Prince Valium (continued)

You figure that the squire is no threat to you, so you when you make your presence known to the two young men, you aim the gun at the prince. "Hold it right there, princeling," you tell him. "Make a move, and I'll kill you."

Prince Valiant stills and looks at you, wary.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"None of your concern." You indicate the wall of briars with a swish of the gun. Other than that, the muzzle remains trained on Valiant. You tell him, "You're going to cut a path through that for me."

The prince blinks. "I am?"

"If you want to live, yes."

During all this time, you've ignored the squire, who seems to have withdrawn as much as he could, trembling in his fear. Good for him, you think.

"Why are you doing this?" the prince asks.

Impatiently, you answer. "Because you have the sword, and I have the gun. You do the work, and if you don't, then I kill you. It's as simple as that. Now, cut through those thorns, if you please."

Bewildered and frustrated, the prince turns and begins hacking at the thorny branches. He mutters as he works, wincing every time there's an impact, probably bemoaning having to use his new sword this way for you, rather than for himself.

A few minutes later, as he continues to cut through the briar, it seems as though you and the prince are alone. You wouldn't be surprised if the squire ran away. All of your own squires would, every last self-preserving one of them; they were about as loyal as courtesans.

You chuckle. "Seems your squire has left you," you tell Valiant.

To your surprise, Valiant chuckles, too, and shakes his head. "Not my squire," he says. "If I know him well, he may even be plotting to take you down."

You frown. Hoping he's wrong, you start to turn your head to look over your shoulder.

The last thing you see before the blackness of extreme pain and death is the squire, striking down on you with the point of a very sharp dagger.

No happy ending here.