Princess Leanne wept in Amma’s arms for the duration of the night. She didn’t know Amma, but regardless she provided her the shoulder to cry on. The entire night there were no words uttered, the only noises came from the mournful princess. By the time the sun came up, Bwoire had not returned. Anarion kept on his feet. Making sure to be on full alert should an assassin track her down here.

Leanne fell asleep not long after the sun came up. This entire situation left Anarion in a rather awkward position. He planned on staying far away from Amma until next year so he could have time to think things through. It appeared that was not going to happen. The morning sun simply brought awkward feelings and embarrassment to the surface.

An hour after the sun rose there was a knock on the door. “Anarion” called a familiar voice. Anarion looked through the peephole in the door just to be sure. Falcon and Ithilious were waiting. Grabbing onto the door handle Anarion quietly opened the door. He raised his finger to his mouth indicating they should be quite.

Falcon and Ithilious stepped through the door as quietly as they could. They stood at the entrance of Bwoire’s mansion for a moment. Falcon asked, “Why are you still dressed like that?” Anarion looked at him, confused. “Didn’t Bwoire fill you in?” Ithilious said, “Bwoire told the guards at my house to wake me up, get Falcon and report to his house.”

Anarion sighed. He filled them in on the details, of course leaving out the details of the date. Ithilious glared at Anarion. “I was confident the two of you spent the night together when Amma didn’t return home. You didn’t defile her, did you?” Anarion punched Ithilious in the stomach, winding him. “Get your mind out of the gutter. This is a mission.”

Ithilious gasped for air. “Follow me. We have a job to do,” said Anarion. He escorted them to the room where Amma and Leanne were. “Her father, the king was assassinated last night,” said Anarion in a hushed tone right before they entered. Amma was still awake, thankfully the princess was still asleep.

Amma acknowledged their presence as they walked into the room. Amma was fighting sleepiness. It was difficult to do when she was completely immobilized. Finally, noon came around, with it brought Bwoire. He stepped into the room quietly. “We are going to move her back to the palace. However, first, Amma and Anarion need to return home to get their Katarn. We’ll stay on guard here, if the princess want’s to sleep more, she can have a bed in one of my guest rooms.”

Amma gently nudged Leanne awake. She slowly opened her eyes. She looked confused for a moment as to why she was here. Then the reality of what happened slowly sank in. Bwoire crouched down in front of her. “Princess, we are going to escort you back to the palace in awhile. My unit has been assigned to protect you. However, first, the ones who saved your life need to return home and change. Is that okay?”

She nodded her head. Strands of her long auburn hair fell in front of her face as she did. Bwoire stood up. Falcon stepped in to offer her assistance in getting up. She grabbed on to his hand, and he carefully supported her as she stood up. “Bwoire, where am I going?” he asked. “Follow me.” Bwoire and Falcon escorted Leanne to a bedroom. Ithilious followed behind.

Anarion offered a hand to Amma “Your legs must have fallen asleep hours ago.” he said. She took his hand “You have no idea.” Amma carefully stood up and shook her legs until they woke up. They walked to the door and quietly left the building. They walked together silently until they came to the entrance of the first ring. “I’ll see you later,” said Anarion.

They both parted ways. Anarion’s heart was thumping out of his chest. He was somewhat annoyed. He would have no time to think things through. Of course, something like this had to happen, on his first date of all things. Anarion eventually quieted his mind. He returned to his home, quickly took a shower, changed into the one set of his Swordsman garb that was ready, grabbed his Katarn then stepped out the door.

He suddenly remembered he was having furniture made. He had no idea how long this mission would take, so he ran by the shop and told the carpenters to contact Tycondris, that he would leave the spare key with him. Anarion stopped by and popped the key into his mailbox along with a short note explaining the situation.

While running back to Bwoire’s bells started ringing at the royal palace. It seems that news was going to spread that the king had been assassinated. Anarion quietly opened the door to Bwoire’s house whispering out loud “It’s just me.” Everyone was waiting for him. Leanne was sleeping. Falcon gently nudged her awake. “Princess. We’ll be escorting you back to the palace now.”

She nodded her head. She sat up on the bed. Amma looked at Bwoire “We can’t escort her back to the palace like this.” She was referring to her blood-stained nightgown. “Top floor, middle room. See if you can find something that fits her.” Ithilious gave Bwoire an odd look while Amma ran upstairs “Why do you have women’s clothes?”

Bwoire laughed. “They have been left here over the years.” Falcon glared at Bwoire and Ithilious “Could you tone down the perverted levels just for today.” They suddenly remembered they were in the presence of royalty. Amma stepped through the door with a simple red dress and pair of shoes she thought would fit the princess's feet.

She was right about the shoes. They fit perfectly. “Everyone out,” said Amma. The men left the room. Amma was more than enough to stand guard while the princess changed. Thankfully the dress fit. She called them back in. “We’ll move in a cross formation. I’ll watch from a distance,” said Bwoire. They slowly walked outside of the house. Once they got out of the alleyway they quickly made the formation.

Anarion was in front, Amma went to her left, Falcon to her right, and Ithilious behind. Bwoire followed fifty feet behind Ithilious. They walked slowly to the royal palace. When they reached the stairs where Amma and Anarion rescued her, tears started flowing from her eyes. No words could comfort her while she mourned the loss of her father.

They escorted her right to her bedroom. This was the place she would be safest. Her bedroom was lavish, decorated with red carpets and a massive bed with a red comforter on it. On her bed were an assortment of stuffed animals. On each side of the room more stuffed animals. With everyone standing in her bedroom Bwoire said “After the funeral, I am going to begin the investigation of the king's murder. The four of you will stay here and protect her. During the day if she wants to go somewhere, all four of you need to be there.”

Bwoire continued “While she is in her bedroom, one of you needs to be here or outside her room at all times. To make sure everyone gets to sleep I am going to make a shift. The person on shift must be with her at all times.”

“Six in the morning until noon will be Ithilious. noon until six in the evening will be Amma. Six in the evening until midnight will be Anarion. Midnight until six in the morning will be Falcon.” Bwoire continued “Don’t be late for your shift, make sure you act appropriately”

Bwoire looked at Ithilious, indicating his usual shenanigans would not be tolerated. Atop the princess's bed was a clock. The big hand turned to six. Bwoire informed the princess “We will let you know the details of King Aeros' funeral. In the meantime the entire kitchen staff has been replaced, we’ve brought in cooks that I have personally screened.”

Bwoire looked at everyone. “A butler will escort you to rooms you can sleep in.” Anarion pulled up a chair in the corner and sat down on it. “Everyone should get some sleep.” Anarion looked at the princess and asked “Are you hungry?” She was hugging a pillow. She shook her head, indicating she wasn’t hungry.

Everyone slowly left the room. Leanne laid down on her bed and went to sleep. Anarion felt like doing the same, but he had to complete his shift first. It was quite boring, sitting around and doing nothing. There were no windows in the room, as her room was one of the central rooms of the palace.

The only thing Anarion could do was think. He wanted some time to think above all else. It seemed like everything in life was moving so fast, he never had a moment to sit down and think about things. He thought about the date from the previous night. His face turned red “I actually did that.” he was embarrassed by his actions.

During the date, he did everything Tycondris said he should. However looking back, the embarrassment was too much to bear. Time passed slowly, but eventually, in the last fifteen minutes of his shift, Falcon entered the room. They both stepped out into the hallway as not to awaken the sleeping princess.

Falcon had a devious smile on his face. “So, how’d it go last night. Before everything went down.” Anarion said, “Not telling you a thing.” Falcon’s joyful expression turned sour. “You’re no fun.” Anarion yawned “I’m going to bed. Your turn to babysit.” He left Falcon with the last few minutes of his shift.

There were no butlers awake, so instead on crashed on a couch in a living room he found. Finally, the sweet embrace of sleep.