Time: Chapters 9-12

Chapter Nine
Death was so tempting but a stronger will urged her to live. She felt the strong lips, warm lips, clasp over hers giving her breath. We won't let you die, they told her determinedly. She coughed up the trapped water and took in the sacred air.
Limp with relief, William sat exhausted next to her.
"If you ever scare me like that again I'll kill you myself," he threatened.
The water made his hair fall in ringlets around his forehead. No one had ever looked more beautiful. She smiled but as she lifted her head her smile faded.
William followed her gaze. When he saw what she saw his face grew paler than hers.
In front of the wood clearing were several of the royal servants. And they saw everything. They saw that they didn't have all their clothes on (Oh my). They saw him place his lips on hers (Oh my goodness). They had seen him touching her..... you-know-whats (Oh my goodness gracious!).
"He's brought her back from the dead," someone yelled.
"He's a wizard! A warlock! I've seen him with that witch," someone else said.
"They must be stoned to death!" was a great cry.
Kyra stared at them. William saves her life and instead of getting down on their knees with gratitude they want to kill him? What kind of a crazy century was this?
"Silence," she yelled, standing up, as the crowd moved forward with stones.
"Don't listen to her. They put a spell on her!"
"Back," Kyra commanded, stamping her foot. What was the point of being a royal when you couldn't boss people around? "Or risk your life."
There was a stir in the mob. A figure stepped forward. 'You heard the Princess. Her word is close to law."
Byron. Kyra never thought she'd be this grateful to see him.
The crowd departed.
"But her word is not law," he reminded.
"What do you mean?" Kyra wondered.
"You have saved him for now but the real trial will take place tomorrow at the palace courts."
She watched as Moon led William away. The crowd departed anxious of the event that would take place in the morning.
"Not all the magic in the world can save him from the contempt of the royal courts," Byron told Kyra. His hand rested on her shoulder and chilled her with a cold she had never known before.

"There has to be something I can do," Kyra said. The hangover she was having was not good. It felt like her head was about to give birth.
"I'm afraid there is nothing to be done, My Lady," They had gone through all the law books and disgracing a member of the royal family was worthy of the electric chair.
Byron entered. "The games are about to begin. You wouldn't want to be late to see me defend your honor."
"I would wait if I were you," Kyra advised. "You're going to get your butt whipped."
"You should learn to control your tongue, my wife."
"You're not my lord and master yet." Not now not ever, Kyra vowed.
He laughed, finding this very amusing, as he left.
Kyra glared after him, to her maid she pleaded, "Please think of something. The future of England is at stake." She left the room trying to keep her head high which was hard. What if she fainted in the middle of the tournament? She had to think of a better distraction than that.

William looked around the arena. Boy, violence was popular at any time. He looked up at the crowd and saw Kyra. She waved, but her expression was bleak.
The judge spoke, addressing William. "The task is simple. There are three trials: archery, jousting, and sword fighting. If you win two out of three you are pardoned. If Byron is champion then you will be beheaded." He looked at William pointedly, "Good always triumphs over evil."
Byron went first at archery. The target was set at the tree. He aimed and fired. The arrow hit the round circle the size of an apple. He bowed smugly at William.
William stepped up. He willed all his archery expertise to his fingers, which wasn't much. There was those Robin Hood movies and that archery lesson he took at camp. He raised his bow. The crowd held its breath. He lowered it. The crowd breathed. He raised the bow again. the crowd waited. Lowered. Breathe. He did this for several times. Yes, he was doing this on purpose.
"Oh, just get on with it!" Kyra yelled from her box.
He fired. The arrow tailspinned. It cut right into Byron's splitting it in half.
William could her Kyra's scream above the crowd. "Yes!" there was a reason for this. The rest of the crowd was silent.
The next was jousting. Byron in his gold armor sitting high above a horse well-fed with hay and his lance strong and steady. And William.... well, he was on this old horse that had no hair, none even on his tail and was bowlegged. And shall we say, knight in rusty armor? And his lance had the image of a pencil after a nervous person chewed on it.
"Talk about unfair disadvantage," William muttered in his rusted helmet. The face shield was down. He couldn't see anything. The horse was moving below him he didn't know where. But it was not in a straight line. He waved the lance wildly in the air.
Kyra stared at the spectacle in disbelief. William, what are you doing? she wondered. The horse was doing some sort of polka and William seemed to be barely keeping his balance. Kyra gasped as Byron charged for him.
William didn't know what happened. One minute he was on a horse (if you could call it a horse) and the next minute he hit the floor. The sound the metal clanging resounded in the armor. It was worse than Kyra's screaming. He was surprised when the pages put him back on the horse. He was suppose to do this again? He fell to the ground.
Kyra watched in horror as William tried to get up but couldn't. She made her way to the center of the arena. "Your Highness, you're not allowed-" a servant objected.
"Oh, blow off!" she told him. Moon was already beside William when Kyra came down.
"He's all right," Moon said, wiping his sweaty face. "But he can't exert himself anymore,"
"What was the license plate number of that garbage truck?" he muttered. You really do see stars he thought.
Byron looked down on them. "He loses this part. If he forfeits the swordfighting, then it's over. I've won. And he loses his head."
"Wait!" Kyra demanded. "What if there was a substitute?"
It is possible but -"he turned to the audience. "Is there anyone who'll fight in for the honor of the stableboy?"
There was laughter. Byron looked at her.
The words impulsively left her lips. "I'll do it."
"You can't. You're a lady it's never been heard of-"
Darn, this male chauvinistic period! "I'm the princess, aren't I," Kyra yelled. She grabbed the sword of the closest man. Whoa! It was heavy. "Let's rock!" She ran off to change. When she met Byron again, he was also suited up.
"This is insane! I can't fight you. It's illegal to shed royal blood."
"If you want to forfeit...," Kyra left the invitation open. She held the sword as if it were a baseball bat.
"Never!" Byron said, attacking.
Swords clashed. If you ever say a medieval film you know what Im talking about. It wasn't much of a fight. Within minutes, Byron disarmed her.
"To the victor the spoils," It was so clever of him, he thought. He hadn't shed any royal blood, but he had still won. Or so he thought.
Kyra glared at him. He might've been taught to fight by the best swordsmen in Europe but she learned to fight in the 20th century. She watched Xena, Warrior Princess! She hooked her left leg with his right, knocking him to the ground, grabbed his sword and placed the tip at his neck. "Who's the victor?" she asked, she raised her face shield to show her victorious smile.
"The royal council has reached its verdict," the judge announced "The stableboy, who seems to be known only by that name, will be executed."
Kyra let go of the sword and ran to them. "Why! William won. Two out of three. We did."
"And that is why you lost," the head judge said. "A woman can't beat a man. It is only by the power of witchcraft that she would succeed. He has put a spell on you and for that he will be beheaded."
"No!" Kyra screamed. She looked on hopelessly as the crowd dispersed to the stocks for the execution. They had planned this all along. The tournament was a farce. No matter the outcome they had intended for William to lose.
"Your Highness!" the lady in waiting called to her. She whispered in Kyra's ear.
Hmmmm. William thought, from his place on the stocks. This was not expected.
The ax was raised. And fell.

Chapter Ten
"Wait!" Kyra screamed as she ran up to the platform. The ax froze in midair.
"Hi," William waved awkwardly.
Even in stocks he was cute. Kyra turned and looked out to the great sea of faces. They looked at her attentively. Oh, the power a royal commands. "England, hear my voice. Anyone who kills this man harms me and in so harms England and commits treason." Now for the plunge. "I seal this decree with a kiss." She planted one firmly on William's lips.
The country was in pandemonium.
Kyra pulled back. She looked into his eyes. Had he felt what she felt? She touched her lips with her fingers.
William looked up at her. What had just happened?
Byron applauded. "A very heroic act."
"You can't kill him now," Kyra announced triumphantly.
Byron nodded in a bored manner. "I know it's the law. No one can harm a man kissed by the princess." He looked up at her menacingly. "But we can ban him from the kingdom."
"No!" Kyra said. Was anything going to go right ever again? The guards separated them. "William, please," she begged as the guards restrained her.
"Kyra," he screamed her name as they took him to the gates.
"Take the princess to her room. She's not well.'" Byron instructed.
"I am not the princess. My name is Kyra." She screamed the servants escorted her back to the stone castle. "Look I'm from the future, there's a thing called CPR, man and woman are equal..."
"She's talking madness," one of the councilors said. "The stableboy must've put a spell on her. Quick, summon the royal magician."
A man in blue robes and a long beard and ugly teeth appeared. He started chanting and throwing powder on her. "Abracadabra. Hocus pocus......"
"Ala peanut butter sandwiches," she muttered. She closed the door shutting the lunatic out. She could still hear the guy chanting through the door. She got out of the armor. It was like a being in a furnace.
"Princess, are you changing?" It was Byron.
"Yes, I am," Kyra snapped.
"You're not allowed to -"
She was so sick of the phrase! She opened the door a crack just to yell at him. "I'm not allowed to what? I'm not allowed to what? Change without someone helping me? Eat without someone feeding me? Breathe without someone pumping my lungs? Well. **** you!" she yelled out a word that probably hadn't even been invented yet. And the hand motion too. What did they expect her to do? Just grow fat and ugly like a slug? Sorry, being pampered was nice for one day but she also prided her independence.
Kyra ran to the window. William....

William struggled with the guards. "Put me down!" he demanded
They did. When the threw him out the door and on the ground. He pounded on the great doors as they closed. "Kyra!" he called out her name. He looked up at the high wall. "Ugh," he screamed in frustration.
Moon came to him. "There is nothing we can do. You are banned from the kingdom." Would he ever grieve for her like he did for Kyra?

Kyra looked out her window. She saw the retreating figures go back to the woods.
"William..." she looked out to him. One of the figures stopped. He seemed to be looking up at the castle. Was he looking up at her? The figure turned away and continued walking.
Kyra flounced onto her bed. She should've accepted his proposal at Moon's hut. She forced herself into the comfort of sleep. The hangover she had just multiplied big time!

William looked out. The stars had already begun to shine. Banished from his own kingdom. Except that no one knew that it was his kingdom. From Moon's hut he could see the castle towers. Kyra was in one of them. Was Byron with her? The thought filled him with rage.
"You have a visitor," Moon said.
"Who is it?" he asked. Must've been the medieval times version of the tabloids. So how did you fell landing off your horse today? would be some of the questions they'll ask. He looked up. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Kyra," he whispered her name. It was a prayer.
She fell into his arms. "They said you can't come to the kingdom. They said nothing about me coming to you."
"I thought I'd never see you again," he said."In a way you are," she told him. Her anger had died down and her head had been cleared. She had done some thinking.
What did she mean? the question showed in his face.
"I came to say good-bye," she told him. "I want you to go to the present without me." She unclasped her necklace. "I want you to give this to my mother. "
William looked at the locket hanging on a fine chain. "Kyra, you're coming-"
"No, I'm not. I'm staying," she told him.
"Kyra, that's stupid!" he moved to touch her but she kept her distance.
"I am going to pledge love and loyalty to a man tomorrow. A man I do not love. But that doesn't matter because-" she wiped the tears from her face "-Because I'm a princess. Now, what do you think happens on the wedding night? If I give birth to a child in our time, how will I explain it? And when she asks who her father is, whose name will I say?"
"Mine!" he said.
"William, that's awful kind of you, but your family can't take another scandal. This kind of thing will break my mother's heart. This is the best way. I stay."
"Kyra there might not even be a child-"
"A month." Kyra cut him off. "The next full moon is in a month. A child will most likely be conceived in that time."
"And what about you?' he asked.
"I suffer," she gave him a half smile. "Don't worry, I'm used to suffering. And I'm a princess. How bad can it be?" she kissed him softly on the lips. "When you go to McDonald's, think of me. I have to go. Big day tomorrow," and with that she was gone.
Moon looked at the locket in William's palm. In it was a picture of Kyra's mother. "What are you going to tell her?" she asked.
"I'm not going to tell her anything. Kyra's coming with me."

Chapter Eleven
"William, you heard what she said-"
"We leave tomorrow," the plan was forming in his head. "Before they say their I do's, before a child can be conceived."
"But next night's moon is not full."
"You can open the time portal when it isn't a full moon, can't you? It doesn't have to be night time, right?"
"Yes, I can, but it's risky. You might be transferred to a time where you can't escape."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take."
"You can't just disappear with Kyra. They think she's their princess. You'll never be able to make it to the portal with them chasing you."
"For that I invite a very special wedding guest." William said mysteriously.

"Rise up, Daughter," the queen greeted her.
Was it morning already? Had the time gone by so fast? Saying good-bye to William had been the hardest thing. She wasn't just saying good-bye to him. She was saying good bye to everything familiar to her. Her family. McDonald's. Traffic lights. Car radio. Her life as she knew it. She was also saying good-bye to her freedom. Soon, she would walk down the aisle and have her name linked with someone else. The sad part.... it wasn't William's.
Breakfast had been big. Eggs, bread, cheese and fruits. But none of them seemed appetizing. There were no pancakes at this time?
She let the maids dress her, she was used to the procedure now. They also were preparing the flower girls and the brides maids. This was Rose's family? Didn't they realize she was not their princess? Probably not. If someone looked like William and claimed to be him. Would she know the difference?
Yes, she would. She would know when he held her close and she would not smell that scent that was only William's. She would know when he would give her that half smile that mocked her and not be given the urge to wipe it off his face. She would know when his arms were around her and she did not feel as safe and as comforted as she did with William. Yes, she would know.
"You look very beautiful my lady." the servant said.
Kyra didn't even glance at the looking glass. "I know."

William got up at the crack of dawn. Thanks to Moon he had been able to travel with the speed of thought. He had gone everywhere. But still he could not find that person who he desperately needed to stop the wedding. He found himself at Balmoral. The place looked brand new. It wasn't as big as he remembered but they must've added extra rooms throughout the years.
"May I help you, sir?" a young girl his age asked with a lisp.
His great-great-great- etc. grandmother? "I'm sorry for trespassing, but I'm searching for someone. May I speak to the master of this castle?"
"He's my father. Come inside. He'll join you." she offered him some wine which he refused. From what he had seen of Kyra's experience he wasn't too sure. Not in this time.
"A stranger? From England?" A jolly man came through the door. "Pray, what brings you here?"
William sat in front of him. "I'm sorry if I've bothered you, but I am seeking everyone's help. Do you know of a Princess Rose?"
The wineglass the man was holding shattered as it hit the floor.

Kyra took Byron's hand as they faced the public. These were now going to be her subjects?
"For crying out loud, Rose. It's your wedding day. Look happy. You look as if you'd rather - rather marry that stableboy," Byron scolded.
She placed a smile on her face. A smile that would be her mask in the years to come. She waved dutifully as the people chanted their princess' name. Not her name. She looked among the sea of faces. There was only one which she wanted to see. She looked and hoped and feared. But he wasn't among the crowd.
She followed Byron as they entered the church. the next time she would walk through the doors she was going to be a married woman.

William was ecstatic. And also frustrated. He had found the person he had been looking for. But as luck would have it just a couple of miles down Englands walls, the magic crystal Moon gave him got crushed and broke. Isn't that sad? He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. His companion tried to keep up with his speed. They had a wedding to stop. A princess to save.

Kyra walked down the aisle and she could feel the weight of everyone's stare on her. Would someone just scream out the word impostor and end her misery? She looked again at the faces hoping he might be there. He wasn't. He wasn't. She was so sure he would at least try to be there. but it was better this way. She wouldn't want him risking his life on her account.