prince again. Because of a fortuitous series of events, Erminia one day saves Fiona from a wild horse. From then on, the two girls begin to fall in love. Erminia tells Fiona of how trapping she finds being a princess, and how she feels about being born in the body of a woman. Fiona then tells Erminia of her young prince, and Erminia realises that she was Fiona's young prince. She is elated that Fiona sees her as being her prince, and Erminia kisses Fiona. They dance, kiss and exchange promises on the night of the Carnival of Paros. But the war between Kauros and Paros is imminent, and the king of Paros tries to force Erminia to marry. Finding her shoulders to the wall again, Erminia decides to consent to the wish of her father, on the condition that her husband is chosen through a tournament. The last victor to this series of duels will have to defeat Erminia in battle in order to win her hand. Her father begins to arrange the competition, confident that Yurias will win. Whilst this is going on, Fiona has been abducted, raped, and left for dead. As Erminia is cloistered, she does not know of Fiona's fate. During the final duel, the knights of Paros are focussing their attention on the duel, allowing the knights of Kauros to sneak in, even as the traitor Prince Alfonse tosses her the Sword of Paros to use in the battle. At this point, Erminia's father is assassinated, and Alfonse proclaims his death to be part of the legend of the Sword. The duel is stopped, and the Prince of Kauros is declared the victor. Taken captive by the guards of Kauros, Erminia is convinced that she has lost everything. Fiona has vanished, Yurias has been defeated and half-blinded, her father is dead, and she will be forced to marry the Prince of Kauros. Just when all seems to be at its worst, the peasants of the kingdom of Paros rebel against the Kauran soldiers. Fiona is part of the group that intends to free Erminia, by having Fiona take Erminia's place. Erminia cannot bear the thought of this, and so the two escape together on a horse provided by Yurias. Characters Princess Erminia - the princess of Paros, she considers herself to have been 'born with both a man's heart and a woman's heart'. She