~*~*~*~

"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees." --Delores Ibarruri

~*~*~*~

Woods of Hermatige
Spring, 1357

It was the knock that woke her. The King was now battling another illness 
on top of his recovery and she had used all her strength to keep him 
alive. It was with the thought of a nap that she had fallen off into the 
sweet release of sleep. Now someone had taken the time to wake her.

She was half way to the door when it burst open. Five soldiers greeted her 
while five more waited outside of her small cottage. She wasn't shocked to 
see them, but she prayed that they wouldn't be able to see the King. 

The Captain of the Guard walked in first while the other four followed him. He 
started to look around, "What are you searching for?" she asked. 

"None of your business." he snapped.

She would have said more but common sense ruled over her. These soldiers 
could kill her without any remorse or care. She promptly stood still 
and allowed the soldiers to search her home. 

She noticed however that one of the soldiers that had pursued her earlier 
was not among them. She waited a good hour as they looked in her home 
and around it. Finally without so much as a word they left.

When she closed the door she surveyed the damage and sucked in a huge breath. 
After she calmed herself down she started to put together everything the 
soldiers had torn apart. She gave a prayer of thanks to God that they only 
pulled things from shelves and not actually destroy anything. 

It was some time later when there was a knock at her door. She stopped in 
the middle of organizing her herbs and answered the door. The Captain of 
the Guard walked in.

"Good Afternoon Darryl." she greeted. 

"Good afternoon Piper." he greeted back. "I wanted to apologize for earlier." he apologized. 

"Thank-you, but I understand. You are the Captain of the Guard it wouldn't 
benefit you or I if they knew of our association." she explained. 

"True. I was wondering if you could fill in the story for me." 

"Story?" she asked.

"Yes, like what do you know of the disappearance of the King?" 

She gave him a grin as she jerked her head to her left where herbs, flowers, 
and cloth was piled up on a table.

He gave her a curious look and then went over there. He tried to remove 
everything, but to no avail. "What is this?" he asked. 

She smiled and moved a flower and the top of the table popped open 
herbs, flowers, and all. Darryl moved to see his beloved King barely hanging 
onto life. "What... How...?" Darryl could barely breathe. 

Piper put the lid back down. "It will keep him warm. With these cool 
days he needs something warmer than blankets." she explained to him. 

Darryl just nodded. 

"Why don't you sit down." she suggested. He nodded once again and sat in 
the small chair next to the "table". 

"I was picking herbs that day. I had heard some noises and I followed them. I 
saw a group of soldiers standing around something. I looked for you but never 
found you. I accidentally stepped on a branch and it snapped alerting them to my 
presence. I ran as fast as I could. I made it to the lake and went into the 
cave. I finally made it back and found him buried. I took every precaution I 
had and brought him back here. I've been trying to take care of him, but as 
you can see..." she trailed off.

Darryl had recovered enough to listen to what she said. "Did you recognize any 
of the soldiers?" he asked. 

She shook her head. "So what do you want to share?" she asked. 

"Daniel has been made King." he told her. 

"He always wanted to be King. How are you taking it?" she inquired. 

"It was one of the reasons I came here. I had overheard some soldiers talking and saying that a small boy had witnessed the event. I hoped that it would be you. I thought maybe you could help me."

"I'm sorry. This is all I have. I've been keeping him here for a while, but 
he doesn't seem to be responding well. If my medicine doesn't take effect then 
he isn't going to last a fortnight." Piper warned. 

Darryl nodded, "Then we'll both be in trouble. As you know Daniel was never fond of me. Hated the fact that Leo allowed me to be in such a position. Do you know he even sent for Lord Bennett's daughter?" 

Piper shook her head, "It doesn't surprise me though. Daniel has always 
been vindictive. Can you trace him to this crime?" 

It was Darryl's turn to shake his head. 

"Then the only thing to do is to pray that he makes it through this." She told him.

"If anyone can do it you can Piper. You saved my son. I have complete faith in 
your abilities." he encouraged her. 

She blushed at the compliment, "Thank-you. Stay safe. I know I don't need 
to tell you, but I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She patted his 
arm and watched as he walked out of the cottage.

However, he stepped back in for a moment though, "Is that where you hid when...?" 
he trailed off. She nodded her head. He gave her a small smile and then left.

~*~

Somewhere Outside Bennett Manor
Spring, 1357

Running wasn't easy. Especially in nightwear. "Where are we going?" Prudentia 
asked as they continued to move past the wall that surrounded the manor.

"Away from your father." was the gruff reply. 

She didn't say anything more. Andy was hardly ever this way with her 
and considering their circumstance she let him talk to her that way, but 
only because of their circumstances.

It had seemed to Prudentia that they had been running for some time, but 
she was only allowed that short thought for a few minutes until she 
was falling. She could have screamed out, but she wasn't sure. She saw 
the hard ground next to her and then everything went black.

"Prudentia." she heard Andrew calling for her. She felt her head pounding 
and had no desire to open her eyes. "Come on Prudentia, wake up." he 
gently prodded. 

She really didn't want to open her eyes, but she wanted to make sure that 
he knew she was okay. Slowly and carefully she opened her eyes. and then 
shut them. 

"Greetings." he whispered to her. 

She would have given him a smile, but it hurt to much as it was. 
"What happened?" she choked out. 

"We fell down a very large hole I'm afraid." She groaned and he chuckled
at her. "I'm sorry, but for a while now I've been trying to get us out of here, 
but to no avail."

With help from Andrew, Prudentia stood up and looked up. They were in 
a hole. It was in a circular motion and they had to be at least eight feet
down. All Prudentia could see were the stars and the dark branches of 
the trees up above. They were going to be in there until someone drug 
them out. That could take awhile and in the darkness it was very cold.

She started to shiver and Andrew came and held her next to him. "We'll 
have to wait until the sun is fully up." he told her. She nodded into 
his shoulder.

They sat together with Prudentia sitting in Andrew's lap her body curled 
around his. "I'm sorry." Prudentia whispered. 

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" asked Andrew's shocked voice. 

"Well if I had done what was asked of me we wouldn't be in this position. 
I always seem to be getting people in trouble and now here we are in the 
middle of the night in a hole." she whined. 

Andrew hooked his finger under her jaw and gently made her look 
at him, "Do not be sorry. If you were anyone else I would not love you. You 
are exactly who you are suppose to be and God knows that. He has a plan 
for us Prudentia. We just have to be patient." Andrew's voice was soothing 
and Prudentia nodded along with his words.

"It's getting cold." she chattered.

He rubbed her arms, but it wasn't as much help as they would have liked. 
Then he smiled, leered was more like it, but it still meant something was 
going on in his mind. "It takes two bodies to create warmth." he announced. 

She looked at him to see where he was taking it. 

"And since there are two of us here, I believe we can create our own warmth." 
he explained. 

"Here?" Prue was more than a little weary of being intimate with him in a hole.

He kissed her, and then he kissed her again. He moved so that her legs 
wrapped around his waist and his knees came up and covered her lower back.
He moved her wrapper and then her nightgown revealing her flesh to him. He 
kissed her collarbone and inched his way down. Her hands held the back 
of his neck while he continued to kiss further down.

His mouth inched closer down right before he could kiss where she wanted
it most they heard a twig break. 

They scrambled apart and Prudentia put straightened her wrap and night gown. 

"Well what do we have down here?" a male's laughing voice asked. 

Andrew placed Prudentia behind him, "Who are you?" Andrew demanded. 

"I do not believe you are in the position to be asking me questions." the man taunted. The man stood up and shouted to someone behind him. 

Five men surrounded the hole and soon they were making their way down to 
where Andrew and Prudentia were stuck.

--

"Would you put me down?" Phoibe demanded. 

"I had strict orders." came his reply. 

His only reply. She had been on the shoulder of a tall man for 
a while now. His strength amazed her. His answers annoyed her. Being lifted 
away and stolen from her home had never been in her plans. To be confused 
for Prudentia wasn't either. "I told you my name is not Prudentia it's..."

"Phoibe." he interrupted, "I have heard you, but I have strict orders." he 
stated again. 

Phoibe seethed. She had no idea who the man was or where his orders 
came from, but she wanted down!

She had asked every question that she could think of and still the only 
reply that the man would allow was, "I have strict orders." or something 
to that effect. Her only comfort was that she had been wrapped in a blanket 
which fought off the night's freeze. They had been traveling for some time 
and the man's shoulder was becoming a problem.

If she had seen anything but the ground she might have been able to see 
where they were going. As it was most of it was a blur and she was getting 
dizzy. She closed her eyes and tried taking deep breaths.

When she opened her eyes again she was lying on the ground. The memories 
of what had happened before played through her mind. She groaned and sat 
up. The blanket was wrapped around her with the utmost care and she was 
warm. Still she needed to find out who her captor was and if there was 
any way of getting back to Bennett Manor. She looked around to see that 
she was alone in a white tent. She could only guess as to who had captured
her.

She stretched for a moment and then with the need to go pressing her body 
she stood up. The moment she pulled back the tent five men looked up from 
what they were doing to stare at her. 

A tall man who was slim and looked to be danger itself came forward. 

"Phoibe?" he asked. 

She nodded, "I am. If you please sir, I have a need that is most pressing." 

He caught her thought and smirked and pointed her in a direction that she could go.

When her business was finished she found that a man from the small camp 
was sitting and waiting for her. He said nothing but followed her back.

The one from before came out from the circle of the camp to greet her. "Can 
I ask what it is that I am doing here?" she inquired. 

"This is Jason. He is my right hand man. He will be with you for the duration 
of your time with us."

"May I inquire of your name sir?" she insisted. 

"It is Kohl." was his answer and he left. 

Phoibe turned her attention to the man who had followed her back. He 
had hair the color of wheat and his features were softer than that of Kohl's. 
Where Kohl had the blackest hair and blackest eyes to match his name, Jason was 
light. 

"Jason, your name is also Greek." she said. Maybe if she played nice 
she could get some answers, but he only nodded. "Could you tell me why I'm 
here?" she came out and asked. 

He shook his head 'no'.

Before she could get too upset there was a commotion behind her.  She turned 
around and saw a pair of people.  A man in a guard's uniform without the metal 
armor and a woman plastering herself to his back.  She was in a wrapper of 
ivory color and had the blackest hair.  Almost as dark as Kohl's.  It was when 
she shifted that Phoibe actually got a glance at her.

"Prudentia?" she called out. 

Prudentia looked up, "Phoibe!" she exclaimed. 

Phoibe started running toward her friend when Kohl stepped between the two and stopped them.

"Sir, we found them in that hole we dug." a man from behind Prudentia said. 

It 
was then that Phoibe saw that the man in front of Prudentia was in fact  Andrew. 

"Andrew?" Kohl asked. 

"Kohl?" Andrew echoed.  Kohl walked toward him and the two men embraced. 

"It's okay men. This is my half brother, Andrew." he told them. The men 
nodded and let the four people have their space.

Kohl nodded to the man that had Prudentia letting her go and Phoibe and her having 
their female reunion. 

"Are you okay?" Prudentia asked. 

Phoibe nodded, "They meant to take you. At first I thought it was your 
father and his guards so I got in your bed..." she trailed off as Prudentia laughed. 

Phoibe's face smacked of indignance. Prudentia shook her head, "Phoibe, 
I simply laugh out of relief and love. You are such a wonderful friend and 
I praise God for you. You live up to your namesake for I know of no one else 
who has ever been as pure as you?"

Phoibe's eyes misted. She had missed her friend dearly and all the time being 
held captive made her wonder if she would ever see her again. 

Andrew came over to the two girls along with Kohl, "Prudentia, I would like 
for you to meet my half brother, Kohl." 

Kohl bowed before Prudentia, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Prudentia curtseyed. 

Kohl then turned his attention to Phoibe, "Please forgive my rudeness, I was 
under direct order to keep quiet." 

Phoibe gave a nod of her head, "All is forgiven sir." 

Andrew pulled Prudentia aside, "We will be traveling with Kohl until he is ready 
to go back to his homelands." 

Prudentia nodded, "What of the babe?" she asked.

"We have no choice. Kohl can provide us protection. If we have any chance of 
making it through this then we will need his help." 

"Okay." was her only answer and had to wonder what was going to happen now.

--

Woods of Hermitage
Spring 1357

Piper was going about her daily chores when there was a knock at the door. She 
stopped her sweeping and walked to the door expecting Darryl. 

"Your Heiness?" she asked shocked and then promptly fell before Daniel. 

"Do not be so formal I'm here alone." he told her. 

Piper stood back up and looked at him. He was a handsome man, and in his 
royal robes even more so. "Can I ask why you are visiting me?" 

Daniel gave her annoyed look, "Piper you know why I am here." he sighed. 

She nodded," I do know, but Daniel we have discussed this." 

His shoulders slumped and Piper still didn't give in to him, "Daniel please, this 
isn't going to work." 

"Why not?" he asked sounding like a petulant child. 

Piper cocked her head, "I will not be your mistress. I do not have a dowry to 
marry you and you can not marry below your station. Besides you were just crowned King and did you not send for Lord Bennett's daughter?" Daniel had the good 
grace to blush at her question. 

"I still love you Piper." he whispered. 

"You may Daniel, but you will not for long. Besides you did send for Lord Bennett's daughter, not even Leonardo did that so soon." 

"What are you implying?" he asked sharply. 

Piper looked up at him her eyebrows raised, "Nothing. Daniel, you and I lead 
different lives and now you are a King. Do not pursue this relationship further. 
You and I will never be and I have no doubt that there are many of girls would 
love to love you." Piper replied honestly.

Daniel hung his head, "You are right I suppose. I did not want it to be true, but 
when is life ever fair?" his question was rhetoric and did not require any 
response. 

Daniel turned around and walked to his horse. She watched as he got 
on and rode away. What really surprised her was that there was no sadness in 
her. A few years ago there might have been, but Daniel's arrogance and his 
displeasure at Darryl had ruined what she had thought of him. 

A sound coming from the box made her turn quickly shutting the door and going to 
see if his majesty was awake. She kept the table open most of the time, but had 
shut it when the knock on the door had occurred. 

She opened it now to see the eyes of the rightful king blinking at her, "Who are 
you?" he asked, but it looked like it took much out of him to ask. 

"My name is Piper sir, but you do not need to worry yourself right now. How 
are you feeling?" she asked.

He didn't say anything for a moment and Piper realized that he had gone to sleep.
Which was normal for his condition. She felt a little surge inside of her. He 
was recovering. She would have to look after him a little more carefully now, but 
she was more than willing to do it. This was going to be an exciting time to 
see what happened when the real King of Hermitage showed up to take his throne 
back.

~*~*~*~

End of Part II