Good Knight

The Knights

It wasn't very long before Prince Misereoux was escorting Penelope and Peppermint through the halls of his castle to the library. When they entered the room he stopped as if he'd never been inside it before.

"What's wrong?" Penelope asked. The prince hesitated for a moment. Then he turned to them.

"I just realized, I haven't been here in so long and I think I've forgotten where The Fable Keeper's book is," he admitted. He seemed embarrassed by the problem.

"Well that's just wonderful, now we're stuck in this castle," Peppermint said. Penelope walked up to the Prince and touched his arm.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find it," she assured him. Peppermint couldn't believe how calm Penelope was. She grew more frustrated at her suggestion. The library was as big as all the other royal libraries and contained just as many books.

"We could be here all night!" she pointed out. Penelope thought the situation through. She realized Princess Peppermint was right, they couldn't possibly find the book in time.

"Aren't the kingdom books all in the same spot in all of your castles?" Penelope asked. She remembered that each time she had travelled between kingdoms thus far, the book to travel there was always in the same place in every library. She walked across the room to the cozy little nook in the center of a double staircase. It looked just like the one in The Fable Keeper's castle and just like the one in the Tooth Fairy castle.

"She's right," Peppermint said. "They all look the same. If it's going to be anywhere, it's going to be here." She stepped forward too and began searching the shelves. This motivated Prince Misereoux to join them in their search. The book was found more quickly this way and by Prince Misereoux himself. He pulled it off the shelf and felt a wave of pride wash over him.

"I found it!" he announced. Peppermint and Penelope ran over to him excitedly. He opened the book and together they all jumped in, landing safely back into The Fable Keeper's library. This time, they found The Fable Keeper with company.

"You're back!" she said as she ran over to them. She quickly bowed to acknowledge the prince. He returned the gesture and then the monarchs became serious.

"Your Majesty," Prince Misereoux began. "What's going on here?" he gestured to her company. There were five knights sitting in her library.

"They're here in hiding from the Nightmares. Prince Grendelmere has been sending out more and more. Your knights are disappearing out there," The Fable Keeper explained.

"But why come here for protection?" Princess Peppermint asked. The Fable Keeper's library is a mutual place for the entire dream world. The Nightmares had every freedom to come here as much as the knights did. This was far from the safest place for them to be.

"They were just passing through like any normal day. When I told them Prince Misereoux was coming, they chose to stay feeling it would be safer," The Fable Keeper explained. Misereoux suddenly felt awful.

"They must hate me," he said. The Fable Keeper thought he was being ridiculous. She took Penelope by the hand and led her over to the knights.

"Gentlemen," she said, "and Lady," she added, nodding to the one female knight in the room. "This is Penelope Pimm." All the knights' jaws dropped. Sir Theodore's kid was in the dream world. One of them stood up and cleared his throat, preparing to introduce himself.

"Hello Penelope, I'm Sir Puck. Your Teddy Bear is a good friend of mine," he said softly. Penelope looked up at the knight in awe. He was dressed in emerald armor with a turtle crest. He followed her gaze and looked down at his crest.

"My disguise is a small stuffed turtle, much like Sir Theodore's disguise is a bear to you," he explained. He turned to the other knights and began to introduce them.

"This over here is Sir Nunight," he continued. He began to walk Penelope around the circle. Sir Nunight wore blue armor with a bear crest. He leaned down and gently shook her hand.

"Hello Penelope," he said. She smiled bashfully. They all reminded her of noble characters from her story books. The next knight was dressed in gold armor with a monkey crest. He reached down to shake her hand too.

"Some of us have less fortunate names. I am Sir Zippy," he explained. Penelope giggled and the others tried to hold back their laughter. The knight blushed with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Penelope said guiltily. "It's a very nice name." Sir Zippy smiled at her in acceptance of her apology.

"This is Lady Rosie," Sir Puck said as he gestured to the only woman wearing armor. It was red with a bear crest, like Sir Nunight's.

"What an honor to meet you, Miss Penelope," Lady Rosie said. Then they turned to the last and final knight for her to be introduced to. He wore silver armor with the crest of a white bear.

"And this is Sir Tuffy," Sir Puck concluded. Sir Tuffy knelt down and took Penelope's little hand into his own.

"Hello little princess," he said. Then he kissed her fingers. This alone made Penelope feel like one of the beautiful princesses in one of her story books. They all turned to bow to the royals after their introductions.

"The Fable Keeper gave us word that you were coming here as a result of Penelope Pimm's arrival," Sir Puck explained.

"I'm aware and my deepest apologies for not being the greatest prince these past years," Prince Misereoux expressed. Though he wasn't sure he meant it.

"We understand," Lady Rosie assured him. "Being under such an awful curse and having to rule a kingdom can't be very easy. But you're here now and that matters." Prince Misereoux felt humbled and relieved by their response.

"We want to help," Sir Tuffy added. "This is our world too and we won't sit back and expect someone else to defeat Prince Grendelmere." The Fable Keeper stepped in to take the floor.

"These are your people, Misereoux. They don't hate you. They want to help you," The Fable Keeper explained. Prince Misereoux turned to his knights.

"Where do we even begin?" he asked. He had never felt so overwhelmed in his life.

"Well, Sir Theodore is being held in Grendelmere's castle," The Fable Keeper reminded them. "We may have to start by storming the castle."