Chapter 12

The ride back to the palace was slow. Partially because they were constantly on the alert for Prince Martin, and also because Aven wasn't used to being on a horse with her upbringing. They had decided to stay off the main road, and hid in the trees whenever another horse came by, which they did frequently. They rode together in silence, always keeping an ear out for anyone approaching, and yet all Aven wanted to do was talk to Princess Knallia.

How could she be in love with someone she barely knew? But how could she not be in love with someone who accepted her for what she was, and furthermore risked her own safety to come rescue her? She just wanted to sit back under the tree in the hunting preserve and talk for days, she needed to know everything she could about her.

She was also struggling with the loss of her father. She knew why he did what he did. The king would have killed them both as soon as he got what he wanted, and she was proud that he had given everything to give her a chance at freedom. But it didn't make it easier. Several times she found herself crying while they rode, only for Knallia to reach over and briefly touch her hand or arm to cheer her up. They had tried to hold hands while riding, but their horses were too big, and they kept bumping into each other when they tried.

Aven added hand holding to the list of things she needed to do with Knallia. Oh, and more kisses, those were on the list as well. The random tears turned to random blushes as she occasionally glanced over at Knallia to see her looking back. Every time their eyes met, she couldn't help herself from burning up and smiling.

She thought often of her mother now too. Normally she didn't think too much about her, having no real knowledge about her past. But with everything her father told her down in the jail she truly wished she could have known her better. She seemed a lot like Knallia, wanting to marry for love. Wait a minute. She suddenly realized some particularly important aspects of that conversation that she hadn't have a chance to talk to Knallia about, and this brought a smile to her face.

She leaned over between the horses, "Knallia, what are our plans when we get back to the palace?" she whispered.

Knallia frowned. They had been in such a hurry to leave the campsite and get away from Martin that nobody had voiced ideas on how to proceed. She was afraid for her father's reaction to meeting Aven based on his refusal to rescue her. To find out that she was a girl might cause him to explode in rage, a same sex marriage wasn't unheard of, but it was never anything discussed in their family so she didn't know how he would feel about it.

Until she had met Aven, she hadn't known how she felt about it either, but her heart knew how she felt about it now.

With the city in view, life was intruding on her fantasy world with Aven. Could she just run away? Could she ask Aven to pretend to be a boy again until after the marriage? No, that wouldn't be fair, she wanted Aven to be Aven and not have to disguise their love.

She had to be truthful. "I don't know," she whispered sadly.

"I do!" Aven replied.

Knallia turned to look, and Aven was gazing at her with her eyes alight and happy again. "What do you think we should do?"

"I need to meet your father; I want to present myself as a suitor for your hand," Aven stated confidently.

Knallia was stunned, that was not at all the plan she expected to hear. "Are you sure? He is already against us!"

"I'm sure. Trust me?" Aven pleaded. "I have an idea."

After all they had been through, how could she not trust this woman? "Of course!"

"But can I borrow some clothes?" Aven asked, holding up what remained of the dress draped around her.

"I think that would be a good idea!" she answered with smile.

"The castle!" called out Lowen, pointing through the trees.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the made their way back out to the road, and then picked up a little speed, as much as Aven could manage. It didn't take long before they were at the stables, and then making their way up to Knallia's rooms.

"Do you two want to stay for this, or go home?" Knallia asked Oncya and Lowen.

They looked at each other for a moment then turned back and smiled. "There is no way we're missing this!" Oncya answered.

Aven strode along the corridors of the castle hand in hand with Knallia, with Lowen and Oncya and Lowen behind them almost constantly squealing with excitement. After the rain they had been in, all four of them really needed the change of clothes, and they were able to find items that more or less fit them in Knallia's gigantic closets. Aven ended up in a light blue skirt and shirt and a pair of sandals that were quite comfortable while Knallia wore a dark blue dress that looked stunning on her. When they stood next to each other in the mirror, Aven could see how well they looked together, and they couldn't stop smiling.

Aven even got to meet Bandit, who was just as Knallia described. She'd never had a pet of her own growing up, but there were always stray cats in the village that she would try to befriend. The strays weren't always friendly, so her previous efforts met with mixed results. Bandit was absolutely charming though, and she couldn't stop petting him while they were all getting ready.

Finally, everyone had changed into new clothes and were as clean as possible without a lot of bath time. They were all ready, and they headed back out of Knallia's chambers to find her father. One of the guards told them that her parents were in the throne room, so they headed there for Aven to present herself as a suitor. She wanted everyone to be comfortable with this marriage. Aven didn't want Knallia to end up having to run like her mother did.

The four of them stopped at the door to the throne room as they saw Prince Martin waiting there along with a pair of men who they didn't recognize. "What are you doing here." Aven asked Martin, her voice full of disgust as he sneered at the sight of them holding hands.

"Guards, remove Prince Martin from the palace, immediately!" Knallia commanded the two guards outside the throne room, who moved to grab him.

"Please, if I may!" said one the men, he was tall with dark eyes and black hair that was slowly going grey. "My name is King Rannick of Ossea," he glanced at Aven when she gasped in shock, "And I would very much like to accompany you to this audience if I may. Martin will be safe with us." The look the other man with the king gave Martin from behind his back let them know that the prince would be no threat to their plans.

"I think that would work perfectly King Rannick. I would appreciate your presence today, thank you." Aven said, feeling even more confident. She squeezed Knallia's hand to let her know all was well."

Knallia turned to her, "Are you ready?" she asked softly.

"Very!" she answered calmly.

"Announce the King and I please." Knallia told the guards.

"King Rannick of Ossea and the Princess Knallia!" came the announcement to the court.

Knallia walked down the blue carpet that led to the thrones keeping a firm grip of Aven's hand. Inside her stomach was a knot and she was afraid she'd pass out for fear of her father's reaction. She had no idea what King Rannick was doing here, she had only met him once many years ago, though she recalled her father speaking well of him in the past, so perhaps he would be of help. He certainly didn't seem to have much of a liking for Martin, so that was a help.

Her father seemed to be in a terrible mood as soon as he saw her though. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over the kingdom for you!" he said loudly to her.

"I'm sorry father, I was on a little journey to save Aven," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"And who is Aven?" he thundered, pounding his fist into the arm of his throne.

Aven stepped forward calmly, releasing Knallia's hand. "If you would be so kind to indulge me King Jaccob, Queen Hewen," she said bowing to each in turn. "I am Aven, Princess of Ossea and Queen of Ferral, and I humbly ask for Princess Knallia's hand in marriage."

Knallia's mouth was hanging open in disbelief as she turned to look again at the woman she loved. Princess? Queen? How was this possible?

"Hey!" Martin blurted before he was cut off. Knallia looked over her shoulder to see him doubled over in pain though she wasn't sure if it was Rannick or his companion who had done something.

"If I may interject," King Rannick said from behind her. "My niece is not only the Princess of Ossea but will be the sole heir to the throne. She will be the queen of two lands."

Aven's head whirled around to stare, her eyes wide with shock. This was evidently news to her as well.

"I don't care how many lands you're the queen of, you're not marrying my daughter," her father said bluntly. Knallia strode forward and took Aven's hand in hers again.

"Yes, she is!" she said loudly.

"Jaccob!" her mother said, swatting him on the arm. "Don't be a fool, you know they're in love. If you want a political match how could you possibly turn this down, and to combine it with a love match would be an amazing coup."

"A same sex royal marriage would never work!" her father persisted. Stop it! Knallia was screaming in her head. Say yes!

"I would put the lie to that statement." King Rannick said striding forward, his arm around his companion's shoulder. "This is my husband, King Carroc, and I believe our marriage works quite well thank you."

King Jaccob sat on the throne unable to speak, his mouth hanging lax. He tried but couldn't seem to formulate anything coherent.

"Let me help you," Rannick said again. "You want to ask about heirs." Jaccob nodded mechanically. "There is no need to worry, when the queens are ready, I would be more than happy to have my court wizard help with that. Or have him work with your court wizard as well. The magic is beyond my comprehension, but they will have heirs when they're ready."

"I thought you had no heirs?" Jaccob blurted.

"We did," Rannick said softly as Carroc hung his head. "Our son was lost many years ago to an infection, but we did indeed have an heir. Now no more hesitation. Are you truly going to stand in the way of these two young women being the queens of three lands?"

King Jaccob looked at all the faces arrayed in front of him and stood. Stepped down the steps of the dais he stood in front of Aven and put his hand on her shoulder. "No, I won't stand in their way. It would be my honor to allow you to marry my daughter."

Knallia's hand tightened on Aven's and pulled her to her, kissing her in front of everyone. Their happy tears ran together in a little river.