To the Vixen's cell

"Sir Benedicht, accompany me to the dungeons," you say to him. "There is a prisoner with whom I must speak."

You enter the dungeon and make your way down the torchlit hallway. The strongest cell is at the end of the block; the rest are empty, in large part due to the general pardon offered before the festival. In the last cell, the Vixen sits with her back to the wall, her head hung low. She still wears the elegant dress which Valerie provided for her, a stark contrast to the rough, dim surroundings of the dungeon. The guard comes to attention as you approach, and she looks up at the sound.

"Oh, thank Almighty God!" she exclaims when she sees you, falling to her hands and knees on the floor of the cell. "I did not dare to ask if you still lived, Your Grace. I have never missed my shot since I was but a child, and to do so now and strike the King instead... I beg of you, please believe me, it was not meant for you!"

"I know that you did not intend to harm me... Your Highness."

She looks up at you, her sea-blue eyes filled with tears and wide with shock.

"You are Princess Liesel von Ingolstadt, are you not?"

For a long moment, she is still... and then slowly, she nods her head. "Yes," she tries to say, but her voice is too choked by emotion to make the sound.

The guard at the cell forgets himself for a moment, and turns to stare at her, then at you. When you meet his eyes, he seems to remember his duty, and resumes standing at attention.

"Unlock the door, guardsman," you tell him. "I wish to speak with the Princess in the interrogation room. Have no fear," you assure Liesel, as her face blanches in terror. "You must have heard it said that in Elyssia, we use neither the rack nor the whip. These are not just words, Your Highness; it is a matter of personal honor to me that prisoners of the crown are never mistreated. I simply wish to speak with you in a more comfortable place than this cell, and though the wound you inflicted was slight it is less painful to sit than to stand."

A moment later, you are seated across a stone table from Princess Liesel, with Sir Benedicht standing just behind her, though it seems ludicrous at this point that his service would be needed.

"Liesel," you say to her, "may I call you by your true name?"

"No one has for many years," she says, staring without seeing at the center of the table.

"Liesel, I know that your shot was meant to kill Lady Katyana Reznik," you say to her. "I would like to know why you have marked her for ****."

"It was madness," she says, seeming to wake slightly but still not daring to look you in the eyes. "When I heard she was here, I heard her father's name. When I took aim at her, my only thought was to inflict hurt upon the Warlord, to take from him what he had taken from me. Is... is Lady Katyana..."

"She is unharmed," you tell her.

"I would have killed her," Liesel whispers, seemingly saying it to herself more than you. "Oh God, I tried to kill her!"

"But she is not dead," you insist. "Look at me, Liesel - she is alive and well. I am wounded, but only slightly, and I will heal. No lasting harm has been done by your hand. You are not a killer!"

Liesel dissolves in tears, and you allow her a moment to cry herself out. It is hard to imagine what she must be going through... she must have been holding onto years of festering hatred, and then it suddenly found a target; anyone, no matter how strong of will, might have lost control at such a moment. Thief or Princess, she seems a good person at heart, and it must be devastating now for her to realize that she might have done **** if not for a matter of pure chance.

"I would beg her forgiveness," Liesel says at last, when her tears are spent. "Whatever her father has done, she is not responsible. I cannot believe even now that I acted as I did." She is quiet for a moment, and then her eyes go wide again. "Lord Bertrand! I struck him, so that I might get away and... is he all right?"

"I have not seen him, but I am told he is well," you say to her.

"I think... he has guessed who I am," she says. “Not that I am the Vixen, but that I am... Liesel.” She blinks several times, as if she cannot believe that she can finally say her own name, after keeping it so deeply hidden for so long.

"He is not the only one," you tell her. "Lady Katyana knows also. It seems that she came here specifically to find you, and to bring you back to her father, Lord Velimir."

"No," Liesel whispers. "No, you cannot... I will take my own life first, I swear it!"

"Listen to me now, Your Highness. I swear to you, I absolutely will not hand you over to Lady Katyana or the Warlord. Furthermore, I only know this information because Katyana has admitted to all her plans. I do not believe she intends to follow through upon them; she would not have told me about it if she did. If you are both agreeable to it, I can arrange for the two of you to meet, with my own guards present so neither of you has anything to fear from the other."

"Perhaps," Liesel says. She seems utterly overwhelmed, and exhausted, as of course she would be.

"Princess Liesel, it is important that I return to my guests, so that they may see with their own eyes that I am alive and well," you say to her. "I have a little more that I must say before I depart, but I will return for you before the evening is done. For the moment, you will be returned to the cell. It is not an accommodation fit for a Princess, but it is in truth the safest place for you to be, and even though I do not believe that Lady Katyana intends you harm, there are others to consider. It is not impossible that some of Lord Velimir's spies may have infiltrated the castle, during the confusion of festival arrangements, men that even Katyana knows nothing about. The Warlord usually plans more than one path to his goal."

"I understand," she says.

"Next, I must apologize to you," you say to her, and she looks up in surprise. "This morning, when I invited you to be my escort to the festival, it was my intent that your face would become well-known by the people of Elyssia, so that you would never be able to return to your life as a thief in the woods. It did not occur to me that you might be in hiding for reasons other than personal gain. I had no intention of placing you in danger, but I have done so nonetheless, and for this I am sorry."

"Of course, I accept your apology, Your Grace."

"Finally, there is the matter of what we must do next," you say. "That is not entirely up to me. Of course I could keep you here in custody, but I do not see as that would serve any useful purpose. I do not believe that Lady Katyana intends to accuse you of attempted ****, but even if she did I would not pursue it. I would like to help you, Your Highness, but I am not sure how I could best do so. You are an intelligent woman, and I daresay a cunning woman as well; it seems to me that you ought to decide upon your own destiny. If you like, I can offer you the wisdom of my advisors, which I have always found helpful. For the time being, though, I suggest you simply take some rest. I will arrange for some finer bedding, and though this is a dungeon it is the safest place you could possibly be at this moment. Your guard is a man of loyalty and chivalry; you have my word that you have naught to fear in his presence. Only I and the Kingsguard will be permitted to enter the dungeons. You may sleep soundly, Princess, knowing that your enemies cannot reach you here. That is all."