For The Love Of Aragon
Part XII

Devon was stunned, and for just a moment
She was a little girl who'd just lost her parents
Then Ethan spoke, "Princess, we must summon the guards."
And the sound of his voice brought her back to the present state of affairs
"Yes. Yes, of course, you are right," she said
And she did so
Within moments the hall was teeming with soldiers
All looking to Devon for instruction
And, for whatever reason, Devon found herself looking to Ethan
"Princess, I think you need to speak with the General. Don't you?" he said
"Yes, of course I do. You. Soldier. Go get the General. Tell him to meet
me in my
father's war room."
And with that, she started walking in that direction herself
She'd gone several steps when she realized Ethan wasn't with her
She stopped and turned to him
"Well, come on, man! I haven't got all day!"
"Ethan," he said
"What?!", said the Princess
"Ethan. My name is Ethan."
"Why! Of all the....", started Devon
Ethan held up his hand to stop her
"Princess, I have the utmost respect for you."
"And I was honored and happy to escort you back to the castle."
"But if, as it appears, you and I are about to enter into war together."
"The very least you can do is call me by my name."
The princess was the one dumbstruck this this time
For one thing, she couldn't believe or understand her rudeness towards him
And for another, she had no idea why his reprimand stung so much
For she was surely deserving of it
She looked at him with a new sense of respect, and she spoke
"Very well. Ethan. Let's be about our business. The fate of the Kingdom is
in our hands."
And they went, together, to the war room
And to their destiny

Terri Lyn Stanfield
Reulyn@aol.com
2/17/2001