When we last met up with the Knight, he was facing a brand new situation. It seems that while he was busy searching far and wide for the elusive sole who could complete his being, a very likely candidate was in his immediate domain. It always amazes me that no matter what you are looking for, and no matter how hard you search, what you want is always in the last place you look. Well, it seems that the kindly young sage, who had enabled the bold knight on his quest, was now a possible participant within his quest. Not an object or obstacle, but a possible outcome from his journey. This intrigued the knight, and he altered his course, (of course).

The newly discovered trail-of-adventure offered quite the cornucopia of opportunities, unimagined possibilities, and may just end in the fulfillment of the knights quest. It was perceived, by the knight, that the fair (and quite lovely) maiden was interested in exploring their relationship, not just as it was, but to see just where they might be able to take it.

The knight was very shocked, and didn’t know what to do. Although he had been searching for just such an encounter, when presented with the situation, he was "without a clue". (Let’s face it, this "Knight in Shining Armor" was just a typical male.)

Without dwelling on any details of this relationship, even though some may want to know ALL THE DETAILS, let me just state that the Knight and the Lovely Maiden developed a passionate and personal relationship. The Knight was receiving affirmation and fulfillment at a level that he had not felt in many a moon, and he felt that he was providing quality and fulfillment to the Lovely Maiden in return.

Needless to say, along with their private relationship, there was still a very public relationship between these two parties. Through various changes in their "real life" environments, and the daily interactions between each of them within the "public eye", the couple had to keep their relationship private. This situation contributed to the burdens that through time came in to play within their travels. This also provided the opportunity for some very funny, private jokes and comments between the two while in the unknowing, or at least unconfirmed, "public eye." There was great speculation from within their "real life" environments that there was something between the Lovely Maiden and the Knight. It was widely speculated that the Knight had for some time held a piece of his heart aside just for this Lovely Maiden, which as it turns out, was true.

As the relationship between the Knight and the Lovely Maiden progressed, many more "pieces of baggage" were exposed, that individually were not a great burden. This provided additional aspects to their dynamic, that were unexpected, and when approached properly, were quite enjoyable. The Knight, while attempting to be noble and honorable to the Lovely Maiden, as well as to his charges, maintained only a partial insertion into the Lovely Maidens "real life". This allowed the Lovely Maiden to maintain her own personal "queendom", and carry on with her day to day activities without the ever-present presence of the Knight. The Knight felt that this was a proper and gallant response to the present situation, and the benefits were mutual. The Knight was able to maintain his previous activities within his personal environment, which was an aspect of his life that he really was not willing to let go of… yet!

With all rainbows, there must be some rain. With the non-committal of the relationship, as well as the baggage brought into the relationship, the whole dynamic changed and their journeys branched out to separate paths. The individual journeys they now traveled through were intermingled, although not convergent.

The Lovely Maiden set off on her new journey with enthusiasm, as this provided her with unexpressed and unrepressed fulfillment, qualities that the relationship dynamic with the Knight did not meet. The Knight, being somewhat slower to notice the divergent paths, eventually realized that there had been a dramatic change in his interactions and involvement.