Willoughby snatched Askar by his sleeve and dragged him into the room, and shut the door, latching it.

"Oh, fuck," he muttered under his breath.

Askar stared at me, baffled. He looked between the two of us and then settled back on me as he sheathed his sword. "I don't need to know," he said. "I'm sorry to interrupt."

He started to leave, but Willoughby tore him back, returning him to stand by me. "Interrupt what exactly? What do you think is happening here?" he asked.

Ask shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" my knight asked.

I watched them back and forth.

"It looks like you're alone in a room with the Princess... Who is dressed as a knight?"

Then I cut in. "Well, that's not entirely untrue."

Willough shushed me. "You've got the wrong idea," he insisted.

It started to piece together. "Wait a second... Do you think I'm... Ew! With Ser Willoughby!" I hissed.

Ask gestured at the man's exposed torso.

"Well," I said. "Okay! I'll give you that. It does look bad. But that doesn't mean it is bad."

He crossed his arms. "I don't need a commentary, thanks. Please. Get back to whatever you were doing."

"You think!?" My stomach twisted at the thought. "He's married! And, like, so old!"

"Hey!" Willough chimed. "I'm hardly past forty, and don't pretend like you didn't look at me."

"I didn't look at you!" I cried

"You did when you were standing there as I got undressed!"

"When you thought I was Braxton?" I croaked.

"Braxton looks at me!" he said.

Ask knifed his hand in between us and made another attempt for the door.

"Not so fast," Willough said. "You're in this now."

"I want no part of this," the Duke replied. "I'm not into sharing. To each their own."

"Sharing!" I moaned. "Willoughby hit him!"

Ser Willoughby smacked the back of his head, and the Duke stood straighter shifting at him. They stared each other down.

"I just want to–" he tried. "Excuse me."

"Your Grace!" My knight barred his exit. "This is not some weird sex act happening here. This is a disobedient princess and– Nope. No. God, no. That sounds just as bad. Let me try again.... I am not sleeping with Her Highness," he decided. "I'm... I'm fucking trying to determine why she's here!"

"If you had agreed to take me in the first place–" I started.

"Your mother is going to kill me," he said.

"Just so it's known," Askar chimed. "The walls are very thin. That's why I came in here. I thought you were hurt."

"Oh." My heart fluttered. "That's very brave of you, sir."

He offered me the hint of a smile, but Willoughby crushed it with his negativity.

"Oh, my God," he said. "I've just made it to my prime. What am I going to do about Josie?"

"Josie is not going to leave you," I said. "She'll never believe you chose me over her anyway. Ever. She knows you love her. I know you love her. And I don't love you," I added. "I felt like I should say that."

He muttered something I didn't hear, then, "I meant when I am hung for this whole mess you've created," he said.

"My mother isn't going to hang you," I said. "She doesn't even know I'm gone."

"Ha!" His hands fanned out on either side of me. "It's dark outside!"

"So what?" I croaked.

"Let's think. You will have missed lunch, and supper, and your bath. Amy will have tried to have found you. She will have told Willem's valet because she cannot handle a crisis, and I promise you, he told Willem the first chance he got. And that's all if the Prince hasn't noticed first! If he hasn't sent word to your mother yet, then he's dead."

"What!?" I cracked. "Why would he be dead!?"

Ask sighed. "He means your brother will have definitely sent word," he explained. "And he's right."

"Oh... Well. So what?" I spat. "It's not you're fault I'm here. If anyone would be punished, it's me."

"This is bad," my knight said.

"No," I reached to assure him but drew back instead. "I don't think this is completely horrible. We're nearly to Gosil, right?"

Ask folded his arms. "We've yet to hit Locke. Then there's the ferry. Then Keye. Sorry. Probably not the most important question, but... I don't understand why you're here in the first place," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "That's not a question."

"Fine. Why are you here in the first place?" he asked. His face was sour.

"Your Grace, I'm sorry," Willoughby said. "I did not, in a thousand millennia, anticipate this sort of misbehavior. I deeply apologize for the setback, but I must see Her Highness's delivery back home. You understand?"

"Aye," Ask agreed.

"Delivery," I croaked. "Like I'm some letter? Do you not see the problem here? Maybe why I felt I must misbehave in the first place?"

They both looked at me.

"I'm not an object to be mailed!" I snapped. "I'm a person. A real person. With dreams. Real dreams!" I stood taller. "And real..."

"Hopes to have me hanged?" Willough asked.

Ask laughed.

I frowned. "Not where I was going." I groaned and fell back onto the mattress, flailing my arms out on either side of me. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like being cooped up all day with no real purpose," I explained.

"While I'm sure the stand you've chosen to take right now is valid, Eliza," Willough sang. "It's highly inappropriate for you to be here. Especially in this room with me. Not to mention a man you have a history with!"

Ask raised his brows, looking at me. "You told your knight?"

I sat up at that. "You told my knight!" I spat.

"I did not!"

"You did mention you spent the night with her," Willough said.

I tsked. "See? And don't act like you didn't run and inform Ser Fridrick and Ser Whiskers as soon as you could!"

"I did no such thing," he sang.

"Oh, sure," I added.

He scoffed. "When exactly would I have violated your trust? When I was with you in bed? Or in the moments after you tried to sneak off without so much as a farewell before you got caught in the bar by a bystander?"

I huffed, and Ser Willoughby released an agitated sound. "Eliza," he buzzed. "Badly done."

"You're on his side?" I whined.

"I'm on no one's side; there's no winning side," Willough said. "We're lucky for the history, as ill-advised as it feels, because it leaves the Duke here with no choice but to be understanding of the situation. Aye?"

After a second, Askar shrugged.

"Right?" he insisted. "Because we all know if this got out, it would quickly turn into an affair of some sort, and I can hear the rumor now." He used the edge of his hand to emphasize each word. "Married Knight Elopes with Princess and Lover, Betrays Wife, Oath, and Empire for Three Way Tryst. Or worse! Reckless Princess Seduces Married Knight and Gosil Duke for Fornication!"

"Fornication!?" I nearly gagged. "That is... unseemly dramatic, Ser Willoughby. You're embarrassing yourself," I said. They both glanced at me. "Are you not embarrassed by him?"

"I mean," Ask said. "He may not have a future in heralding, but lovers is what I thought was happening when I saw you in here. I'm still unclear why you are here if it's not to keep your Blade sharp?"

"Ugh!" I gaped at the remark. "To keep him... Ew! What does that even mean!?"

"It means–"

Willoughby held up his hand to stop the response. "Why are you here, Princess?" he asked me.

"I'm..." I groaned. "Obviously, I'm here to see the dragon!"

He bobbed his head but wasn't convinced. "The dragon... The one that doesn't exist?"

"We don't know that," Askar said. "Something is out there."

Suddenly, the door opened, but before it could sweep far enough to show me, the Duke caught its handle, using his body to force it mostly closed. He shoved his boot into it to keep it cracked. His hand flew to the handle of his blade, but before he drew it, the other side spoke.

"It's me, Your Grace! ...Your Grace?" Ser Fridrick did a double take. "Are you... Are you alright?" He tried to peer into the room, and I had the mind to leap from where I was to hide behind the wardrobe.

Ser Willoughby planted his hands at his sides uncomfortably. "We're great, friend," he said.

Askar agreed. "So great." There was a long pause.

"I heard voices," Fridrick said. "I heard a commotion from here, actually, so I... I wanted to check on you. But you seem fine?"

"Yes," Ask nodded. "We are fine. It's just me here... in Ser Willoughby's room... We're being fine together."

"Yup," Willough was having trouble standing still.

"I see..." Frid said. I stole a look at him as he glanced between the two men. "Is the other guy in there with you?"

"Brax went out," Willoughby lied.

Ask joined him. "He's not in here, no. It's just us." He looked at Willoughby, and Willoughby nodded.

"Aye, then, Your Grace. Ser." Frid stepped back, and then I heard the door close.

"Welp," Willough sighed.

"That may get weedy for us tomorrow," the Duke confessed.

"That's alright," my knight returned. "Not even the weirdest thing that's happened tonight. At least you're pretty."

Ask grinned, waving him off. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Guys!" I cracked. "Is he gone?"

"Right." Willoughby glanced at me. Then he looked down at himself and frowned, snapping his fingers at the Duke and pointing to something behind him.

Ask reached around me to grab his shirt and passed it on to my knight.

"Alright," Willough said, tugging the fabric over his head. He exhaled. "Alright."

"Willough," I groaned.

"Sorry," he said. "Alright."

I frowned.

"Right."

Ask sat on the bed, refolding his arms. "How do we go about deliver–Sorry, returning Her Highness to the castle?" he asked.

"Why do I have to be returned?" I asked. "Just tell Will where I am, and let's charge forward. I should've been on this path in the first place; I can–"

"I'll send word to the Prince that you're here," Willoughby said.

"Thank y–"

"And I'll recommend someone to pick you up. One of the more... reliable knights who won't ask you any questions," he said.

I bristled at the suggestion. "I'm not going home," I told them. "I'm already in trouble. Why can't I just–"

"Princess," Askar said. His voice was quiet.

"You, too?" I sank my hands into my lap. "Why is no one sympathetic to me?"

"We're not against you either," Willoughby said. "But you're a lady. You're the Princess. Your place is–"

"Fine," I told him. "Fine. Send me back like a carton of milk."

"It's for the best," my Sword said.

"It's not," I replied coldly. "Maybe for everyone else here who doesn't want to... to babysit me! But it's not the best for me. I can promise that!"

Ser Willoughby paused. "I am sorry," he said. "But you can't be here, and you knew that the moment you left the castle. That's why you wore a disguise. How did you expect to get away with this anyway?"

"I didn't," I confessed. "But I needed to try."

I stood up and pulled at the hem of the man's shirt I wore, trying to finagle it into looking somewhat presentable.

"But it's fine." I knew it wasn't. "You only reap what you sow."

Askar looked at me, but I didn't meet his eyes.

"Listen," Willough sighed. "I will try to convince your mother it was a misunderstanding," he said. "But I cannot lie to her. If she doesn't follow what I imply, I–"

"Call it what you want, Ser. A lie is a lie, and I don't care anymore." I crawled back into the bed and pulled my legs in after, huddling up to them.

"Princess."

"Go send your letter," I muttered. "Just... Please tell my brother I'm sorry."

Ask was still eyeing me, and I couldn't bear it.

"Go," I croaked.

Willoughby nodded. "I'm just running downstairs, so–"

"So don't run off again?" I moaned. "Got it."

He and the Duke moved toward the door.

"Good night, Your Highness," Ask said.

Willoughby brought him to a halt. "No offense, sir," he said. "I'm certain you trust your company, but I do not know them as well. Is there a way we can... keep this between the three of us? I'd like to control the chance of rumors."

Ask shrugged. "What do you propose? That we sneak her out of here? Or confine her against her will until somebody comes?"

"I'd rather it not come to that," he said.

"It's a day back to the castle," Ask said. "Even if your messenger leaves now. Then a day back, assuming someone else returns his reply and no one sleeps. So we're stuck here for another night. Frid will ask where Braxton is, and since you said he went out, he may become concerned about his departure. That's just his nature. What should I say to my men?"

"We'll tell them Braxton had to handle something in town. That's a common thing. We're often stopped to settle civil matters here and there, and we both know Harbortown is a shithole."

The Duke nodded. "Yes, a horrible place for a Princess."

"I am, in fact, right here, and I can hear you," I sang.

"So then what?" he went on. "Then we're... waiting on another knight to replace him? Is that realistic?"

"No," Willough said.

"What if they offer to wait for him? What if they don't? What's keeping us here for the night?"

"God," I croaked, finally butting in. "Take me to Locke," I said. "That's the answer."

"I do not wish to risk it," Willough said.

"I assure you, my knights are quiet about my affairs. That's why they're my knights. They were chosen for this quest because of their silence."

"See?" I asked. "And there's a knight's post in Locke. Leave me with the closest Sword there and go about your business, quest, whatever. I'm sure a member of the Queensguard can make whoever's there return me unharmed."

They considered it.

"Not bad," Willough said. "But then you're two days from home, not one."

"So what?" I croaked. "I'm not home where I belong, right? In for the gold, in for the copper, I'm still fucked."

"Language!" he spat.

"Oh, please," I said to him. "Since I've been on this adventure, I have heard you say the foulest of foul things, Ser. Things no knight should ever say! Comments about swords being sharpened and polished! You have no right! No right at all."

Ask snickered. "She has a point."

I tried to smile at him, but he looked away, and I rolled my eyes when he turned, only to offer me a bow.

"Fine," Willoughby finally said. "Tell them."

Ask opened the door for the two of them. "After you," he said.

They went into the hall, and I caught one last phrase among their obvious scheming, though I couldn't hear the words around it, and 'rusted blade' didn't make any sense. 'Do you know what a rusted blade is?' he'd asked.

When they were gone, I stared at the handle forever until Ser Willoughby came back into the room.