Good Knight

Prince Grendelmere

Sir Theodore felt Penelope's little fingers wrap around his wrists, but only briefly. Soon she lost her grip as he got pulled further and further into the dream world by the Nightmares. He tried to reach for her in order to regain their grasp on each other, but she was lost in all the chaos. With Penelope's cries echoing around him, Sir Theodore felt helpless. All within moments, everything became calm.

It was dark and quiet. The knight knew exactly where he was. The Fable Keeper's library. A passageway to and from the dream world and into the imaginations of humans. He tried to sit up, but his chest hurt from the fall. The struggle was not so difficult for the Nightmares though.

Soon, they were pulling him to his feet and dragging him towards a bookcase. Sir Theodore continued to resist, but he could not succeed. The Nightmares were taking him to Prince Grendelemere, weather he liked it or not. His arms were pulled behind his back. His wrists were clasped in chains.

One of the Nightmares pulled a book off the shelf and opened it. The pages lit up with green, purple and blue magic. Sir Theodore felt a hand push him forward and he fell through the pages and landed just outside Prince Grendelmere's castle.

He had never seen it before. It was as dark as the midnight sky in color and glowing red light illuminated each window. Its tallest tower peaked at its center. The point of each one looked as sharp as the tip of a knife.

Sir Theodore was brought immediately to the throne room. There, Prince Grendelmere sat comfortably in his throne. The Prince of Nightmares was just as Sir Theodore remembered him. His hair as black as night and his complexion as luminous as the moon. Grendelmere's eyes always pierced through their gaze. He wore a cloak as dark as his hair, held together by a silver crescent moon at his shoulder.

Upon the knight's entry, the Prince was in the middle of listening to a Nightmare ramble on. It was obvious the little minion was in trouble. Sir Theodore listened intently to what was going on, curious to find out what Grendelmere was up to.

"I ought to rip you limb from limb!" Grendelmere began to rage. "You had one job! One! And you couldn't even get that right! Do you even pay attention when I tell you things? Do you? I bet I have your full attention now!"

"Yes master!" the Nightmare wailed. It was a girl Nightmare. She was cowering before the Prince of Nightmares.

"Am I going to have to get another Nightmare to handle this job?" Grendelmere asked.

"No!" the Nightmare cried. "I did the best I could! I swear! Children are getting harder and harder to scare these days, Your Highness! You don't know what it's like out there!"

"More excuses," Grendelmere accused. He was wicked enough in a good mood, Sir Theodore feared the worst as he witnessed the Prince brew into a foul one.

"And being a third grade teacher is not the easiest job even when you're not a Nightmare. Do you know I asked one of those brats the other day where his homework was and he said it was still in his pencil!?" the Nightmare explained. The Prince groaned and buried his face in his hand.

"Imagination like that is evidence of a dream spinner! Just like your brother!" the Nightmare went on. Grendelmere looked up from his palm. He seemed stressed. Sir Theodore was sure he'd be toast by the time he was given an audience with the Prince of Nightmares.

"This doesn't excuse you from your failure!" Grendelmere shouted. "I should make you pay with your life!" The Nightmare cowered again and trembled too.

"Could you give me a discount?" she pleaded. Prince Grendelmere was just about ready to lose it when the Nightmares that held Sir Theodore hostage, pulled him forward.

"Your Highness! We've brought you a gift! We think you'll be pleased!" one interrupted. This caught the prince's attention. Sir Theodore was forced to his knees before Grendelmere. The prince leaned forward in interest and acquired a spiteful smirk on his face.

"Teddy, Teddy Bear. Sir Theodore," he said. "Long time, no see, my friend. How have you been all these years?"

"Cursed," Sir Theodore answered through gritted teeth.

"Glad to hear it," Grendelmere stated. His response enraged Sir Theodore, but he dared not make any attempt to attack the prince. He remembered all too well what happened last time he tried that. Grendelmere rose from his throne and descended the pedestal. The prince could see in Sir Theodore's expression that the curse was working and he smirked with spite.

"Come to the window, Sir Theodore. I have something to show you," he insisted. He gestured to the window. The Nightmares pulled him to his feet and escorted him there. From this window in Prince Grendelmere's throne room, there was a vague view of Nod. It did indeed look desolate.

"No," he whispered with a heavy heart. He hadn't been home since the curse was placed on him and in all these years he never thought it would come to this.

"Yes," Prince Grendelmere said. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sir Theodore stared at the sight before him in disbelief. One could say that he hoped it was all just a bad dream, but that was the problem. It was all a bad dream, but for him bad dreams or good dreams, it didn't matter, were all reality for him. A native of this world does not have the luxury of waking up to be able to say; "It's only a dream," like you do. The Nightmares pulled him away from the window and dragged him back to Prince Grendelmere.

"What will you do to me?" Sir Theodore asked. Grendelmere appeared to have been waiting for that question. He stood there proudly and glared down at the knight.

"I'm going to break you, Sir Theodore. I'm going to break you and every single knight of Nod," he replied. Grendelmere turned his attention to the Nightmares. "Lock him up."