101. Perfect Time of Knight
Princess Rosella stood next to Jafar's fallen body as it lay upon a sooty bed of coal. Her tiny fists were balled up with as
much fight as she could muster. If it weren't for the direness of the situation, she might have looked quite comical. But
her determination to stand by her fallen hero, regardless how skinny her arms were, was nothing short of admirable.
There was no question of her guts. Initially that is what kept the dwellers of the dark from slashing the slender girl into
ribbons. But they could feel the fear even as it washed off her sweaty trembling body. The little balled fists shook, the
eyes blinked to dam the tears, the unsteady legs rocked her entire body. There was no question of her guts. She
would stand over Jafar until her last sweet breath.
Rosella sucked in to take just that as she tried to control the whimper that escaped as her muscles tightened, seeing the
first of the monstrosities leap at her. It's claws were poised just as its teeth were gnashed to cut into the softness that
was Rosella's pale white skin. The princess stood there and took it like a grown woman. But her courage was not
absolute. Fear and reaction were uncontrollable and she squeezed her eyes shut, and let out a groan in anticipation of
the horror she could not imagine was next. As next came, she found the pain was not quite as horrifying as she
imagined. In fact it felt like nothing more than a tiny poke in the ribs.
Sensing that death was not as painful as she had feared, Rosella summoned the courage to open her eyes. She
flinched at the sight of the wicked beast looking back at her. Then glancing down to inspect her mortal wound, she
touched the dress all about her torso and gasped. There was no blood. And the beast's claw that had "slain" her was
no claw at all. It was a point of metal. And while it poked her uncomfortably in her ribs, it drew not a drop of royal blood.
Looking up in confusion, Rosella could make out a shadowy form standing behind the monster.
The steely point withdrew from her rib and likewise from the vile monster's back leaving it to slump to the floor and
Rosella to let out a frightened gasp. It was only then that the naive princess noticed that half a dozen of the
subterranean dwellers lay dead at her feet! She put her hand to her mouth, but controlled herself out of respect of her
latest rescuer. Looking back up, she squinted her eyes in the low light. "Knight?" she asked in a timid voice. He
nodded in silent reply. Rosella suddenly felt compelled to graciously hug the brooding heroic teddy bear, but seeing
him take a reserved step back, she awkwardly put her hands to her sides, smoothing out her skirt, and rocking on her
heels.
After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Rosella looked up at Knight and noticed that he had not survived the fight
without a few scratches of his own. Reaching a slender hand up toward the bloody streaks, she gasped, "You're hurt!"
"It's nothing. I'm fine," he replied, batting her hand away. The princess wrinkled her nose at him. "Besides, I've got to
get you up to see Night. He knows something... about this castle."
"Jafar!" exclaimed Rosella.
"I'll tend to him," replied Knight echoing the girl's concern. "There's a small tunnel up against that wall. I can give you a
boost. At the fork, take a right. It will lead you to Night." Rosella nodded and followed Knight over toward the wall.
Taking his hand, she allowed him to gently raise her up so that she could crawl into the raised tunnel.
Before crawling in, Rosella turned to Knight with a smile. "Thank you for rescuing me."
Returning her smile with half of one, the princess thought she saw him roll his eyes, but she definitely heard him
mumble, "whatever."
Turning back toward tunnel, Rosella giggled at Knight's seriousness. After crawling a few dozen feet, the tunnel forked
into two directions, just as he said it would. Now which direction did he say again?
Right
Left