Several hours later, a nobleman announced his retirement for the evening, apparently signaling the festivities to begin winding down. Allison had spent the evening in the company of the king, and Delilah`s mood had smoldered all night.

　　"I`ll be in the carriage," she told Jeremiah and Bruno, who were entertaining a pair of women with light tales of adventure and humorous exploits. Jeremiah knew they were only interested in him because of his semi-celebrity status, but their attention was still enjoyable, especially when Bruno set him up to deliver a punchline to genuine laughter. Despite his encounter with Gordus Wren, learning of the impending military mission, and Delilah`s temper, he`d had a surprisingly good time rubbing elbows with the social elite of Dramir.

　　"My dear ladies," said Bruno with an elaborate bow. "I`m afraid I must retire to the shadows of the evening once again. Though the hour is late, the night is still young, and I must attend to matters that might offend your delicate sensibilities." He gave them a wink. They returned curtsies and coquettish smiles.

　　"Since when is going home a matter that needs attending?" Jeremiah asked as they made their way towards the palace entrance.

　　"It`s more fun to say than, I`m cranky because it`s past my bedtime`. More fun for them to hear, too."

　　They heard a familiar voice behind them and squeezed aside to allow Allison and King Hector to occupy almost all the space the hallway had to offer. The king was roaring with laughter that rattled Jeremiah`s teeth.

　　"The ballista fires, and the beehive just explodes on the rail!" said Allison. "Everyone starts running and screaming, and wouldn`t you know, it`s the general himself they swarm around. He had to run all the way back to camp and jump in the lake before they`d leave him alone!" It took a moment for her to notice Jeremiah and Bruno standing beside her. "Oh! Hey, guys."

　　King Hector nodded toward them. "Gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed the festivities. I was unaware you were so close with Alli—Captain Allday."

　　To Jeremiah`s relief, no one tutted when they didn`t kneel before their king.

　　"Oh yes, Your Highness," said Bruno, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. "We`ll be talking about this night for quite a while."

　　"I`m sure you will! Now I must be away. Captain Allday, it was a delight to see you again. I sincerely hope it won`t be as long next time?"

　　"Thank you, Your Highness," was all she said, her face reddening before the mischievous smiles of her friends. They walked towards their carriage, which was waiting at the end of the red carpet. Delilah`s profile was visible in the window, motionless and staring straight ahead.

　　Allison paused at the step into the carriage and looked back at Jeremiah and Bruno.

　　"After you, Captain Allday," said Jeremiah.

　　Allison took a deep breath and entered the carriage. As Jeremiah started to follow, Delilah`s hand shot out and slammed the door closed. "Walk," came her voice, brimming with fury.

　　Bruno threw an arm around Jeremiah`s shoulders as the carriage pulled away. "Wonderful night for a stroll!"

　　A few miles` walk brought them home. Bruno`s explanation of the pros and cons of rondel daggers died on his lips at the muffled shouting emanating from the house.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it`s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

　　"We`re small," said Jeremiah. "We`re invisible. We`re unimportant. We go straight to bed."

　　"Don`t make eye contact, especially with Delilah." Bruno said. They made their way to the front door like men approaching the gallows.

　　"You don`t need to apologize to me," Delilah was shouting.

　　Jeremiah pushed open the door.

　　"You need to apologize to him!" She thrust a finger towards Jeremiah, frozen at the threshold, as if she had revealed him herself.

　　Bruno slipped past Jeremiah and crossed the kitchen unnoticed. He moved like a man late for a meeting that didn`t concern you.

　　"Don`t pretend to be mad for some noble reason," Allison shot back. "This isn`t about Jay at all, this is about you feeling left out, you missing out on some big career connection!"

　　"How&how DARE you!" Delilah trembled with anger. She looked on the verge of leaping across the sofa that separated her and Allison in an ill-advised attack. "This is about you having the power to save Jay`s life, to end this whole debacle before it even started, and you couldn`t even be bothered to try!"

　　"Fine!" Allison turned to Jeremiah, who had made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Jay, I`m sorry I didn`t think to ask the king himself whom I had met once, years ago, to step in and pardon a guy I barely knew. I`m sorry I didn`t assume he`d be on speaking terms with me, instead of the far more likely scenario that he`d have no idea who I was!"

　　"Ah-hah!" Delilah`s eyes flashed triumphantly. "You didn`t ask because you were afraid of being disappointed! You didn`t want to put yourself out there and risk proving to yourself that you weren`t important enough to remember. Ergo, you didn`t ask for selfish reasons! You didn`t tell me for selfish reasons! You! Were being! Selfish!"

　　"That! Makes! No! Sense!" Allison shouted back. "With the information I had at the time, how would it even occur to me to try and fight through all of red tape it takes to get a meeting with the fucking KING?"

　　Against his better judgement, Jeremiah spoke up. "Allison, it`s alright. Things are turning out okay. I`m glad King Hector remembered you."

　　"Thank you, Jay. I`m grateful you understand and accept my apology. Tell me, do you give lessons? Cause I`ve got a friend who could use some!"

　　 Jeremiah cringed as Delilah turned bright red and seethed at him. "You`re taking her side? You do realize it`s turning out okay` because I busted my ass moving heaven and earth to make it okay? You could be dead right now, could have been dead months ago! I pulled out all the stops to keep you alive, I`ve been doing everything possible to get you through this sentence, and what has she been doing besides tagging along for the ride? She said in court that you were a good man for risking your lives to save others, and she couldn`t even risk her own ego! Tell me Allison, what kind of person does that make YOU?"

　　Allison set her jaw. "Is that it? Hmm? You think I`m a bad person now?"

　　The question hung in the air as the women glared at each other. Jeremiah was too afraid to move from his spot on the bottom stair. He watched a hundred retorts run through Delilah`s mind. Then, to his surprise, she broke off her stare. Delilah rubbed her fingers behind her ears as she struggled to formulate a response, the first time Jeremiah had ever seen her at a loss for words. Finally, she said, "No, I don`t think that. Of course I don`t think that."

　　Allison shoulders dropped with genuine relief. "I`m glad."

　　The heat seeped from the room. Jeremiah remained perfectly still, as though any motion might escalate the situation again.

　　Delilah sighed. "It`s just&it feels like such an important thing, you had to be keeping it a secret on purpose."

　　"I know it seems that way, but I`m honestly just as surprised as you," Allison said. "I never thought he`d remember who I was. Apparently, I was&wrong. I made a mistake. You know I`d never hold out intentionally, right?"

　　"Yeah, I know." Delilah collapsed onto the sofa, rumpling her elegant dress.

　　Allison perched on the edge of the cushion at the other end of the sofa and stared into the empty fireplace. "I`m sorry I didn`t tell you. I should have been offering any help I could, even if it was a long shot."

　　Delilah nodded. "I understand why you didn`t think you`d be memorable, you`ve got the humble soldier thing when it comes to military matters." Delilah raised her gaze, then extended her hand toward Allison, palm upturned and fingers soft. "I`m sorry I blew up on you. And for saying you were selfish."

　　Allison clasped her hand. "It`s okay. I guess it must`ve been quite a shock."

　　They stayed quiet for a long moment. Then, Delilah asked with a half-smile, "Any other royal hookups we should know about?"

　　"What? No! We didn`t—it was just a—"

　　"No, it wasn`t!" Bruno yelled from his room.

　　"He doesn`t even—"

　　"Clearly he does," Jeremiah said.

　　"Ugh!" Allison`s face flushed as she fled to her room.