Runaway Princess Bride novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: The Regent's Offer

The regent stood in the doorway with four guards behind him and his hands folded.

"I was told my brother was sleeping," he said.

"He was awake," Tristan said. "He asked for company."

"How thoughtful."

The regent looked at the bed, at the king's wet face, at my hand held in his.

Nothing in his own face moved.

"Take the young lady back to her room," he said to the guards. "Gently."

I walked out between them with my head up.

I did not look back at the king.

I had learned in my parents' house that you never show what you love to someone who is looking for it.

At ten the next morning the regent received me in the great hall.

Two hundred courtiers stood under a ceiling painted with gold stars.

There were councilmen in dark coats and women in jewels, and a long line of men in uniforms, and every one of them looked at me.

The regent stood on the dais, beside the empty throne.

"My lords, my ladies," he said. "Princess Adelaide has come home, by God's grace and my nephew's efforts."

Applause rippled.

"In gratitude, and in recognition of all she has suffered, I wish to offer her what no young woman should have to ask for."

He nodded to a clerk.

The clerk read it out.

A house in the southern hills, with servants and vineyards.

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