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properly once I have eaten.’
    Ever the obedient daughter she curtsied and left them, still clutching her present and all the while trying to forget the feeling that the executioner’s axe hung poised above her neck.
    She did not go down for the noon meal, feigning a headache. Instead, she retired to her room, but soon got fractious stomping around like a bear in a pen until her head really did start to hurt.
She was just about to wander back down to the great hall, claiming a miraculous recovery, when there was a knock at the door. She bid the caller enter, knowing his identity without even looking
up.
    ‘Are you feeling better, little one?’ Her father’s tone had a sardonic edge.
    ‘Um, yes, I mean no, not really.’
    ‘We can talk later, if you want.’
    ‘No, Father; please, if you have any news, tell it to me now.’
    ‘Very well.’ She was sitting demurely on her bed; he pulled the chair from her dresser so that he could sit facing her.
    ‘Did you hear me earlier when I said I had to speak to Berek?’ she nodded. ‘Well, my discussions involved making preparations at Erskon House for a visit from the Grand Duke
some six weeks from now.’
    ‘I didn’t know he was due to go there; he normally only visits in high summer, and that is now passed.’
    ‘No,’ Nicholas said, ‘he doesn’t normally, but this is different because I will be hosting one of the biggest events of the year.’
    The axe had fallen; she spoke, knowing his reply long before it came. ‘It is my wedding, isn’t it?’
    ‘Yes, my dear, I am afraid it is.’
    ‘Well, then, I suppose you had better tell me all about it.’
    ‘Indeed, now where shall I start? First of all, I had many things to discuss with the Grand Duke and had decided to leave your nuptials until the end of my stay; I had half a hope that it
would be forgotten, what with the eastern war becoming a priority again, but it was not to be. The night before last we were at dinner, myself, the Grand Duke, Duke Edrington, Duke Marschall,
Barons Duneck, Fillebrand, Gerlig, Richney and others, when out of the blue the Grand Duke spoke up, saying to me “What about that daughter of yours? Sorted a husband for her yet?” I
replied that I get petitions for you every day and was in no hurry to arrange anything. There was a groan at this, half the barons at the table had a son they wanted to foist on me. At that point,
though, Leontius, the Grand Duke, interceded. ‘I am sorry my, friend; I would not normally do this to you without a private discussion first but it so happens I have a match for her.’
Duke Nicholas stopped and looked directly into Ceriana’s large eyes. ‘I cannot tell you how my heart sank at this news. I was hoping to hold on to you for at least a year or two more,
and now I was not even to get to choose a husband for you.’
    She met his gaze steadily. ‘Go on.’
    ‘Leontius has been Grand Duke for nearly two years now, as you know. At first, knowing how well I got on with his father, he readily listened to what I had to say. Alas, this last year or
so I have seen my influence waning. He is a young man and it is the younger nobility that mostly have his ear. For years, for example, I have argued for a negotiated settlement to this pointless
and costly eastern war, Leontius, though, now wants a decisive victory without understanding that one is hardly possible without great sacrifice. It is frustrating – he has the makings of a
fine ruler but the advice he listens to is, I feel, leading him down paths best left untrodden.’
    ‘Water, Father?’ Ceriana handed him a bowl into which she had just dispensed water from a jug on her bedside table. His voice was getting a little husky. He readily accepted, drank,
and continued.
    ‘Well, apart from you, the two main reasons why I was seeing the Grand Duke was to discuss reinforcing the war in the east, details of which I will not bore you with now, and to discuss
the latest unrest among the