Keep calm, and talk your way through this

"What do you want?" you ask your assailant in a quiet tone.

"Your overtures toward Queen Alayna are at an end," the voice says. "Your attempts to seduce her will cease, as of this moment."

Your mind races - could this be a man who craves Alayna for himself, driven by jealousy? "I know that love and desire can drive any man to **** actions, which he may later regret," you reply. "I am willing to grant you pardon for this trespass, if we might talk as two reasonable men. Release me, and you have my word as king and as a man of honor, no one need know of what you have done here tonight."

"You presume much, King Xavier. You have heard my demands. Ignore them, and you will find that I am not one who grants pardon."

"You will find that I am not one who accedes to threats so easily," you grunt; the pressure on the back of your neck, holding you in a low and awkward crouch, is becoming painful. "Nor will I allow a coward with a knife to usurp rule of Elyssia!"

"Rule as you will, King Xavier. Ally with the House of Beaumanoir, or do not. Matters of diplomacy are not my concern. But you will pursue the Queen's heart no further. That is my demand."

The hand on your neck shoves downward hard, and you stumble forward onto your hands and knees. Before you can get to your feet, a thick blanket comes down over the top of you, weighted down by what feels like chain mail. By the time you are able to struggle out of the pile, you are alone in the room - but a light comes from the door behind your bed, which stands ajar!

"Valerie!" you cry out, and you snatch up your sword as you run for her chambers, drawing it out and casting the scabbard aside. You burst into her room with the blade held before you, looking frantically around, but there is no one there. "Valerie!!" you yell again, and in reply you hear what sounds like a heavily-muffled scream from the bath. You dash into the small room, your heart pounding in your throat - and there in the tub is Yvette, her hands and feet bound, and a hood covering her head. She struggles mightily against her bonds and screams again.

"Hold on, Yvette!" you call to her, and after ensuring that there is no one else in Valerie's rooms, you reach down and yank off the hood, then pull the gag from her mouth. "Are you all right?" you ask.

A crashing noise behind you turns your head, and you raise your sword as you turn. "Sire! King Xavier, where are you?"

It's Captain Navarre! "In here, Captain! Yvette, are you hurt?"

Yvette gasps for breath, and sobs. "I... I d-don't think so," she answers. "I'm so sorry, Sire, I t-tried to scream, to warn you!"

"It is not your fault. Where is Valerie?"

"I don't know -"

The Captain charges in, his sword held at the ready. "Sire, what has happened?"

"An intruder, Captain; he just left moments ago! Go quickly, you may catch him!"

The Captain hesitates only a fraction of a heartbeat, as your orders require him to leave you unguarded - but he recognizes the need for haste, and runs out.

You return your attention to Yvette. "Yvette, was Valerie here?" you ask again.

"N-no, I have not seen her since I c-came back from the feast!"

The knots are stubborn, and resist your efforts to untie them. "Keep as still as you can," you caution her, and you pick up your sword once again. Carefully, you slide the razor-honed point of your blade between her wrists, and it slits easily through the ropes. Half a moment later, her ankles are free as well.

"Did you see who did this?" you ask her.

Yvette shakes her head. "He... he..." she stammers, and then she sobs again and throws her arms around you, crying hard into your chest. You hold her in return and let her cry.

Moments later, Captain Navarre returns. "The intruder has escaped, Sire," he says.

"How?" you ask, frowning. "There's only one way down from this tower! He couldn't have gotten past you, Captain!"

"It would seem that he escaped through the privy shaft, Sire," Navarre says.

"You can't be serious."

"There is a rope leading down into the shaft, and this gauntlet was left beside the seat," Navarre says, holding up the steel glove which you had felt at the back of your neck. "He must have climbed all the way down to the cesspit. I see no point in ringing the alarm bells, Sire; by the time we could mobilize, he'll be through the sewer drain and outside the castle walls."

"The dogs, then; they can take his scent from the gauntlet."

"They'll smell only the stink of the sewers, not the scent of the man."

You nod with resignation, and then slide your arms under Yvette's slender body and lift her from the marble tub, taking her over to Valerie's bed. She pulls her face away from you, looking up at you with red eyes. "Forgive me, Sire," she whispers.

"You have done nothing which needs forgiveness, Yvette."

"I could have tried to stop him, I could have -"

"Yvette, he surprised me from behind just as I imagine he did to you. This was no common thug; he was skilled and very dangerous. There was nothing you could have done which would not have gotten you hurt or even killed, and I would never have wished to buy my security at such a cost. Do you understand?"

Yvette nods. "Y-yes," she whispers.

You kiss her gently on the forehead, and then turn to Captain Navarre. "Captain, we must act immediately, and I will not leave Yvette alone after what she has been through. You will need to go and inform the guard that we have had an intruder, and that an attempt must be made to track him from the sewer drain into the woods. It is unlikely that we will be able to pursue and find him, but we must make the effort nonetheless. Have Lady Trina escort Valerie back up here, and Trina will then stand guard over this room until morning. Lord Duncan is likely in the library; have him come to my parlor at once. The three of us need to talk about what has happened here tonight."