"Very good, Your Highness." The Marshal bowed again to the prince, and without another word he walked over to Will and accepted the reins. So far, so good. Except --

"Oh, Liam!" Dorothea cried. She could no longer contain herself, for she'd been fidgeting on Sam's shoulder ever since they'd heard horses on the road. "Liam, it's me! It's Dorothea!" The princess gave a great leap, knocking Sam back, and she landed on the saddle in front of Liam, scuffling for balance on her little paws. "Liam, you've got to turn around, you've got to go back to the castle and arrest the Queen Narissa! Oh, you see what she's done to me -- Liam, say you understand me, say you believe me!"

But to Liam, of course, all that came out of her mouth was an incessant caterwauling and yowling. She pressed her paws to his stomach and yowled up at him desperately. "I'm Dorothea! I'm your Dorothea!"

The Marshal glanced in a moment of worry at the cat, and then at the prince -- but when it was clear that Liam did not understand a word of what she said, he ignored the scene and hefted himself up into the saddle of his own horse. Only then did he look down at Sam, with narrowed eyes in warning, and he reached down to help her into the saddle behind him.