“He favored me with another patient look. “And how much experience do you have with swords and weapons in general?” “Um.” I glanced down at the saber in my hand. “Thirty seconds?”He smiled, that calm, irritatingly confident smirk. “You’re not going to hit me.”

“But ... but what if I hit you?”A snort. “You’re not going to hit me.”“How do you know?” I bristled at his amused tone. “I could hit you. Even master swordsmen make mistakes. I could get a lucky shot, or you might not see me coming. I don’t want to hurt you.”He favored me with another patient look. “And how much experience do you have with swords and weapons in general?” “Um.” I glanced down at the saber in my hand. “Thirty seconds?”He smiled, that calm, irritatingly confident smirk. “You’re not going to hit me.”

“I glanced at Puck and smiled. "Are you going to stop me?"He held up his hands. "Wouldn't dream of it.”

“Wow, Meghan!” Kimi bounced in place, clapping her hands. “You look awesome! I love what you did with your hair.”“PRINCESS.” Ironhorse looked me up and down, nodding in approval.“TRULY, YOU ARE A VISION.”I glanced at Puck, who was staring at me in a daze. “Um…” he stammered, while I nearly went into shock with the novelty of actually rendering Puck speechless. “You look…nice,” he muttered at last.I blushed, suddenly self-conscious.”

“Robin Goodfellow," I said, giving him a challenging smile, "don't tell me you're afraid."His green eyes flashed with a familiar defiance, and he stepped close taking my hand. "Not on your life princess," he returned, smirking. "Though don't think I don't know what you're doing. If we all end up as llamas, I'm going to spend the rest of my life following you around saying 'I told you so' in llama-ese.”

“If I'd thought I would regret it," he said calmly, "I never would have made that oath. I knew what becoming a knight would mean. And if you asked me again, the answer would still be the same." He sighed, framing my face with his hands. "My life... everything I am... belongs to you.”

“Good idea,” Puck echoed from the back of the cave. “Why don’t you take first watch, prince? You could actually be doing something that doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork.”Ash’s lips curled in a smirk. “I would think you’re better suited to the task, Goodfellow,” he said without turning around. “After all, that’s what you’re best at isn’t it? Watching?”“Oh, keep it up, ice-boy. You’re gonna have to sleep sometime.”