It was mid-autumn when this lull lifted off of the star-crossed lovers. The harvest holiday was only three weeks away and every year the royal family hosted an immense banquet for most of the aristocracy. This banquet required an unimaginable supply of food, so obviously Christopher had to help his father with the delivery and Katherine knew it. She strategically stationed herself right next to the kitchen door, so the moment Christopher came in to view, she would know. The moment he exited the kitchen, she emerged from the shadows.
“Katherine, it has been a long time.”
“Yes it has.”

“What have you been up to?”

“Well, mostly I have been preoccupied with preparing for that revolting tournament that my father insists on having.”

“So, you are going through with it?”

“Only because I have to. I tried to protest and I even asked if you could participate in the tournament, but he said that the tournament was invitation only and that you would definitely not be invited.”
“Has your father retracted his forbiddance of us seeing one another?”

“No, he has not. I need to see you though and more often than every five months.”

“How are we supposed to manage meeting without your father finding out?”
“We can meet in the middle of the night or off of the palace grounds.”
“If that is the case, then I will be right here tomorrow night at eleven to pick you up, do not be late.”
“I shall not be.”

The next night, under the veil of darkness, Katherine and Christopher headed out the castle gates and into the countryside. The couple climbed a grassy knoll from which they could see the castle gates and the lake.

“Katherine, we need to do something about that tournament.”

“I already told you, there is nothing we can do,” Katherine said, who was sobbing by this point.

“Well, then what can we do to be together?”

“I do not know nor do I want talk. I just want to sit here with you. The fact that I know you are next to me is enough, for now.”

The lovers sat in silence for the next few hours. After they hear the clock tower chime two, Katherine said “I think that it is time for us to say farewell.”

“Can I at least have the pleasure of walking you back to the gate?”

“Of course you can.”

Both of them stood up and Katherine started to walk down the knoll, but before she could get very far Christopher grabbed her arm. Before Katherine could express her surprise, he pulled her close and kissed her with the full moon overhead and the lake behind them. For the rest of the autumn they met secretly almost every week and they were both blissfully happy. Then, the winter came.

That winter was an unusually cold and snowy one, so the two lovers were prevented from making their secret excursions for three months. King Laurence still did not permit Christopher to cross his threshold, so the two of them had to get creative if they wanted to see each other, which they obviously did. None of their ideas seemed practical, so they spent another season in mourning. The last time they saw each other, though, they did promise to think of the other every time they looked into the fire. So, obviously, both Katherine and Christopher spent a lot of time gazing into their fireplaces. Then one day, the thaw came, it was spring, and the two lovers could see each other again. At the same time, though, the moment the fifteenth of February arrived, the entire staff started preparing for the tournament which was planned for the tenth of April, no matter what.

The invitations were sent out towards the end of February and on the first day of March, Edward, the Earl of Suffolk received his invitation. The Earl of Suffolk came from a relatively good family, he was an above average jouster, and he was extremely wealthy. Most importantly, though, Edward was not satisfied with his positions and he would do whatever it took a get ahead in life. The moment that the invitation arrived, Edward knew that he could easily beat any knight who was foolish enough to compete, but he wanted to be one hundred percent positive. In the forest, just outside his manor, there was a cottage that was home to an old witch and her two sisters. The three witches were on the verge of financial ruin, so they needed a significant amount of money in a very short amount of time if they wanted to save their home and property that had been in their family for five generations.

It was a cold and blustery morning when Edward set out to find the three witches. The quest did not take long since he could see the smoke rising from the chimney and smell the potion that they were brewing in their cauldron. He knocked at the Dutch door and he could hear the floor boards slowly creak as the witches moved their weight from board to board. The top door open and before him was a very old woman who wore her long, wispy, white hair in a bun on the top of her head.

“What do you want, my lad?”

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Are you able to pay?”

“I am. I will pay you and your sisters triple your normal fee.”

“Then please, enter our humble abode.”

The old witch closed the top of the door and then opened it as a whole entity. Edward was now able to see the witch’s entire body. She was a rather short woman who was completely dressed in black.

“Sisters, we have a visitor. It is that strapping young lad who lives on the large estate just outside of our wood.”

The three sisters immediately started doing everything they could to try to make Edward comfortable. Now, Edward had always been a man of precision and few words. He told the witches on several occasions that he was fine, but they insisted that he was not and actually did more for him. Once they were all satisfied, the witch who answered the door, who turned out to be the eldest named Enchantra, took a seat in a large armchair near the fire and her two sisters took cane back chairs flanking the armchair. They had Edward sit across a table from them and it was a few minutes before the eldest addressed him.

“What brings you to our humble abode on this fine day?”

“I have already told you that I am in need of your mystic abilities.”

“What is it exactly that you need us to do?” asked the youngest sister, Ticheba.

“King Laurence is hosting a tournament of strength and agility, so he could find an appropriate suitor for his daughter Katherine. Yester, in the evening post, I received an invitation to attend the tournament. Even though I am an above proficient jouster, I want to be the best in the world, so there will not be a doubt in who is to win the tournament. I will do whatever it takes to garner more power.”

“Are you able to pay?” inquired the middle sister.

“Hagatha, we have already been through that. Have not we?”

“Yes we have. I am willing to pay triple your normal fees; that is if I win.”

“Making you the best jouster in the world is one of the easiest things that we can do. Are you ready sisters?”

The three witches rose up, joined hands and started spinning in a circle around Edward’s chair. Suddenly, they stopped and Enchantra looked straight into Edward’s eyes.

“Phillison follison Nicholas John
Queevy quvay English Navy

May the flame be doust

For now you have the greatest power to joust” chanted Enchantra

“Zoda, prancan, kopeck, lum

Zoltan, Durban, liet, lum

May his fingers be uncurled

So he can receive our spell and be the greatest in the world” warbled Hagatha and Ticheba.

“Now my lad, you now have the power. We intend to keep track of you and your payment is expected the day after the tournament. If it is not submitted by that date than no man or God shall be able to help you.”

Edward muttered a simple “Thank you”, gave each of the witches a £75 advance, and left. When he got back to the manor, he did not know whether or not he had any more ability than he left with, but he did not want to risk putting his power into jeopardy, so he sat back and made himself a drink.

For the rest of March, Edward started planning everything for the tournament, but he did not worry about how well he could joust. Christopher and Katherine, although they did see each other on a regular basis, were barely speaking because all Katherine could think about was her impending misfortune. Queen Jessica was a nervous wreck because even though she did want Katherine to get married as soon as possible, she wanted her to marry her true love and not the person she was told to marry. King Laurence was the only person in the castle who was excited for the tournament because he still had the notion that no matter who won the tournament he would still be getting a worthy and desirable son-in-law.

April came too quickly for everyone, except King Laurence and Edward. The nine days before the tournament were spent in outfitting the south lawn with tents and stands and barriers and everything that was needed for all twelve rounds. The women of the castle were constantly being measured and having their outfits altered. Christopher was so busy delivering food that he had no to time see Katherine. King Laurence was bouncing around the place like a happy lark because all of his dreams were about to come true. Edward finally took to the practice fields and found that he could easily defeat every opponent that he went up against.
No matter how much Katherine, Jessica, and Christopher did not want the tenth to come, it came anyway. That morning the servants woke everyone up early because everything had to be done by the time the guests arrived at eleven o’clock. Laurence, Jessica, and Katherine were whisked in and out of breakfast and their clothes could not have come on quick enough. At quarter to eleven, the doorbell chimed.

“Now who can that be? They are fifteen minutes early” thundered King Laurence because no matter how excited he was for the tournament, he always insisted that everything should be done on time. When one of the servants answered the front door, Edward was there looking calm, cool, and collected, but also extremely nervous.

“Am I early?” was the only thing that Edward could say.

“Yes, but only by fifteen minutes. Come in! Come in!” exclaimed King Laurence as he ran into the entrance hall.

“I am so honored that you invited me to participate in today’s festivities.”

“You are a great suitor for my daughter, obviously I invited you.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

“Make sure my wife and daughter are ready soon.” King Laurence says to the servant standing right next to him.

“There will be no need for that. We are ready” says Queen Jessica as she and Katherine slowly enter the room.

“Jessica, Katherine, I would like to introduce you to Edward, the Earl of Suffolk. Edward this is my wife Queen Jessica and my daughter Princess Katherine.”

“Lord Suffolk, welcome to the palace” said Katherine as she went into a slight curtsey.

“It is an honor and a pleasure, your highness” said Edward as he went into a deep bow.

“Since you are the first to arrive, can we offer you a drink?” asked King Laurence

“That will do fine. Thank you, your majesty.”

Edward took a seat by the large window in the solarium while a servant mixed him a drink. He slowly sipped the drink for the next fifteen minutes while he watched the guests slowly arrive. Three of the guests were friends of Edward, one of whom he jousted before, and a multiplicity of guests whom Edward only knew by name and there were one or two that he never heard of before.

Once everyone had settled in, unloaded their gear, and all of the spectators arrived, it was already noon. The moment that King Laurence was aware of the fact that every that was invited to attend had arrived and were comfortable, he invited the competitors to start suiting up and the spectators into the stands, so that the tournament could commence. The first few jousts were extremely uneventful, but then Edward took the field. Everyone in the royal box knew that Edward was his personal favorite. As the witches said Edward would be, he won his first joust extremely successfully. Every time Edward did go up to joust he defeated his opponent in own swift move.

After two hours of jousting, the tournament broke for lunch and it was down to four competitors. It only took ten minutes for the contest to be dwindled down to two competitors, one of them obviously being Edward. The final joust was definitely a thrilling one, but Edward still one and the smile across King Laurence’s face went from ear to ear.

Edward was crowned ruler and given official permission to propose to Katherine. Ten minutes later, they were officially engaged, something that Katherine was not one bit excited about. The first few days of the engagement went as well as they possibly could under the circumstances. About a week into it, though, Edward started to show his true colors.

Edward and Katherine were alone in a parlor one evening discussing wedding plans. When Edward sat down in an armchair and said, “Katherine, get me my smoking jacket and my slippers.”

“Excuse me.”

“Get me my smoking jacket and my slippers.”

“We have servants to do that.”

“Yes we do and one of them is you.”

“Excuse me!”

“You are going to be my wife, so you should learn how to be obedient to me.”

“You do know that I have more power than you and that I am going to be queen one day.”

“I do not care what position you hold or will hold, I am your husband and that gives me more power than you.”

With that, Katherine stormed out of the room and went in search of her father. Edward was several feet behind, but Katherine was too livid to care. She found her father bent over a large scroll of wedding guests in the throne room.

“Father! Father!”

“What is it my dear?”

“You will never guess what Edward told me.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He said that he does not care who I am or what position I do or will have, I am going to be his wife and that automatically gives him more power than me.”

“HE WHAT!!! EDWARD!!!!!”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“What did you say to my daughter?”

“I said that I do not care what position she holds or will hold; our love will always be more powerful than she will ever be. She must have misunderstood. You know how women are.”

“Yes I do. She must have misunderstood. Darling, do not cause trouble, especially when there are no problems to be dealt with. You understand me?”

“Yes father.”

This was not the last time something like this occurred. After two months, Katherine just could not take it anymore. She tried to talk to her father but all he could say was that all of drama was Katherine’s fault. She also tried to appeal to her mother. Queen Jessica was extremely sympathetic to her daughter’s cause, but she could not do anything because Edward was never insubordinate in front of her. One afternoon, Edward and Katherine were in the solarium reading, when Edward looked up from his book and said, “We are having five children.”

“No. We are only having four.”

“I want five.”

“Well, let us agree to see what happens.”

“Fine, but we are still having five children. By the way, the other day I was near the kitchen and this man was looking for you.”

“Did you happen to catch his name?”

“It started with a C or a K.”

“Christopher?”

“Yes that was it.”

The reader should take note that Katherine and Christopher had not seen each other in approximately three and a half months, at this point.

“Well, what did you say to him?”

“I asked who he was and he told me.”

“And…”

“I told him to go away.”

“Why would you do that?”

“He is a peasant. He has not right to interact with a princess. So, I told him that he should only come to the castle to do his job and if he is caught lurking around, he will be immediately arrested for trespassing.”

“He is my friend.”

“Not anymore he is not.”

“You had not right to do that, even if we are going to be married. Edward, I do not think that his relationship is going to work out.”

“You want to call off the wedding?”

“Yes, I do. Besides that, can you please caste grounds by noon tomorrow?”

“Yes your highness; it was a pleasure knowing you.”

With that, Edward left the castle that night. After he had left, Katherine told her parents what happened. Naturally, King Laurence was extremely upset and kept asking his daughter, “Are you sure it was not a misunderstanding?” Queen Jessica did have a smile on her face, but said little to nothing.

The next day, Katherine stationed herself outside the kitchen door, again, because she needed to talk to Christopher about what transpired between her and Edward. After she explained to him what had happened, they started seeing each other again. It was not like how it had always been, though, something had changed in their dynamic as couple, but they did not know what.

Edward went back to the manor and immediately started to plot his revenge against Katherine. Preferably, he wanted a plan that resulted in her untimely death and if Christopher just happened to die saving her, that would be even better. He finally settled on a plan, but he was missing the crucial element. That was not a problem because he knew exactly who to go to, the witch sisters.

Early the next morning, Edward headed back in to the woods to enlist the witches in another one of his schemes. He knocked on the door and Hagatha answered it. “’Tis you! Come in! Come in! Sisters, look who is here!” Edward was again plopped into the chair that was facing the fireplace and Enchantra took the arm chair to the left with her sisters flanking the side.

“Edward! Greetings! How was the tournament?”

“I won…and then, yesterday, the princess called off our engagement.”

“That is terrible. What can we do for you to day?”

“I need you three to give me something.”

“Are you able to pay?”

“The payment for the jousting spell will also go towards this, but if I am satisfied than I shall pay you each a £250 bonus.”

“What is it exactly that you need from us?”

“A dragon.”

“What for?” wondered Ticheba

“I shall set it loose on the princess. That is how I plan to take my revenge against her.”

The witches looked at each other and let out a long deep sigh. They then said an incantation. After they did this Enchantra said, “We have made sure that the princess is alone in the highest room of the tallest tower and we placed the dragon at the base of that tower”. The sisters then teleported Edward, so that he was a safe distance away from the castle, but close enough so that he could still watch the action as it transpired.
From his vantage point, he could see Katherine leaning out of the tower window with a look of pure terror across her face. Then, she did try to run down the stairs, but the dragon swung his tail into the tower and broke just enough to make the stairs inaccessible. She then ran back upstairs and stood as far away from the window as possible. The dragon positioned himself at the hole in the tower and blew an assault of fire up the stairs. By this point, Katherine started screaming and the only person that was in range to hear her screams was Edward. From the top of the tower, she could see for miles and in the distance, walking towards the castle, was Christopher. “Christopher! Help me! I am in trouble! A dragon is at the bottom of the tower!” screamed Katherine. Christopher was not yet in an audible distance, so she waited for him to get a little bit closer and then she screamed again. This time, he actually heard her and started running towards the castle.
Once he got to the castle, which was exactly what Edward wanted, Christopher was able to assess the situation. Obviously, he needed some sort of weapon so he ran into the armory, which was right next to the tower, and grabbed a sword. He ran back out and immediately dropped the sword which clattered across the stone walkway. The noise was just enough to attract the dragon’s attention. The dragon turned his concentration away from Katherine because it would be easier to roast Christopher first or it could always just pulverize him.
Christopher picked up the sword and slowly started to back away from the dragon. He backed up onto a rock and started swinging the sword around. He took a few lunges and the dragon took a few swipes at him. The dragon actually scratched Christopher, so he had a deep gash on his leg. Katherine was standing in the window watching this and threw a stone which hit the dragon on the top of the head. The dragon turned as breathed some more fire on the tower to keep Katherine distracted wile it dealt with Christopher. That distraction gave Christopher enough time to get off of the rock and stand right behind the dragon. The dragon turned around, but it could not see Christopher anywhere. Christopher raised his sword and plunged it into the dragon’s stomach. The dragon swayed left and swayed right, until it eventually fell forward and died.
Katherine was still trapped in the tower. Christopher climbed to the roof of the castle, right under where the stairs gave way and he asked Katherine to climb down the stairs. She did but she hesitated at the bottom.
“Katherine, you have to jump. I am right here to catch you.”
“I am terribly frightened Christopher.”
“Do not be. I am right here.”
Katherine jumped and landed in Christopher’s arms exactly as he predicted that she would. King Laurence and Queen Jessica, who were out, came home to that scene.
“What happened?” asked Queen Jessica
“Edward set a dragon loose on me,” yelled Katherine from the roof.
King Laurence went rummaging in the bushes, dragged Edward out by the neck, and had him exiled for the rest of his life. Christopher and Katherine came down off of the roof and met King Laurence and Queen Jessica in the great hall.
“Who killed the dragon?” asked King Laurence
“I did your majesty.”
“But you are only …”
“A peasant?”
“Exactly.”
“Darling, remember that he did save our daughter’s life.”
“True. Kneel before me.”
King Laurence took Christopher’s sword, that he had pulled out of the dragon, and proclaimed him a member of the Order of the Garter.

“Sir, do I now have your permission to marry your daughter?”

“Yes you my lad.”

“Katherine, will you marry me?”

“Of course I will Christopher.”

The wedding was in early July and it was a grand event. The entire kingdom was there. Christopher wore his dress uniform, now that he was a knight, and Katherine looked absolutely ravishing in an enormous white dress. They said “I do” in front of a quaint intimate crowd of five hundred people. Katherine and Christopher, though, felt like they were the only two people on the planet. After the ceremony, they drove away in a white carriage with gold trim pulled by four white horses and they went on to live happily ever after.
The End!