My Knight in Shining Armor

Tyler's Almost Escape

Valencia

Tyler Seguin races through the castle halls in Valencia. His one goal is to escape and find Jonathan once more. He has too. He scampers down the stairs and heads for the vast yard to the side of the castle.

As soon as he steps out of the place, the alarms go off. Yelling and screaming comes from the castle. Tyler darts across the yard, where he'd played a little hockey earlier. He heads toward the wall on the far side of the territory. He continues to glance behind him, to make sure that he is not followed.

He reaches the wall on the far side and looks at it, scaling the height. "Now, how do I get out of here?" He jumps up and attempts to see if he can reach the top of the wall, but fails. He glances around him and then spots a small hole a little ways down. He hesitates, but then creeps over to it and manages to slip through the hole and out.

"Yes! Jonny, I'm coming baby!"

Tyler takes off away from the palace, but skids to a halt, as a horse drawn carriage pulls up on the road and blocks his path. The doors burst open and two guards jump out. They are the two that have been assigned to watch him. They grab his arms and drag him to the carriage.

"NO!!" Tyler screams, fighting the grips on him.

But he is shoved into the carriage and pinned down, across from a furious-looking Brad Marchand.

"Nice try Tyler, but Taylor's not an idiot and neither am I!"

Tyler grunts and spits at Brad. "Bastard!"

"Do you want me to tie you up?"

"No."

"Then settle down and don't fight with me. You have fame and fortune and that is what you've chosen," Brad states.

"But my heart lies elsewhere."

"Yes, yes, you love Jonathan. Give it a rest will ya? Learn to love Taylor."

"The crazy obsessed woman who's kidnapped me twice now?" Tyler growls, as he pulls his arms free from the grips on him.

Brad leans forward and grabs Tyler's chin. "Just remember, you're not free here. If things don't work out, your ass is in the dungeon...and, well...that's my department sweetheart." The lead guard lets his other hand touch Tyler naughtily on the thigh.

Tyler jerks his head to the side and tears it free from Brad's hold. "Fine, lock me up. Like I care...I'll never truly love a woman. Especially one who kidnapped me. Twice."

"Maybe you just need some laughter, some humor, I know this guy who might be able to help out with that..." Brad growls, as the carriage jerks to a halt. He gets up and pushes the doors open. The two guards grip Tyler's arms and force him out of the tiny space.

"No, I NEED to be away from this wretched place!" Tyler snaps. He yanks himself free from the holds again and storms forward and stomps on Brad's foot.

Tyler begins dashing off again, but Brad catches him and tackles him to the ground. He brings his fist down on Tyler's head and knocks him out.

"Hate to resort to violence, but you're not escaping here," Brad grumbles, as he gets off of Tyler and picks him up. "Zenon and Kulikov, tie him up and return him to his room. I'm going to go talk to Queen Taylor and find out what she wants to do with him."

The two guards dart over and take Tyler from Brad. They proceed to bind his arms behind him with rope and then drag him into the palace.

From one of the windows, Jamie Benn, the Jester (and narrator), looks on. He feels sympathy for the young man, unconscious and tied up in the holds of the two guards. He turns from the window and leans against the wall in the hallway of the palace. He grips his "jester staff" in his hand and takes a deep breath. He launches into song once more: