf, Eric grabbed the knight's hand in midair and pulled him back. Together, they scaled the rest of the tower without difficulty and found themselves atop the princess' shoulder.

"We did it!" Vic said. "We saved the princess."

Eric panted as he pulled himself onto the mound of flesh. "Whew... I'm just glad the princess isn't in another tower this time. That would be really annoying."

The princess giggled, but she was careful to keep her arm very still. She was, after all, reclining back on her pillow and didn't want the Men to wind up on the floor, where they could be stepped on or killed.

"I love these crazy adventures of yours," she said, clapping her hands. "Stories about brave Men saving princesses... What did you call them again?"

"Fairy tales," Vic said.

"Well, they're amazing. You two come off so heroic and daring."

"You know it's not all acting, doll."

She giggled again.

The great chamber door on the other side of the room opened with a slow creak. An armored sentry entered, wearing a blue-and-gold plated helmet and carrying a poleax that was strapped to her back. She seemed a bit taken back at first and then bowed her head out of respect before advancing towards the princess.

"Good evening, Erika," the soldier said. "I didn't expect to find you awake."

Erika quickly put a hand on her cheek and leaned back, trying to conceal the Men on her shoulder. "You caught me just as I was about to close my eyes."

"Then you will have to excuse my intrusion, but there is an emissary of Ellewyn here to see you."

"What? At this hour?"

"It's Fallon. I thought you would desire to speak with her, but I can request she return at a more appropriate time if—"

"Fallon is here?" Erika swung her legs over the bed and sat upright, forgetting all about the two Men who were flung back into her web of hair. They clung desperately for their lives. "You will do no such thing, Odessa! I will gladly see her."

The sentry nodded, although she seemed distracted by Erika's strange behavior. "Of course. I will have her wait in the atrium until you are properly dressed and...um, ready to receive guests."

"No, you've kept her waiting long enough. Tell her she is free to come in now."

Odessa didn't move.

"Well?"

"It's just...these are troubled times," she explained. "You may have friends in the royal court of Ellewyn, but it's important that we still keep up our appearances. They are, after all, very good to us."

"Are you saying I am not dressed well enough for a social affair with Fallon?"

"It's not you, princess. It's..."

"What?"

"...I think you know what I mean."

"I most certainly do not."

"Erika..."

"Well, you can't possibly mean the little ones," the princess said hastily, pushing the banana off Cain. She put him and the rest of the banana in the fruit bowl on the table. "They've never hurt anybody."

Odessa sighed. "Do you know any other princesses who keep Men as pets?"

"I'm afraid I don't know enough princesses to answer that." Erika walked over to the long-sided mirror in the corner of the room and began adjusting her white gown. She still didn't notice the squirming figures banging into the back of her neck. "But if you are trying to liken me to Isabella, need I remind you that I am nothing like her?"

"I believe I speak for all of Kaligar when I say we are all grateful for that."

"But yet you believe that by showing a teensy bit of compassion towards Men, we will be damaging our relations with Ellewyn. Have you forgotten Men are an integral part of Kaligar's history?"

"I don't doubt the benefit their race has been to our kingdom. In fact, I find it hard to imagine a world without them... I simply don't think it wise to show an ambassador of Ellewyn that you openly welcome their kind into our palace walls. You must understand that in other parts of the world—Ellewyn, especially—that kind of behavior is unheard of."

"Your concerns have been noted, Odessa. Now see Fallon in."

After realizing she wasn't getting through to the princess with common sense, Odessa gave up. "...I will do as you ask, Erika, for I do not wish to make enemies with you. In the future, however, I would beseech you to heed my advice and consider the consequences of winding up on Ellewyn's bad side. This is hardly the time to be testing the bond of our relationship with our protector."

Erika gave an arrogant smirk and a quiet nod of her head. "I will see you when you return with Fallon."

-------------------------

When Odessa appeared in the doorway again, she was accompanied by a cheery-faced courier wearing a white lace tunic, long dark pantaloons, and colorful red ribbons in an otherwise plain head of hair.

"Lady Fallon to see you," Odessa said. She held open the door with one hand and extended the other to allow the messenger of Ellewyn through.

"Thank you for seeing me in at this late hour, Odessa," the courier said. "I understand the dangers of opening your gates at night."

"It's always a pleasure to receive emissaries from Ellewyn. We don't get the chance to commune with our sister kingdom nearly enough."

"An unfortunate consequence of our fair cities being so far apart and having the roads between us fraught with bandits and killers, I'm afraid."

Odessa frowned. "I do hope none of them gave you trouble. Our watch has a difficult time in governing the lands outside of Masiela."

"Oh, no. I've found that thieves tend to leave people of my profession alone, knowing the only things we carry in our possession are letters and poems."

"I suppose your rapier helps to keep them away as well."

Blushing, Fallon let a hand grace her hip. "Yes... Although I only fence for sport."

"We know that, but they don't."

They both laughed. By now, Erika had made her way to the door.

"Fallon," she spoke in a stern voice. "Surely you didn't come all the way from Felwinter to stand in my doorway and make small talk with everybody but me."

Fallon closed her mouth, smiled, and clasped her hands together at her waist. "Hello, Erika."

Erika's glower quickly faded into a childish grin and she threw her arms around Fallon with no consideration of what would pass for proper royal conduct.

"Fallon, I missed you!" she said. "How does it feel to be back in Masiela? Did you miss this place?"

The courier returned her embrace, but there was a certain rigidness in her arms that made her seem uncomfortable and out of place. Perhaps it was the Men who were nearly crushed between her and Erika. Fallon gave them an awkward smile and tried not to notice them wriggling around in Erika's tresses, but it was something like trying to ignore a stain on a white shirt.

Which, ironically, they almost were.

"It's always nice to come back here," Fallon answered. "I forget sometimes how warm it is in your part of the world."

"It's always like this!"

"Yes, I know."

"You would like it even more if you stayed here. Perhaps for a vacation?"

Fallon just smiled sadly.

Feeling that was her cue to leave, Odessa moved towards the door. "Excuse me, but I am needed back at my post. Bandits don't sleep at night, so neither can I!"

"Of course," Erika said. "I am sorry for removing you from duty."

Fallon shook the guard's hand. "It's always good seeing you, Odessa."

"The feeling is mutual, my friend." The sentry stopped for a moment to deliberate over a thought that had just occurred to her. "Say, when is your next tournament?"

"A fortnight from tomorrow. Are you thinking of entering?"

"And let you humiliate me in front of all of Ellewyn? You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"A lot of people would pay to see you in a duel again."

"A-ha! So the truth comes out." Odessa gestured towards Erika. "Do you see what she does to me? She does this all the time. She tries to use money to lure me into her circus show. Well, Fallon, it's going to take a lot more than—"

"It's for charity."

Odessa bit down on her tongue. "...Oh, you're good."

Fallon smiled.

"How much?"

"Five thousand gold pieces."

Odessa whistled. "That'll put clothes on a lot of children's backs."

"Yes, it will."

"Is Ellewyn suffering that much?" Erika asked.

Fallon made no attempts to dodge the question. "There are people who could use the money."

"But this sword-fighting charade should help them," Odessa said.

"As long as we can find a few participants who are willing to donate their winnings towards charity."

"Well, you'll win, Fallon. I've seen what you can do with a sword and somebody to point it at. What do you need me and my old bones for?"

"I need you to show my girls what a three-time former world champion can do at fifty-two years of age."

"Oh, so you want to dress me up and make me the ringmaster of your circus."

"I just want you to think about it. I don't need an answer today."

"Yeah, but you'll hound me until you get one. I've seen you do it before. I'm going to get out of here while I still have my dignity to spare." With a grin, she tipped her helmet and shut the door quietly behind her.

Now that they were alone, Erika turned to Fallon and began to study her closely. "...I should've known. You got that look."

"Hm?"

"I hate that look."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ugh! Fallon, you're a terrible liar—you know that? That's the all-work-and-no-play look. You're not here on vacation at all, are you?"

"...Not exactly," she admitted. "It's—"

"Business as usual. I know, Fallon. I know." Erika sighed, heaving her bare shoulders in a circular motion, and turned away in mild but restrained frustration. Her eyes looked for a distraction and finally landed on the table next to the divan. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Yes, that would be lovely."

Erika walked over to the table and picked up a handful of strawberries. She threw the Cain-shaped one back in the bowl. "I know this palace must seem like a hovel compared to that big castle in the mountains you live in, but I can at least make you comfortable during your stay."

Once her hands were full, she turned around.

"You are staying, I presume?" she prodded.

"Well... Isabella did give me two weeks leave of absence. If it would suit you, I could use that time and your facilities to train before the tournament."

"If it would suit me... Look at you, talking like we're two strangers passing each other on the street!" Erika grabbed a strange cylindrical device off the wall and began plopping strawberries into it one at a time. "You don't have to be so professional with me, Fallon. We used to wear each other's undergarments, you know. On our heads."

"I will never be ashamed of showing respect to people who truly deserve it."

Erika shook her head as she wiped her hands on a nearby towel and then carried the device over to Fallon. "Have you ever seen one of these before?"

"I cannot say I have. What is it?"

"It's a new invention that was given to me by Men. It chops up fruits and mixes them together into a creamy juice." She set it down on the table. "They call it a blender."

Fallon looked through the clear-sided tube. "Really? And you can put anything you want in it?"

"Pretty much."

"Do you intend to put them in it?"

"Huh?" Erika looked to where Fallon was pointing and realized Vic and Eric were still trapped in her hair. She turned as red as the strawberries in the blender.

"Oh, my—I'm so sorry," she said, quickly unknotting them from her hair. "You two could've fallen in that machine and been chopped into pieces." Then she remembered Fallon, who was staring at her, and quickly corrected herself. "I mean... Stupid Men! I was going to make strawmenberry juice out of you, but I'll have to come up with a worse fate for you in the morning as punishment for crawling around in my hair."

Vic and Eric gawked at her, wide-mouthed.

"Erika..." Fallon said.

"Yeah...?" Erika answered meekly.

But the courier only smiled. "You don't have to keep secrets from me. My opinion of you was formed long ago and it won't change because of how you treat Men."

That was a weight off Erika's chest.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said. "There are others who wouldn't speak to me if they knew I allowed Men into my bedchamber." She set the Vic and Eric down on the table and gave them a slight flick with her pinky finger.

"Watch this," she said. She put the top on the blender, held it down with one hand, and used the other to press the red button on the front of the device. Almost immediately, the blades inside began to whirl, causing Vic and Eric to fall to their knees and cover their ears. The strawberries inside the blender were sent spiraling and exploded like hearts against the raging blades. Within seconds, there was a pool of red liquid and juice dripping down the sides of the tube.

Fallon was still staring at the machine in bewilderment when the last drop of juice trickled into the pool.

"That's amazing," she finally breathed.

Erika set a glass underneath a spout that extended from the machine and pressed another button. Fresh strawberry juice poured out, stopping automatically when the glass was filled to the rim.

"You see, there are some perks to having Men work for you," Erika said, handing Fallon the glass, and then reaching for another one.

Fallon watched the juice swash around in her glass before she took a sip.

"This act that you do..." Erika said, her eyes on the glass. "It doesn't fool me."

"What act?" Fallon laughed.

"This...polite, well-mannered act. It suits you, but I still see the little girl with those same ribbons in her hair who could belch so loud that it would wake everybody in the servant's quarters."

"That was a long time ago," Fallon said.

"Same ribbons."

"Different girl."

Erika grinned. "I believe something about certain opinions being formed long ago would also apply here."

Fallon's reaction was hidden behind her next sip of juice.

Erika didn't press the issue. Instead, she set her glass on the table and gestured towards the curtained doorway that led outside.

"Come," she said. "We can talk in the courtyard where we'll have more privacy."

Fallon looked down at the two Men on the table who were watching her. With a frown, she set her glass in front of them and followed Erika outside.

Inside the palace, you never felt alone. Even if you were by yourself, the ceilings in every room were so high up that you could hear the echoes of your own movements as you passed through. Fallon noticed the same effect at the castle back in Felwinter. No matter which room you were in, you felt like somebody was watching you. But it was a good feeling. You knew you were home, in a place you were welcome... But it wasn't like that outside.

Outside, all noises of the night seem hushed. You feel like you are trespassing on sacred ground. There might have been four or five guards patrolling the area, but they moved slowly and were hard to distinguish from the humanoid statues in the garden. Erika and Fallon walked in silence down a long stone walkway that was lined with torches. The flames burned over their heads and they looked up, when at last they came to the end of the walkway, to see so many stars in the sky that they seemed to overlap one another. In this land, there was a certain stillness that would almost be inviting if not for the black sheets of canvas that blanketed the horizon.

"...I will admit," Fallon said. "My reasons for making this journey extend beyond your gracious hospitality."

Erika led the way over to a balcony that overlooked the rest of the courtyard. "When I heard you mention the financial difficulty Ellewyn is having, I knew you didn't come here to talk about you or me... This is about Isabella, isn't it?"

"I suppose that's as good of a place as any to start... Let's be honest with each other. She came into power much sooner than you or I had wished."

"Indeed. It was a dark day when I was told of the death of the Royal Queen."

"You were close, I know. It must pain you, as it does me, to not have been there in her time of need."

"She fell ill so suddenly. I don't think anybody could've known." Erika laid a hand on Fallon's fingers. "But when I cried, I cried for your people. To fall under the rule of a vile and oppressive monster like Isabella is a fate I wouldn't wish on anybody. Please understand that."

"Isabella will be fine," Fallon assured her. "She is young and she will make a great ruler in time."

"...Are you sure we're talking about the same Isabella?"

Fallon laughed, but it was a joke Erika didn't share in.

The amusement in her voice didn't last long enough for the moment to be awkward, but the silence that followed was more than discomforting for the both of them.

"Actually..." Fallon said, leaning against the rails of the balcony. "I came here to warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"Our scouts recently returned from the deserts in the east and they told us Sorena's power is growing much faster than their former estimates had suggested. At this rate, they say, she will be capable of crossing the Tethys Sea by the next full moon. That's all the time we have to prepare."

"I see... And you are worried for my people?"

"I suppose that depends on who you consider your people."

Erika chuckled and looked away, silent for a moment. "...They've already gotten to you, haven't they, Fallon?"

"What do you mean?"

"You would have me turn my back on Penee to save the people of Kaligar."

"No, that's not what I—"

The princess raised her hand. "It's okay, Fallon. You would find a way to make it sound more appealing, but I'm young and stubborn and it's still genocide to my ears. You have to understand that it's in my nature as a human being not to step away so that an entire race can be annihilated underneath my feet. Well, Sorena's feet... But you know what I mean..."

"I do, Erika." Fallon gripped the railing tight and closed her eyes. "Your intentions are pure. I just don't want to see this come to war."

"There hasn't been a war on Adelais in 500 years. If Sorena thinks she can come back to life, shoot a couple bolts of lightning from her fingertips, and turn this world upside-down again, she's gravely mistaken. Kaligar will not welcome her home. We're going to show her what these past 500 years have done for humanity, and we'll throw her back to the Dark Ages and lock the door. That is what she has coming if she sets one foot in my kingdom."

Her remarks were met with a faded smile.

"I know you will never give into Sorena's demands," Fallon whispered. "But the war I speak of, should it come to light, will not be her doing."

Erika looked at her inquisitively, but the courier had nothing more to say.