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"My lad, anyone loyal as such to our wonderful King Jauhn is also a good friend of mine." The older man stood up. "You can use my horse for free."

"Oh, thank you, sire, thank you," Greyith said, tears of relief welling up in his eyes. "Be sure that I will always remember you for this, sire."

"Nothing doing, my lad," the older man replied. "But now, you must be on. You cannot waste any time. Hurry and warn the king."

The older man untied his horse, Sheri, and handed the reigns over to Greyith. "She'll come home on her own, just give her the word."

"God speed," the older man wished Greyith, who then galloped down the road toward his destination.

Greyith and Sheri travelled for the rest of the evening. It was rough terrain, with the rugged Craighead Mountains looming on either side.

"The Dark Forest," Greyith said, talking to his horse. "That name sure fits, doesn't it?"

Sheri kept galloping, following the path that leads through the valley and, eventually, to Mount Royal.

"How long do you think it will take us, Sheri?" Greyith knew he wouldn't get any answer, but talking out loud helped make it not quite so gloomy.

Even so, the sun was already setting, and Greyith knew that they would have to stop.

"Who, Sheri, whoa!" Greyith led his horse into a small opening in the woods. He was very thirsty, and he knew that Sheri was too, so he set off in search of a stream.

Back at the castle, not long after the joust ended, Lord Dyrant was standing in one of the tower chambers, pacing the floor.

"My plan!" He bellowed, rubbing his hands together. "Soon you will pay, King Jauhn. You told your daughter not to marry me. It's your fault. You will die!"

At that instant, one of Dyrant's servants, having heard such a commotion coming from his master's chambers, barged into the room.

"My Lord--" he was cut off as Lord Dyrant's clenched fist came in contact with the side of his head.

After looking around and making sure there were no witnesses, Lord Dyrant threw the servant's body over his shoulder and cautiously carried him down three flights of stairs to the dungeon below.

"You fool!" Dyrant released his rage on the limp form of his servant. "You also will die. You spy!"

With those words, he threw the servant onto the flat table, placing the servant's head directly beneath the guillotine blade. A rapid movement of Dyrant's hand released the catch, and the razor sharp blade sliced downward.

Dyrant dragged the bloody body over to the nearest cell and threw it in there to lie with the rest of the bones.

Then, suddenly remembering that he had someone else to take care of, he continued walking through the hallway, looking in each of the cells.

After checking every cell of the dungeon, Lord Dyrant became furious. He charged up the stairs to the main castle floor and shouted for four certain knights.

"Where is that fox?" Lord Dyrant hissed, searching the crowd of knights that had gathered for those four knights he wanted.

"My Lord," Jinsen spoke. "We lost him."

"You what?" Boiling with rage, Lord Dyrant commanded Knight Jinsen to come with him to the dungeon where he would explain what had happened.

A few moments later, Lord Dyrant appeared alone. After calmly wiping his hands, he ordered three groups of men to search the surrounding areas for the missing boy. Another group he also prepared to accompany him to the palace.

"And don't check the castle," Lord Dyrant said, his anger reappearing to replace his nervousness. "I've checked the entire dungeon myself, and wherever the lad has gone, I am quite confident he has not stayed here."

The three groups of knights immediately began searching the forest surrounding the castle. Lord Dyrant helped the knights in his group gather supplies for their journey to visit the king.

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