"Forgive me, your majesty." Gwyn interjected, "But that was my fault. I was afraid that someone would try to kill my husband before he had a chance to talk to you."

"To smite the demon, eh?" Axel chuckled, giving Gwyn a sympathetic smile. "Did you not fear that they would wish to smite the demon's wife also?"

"That thought did cross my mind," Gwyn admitted with a frown before she remembered herself and added, "Your majesty."

Axel laughed and waved her to join them at the table. One of the soldiers behind Axel brought a chair and held it for Gwyn, seating her next to Erec, but nearer the king.

"It is a brave thing that you have done."

"Is it brave to do what must be done when none other, save yourself may do the thing? Lord Erec is the only one who can bring peace. If he were killed before peace was made, many lives would be lost."

"But loss is expected in a war."

"Aye, your majesty." She sighed. "But most of those that will fall are not soldiers. They are farmers and simple people. People like my brothers and my father." Gwyn's voice trailed off and Erec reached out to take her hand.

"They have fallen already?" Axel guessed.

"My father was murdered. I and my son were hunted like animals..."

"But you are a clever vixen, are you not?" Axel offered a gentle smile of understanding. "You outwitted those hunters. But what of your brothers?"

"They were taken and sold, your majesty. One of your spie—er—men, told us that they captured many men and supplies and sold them to Lord Garrett to aid in his fight against our king."

"My man?" Axel frowned. If it became known that he sent out spies, peace may no longer be an option.

"Aye, your majesty. Do not be concerned. I have told no one of this and he took his own life rather than tell his secrets."

"Then how do you come to say that he was my man?"

Erec watched the king carefully, while conscientiously fighting to keep his face and posture neutral. Axel held their lives in his hands. It would not do well to insult him or provoke him. But he seemed sincerely interested in Gwyn, and to her credit, she was handling him rather well.

"When I prepared him for burial, I found a pendant. It was a symbol of one of the old gods of the people of the Far North. His clothing and his speech were not quite right either...your majesty."

"Wine." The king said suddenly. "And bread. And bring tea and sweets for the lady."

"You are too kind, your majesty." Gwyn said.

"Forgive me, your majesty. I have been remiss in my duty. You already know her to be a woman of great courage and beauty. You also know her as my wife, your majesty. May I present to you, the Lady Gwyndolyn, Baroness of Greenwood." Erec allowed his tender affection for her to show as he gazed upon her.

"I know it is hardly proper to bring one's wife when one is approaching a superior army to beg for a truce, but it was our hope, as she has explained, that her presence would lend witness that my purpose in coming was a peaceful one. It is to her, your majesty, that we owe our meeting. It was on her advise that I timed my return, just as it is on her advice that I beg for a truce."

King Axel had been looking Gwyn over with no little amount of scrutiny. She began to understand how the tapestries in the great hall must feel upon being so closely inspected.

Upon hearing Erec's words, King Axel smiled broadly and announced with a chuckle. "Ah, my lady, you are brave, beautiful, AND wise. Would that you were not a married woman. You would make a most admirable queen."

Gwyn smiled and swallowed the lump growing in her throat. She hoped that she would be able to leave here with Erec. She suddenly felt the absence of her guard, and rather keenly.

"Alas, your majesty. I am not only a married woman, but I am happy to be so. My Lord Erec is a good husband and father. I cannot wish for more."

"Can you not?" King Axel chuckled and turned his attention to Erec. "She turns down a king and a crown for you, Lord Erec. You are a blessed man. Treat this one well for she is a clever one and if you do not, you may find that she has negotiated for something better."

Erec observed all of this in wonder. Gwyn was right, yet again. Bringing her broke down the barriers of rumor and pride. It reminded everyone, that no matter their rank, Axel and Erec were only men, men with much to lose...

"Milady." Axel turned to Gwyn and reached out to pat her hand. "You honor me with your trust. I wish to honor your bravery for coming here today." Turning his gaze to Erec, Axel added, I wish to honor the ingenuity you showed in managing your reappearance."

Gwyn dropped her gaze when the king looked again upon her with admiration before addressing Erec again.

"I will offer you what I did not offer Hugh I. Hugh I was a good king, and he was a wise man. For he could not have chosen a better Champion for his people."

"You honor me, your majesty."

"I offer a formal treaty. Let it be written and then read aloud in all the towns and villages along the border. I shall send a further decree through my kingdom. The border shall be honored. No more shall I turn a blind eye. Anyone found guilty of raiding across the border shall be put to the sword. I expect Hugh II shall do the same."

"It shall be done, your majesty."

"Then I propose we meet at Brecken Moors Hall in a fortnight. I shall meet with Hugh II and we shall sign the treaty. I shall bring my personal army of thirty men and leave the rest of my army encamped north of the pass. Hugh II may bring thirty of his own men in addition to those that Brecken has garrisoned at the Hall. I trust you will see that appropriate provisions are made for a royal visit."

"It shall be done, your majesty. Brecken will carry word of your arrival to King Hugh himself. We shall be ready to receive you and your men, but it will require more than a fortnight, I am afraid."

"And why is that?"

"If I may, your majesty?" Gwyn interrupted gently. At a nod from Axel, she continued. "I have recently travelled to Kingstown myself. The journey required nearly a fortnight because I had to circumnavigate the mountains and travel almost along the west coast. There are dangerous bandits in the wood along the mountain to the east and west of the road through Kingspass."

"She speaks true. There is..." Erec frowned. He did not want to admit this, but he could neither be responsible for the resulting war should something happen while the two kings were at Brecken Moors Hall.

"We wished to bring you a warning." Gwyn finished and shrank back toward Erec with a gasp.

The king's guards came forward in unison, drawing their swords as they moved. It was a frightening sight, even with Erec at her back. She heard Drew and Thomas respond in like and feared war was imminent.

Acting before she could really think about it, she stood and held out her hands while she summoned every ounce of courage that she possessed to straighten her spine and lift her chin.

"Stay!" she commanded with as much authority as she could manage. She was a visitor in their camp, and diminutive in size by comparison. But somehow, they listened and her heart stopped right along with them. Reminding herself to breath, she took a slow deep breath and clasped her trembling hands.

"Be not alarmed. We fear for our own king, not at your hand, your majesty," she added with a shaky smile, "but we have been aware for some time of an assassin. He has tried thrice to be rid of my husband also."

Axel nodded and the guards retreated to their place against the wall. A glance over her shoulder confirmed that Drew and Thomas did the same.

"I have heard of the ambush where you fell. It is said you were murdered."

"I believe that ambush was executed for the dual purpose of killing me and freeing three prisoners we were transporting to Kingstown for sentencing. I was the first to fall that day, and were it not for my wife's skill as a healer, I would have died from my wounds that day."

"I may add accomplished healer to your many attributes my lady?" Axel asked, but it was merely rhetoric as he turned to Erec before she answered. "Your good fortune continues."

"Your majesty," Gwyn interrupted the telling, "I have given this much thought. There is little reason for my husband to be such a target. As he said, they carried much treasure that day, and the attackers never even tried for it. The attack, I am told, was swift and lethal. But why? I could not understand this until my trip to Kingstown."

"We believe we finally have identified the assassin, but he is well placed and as yet, we have no proofs. It does not help our cause that he is a close acquaintance of his majesty, King Hugh II."

"I have every confidence in my husband's abilities to keep our king safe, your majesty, but I am afraid that for such an ambitious and unscrupulous man as our assassin is, that for us to place TWO crowns under the same roof would be to tempt him beyond the careful façade of restraint he has heretofore maintained."

Axel clasped his hands and steepled his fingers, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair. He looked at Erec thoughtfully, then turned his gaze upon Gwyn. After a moment he drew a breath and addressed her.

"Milady." He began, watching her with an intensity that would have unnerved her were she not sitting so close to Erec, "Is it your belief that were I to accept Brecken's hospitality and sleep under his roof, that my life may therefore be in danger from this ambitious and unscrupulous person?"

Gwyn held his gaze and straightened to her full height. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. As if she dared him to contradict her again, she answered with complete certainty.

"It is, your majesty. I do fear for your life. We have come so far and we are so close to bringing this strife betwixt our peoples to a peaceful end. While the loss of peace would be grievous, I could not bear it if your life were forfeit. That is too great a price to pay, even for peace. That is why I insisted that my husband bring me today. I had to make you see...to understand."

"Your husband speaks verily, my lady, for you are a most remarkable woman. Be at rest. I have an answer to your concern. I shall bring my men, fifty instead of thirty, and we shall make our encampment betwixt Brecken's walls and the pass. I shall be quite safe there so that I may attend the signing."

"Sooth, this gladdens my heart mightily, your majesty." Gwyn smiled.

"Brecken will leave immediately to fetch our king, your majesty. But as my wife explained, it may take longer than a fortnight for them to reach Brecken."

"The delay is of no concern to me." Axel smiled and waved a hand in general acknowledgement of all around them. "My camp is not uncomfortable, and aside." He winked at Gwyn, "The additional time will allow me to become better acquainted with you and your charming family, Lord Erec."

Erec saw Gwyn's eyes round as she dropped her chin and looked away, but not before he saw the blush coloring her cheeks. He could not blame her. His majesty, King Axel, was quite the flirt...and he was a KING after all...

With a nod, the king stood and walked out of the tent in a leisurely manner, leaving his two guards to follow. Such a move was a display of trust that Erec had not expected but was delighted to accept.

Out of respect, he waited until Axel was gone from sight before he took Gwyn's arm and walked her out of the tent. Outside, he looked right then left and saw that already his men were approaching with the horses. King Axel was nowhere in sight.

They mounted and rode out of the camp in silence. Erec's heart was lighter than it had been in a very long time. For the news that he carried was a nothing less than a miracle. And it was all because of the incredible woman that he was blessed to call wife. He shook his head as he wondered at his good fortune.

"Do you suppose he will truly come in a fortnight? That he will come bearing a formal treaty?"

"Aye" Erec answered Drew. "Hugh the Great was a man of his word. The informal truce was sufficient enough, bar the occasional border raids on both sides. But Hugh II is untested, and unpredictable. Axel is wise to offer a formal treaty. Hugh II will be bound by it. Any further efforts on his part to push north would amount to a declaration of war."

"And you do not think our king would do this?"

"Not when he can boast that he has done what his father never managed—that he forced Axel into a formal treaty."

"But..."

"Drew, you know our king as well as I. He will take credit for sending me and he will take credit for the permanent peace treaty. I care not and I am certain that Gwyn will not care either. We do this for the people, do we not?"

"Aye." Drew nodded and they fell into a companionable silence as the three rode through the pass and back to Brecken.

---

"Mama!" Robin burst through the door, taking the corner so fast that his feet slid. He saw Gwyn's frown but could not hide his cheeky grin as he righted himself and stopped, entering the room at a moderate pace. "Sorry." He shrugged, and cleared his throat before continuing in a moderate voice. "I thought you would want to know as soon as possible. Papa is coming."

Gwyn smiled broadly, excused herself from Alexandi's company and tried to maintain a graceful and moderate pace. She managed to at least refrain from running, although her walk was far too brisk to be either graceful or moderate. She gave up entirely as she exited the castle. Robin smiled as he saw her grab a fistful of her skirts.

"Race you!" He said as he took off running.

Gwyn smiled and hoisted her skirts to run after him. Erec was coming.

Manners be damned.