It was late morning by the time Anil made it into the castle and remembered where Coulta's new room was. There were two uniformed guards outside the door, and Anil wondered why they were there. Of course Coulta wouldn't be able to fend off any attackers if he was injured, but why was anyone bothering to guard him? She didn't think being a protector of the Crown Prince really made him important enough for guards.

"May I visit him?" she asked one of the guards.

The man nodded to her. "I will see if he would like to see you. What is your name?"

As soon as she gave her name, the guard slipped into the room, closing the door all but a crack. She could just barely make out the quiet sound of voices, but not what was said. A moment later, the man returned and held the door open. "He will see you."

"Thank you," Anil said as she stepped inside.

Coulta didn't look as unwell as she had expected. Aside from the bandage over his left shoulder and the fact that he was sitting in bed, she wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with him.

"Have you spoken to Wildas?" he asked as she approached the bed.

"No, but his brother told me a little of what happened. The one in charge of the Guard." She sat down on the chair beside the bed. "I didn't expect your room to be guarded."

"Wildas ordered it. They found a list of people Varin wants to have killed, and I'm on it for turning against him." He tossed the book that had been on his lap onto the other side of the bed, where the blankets were rumpled. Apparently he wasn't in so much pain that he didn't move in his sleep.

"That makes sense," she supposed.

"Could you come here for dinner?" he asked, giving her a look she couldn't read.

She nodded. "If you'd like."

He smiled. "Yes. How is Quiver?"

It was so strange to see him smile, and she was caught for a moment thinking that he should do it more often. Even scruffy and wounded, it made him look good. He gave her a curious look when she took a moment to answer, and she felt herself blush.

"I don't see him much," she explained, trying to hide her sudden awkwardness. "I did see him this morning when I went to visit my Starlight. He seemed well, and let me pet him for a while."

That made Coulta smile again. "I'm glad he wasn't hurt when we were attacked."

"What happened?" she asked, looking at his bandaged shoulder. "I wasn't told much."

"We went riding outside the city," he explained, leaning back against the pillows piled behind him. "Wildas, Shelton, Rohan, and some other Guardsmen were with me. At the end of the day, three archers started shooting at Wildas. The curse made me use too much magic to protect him before Shelton could help, and it almost drained me. The arrow wound wasn't as bad as the fact that I used too much magic. Though, the arrow was poisoned, but Shelton was able to draw it out."

Anil tried not to cringe at the thought of what the poison could have done to him. Surely it would have been a swift killing poison, not the torturous kind. "And Myri has been healing you?"

"Much to her frustration," he replied with what might actually have been a laugh.

Had Myri given him some sort of herb with more than healing effects? "What do you mean?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing."

"I suppose you must be a difficult patient," she commented.

"She would agree, I'm sure."

When she returned to Coulta's room for dinner that evening, she was happy to see Myri there as well. She had hardly spoken to or even seen the healer since the day Wildas had taken them on their tour of the city. It was good to see her doing well, after how good Myri and her mother had been to her when her family had died that winter.

"Why is it that I still feel so weak?" Coulta was asking her.

"You completely drained yourself," Myri answered, wiping a salve off his shoulder injury, which looked horribly painful to Anil. An area half the size of her fist was scabbed over and an area twice that around the wound was pink and looked sore. "In all honesty, you should be dead."

"I should tell Wildas that you want me dead," Coulta said, wincing as Myri prodded his shoulder.

Myri didn't say anything to that, but when she turned for fresh salve, she spotted Anil and smiled. "Joining us for dinner?"

Anil nodded. "Coulta said I should."

Myri picked up the jar of salve and nodded. "That's very good."

Several servants arrived a few moments later with four trays of food and were followed closely by Wildas. Myri finished binding Coulta's shoulder again as they got settled, and placed a tray on his lap. Wildas found a chair from elsewhere in the room and set it down near where Anil was sitting.

Looking at the prince, she realized that the last few days had taken a toll on him. He looked exhausted and he plopped down on the chair with a heavy sigh, then surprised her when he reached over and gently took her hand. "Anil, I would like to know if you want to marry me – us."

She stared at his hazel eyes, fairly certain her mouth was hanging open. "What?" she finally asked.

"You're terrible at this," Myri said with a laugh, and it took Anil a moment to realize the healer was talking to Wildas.

"I know," Wildas replied with a smile. "No one ever bothered to tell me how I should propose, just that I needed to."

Anil knew she was blushing and she looked away from the prince's honest expression. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I owe all three of you my life and I count you as friends," he replied. "I'd rather marry friends than people who only want to marry me for power. You are free to decline. I won't force you into anything."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She glanced up at Myri and Coulta, who were watching her expectantly. "You already agreed?"

"I only asked them this morning," Wildas explained, drawing her attention back to him. "I was going to visit you at the stables this afternoon, until Myri found me and said you'd be having dinner with us."

"Will I still be able to work in the stables?"

He nodded. "Of course. If there are any issues at first, they can be sorted out."

"Then I accept," she said with a smile.

The prince leaned close to kiss her, which made her blush. "Thank you."

"What happens now?" Myri asked, sitting down in the chair on Anil's other side.

"We should eat, first," Wildas stated, taking a tray from the nearby table. He passed one to each of them, then sat with his own. "I haven't gotten to eat much at all today. In regards to the wedding, I will make a formal announcement to the court tomorrow. None of you will need to do anything in the way of planning. My aunts will take care of that, you'll only need to find time to meet with them about clothing and jewelry. I'm sure they will let you know when it's time for that. I'm sure many people will introduce themselves to you, as well, especially my family and members of the court. But you can go about your lives as usual, aside from those disturbances."

"Do I still live at the stables?" Anil asked awkwardly.

Wildas nodded and swallowed the food he'd stuffed in his mouth before elaborating. "I'm not supposed to have my future wives as lovers before the wedding. Neither is Coulta. If one of you became pregnant before or just after the wedding, and if even just the servants knew we'd been together before, it would cause an uproar among the court that I would prefer to avoid. I mean no offense by that."

Anil knew she was blushing. The thought of sex hadn't even crossed her mind when she had considered his proposal, but she supposed there were worse men whose children she could bear. He wasn't only kind, but also more handsome than she had let herself think before. "I take no offense."

"Mind you don't run Coulta down so much that the wedding is postponed," Myri warned, pointing a knife at the prince. "He's still healing."

"After all that tea you made me drink today, I think I'm ready to start sparring with Queen Yvona again," Coulta told her with a scowl.

"I told both of you to stay away from each other," she snapped. "I should have made Wildas drink it, too, just for punishment."

Anil glanced between Coulta and the prince, and when she saw Coulta color slightly, she couldn't help smiling.

"After the wedding," Wildas went on, ignoring Myri, "we will have a suit of rooms across the hall from my parents'. We will each have our own bedrooms, and Coulta and I will have offices. Both of you can continue your current jobs for as long as you wish."

He cleared his throat and moved his food about his plate with a fork before finally telling them, "Things will be difficult very soon, however. Whether you marry me or not, you'll still have to deal with what's coming." Wildas looked at Anil and Myri. "Do either of you know of the attempted attack on the Grand King a few nights ago?"

"I examined the prisoner to be sure he didn't have any serious injuries," Myri answered.

Anil was in disbelief. Who would try to kill the Grand King in his own home? "I didn't hear of this."

"There was one of my father's parties," Wildas explained. "He hosted them to help me find spouses. One of the men who had been trying to court me for years was one named Ashnil. His father was a noble – which is why the healers treated him. That night Coulta found him attempting to shoot my father using a very small crossbow and a poisoned dart. Of course, Coulta stopped him. The next day, we were attacked by three archers while out riding, which is when Coulta was injured.

"Rohan took the weapon to a weapons master, who says that the little crossbow came from Dyrai. Also, when riders went to tell Bracin, Ashnil's father, of his son's arrest, they found every last person on the estate dead. Both of these facts suggest that Ashnil was forced to attempt the assassination. Unfortunately, someone posing as a member of his household gained access to his cell, and Ashnil is now dead. Rohan also learned that there were more assassins camped in the trees at the edge of Ryal, but they never returned to the camp while Rohan and his men were watching it."

A growing sense of fear began to take root inside Anil's stomach. "Are we going to war with Dyrai?"

"Varin."

She glanced at Coulta, who had a resigned look on his face. "Civil war? Why?" she asked.

"He's been planning it for a long time," Wildas answered. "The fact that I escaped his assassination plot must have made him decide to act now. I'm hoping it's only a war with him and not Dyrai, as terrible as that sounds that I want a civil war. The fact that he's buying weapons from Dyrai doesn't bode well."

They were all quiet for a while, until Myri commented, "This turned dreary rather quickly."

"I apologize," Wildas replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the situation."

"Still, let's speak of something more enjoyable. When are you expected to have an heir?"

Wildas coughed awkwardly. "As soon as possible is usually the idea."

Anil felt herself blushing again. She hoped she wouldn't make a fool of herself on their wedding night.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough, with no more talk of war or babies. When it was time for her to leave for the night foal watch, she only hesitated a moment before kissing them all goodbye.

She was a few minutes late for her shift, which got her a scowl from Gilfree, the other stable hand on watch with her. "You're lucky we didn't have a problem birth while you were gone."

"I was dining with the Crown Prince," she replied. "I'm glad there were no problems, and I apologize for being late."

The shaggy boy grunted and walked along the barn isle to check inside the stalls for signs of impending labor in any of the pregnant mares. "What did you do to deserve dinner with the prince?"

Wildas had told them not to say anything to anyone until after he made his formal announcement the next day. She couldn't hide her small smirk, though, and was glad Gilfree was looking away for the moment. "I helped him get home when he was ill," she answered when the man did turn to her. "We are friends, I suppose."

Gilfree snorted. "How could you have helped him?"

"I helped with the horses," she stated, looking into a stall. This one was occupied by a watchful mare and her three-day-old filly. "I looked after them so he and his protector wouldn't need to."

"Only handled the horses, did you?"

"If you are only going to insult me, please remain silent for the rest of the night."

Gilfree laughed. "Fine then."

----------------------------------------

Myri left soon after Anil had, leaving Coulta and Wildas with a kiss and a stern warning. Coulta wasn't sure if Wildas would choose to stay with him again. He didn't want to assume too much, no matter what Wildas had said to him the night before.

Wildas did stay after Myri had gone, and collected their dinner trays for the servants who came to retrieve them. Then he sat on the edge of the bed beside Coulta and gently took his hand.

"Do you need anything?" Wildas asked, caressing the back of Coulta's hand with his thumb.

"My sword belt," Coulta replied, glancing around the room for it.

Wildas got to his feet and retrieved the belt from the corner of the room near the closed off bathing area. "What do you need it for?"

Coulta found the small pouch sewn into the inside of the belt and removed the folded letter from his father. "I wanted you to read this. It's the letter my father left me."

Wildas took it and pulled one of the chairs close to the hearth fire to read it. Coulta waited uncomfortably for him to finish, though he wasn't sure why he felt that way. He had told Wildas everything in the letter, but somehow allowing his lover to actually read it made him feel awkward. What if Wildas read the words and somehow interpreted them as something worse than what Coulta had explained himself?

When Wildas finished reading, he folded the letter and returned it to Coulta. His eyes were sad, but he seemed curious when he asked, "What marks does it speak of?"

"I'll show you." Coulta put the letter back in his belt, afraid of how the prince might react to the strange black tracery. "Don't be alarmed," he whispered, then let the marks show.

He heard Wildas draw a breath and he turned his head from him so he couldn't see his reaction. After a brief moment he felt a soft touch; fingers brushing his cheek, tracing the swirling lines of the black vines. When Coulta met Wildas's eyes, he realized that what he saw was decidedly not fear, though it wasn't quite wonder either.

The prince's voice was husky as he asked, "Would it bother you if I said I was even more attracted to you now?"

Coulta hadn't expected that, but he shook his head anyway. "No."

"Do they cover your entire body?"

Coulta just nodded in answer.

"I'd like to see, if I may."

Coulta smiled. "Of course."