musebox for Ashfae's minions

That is too practical a reason for him to dismiss. For all that he was not the heir, and has only recently felt the constraints that come with being royalty, he is hardly ignorant about the expectations that come with noble weddings. In her land more than in his, but in the Riddermark as well. And especially in times of war, or just following war, it is well to make alliances where one can.

Her last sentence, however, earns her a raised eyebrow. "Do you truly think I would have kissed you as I just did if I did not like you?"