Kathryn rode in complete silence, maintaining perfect composure while her handmaiden looked on admiringly. The servant girl said, “You’re very brave, if you don’t mind my saying so, my lady.” 

Kathryn only smiled and didn’t reply. She was containing her emotions, as she had done since childhood. She remembered her father telling her, “Emotions are pointless, Kathryn. They don’t change your situation or help you manage it better. Learn to control them, or you will be controlled by them and be of no use to your kingdom.” So she controlled them and sat in silence with dry eyes. 

Five hours later when the princess’s behind was sore from sitting on the carriage seat and her head was beginning to hurt from the stuffy air, Ren pulled his horse up next to the carriage, opened the door, lept inside while it was still moving, and plopped down next to her while Kathryn’s handmaiden gaped in astonishment. “Your royal highness, did you want to ride up in the box for a while?” he asked. 

“No, but I think I’ll ride my horse for a bit.” Kathryn let him help her down, and she wobbled a bit when she reached the ground. Ren steadied her and helped her mount the beautiful white charger her father had gifted her while Illian was away at war. 

“Let’s ride,” Kathryn said with a flash of a smile. 

Ren grinned, gripped his horse’s reins, and dug his heels into its sides. “Hyah!” they both shouted in one voice. The beautiful animals leapt forward away from the carriage and were out of sight before the guards had a second to react. 

“This is more like it!” Ren called over the sound of the wind rushing past. He was smiling from ear to ear. 

Kathryn had to agree. As she reached up to let her hair tumble down, she finally permitted the melancholy welling up within her to emerge in the form of a few tears. It wouldn’t hurt anything to cry a little now. And the beautiful woods and trees and rivers she loved so much deserved those tears. 

Ren didn’t comment on her crying if he noticed at all. He was leaning forward, enjoying the feeling of going so fast his stomach was being left behind. They leapt over logs and over small brooks, and they went on and on until their mounts were tired. Then they slowed to a walk, dismounted, and led the horses slowly along. 

“How long do you figure it’ll be until they catch up to us?” Ren asked. 

“A while,” Kathryn said.

“Good.” 

Kathryn was half afraid that Ren would start to question her or argue with her again, but he didn’t. They simply walked on in companionable silence. She was grateful that he understood her well enough to give her that time.

Kathryn asked once, “What did Brenin say to you when you left?” 

“Oh, that?” Ren colored slightly at the memory. “Nothing. The old man was just being real sentimental for some reason.” 

There was another long silence. Then all at once Ren said, “If that prince or whatever he is ever treats you unkind, you just call for me, and I’ll be there. Or if you ever decide you don’t like it there and you want to leave, I’ll get you out. Whatever you want, whenever, whether you’re there for a day or a year or ten or you change your mind or you don’t.” 

“I know.” Kathryn smiled at him. “That’s your job, after all.” 

Ren paused with an expression of frustration flitting across his face and turned to her abruptly. “But it’s not just that-” he tried to say. Kathryn put a hand on his arm to stop him. She didn't want to hear what she already knew was coming next.

“I know that too. So let’s drop it, Ren, really," she said, looking up at him with pleading eyes. Ren did ‘drop it,’ but there didn’t seem to be much more to say, and the silence stretched out uncomfortably. 

Kathryn desperately wanted to speak. But she was afraid if she gave voice to the awful feeling of uncertainty in her chest, it would overwhelm her. 

She was glad when the carriage caught up and they could stop for the night. She laid her head on her pillow and thought over her actions carefully. She wasn’t being selfish, was she? After all, this wasn’t just for her. There were good reasons for everything she was doing. She could almost hear her father’s voice in her ear, telling her, “You will be a queen one day, Kathryn. That is how you will serve your country; that is how you will become more than just a pretty ornament. You’ll lead a whole people to peace and safety.” Kathryn had watched her father and brother and entire kingdom struggle through the horror of two wars. All that mattered now was securing that peace. That was her purpose. 

As she thought about her situation, Ren spent some time wandering around the camp and chatting with each guard, and she could faintly hear his words. “Hey, Dran! Don’t be going to sleep now,” he warned one of the younger fellows, who had been yawning profusely. 

The lad blushed and stammered, “Of course, general Ren! I won’t, sir!” 

Ren clapped him on the shoulder and moved on to the next man. “Milton, it looks to me like you ate a bit too much for supper to be useful on guard duty. Have Patrick take your place, and plan ahead next time.” 

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” the other man said. 

As Ren moved on, Kathryn heard the two guards begin to talk in hushed tones. Dran remarked, “I’m so glad Ren is with us! To tell the truth,  I was a little worried when I heard we’d have to go to Navinor.” 

“Hmph. They’re barbarians and savages all right,” Milton agreed. “But you can bet on the General. If he’d fought in the war, we’d have won in a month.” 

“It’s too bad he didn’t. Everyone knows he’s killed bears with his own hands,” Dran proclaimed. 

Kathryn held back a chuckle, for in fact, such a thing had never occurred. Milton went on, “If only he wasn’t the princess’s bodyguard, he could have led us. He’d have beat their best warriors, just as he beat the champions of the Great Matches last year. How much suffering might have been avoided then? And he’d be a real general, lauded for his feats on the battlefield…” 

Kathryn winced. What utter nonsense, she told herself with a hint of annoyance. Ren’s place was beside her, not on any battlefield. 

The next words gave her pause, however. “It’s strange, too. The princess seemed so loyal to us. I mean, everyone says she practically saved all us commoners by managing that trade deal with Tephraya. Why would she run off and marry the enemy?” 

“Watch what you say!” Dran warned. “The General will take your head off if he hears you say anything bad about the princess, you know, as well he might."  

“Right…I suppose she must have her reasons, anyway,” Milton decided. “But it doesn’t seem fair that he does everything for her and she’ll just be throwing him away once she’s married. She won’t have any use for him anymore, will she?” Dran didn’t have anything to say to that. 

Kathryn stirred uncomfortably. She didn’t expect them to understand, and she had made her decision, but it wasn’t easy being thought of as a traitor to her kingdom. Yet the thing that bothered her most of all was the thought that she was somehow betraying Ren. After all, he’d always been there for her, ever since that first day. 

As she shifted her weight, she felt something tickling her hand under her pillow. She lifted her pillow and was startled to see a small ring made of daisies. 

The sight of that ring flooded her with feelings that she had hoped to suppress, and tears prickled in her eyes. She knew she should toss away the ring and forget about it. Instead, she quietly placed it in her bag. Memories of the meaning behind the innocent gift, and the countless times Ren had reminded her of its significance, flooded her brain. 

Ren had never made any secrets of how he’d felt about Kathryn, ever since the day he’d met her. In fact, he’d told her the story so many times that she knew it by heart.