"There are many men here today," my father croaked. "What were the odds that Lord Beck would arrive with our Eliza's Duke?"

Elías shrugged. "Mathematics was never my strength."

"How about spirituality then?" the King asked.

I glanced between the two of them as they went back and forth.

"Spirituality? Also not a strength," Elías joked.

He raised the bow to take aim at something I couldn't see.

"You're a knight," he groaned. "That should be your strength, if nothing else. But. Fine. Still. There's no denying that Löff is of a good bloodline, at the least?" Dad said.

His Blade sighed and lowered his shot. "You're too loud for the birds, Your Majesty," he muttered.

"My apologies, Ser; I am trying to work through an obstacle."

"Obstacle?" Eli asked. "Why does it matter that he's related to Lord Beck? Many men are related to each other."

"It matters because–"

I focused on the woods to dampen their silly argument. The one about me that I was not invited to partake in. Willoughby watched the brush, and he listened, and he was in his own world. He stepped away from the other two, and I followed him until it was quiet, and nothing around us seemed to be able to breach my thoughts except for the sweet melody of songbirds somewhere in the air. He took a deep breath, taking the time to line up a shot, and I... I was drifting into a daydream. Back into the forests of Askar's duchy, where we had slept on the ground, entwined together.

That day felt decades away, and I wanted to touch the Duke, but he was nowhere near where I was. I didn't even know where he was. He was anywhere else with Lord Beck. Lord Beck, of all the people in the world. His cousin.

I thought about all the things Askar had said, all the times he had spoken of his Riverlands kin, and I berated myself for not catching it sooner. He had cousins, and what other family did I know better than the Becks in the Riverlands? Askar was a Duke. Of course his family would consist of other ranks. I was a princess; I should have known better.

But would it have changed anything? I didn't know that, and I certainly didn't want to.

Ask was wonderful; I reminded myself. He was thoughtful; he was gentle; he was interested in me... I hoped. However, his last words had been confusing.

'I will be around.'

I should have stayed and pried and asked him what he had meant again, but I was paralyzed by the fact that so many people close to us were there. How did I intend to justify a private conversation with a man I clearly was attracted to, who was openly courting me, when every pair of peering eyes belonged to a knight, or a lord, or a gentleman, or my father? The wind was so thick with decorum that it made it difficult to even make-believe.

On one hand, I wanted nothing more than to replace Ser Willoughby with a day spent next to my Duke. On the other, I was fighting a war beneath the fibers of my skin, and I needed my knight to keep his head on a swivel for beasts I couldn't see. More than a Sword, he was my friend, I realized.

Seeing the Marquis was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I owed that to Willoughby, somehow. I had spent my whole life beside him. Him beside me. He had told me that being my knight was the greatest honor his career would see, and I had not believed him until the Hunt, until I watched him draw his bow at another man as a joke and bear no regret over the act.

And worse, Ser Willoughby didn't know the truth. He only knew what I wanted him to know about the lord.

I thought about Ser Elías and my mother's friendship with him. Their loyalty, and how I knew he would die for her, and then I looked at Ser Willoughby as he played his silly game, surrounded by trees, and I thought about if lightning could strike twice in the world, let alone so close to the Crown, on the same mountain. Would Ser Willoughby die for me? I wanted to ask, but...

Of course, he would, I thought. I remembered how adamantly he fought to send me out of the forest, how he'd abandoned the rules of society, leaving me with the Duke, not himself, so that he could eliminate a threat and draw it somewhere else just for my benefit.

And I thought about Askar. I owed Ser Willoughby for Askar, too. He'd known I was escaping him during the faire, but instead of calling me out for it, he let me wander. I could only think, for some sort of freedom he thought it would give me. It had. And though he'd been angry and disappointed about the night I'd spent beneath the Duke, he hadn't judged me for it, and he certainly hadn't ratted me out to anyone either. If he had, my father would not be allowing flowers to be sent to the house.

In fact, Ser Willouhgby sent me with the Duke from that clearing. He trusted me with the Duke, and that the Duke would take care of me, and despite my best efforts to convince him and myself, he knew that the night had meant something. It was not just the best way to get over a man. Willoughby knew it meant something more to me, and he only had the details that lived at the surface. I had never been so seen.

The cord was tight on his bow, and suddenly I blurted, "I love you, you know?"

There was a snap as he dropped the string, and his eyes went wide. His wedding band glimmered under the ray of light that cut through the canopy, and his arrow struck a tree.

"Your pardon, Princess?" he croaked. He turned to look at me, confused, and I repeated the words I'd said.

"I love you," I said. "Did you not hear me?"

"You're in love with me?" he asked.

"What? Oh!" I hurried. "No! Not! No! Not romantically," I assured him. "Platonically. As a knight! As friends. I love you as a friend. Good Lord, Willough."

"You're the one who declared you loved me," he said. "How is a man to interpret that?"

"But you're not a man; you're–"

"What?" he cried.

"Well, you are, but you're... You're Ser Willoughby." I frowned. "I was trying to praise you."

"Good God, I think I've had a heart attack." He sat down and laid his bow beside him.

"Boy, that would be peculiar, huh?" I said. "If I had said–"

"Please do not finish that thought. Even the idea of it makes me feel creepy," he said. "I'm very much in love with Jocelyn."

"I know that," I cried. "Oh, God, I know that. And I know you two are soulmates. Gross! You're like... an eternity my senior!"

"I am not!" he said. "I will have you know, I have plenty of friends who– Ugh! Why are we having this conversation?" he asked. "What is wrong with you? Why are you suddenly declaring your– Whatever it is you're declaring?"

"Well, I don't know," I said, sitting next to him. "I've just seen Lord Beck. It turns out he's my Duke's cousin. I just... I was thinking about everything you've ever done for me, and I wanted to... I wanted to thank you."

"Then thank me, Princess," he moaned. "Don't scare me half to death. Do you know what your fathe– No, do you know what your mother would do to me? What she'd have Elías do if we–?"

"That's exactly the line of thought I was having," I told him. I tentatively took his hand. "You're my Elías."

He patted mine with his other and quickly left the act. "I'm not sure that's the compliment you think it is," he said.

"Not the– Why? What's wrong with Ser Elías? He's brave and he–"

"It's not him I'm talking about. It's that in that scenario, you've labeled yourself the Queen, and she is... Well, she's not an easy detail."

"Oh, and I am?" I asked.

"For the most part, yeah," he said. He shrugged. "You like candy, and you like horses and dresses, and you like my stupid jokes. I think we get along well, and it hasn't been until recently that you've been acting out, and Lord Beck is to blame for that, I know. Your mother... She's always defied Elías, but he likes that sort of resistance. The man enjoys the challenge, I think."

"Oh."

"When we were in Chalke... When your mother was courting your father, or your father was courting her, when we were all friends, yes?" He waited to see that I was tracking. "It was easy for me to play guard because Ser Elías asked me to. I did not have a preexisting relationship with Her Majesty. Our friendship was not built on a life of rules and boundaries, and we were very close in age. She wanted time with your father; I wanted time with Josie. Elías would not have been the same way. No, he was not the same way."

"You did give me time with the Duke," I said.

"Yes," he nodded. "Which is why our relationship is not the same. I am flattered by your respect for me, and I hope you realize that it is mutual. There is no other person I would rather protect, and I hope that you know that when you do marry, I will miss you deeply. I hope you know that I love you, too... In a strictly non-romantic sense, but I–"

"Oh, shut up, will you?" I cracked, nudging him.

"But... To Elías, Svana is his... His daughter. I don't know what you know about her upbringing or the details surrounding that, but... They have a strict companionship. He's her mentor. Her guide. Her guardian. To me, you're like your mother was, and your mother's my friend. You're my friend. Not my child, not my pupil. God forbid you look up to me."

"I do make a difficult daughter," I added.

"Your parents are saints," he said. "They love you. And I... I will not have children. That is something that I bear for the things I have done in my past."

"What? What have you done?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," he told me. "What matters is that you never call me Ser Elías again." I snickered, and he sighed. "Truly, I think I am a lot more lenient and fun, right?"

"Yes," I said. "I guess you're right... But..."

"God, please be something—"

"What do you mean when I marry, you'll miss me?" I asked.

He paused. "I don't understand your question?"

"You said when I marry, you'll miss me deeply? Will you not... just come with me?"

"Ah," he sang. "Eliza... The Queensguard is a life vow. I could not leave even if I wanted to. I am bound to the Crown until my death."

"Yes," I laughed. "But I am part of the Crown; you would come with me."

"To Gosil?" he asked.

I blushed at the idea that I would marry Askar. "Yes."

"Another nation?" he added.

"I..." I realized what he was saying. "You mean to say that you can't... You can't cross Empire lines? Or?"

"You'll be Duchess and your Duke cannot abandon his duchy," he added.

My hands trembled. "Oh," I said. "I hadn't... considered this."

"It'll be alright," he assured me. "You'll be happy with Löff. He's a fair man; he seems very invested in you, and despite who his cousin is– I–"

"Well, I can't marry him," I cried, standing.

"What?" He shook his head.

"I cannot marry a man that robs me of you, can I?" I asked.

"Eliza," he started.

"No," I told him. "No. I've already determined that you are my Elías. Do you think my mother would abandon him for my father?"

"Yes," Willoughby nodded. "I absolutely know she would."

"That's not true; she–"

"Princess, your parents are soulmates. That is not a run-of-the-mill love. Come Hell or Highwater– No, through Hell and Highwater, your mother fought to be with your father. To have you kids. She defied Eli left and right the whole journey; I absolutely know that she would choose all of you over her knight, and I know that Ser Elías would be offended if she did not. That is how it should be."

"But he's like a father to her," I said. "She would not part with him."

"Yes, she would," Willough said. "Parents die and leave their children. Elías wants only for your mother to be happy."

"What of his happiness!?" I yelled.

He lost a quiet breath. "Ser Elías' happiness is not within her."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means he will find his peace only when he leaves her side."

"You're... You're speaking riddles, and I don't know what that means. I don't like riddles. I don't like stupid thoughts. Mama loves Elías, and I love you, and I don't think it's fair that.... I don't have any kids! Maybe I won't have any!" I cried.

"Do not start making rash decisions about your future. You've had a very long morning. A lot of emotions are coming to a head here and now, but I promise you, you'll be alright. All things, all hard things, days and nights, they pass."

"You sound so sure, and yet...." My voice shook.

"Askar will assign a knight to you. You will not be left unguarded. The Duke is very rich. He is very sound of mind. He seems very interested in making you happy, and I have fought alongside his men. They love him, and they are brave. They say that he is brave."

"I don't want another knight," I said. "I just told you I loved you. I killed a horse for you. I don't want... I will never trust another Blade as I trust you. How can I be asked to?"

"You can write me," he said. "We'll write each other."

"Write you!?" I snapped. "That's not the same! What if... What if I buy a summer home there? And you and Josie live in it? Then will you remain my Sword?"

"I can't... Whether you live here or in Gosil.... Whether you marry the Duke or you marry an Oreian man, you'll have to leave the castle, and I cannot leave the castle. I am sworn to your Mother and then to your brother when he is crowned."

"He gets everything!"

I fell to my knees. Willoughby crouched in front of me, and he touched my shoulders. "Eliza," he said.

"But I– I didn't know that, and I feel tricked." I stood up and started to trek away from him.

"You weren't tricked," he said. "Stop pacing. Your father is very close and–"

"My father!" I declared. "I'll just tell him that I need you to be with me and–"

"And what, Princess? He is less an influence than you are. An oath is an oath."

I stormed by him, anyway, back the way we came, and my knight raced after.

"Eliza!" he called. "Wait!"

My father was a couple of minutes down from where we'd been, but when I found him, "Daddy, I!" I came to an abrupt stop.

My yelling spooked Ser Elías so badly that he missed his shot and actually cursed about it. Dad made a joke about his skill, and I... I realized the Duke had joined their party. He was standing next to the King. Instinctively, I searched the space for the Marquis, but he wasn't there.

"Your Highness," he lit up. "I was just speaking to His Majesty about–"

Willoughby caught me, but he was panting.

"Are you alright?" Askar wondered. He furrowed his brow. "Was there another attack?"

The others stood on edge.

"N-No," I told them. "No, I..."

I looked at Ask. Then I looked at my father. I looked at Willoughby. He wanted to say something, but I couldn't let him. I couldn't think. Askar had returned and was bonding my father, and I... I was... I was...

"Princess, breathe," Willoughby tried.

He reached for me, but I stumbled back, and before I knew it, I was racing through the woods.