"You noticed it too?" Bubbles Bannatyne said to Princess Rapture as the girls returned to their dormitory and discarded hats and blazers to various corners with relief after all the crazy singing and clapping and speech making.

"That Sunshine has lost that spark of enthusiasm for the trials ahead that marked the beginning of this glorious endeavour?"

"Exactly, though not in so many words."

They watched their colleague and dear friend glide listlessly into the room, saunter in a straight line for her bed, and flop face down upon it without a word. Thus she lay there, perfectly still, like a dead thing in blue and yellow stripes.

"You only get four points for a nose dive," one of the twins observed ruefully.

"Shush," Rappy said. "We may have a problem."

And so it proved.

"I ache," Sunshine whined once she had come up for air. "I have aches that ache. What is worst I ache in here," and she touched her chest where her aching heart resided.

Thus the rest of the day was spent as spectators. The girls watched other teams and competitors from the different years gleefully going through their paces in pool and on running tracks with impressive determination, making notes and observations and being chased away at times when accused of spying.

"We're on the same team you dummies!" Bubbles pointed out quite reasonably.

"I think," the princess said, as the girls gathered together for a crisis meeting later that evening, "we must acknowledge we have done all we can for the sake of the school. There is no knowing how much effort each competitor will put in on the day and it is not enough to assume that those of us making up the numbers," and she gave the Greetiyah girl a brief nervous glance, "need only turn up to tip the scale in our favour."

"We do have, might I mention, exceptional performers," Sharshua interjected politely. "I have consulted the inter-school charts and challenge matches from earlier in the year and of the eight disciplines, Miss Plazenby's Extremely Exclusive Seminary excels in five of them, including high diving. Sophia Cressington is the best teen diver in the entire Winkel."

"Then Sunshine merely needs to tumble off the Dizzy Heights with a little flourish and she will have fulfilled her pledge for the honour of the school," Bubbles said encouragingly.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Sunshine responded with equal enthusiasm.

"If only this was not for the Triple Shield," Sharshua sighed.

"What's the deal with that anyway?" Bubbles asked.

"Yes," Divvy jumped indignantly up and stalked about the room. "We got two bits of it and they look pretty enough in the trophy cabinet."

Fizzy leapt up also.

"Two is plenty enough," she said, putting her arm around her sister symbolically.

"Imagine," Rappy smiled. "Massking triplets."

"The Triple Shield is a curious thing," Sharshua tried to explain. "It was once a single item, hundreds of years ago when Winkels were fewer, and the possessor of it commanded armies who opened up new Winkels across the land whenever he pleased, for he had the power to cross the storm barriers at will."

"No Foam Fullness delays?" Sunshine asked, intrigued, for how she wished for such a power so she could visit her brothers again sooner.

"None. Then something happened to the shield. An accident or something broke it into three. The conqueror was so distraught by this he no longer invaded other lands or founded Winkels but remained trapped in his own land. Many of the Winkels that are on our maps today were created by him. None have been founded since the shield was broken. So," and Sharshua took a deep breath and blushed at being the centre of attention for so long, "with the passing of the years the pieces of the shield were exchanged or sold or kept in certain powerful families until they were treated as mere decorative heirlooms or curiosities. Then the great educator Professor Meersham suggested in light of the past history of links with the conqueror, each piece might be treated as a winning trophy in worthy competitions and an inspiration to youth."

"How evil," Sunshine muttered and squirmed in the armchair she had been curled up in listening to this story.

"So what you're saying is, whoever gets all three pieces together can conquer the world?" and there was a scary gleam in the eyes of Bubbles Bannatyne as she said this.

"Uh, no," Sharshua denied nervously. "Only, wouldn't it be nice for Plazenby's to complete the set?" and she smiled at a seeming pleasant conclusion.

"I love fairy adventures," Fizzy Massking chirped up with a cross between a snort and a sigh, as if she had fallen asleep and woken with guilty suddenness.

"I love war adventures," Divvy countered, more alert.

"We love adventures," they then said in unison.

"This Triple Shield Challenge is indeed an adventure," the princess said thoughtfully. "Of course Miss Plazenby knows something of the legendary history of the three pieces of the trophy, that it formed part of the foundations of Winkel World. To possess the thing entire for a year at least would be a source of tremendous pride for the school, and I think for Frangea Winkel too?" and she gave Bubbles a side glance.

"We could conquer the world," the auburn-haired warrior girl said, "then other worlds out there beyond the stars, universes barely known would fall beneath our irresistible force."

It took at least three cushions to finally topple this new conqueror in waiting and a general free for all was threatened when Sharshua shrieked quite piercingly.

"Day one of Foam Fullness tomorrow," she gasped, looking at the slightly crumpled itinerary sheet, "and Sunshine has to be at Port Angelwing by ten to greet the first arrivals from neighbouring Winkels!"

"Bed everyone, now," commanded her royalness. "We must be up early to ensure our honoured competitor is ready for hugs and handshakes with those rivals who think they may steal our glory."

"Flare will be there," Divvy chanted.

"To stop us no one dare," Fizzy added.

"Frankly I don't care," Sunshine muttered, already beneath the sheets, eyes closed, thick dark hair spread upon her pillow for added comfort.

"Life can be unfair," Princess Rapture whispered with such quiet sympathy no one heard her in the hushed room, nor did they see her wipe a tear from her eye, a tear shed for the agony of sacrifice her dear friend from the desert Winkel of Greetiyah was going through for a noble cause. Such emotions were bound to wring the tender heart of the heiress of the Highly Romantic Winkel of Xenia.

(Sorry but that's it for here folks! Sunshine's swim challenge is clearly getting to her but little did she know even greater trials lay ahead. There are accusations of cheating, fierce rivalries and squabbles among family and friends to contend with, and perhaps a little bit of a love story on the side. All will be explained in the breathless conclusion to 'Lady Sunshine and the Drowning Games' available in e-book form at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and all the other excellent online retailers. Shop around for a competitive price!)