Maren was furious. And upset. And scared and guilty about yelling at Alec, who had only been trying to help.

But rage was the least scary emotion, so she clung to it.

She locked herself into her bedroom and decided no one would be allowed inside and she would not step outside until Donovan left the estate.

She knew she was being foolish and a bit childish and that the mature thing to do would be to speak to Donovan since he had come half-way across the kingdom to see her. Only she wasn't sure she could. She knew that if she saw him, it would be almost impossible to decide between her two terrible options and would be too tempted by things that could never be.

She heard a knock on the sitting room door, but she ignored it. Then there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Maren? Will you talk to me?"

It was Donovan. Maren burst into tears at the sound of his voice. She so badly wanted to see him and knew she couldn't; it felt like her heart was being torn in half.

"I don't want to see you!" she called between sobs.

"I know. That's why I'm on the other side of the door."

That felt like a fairly flimsy loophole.

"I can't see you or talk to you! I haven't made up my mind about what to do, and I don't think I can choose if I see you," she said. "Please go."

"Do you really think your only choices are to end the pregnancy or give up the baby?"

She was annoyed he was dismissive of what were obviously her only options.

"Of course they are. Anything else would be too dangerous for everyone," she snapped.

There was a pause. She assumed he was trying to think of alternatives.

"Maren... I could never take your baby away from you."

She sniffed. "Well, I can't take a baby home North, so if you don't want it, then I guess that makes it simple."

Her voice cracked, and she was crying all over again. She didn't even want to end the pregnancy, but if she didn't have another choice...

"It does make it simple. You'll marry me, and we'll raise the baby together."

Gods, why couldn't he see how impossible that was?

"I won't marry you because you think you have to!"

"I don't have to, I want to," he insisted.

"You cannot possibly! Besides, I cannot live at Court. I can only imagine what sort of danger my child would be in."

"Then we'll live somewhere else," he said.

He was being so stubborn and foolish. She was furious.

"You don't understand! You can't marry me!" she cried. "Your parents will never allow it, and Kieran will murder me and the baby!"

"Well, then what do you propose to do?" he asked, and she could hear how frustrated he was.

"If you don't want to take the baby and I can't then I'll have Alec handle it," she said, voice trembling.

"Absolutely not! I forbid it!"

Her rage returned in full force. She could not believe that he was giving her an order.

"You don't get to make that decision!"

"I already did!"

Maren stomped her foot, furious.

"I don't belong to you anymore!"

"As long as you're carrying my child, you do!"

She was outraged. How dare he speak to her that way? He was a spoiled, entitled prince.

She opened the door abruptly and saw his startled face. She glared at him, furious.

"Get out!" she screamed, pointing at the door that led out into the hall.

Then she slammed the door closed and locked it again.

"I can open that!"

"I dare you!"

She glared at the door, but instead of the sound of the lock opening, she heard him storm out of her sitting room and into the hall.

Good.

--

Donovan slammed the door behind him and stormed into the hall.

"I take it that did not go well?" Alec asked.

He was standing several feet down the hall. Donovan knew he wasn't eavesdropping, but only trying to be available if he was needed.

"That woman is the most frustrating woman I have ever met!"

And then he sighed. "No, it went very poorly," he added quietly.

He had been so angry, and then suddenly he wasn't anymore. He just wished he had done things better with Maren. She was the one traumatized and frightened. She deserved better than his childish behavior.

"Gods, I know I messed that up," Donovan said, running his hand through his hair. "She just said she'd have you handle it and I...well, I was an ass."

Alec nodded. "Probably. But possibly a bit of yelling had to happen. Would you like a very large brandy?"

"Gods, yes."

"Come on," Alec said, "we'll get it sorted."

Alec took him on a detour by his rooms to get a bottle of brandy and glasses, and they went out on a very nice balcony overlooking the sea.

The Duke was sitting at a small table and began to rise when he saw Donovan. Donovan waved him off; he did not want someone bowing to him in his own house.

The Duke nodded to him instead. "Your Highness, Alec, is this celebratory drinking or despondent drinking?" he asked with a small smile.

"Despondent. Would you like to join us?" Alec asked.

The Duke looked to Donovan. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Donovan appreciated that, but didn't really mind his presence. The Duke had made it clear that he had no intention of interfering with Donovan and Maren, so he really couldn't complain about him.

"Not at all. In fact, since you're the only person with whom Maren isn't furious, your company would be appreciated," Donovan said as he and Alec sat down. "Perhaps we will become more likable if we sit with you."

"I take it you went to see her," the Duke said, looking sympathetic.

Donovan ran his fingers through his hair as Alec poured the brandy.

"I take it you knew that was a bad idea," Donovan said, gratefully accepting his brandy from Alec.

The Duke nodded. "Some women do say the opposite of what they want. I don't think Maren is that sort. If she says she wants space, she wants space."

"Teach us your ways, oh, wise one," Alec deadpanned.

The Duke laughed. "You both know her a lot better than I do, but possibly, you are less knowledgeable of women in general."

"I expect that's very accurate," Alec said, smirking.

Donovan felt very foolish. He should not have lost his temper with Maren. He had made everything worse. She had just made him so frustrated.

He drank his brandy and glared at the water. She'd never speak to him now.

"I simply do not understand why she doesn't believe I want to marry her!" Donovan exclaimed suddenly.

"I think...she's very frightened. I don't think she's felt entirely safe since before she left the palace. A lot has happened. We only just let the guard go yesterday," the Duke said.

Donovan was surprised. It was the first he was hearing about a guard. "You had a guard on the house?"

Alec cringed. "I'm sorry, I hadn't had a chance to tell you. On the trip here, we ran into a Tracker checkpoint, about an hour away."

Donovan listened with quiet fury as Alec and the Duke told him about Maren's detention and ithe Duke's timely intervention.

"I am going to tear his head off," Donovan snarled through gritted teeth.

He couldn't believe Kieran had the nerve to try such a stunt.

"Ah...yes, well, thereafter, I had a squadron from the fort here keeping an eye on things, but I let them go yesterday. I thought if your brother was going to do something dramatic, he would have already done it," the Duke said.

Donovan nodded. "Most likely."

It was fine. Now that he had arrived, he could protect Maren from a handful of Trackers. Come to think of it, he would welcome the opportunity to fight someone.

"Was she all right?" Donovan asked Alec.

Alec shook his head. "She was rather shaken by it. Gods, so was I. We knew they'd be ordered to arrest her, and she wasn't going to let them take her alive."

Donovan was horrified. Gods, he never should have sent her away. He never should have let her out of his sight. He would never ever again if he could help it.

It appeared Alec read his mind, or at least his face. "Look, man, it turned out alright. Sending her away was the right thing to do. We're just very lucky His Majesty's military is so vigilant."

"I don't trust Trackers," the Duke said sharply.

Donovan thought that was, on the whole, good advice.

He sighed, "So, Kieran assaulted her, then she was nearly arrested, and then she discovered she was pregnant. No wonder she won't speak to me."

"I'm afraid it's a bit worse than that," the Duke said, and Donovan shot him a questioning look.

"I think it made things a bit more stressful for her because I happened to be the person to tell her about the pregnancy and I also accidentally outed her in the same conversation."

Donovan was bothered that Maren had been outed, but also deeply confused.

"You'll have to explain that to me," Donovan said.

The Duke did explain, and Donovan just took a very large gulp of brandy. He felt like yelling, but he wasn't truly angry at the Duke, he just wanted to protect Maren from the multitude of problems she'd acquired since he'd seen her last.

"And did you tell her that you also know?" he asked Alec.

Alec nodded. "It went a little bit better than that."

Donovan ran his fingers through his hair. Adding two more to the list of people who knew her secret must have been very upsetting to Maren. The grand total had gone from three to five-not counting Kieran-in a very short time.

Gods, what was he going to do about Kieran?

"Would you like some advice?" the Duke asked Donovan.

"Please."

"I would suggest providing her with a concrete plan to marry her," the Duke said. "And an apology."

"Well, of course, I'll apologize," Donovan grumbled.

He didn't know how, but he would.

"Here's what I'd do. Write her a note with an apology and tell her you're coming up with a plan. Then, come up with a plan, one that deals with your brother, and the King and Queen, and any of the other obstacles you might encounter," the Duke said.

Donovan nodded; he thought that was a good idea. Possibly, it was something he should have done already.

"And, my advice, don't rush. It's better to come up with a good plan later than a bad plan faster," the Duke added.

"You-" the Duke gestured to Alec "-help with that, and I'll ask Maren to dinner without either of you. I'll try to talk to her if she'll let me."

Donovan looked at the Duke, trying to understand him. "You really don't mind stepping aside, do you?"

The Duke chuckled. "Not at all. Firstly, I really don't want to come between two people who love each other and second of all, I would really like to see a Wielder queen."

Donovan was surprised. The Duke was possibly the only man in the kingdom who wanted such a thing. "Can I ask why?"

The Duke nodded and told him about his twin sister, who had been forced to run away.

Donovan shook his head. A young woman who had done nothing wrong should not have to flee her home and family to save her life.

"I am sorry for it," Donovan said. He knew he wasn't directly responsible for what happened, but he still felt guilty.

The Duke was more understanding than Donovan might have been in his shoes. "It isn't your fault," he said. "But I am deeply gratified to hear that from a member of the royal family. I already thought you would be a decent king. I'm pleased to know I was right."

Donovan did not know what to say to such an extraordinary complement. He did not feel he was quite worthy of it-at least not yet.

"Truth be told...it was all Maren. I really had no idea how much wrong we were doing and how many people we were harming until I met her," he said.

The Duke smiled. "I have no doubt she will be an excellent queen."

Donovan thought so, too. He just had to convince her.