Katyana agrees to the plan... but there is a condition

"King Xavier," Katyana says, approaching from behind as you laugh at the Sultan's joke - a somewhat **** laugh, as it has proven extremely difficult to ignore the looming threat of war, and pretend to enjoy the festival. Eventually, of course, the people will need to be warned... but to do so too soon could cause panic.

"Yes, my Lady?"

"I wonder if I might borrow you for a private word, perhaps over by the rose arch? I do beg your pardon, Great Sultan."

The first event of the tournament has been the blacksmithing competition, something which had been done specifically in your honor but has been nevertheless excruciatingly dull, so it is with no little relief that you invited all the noble guests to the nearby tournament garden once it was finally finished. There, you and your guests take a moment to partake wine, cheese, and fresh fruits, while the tournament grounds are reconfigued for what are sure to be the more entertaining events of the afternoon: the jousts, and the fencing, and the displays of acrobatics and juggling. It had been something you had been very much looking forward to; now, with all that is happening, you wonder if you will be able to derive any real enjoyment from such spectacle.

"But of course, my Lady," the Sultan says. "I think I am ready for a bit more sustenance, in any event! Have you ever observed, my dear... a King may feast upon rich caviar, sweetbreads, and spiced wine; while the peasant farmer sips his barley gruel. But both rich and poor alike may find delight in the taste of a peach, plucked straight from the tree and enjoyed just as Allah intended!"

"I had never thought of it quite that way, my friend," you respond, "even though in my life, I have sustained body and soul on both the gruel and the grand. I would like to say that there are times when I miss the simple meals of my youth, but the fact is that I did most of my own cooking, and never could seem to get it right."

The Sultan laughs, and goes to clap you on the shoulder - fortunately, he stays his hand when he remembers your recent wound, and instead simply nods and then makes his way over to the tables. You offer an arm to Lady Katyana, and together you walk over to the arch entwined with roses. You wonder if Katyana realizes that it is a popular place in Elyssia for young couples to be wed... and then it suddenly hits you that you may be about to do the same! Your throat goes instantly dry as the very real implications of this plan begin to sink in; so much thought had been given to the need to stop Velimir, you have barely had a moment to consider the fact that you may be getting married on the morrow!

You take a goblet of wine from a passing steward and drink it quickly enough that you are able to put it back on the same tray.

"Are you all right, Xavier?" Katyana asks quietly, with a bit of that tiny smirk on her lips that you have seen before.

"I confess, not entirely," you say to her. "There is much to weigh on my mind, after all."

"I know the feeling," she says, nodding.

You catch Captain Navarre's eye across the garden. and he nods to you as well; he has been your guardsman long enough to know when you want some privacy, and he subtly directs two of the watchmen to take up positions to stop anyone who might interrupt you and Katyana.

The rose arch is deliberately set such that when viewed at one angle, it frames the castle in the distance; from the other side, the valley stretching out to the far horizon. Lady Katyana takes in that view, the wind blowing her hair gently back from her face. It is remarkable how the same eyes can be so frighteningly cold, but then so soft and warm... like the sky with which they share color.

"Have you thought upon my... proposal, Katyana?" you ask her.

"I have thought of naught else since you made it," she says. "And, I have decided... that I may say yes. There are yet some matters which will need to be settled, however."

"Tell me of them, and I will settle them as quickly as is within my power."

She turns her eyes to you, and seems to be gently appraising you. It seems that she may also be considering for the first time not just whether she can be a part of this mad plan, nor even what it will be like to be your queen... but simply what it will be like to be your wife, perhaps for the rest of her days. "What was it you called me, last night?" she asked. "When you held me close to you, there was something you said... I would like to hear you say it again."

You said a great deal, of course! But there is something which made you wonder at the time why she had reacted so. "Lovely one," you reply.

She closes her eyes for a moment, as if she hears the echoes of the words and wants to catch and savor every one before they fade. "You are not the first man to call me beautiful, or desirable," she says softly, "but you are the first to use that word. Such a simple word... but there is something in it that stirs me. Perhaps it is because I hear it from your heart as well as your lips. I hope you will call me such every night, if we are indeed to have many more nights together."

You're not sure what to say to that... obviously, you want her to say that she will accept your proposal and plan; but equally obviously, this is not the time to push her for an answer! "Each night and each morning," you finally say, "and I will mean it every time."

"Xavier, a few days ago I was prepared to do my part to burn this city and seize your castle and crown," she says, turning her eyes once more toward the valley. "I had imagined a special humiliation for you, a way to show all the people that they had a new ruler. I had planned to erect a forge in the City Square, and there **** the Blacksmith King to melt down his own crown and sword, and hammer them into the chains which would keep him as my prisoner. I saw the city's people on their knees in the square, while I burned the banner of the mountain and sheathed sword. I raised my own flag in its place, a flag which showed the sword sheathed in blood and the mountain aflame. I relished the thought of taking and training the young boys and girls alike into the most powerful army in these mountains - even more powerful than my father's armies, for they would be dedicated to me and not to their gold, as my father's mercenaries are. I would vanquish the so-called Warrior Queen and assume her crown as well, and show that I could succeed where my father had failed. In the end, I would challenge the Warlord himself and claim victory over the very man who raised me to be the sword at his side. I think now of how I imagined myself as the Conquering Queen, Xavier... and I am sickened by it. I have changed so very much, in barely a day's time, and I am terrified of both that change and of the person I was before.

"It did not start with the arrow," she says, turning to place a hand upon your arm near where it struck. "Nor with the chess game, or even when I entered your castle for the first time. No, the first touch of doubt I felt happened as I and my guardsmen rode through town on the way to the castle. None knew who we were, as we did not carry my father's banner nor bear his mark. No one had any reason to fear or hate me. I had never seen so many people in such a state of happiness and excitement; I did not know people could be such. But the one who stood out to me was a young girl, barely showing the first signs of womanhood, dressed in finery and with her hair arranged and set with flowers, among those who were clearly her companions but dressed in clothes which were simple and plain. I wondered why this young noblewoman or daughter of a wealthy merchant would associate with such. Her name, I know now, is Anna. She is but a milkmaid who had won the honor of handing the King his scepter before the parade. And then I saw her again in my mind, screaming as her dress was ripped from her body and my father's mercenaries had their way with her; perhaps leaving her for dead when they were done, bloodied and broken in the same town square where she had her moment in the Sun."

Katyana's eyes shine with unshed tears, but she has led too disciplined a life to let them fall.

"I will do whatever I can to save her," Katyana whispers. "Anna, and all of your people. And you as well, Xavier. But marrying you will not stop my father, it will only bring him here faster; and once he is here, he will not be impressed by your kindness or the happiness of your people. Before we go any further, we must know how to finish what we begin. I know the ways of war, Xavier, and a commander who charges into battle with no plan for victory will be slaughtered."

"Do you have a plan, my Lady?" you ask her.

"It may be that I do," she says, looking now back toward the castle. "It is no less bold than your own; and just as you have, I must trust in those who were my enemies, and who have no reason to trust me. It will also depend upon a degree of chance, but if all play their parts and play them well, we can still emerge victorious in the end."

"We should discuss it with my advisors," you suggest. "They can help you to refine the plan, to make it work and minimize the chance of failure."

"No," she says. "Your plan depends on my father learning of what we do. The plan I have will be ruined if even the slightest part of it reaches his ears. I dare not speak of it except to the one I must... not even to you, for my father's spies have methods of which you would not dream, and I cannot know for certain that he will not overhear. I must return to the castle and see to it that the help I need is secured. I must return alone, and reach my goal unchallenged. And so, King Xavier, who was once my enemy and became my savior, my lover, the man with whom I will share my life... I must ask if you can trust me, completely and without reservation. I ask you now for the Iron Ring."