I managed to return to my keep by early evening. Despite desperately wishing to find myself a bed, couch, patch of cold ground, bit of unevenly paved street strewn with broken glass, or any other suitable place to curl up and fall asleep, I currently sat in a chair opposite the one Talia occupied. Although my whole concept of time was shaky at best right at that moment, it felt like we'd been sitting there talking for about half an hour thus far.

"So then, you're saying that this morning when I found your cloak all bloodied-"

"With boar's blood," I interjected quickly, raising a single finger between us as I did so. I'm not really sure why I felt the need for the gesture, but whatever... that's what I happened to do.

I began to wonder why Talia hadn't resumed talking at precisely the same moment I realized that I was simply sitting there staring at my finger, which I was still holding up for some reason. Feeling slightly awkward, I lowered it, and motioned for Talia to continue.

Hey, give me a break... I'd been through hell, and hadn't slept in almost two days.

"-the whole reason you couldn't tell me you didn't murder Hartman was because you knew someone was listening in on our conversation somehow?" Talia asked, her expression still somewhat dubious.

"Exactly," I said, gesturing to the writing table that was sitting an arms-length away. "During one of the searches of Tucat Keep a few weeks ago Borshank decided to get a little bit clever, and arranged for several specially ensorcelled gemstones to be planted in various rooms. One was affixed to the letter-opener on the table. I got rid of the rest of them, I think, but I wished to leave Borshank with the impression that I'd missed one, so that he'd pay particular attention to things said in front of it."

Her eyes narrowed. "That couldn't have been part of your plan."

"It wasn't, originally. When I'd set out to do this I knew whatever plan I put together had to be fluid, and capable of accommodating the various complications I suspected would occur over the first few months. Once I'd confirmed that Borshank had someone listening in on me via these gemstone thingies, I waited for the right opportunity to use them. So yesterday, I stood in front of one and asked one of my knights, Roland, to provide me with an alibi for a very specific time. I figured that would be enough to get someone's attention."

"Roland. That was the knight Borshank's men picked up?"

"Yes. I asked him to give me directions to his place so they'd overhear where to find him, and then gave him a note and told him to read it the moment anyone arrived at his door. The note instructed him to admit everything – to tell Borshank and his men every detail of our conversation, as well as my request for his help with an alibi. After all, I didn't want poor Roland to feel he had to lie to Crown Knights on my behalf, or suffer hours of interrogation or anything like that. Then, of course, with reports of Hartman being murdered the exact same time I'd arranged for Roland to be my alibi, they'd believe I was the one who had killed him."

"I'd thought you'd killed him, Vincent! I heard several rumors from the night staff, found your cloak just sitting there, and then when you couldn't tell me that you didn't kill him-"

"The gem was still on the table, right next to where we were talking, so I couldn't explain anything to you without tipping my hand to Borshank. Getting blood on my cloak was a bit of an accident, I'll admit – things got a little messy when I was bloodying up Hartman's bedroom, trying to make it look like a murder had occurred. Once I left Hartman Keep and arrived back here I sent word for Janviel to meet me at the writing table right away, all so I might be overheard plotting to infiltrate the August Foyer. I figured that once Borshank learned of both Hartman's pretended murder and my plan to visit the vault, he would believe I wished to break into it and become prince so I could pardon myself, much as you suspected. In response to that he increased the security around the vault, which was part of the bigger plan. Then, of course, you showed up here in the greeting hall before Janviel did, and I was forced to improvise a little."

"And you couldn't have improvised some way to let me know what was going on?"

"That was the whole reason I'd asked to accompany you back to your room in the first place. Twice, in fact. I was pressed for time, and couldn't have known if that particular listening gem was the only one still left in the keep, or if others had been planted since the time I'd last checked for them. But I knew that your room was the one place Borshank's knights couldn't have planted one. If I can't break into it, they certainly wouldn't be able to manage without leaving some sort of evidence they'd been there. And I couldn't tell you why I was trying to get you to come with me to your room, what with people listening in on us."

Talia glanced to her right and briefly inspected the contents of the writing table, frowning slightly.

"This room is safe at the moment," I said, giving her a wan smile. "I've checked. I'm not sure about too many of the others, because I haven't had all that much time to do a thorough sweep, but this room is clean."

"And that one letter opener?" she asked. "Where is it now?"

"It's in the kitchen. North wall, by the grill. I thought it'd be fun to treat Borshank's staff to the sound of Mosond cursing out the cooking staff for a while."

My last comment solicited a greatly amused smirk from Talia, but her expression quickly became both serious and distressed.

"You don't understand how it felt, Vincent. You have no idea. We'd talked about it, and you'd told me you wouldn't, and then to suddenly possess evidence that you'd actually gone and done something like that? To be standing right here in front of you, asking if you did, and not hear you tell me that you hadn't? It felt like you'd lied to me about something I knew I'd never be able to get past. Then, between your cloak and the things you were implying as we talked-"

"Talia, I do apologize for that. You can't even believe how much. It hurts my own heart to know that you'd even momentarily believed I was capable of doing something like that." I gave her a look that I hoped came off as 'genuine and earnest' rather than 'dead tired and about to fall asleep in my chair'. "Seriously though, after everything we've been through - all of the missteps, all of the effort to get to where we are right now - did you honestly believe I'd choose to simply throw all of that away for the sake of revenge?"

"I'd-" she began, turning her head to one side and taking a breath. "I had hoped you wouldn't. Really, really hoped. But when everything was happening, I couldn't help but think..." She turned back to look at me, rallying some of her anger. "And you wouldn't tell me you didn't! I asked, again and again, and got nothing! You weren't admitting to anything, but you weren't denying anything either, doing your best to dance around my straightforward questions. What was I supposed to think?"

"To be fair, and at the risk of repeating myself, I did attempt to get you up to your room so I could explain what was going on, but you simply weren't having any of it. I don't precisely know why you thought I was trying to bring you up there, but..." I shrugged. "I was trying, Talia. I really was."

Talia took a short breath, and her expression became slightly contrite.

"Yes, well maybe you aren't to blame for that. At the time, I didn't know what to think. And you're saying that if I hadn't already assumed the worst, or if I'd actually given you the benefit of the doubt and accompanied you to my room so you could explain to me what was going on, none of this would have happened. So in a way, it's almost like it's my-"

"No, no, and no... it's not your fault. None of it is," I said quickly. "You're not allowed to go all keepmistress on me right now... you have every right to be upset by what happened! You came to a perfectly logical conclusion, all because I had to say the sorts of damning, ambiguous things that would cause anyone listening to draw those exact same conclusions, simple as that."

"But-"

"And you didn't assume the worst, either. In the end, you trusted me. You stayed here and waited, despite how bad everything looked, and you gave me a chance to explain myself. If anything, we can chalk this whole experience up to really awful timing... tangled plans within plans, ridiculously complex difficulties perched upon complications, all feasting hungrily upon a plethora of things gone awry. The two of us bumping into each other here this morning just wasn't supposed to happen the way it did." I rubbed my jaw a little. "Actually, come to think of it, several things didn't happen exactly the way they were supposed to this past little while."

"You can say that again. You could have died today, Vincent! From what I've heard, even just from your own retelling of events, you came pretty close to it."

"Yeah, a couple of times. I really wasn't expecting Borshank to attack me like that in the courtroom, right in front of everybody. But see, that's a fine example right there! He'd attacked me, and the law would have been on my side if something happened to Borshank while I was defending myself. I already had every reason to want to kill him after that 'surprise' he'd tried to arrange for you on your birthday, and I could have killed him right there in the Executioner's Hall. A part of me really, really wanted to. But I didn't. I figured there was a more fitting punishment - letting him remain alive and well, living out the rest of his days knowing it was me who destroyed his reputation and shattered his career."

Talia gave me an arch smile. "And who also shattered his nose with a sword pommel."

I coughed softly.

"That is true, yes," I said. "Not very mature of me, I'll admit. And I'll warn you right now, I can be very petty and vindictive, when it comes right down to it. Especially when it comes to people I care about being put in harm's way."

"I've always known that about you."

"What, that I'm immature?"

Talia gave me a warning look that was accompanied by a tight-lipped smirk, and I chuckled.

"No, I get what you mean. And you do know many things about me already, Talia. In a way, I feel that you know and understand me more completely than anyone else. Perhaps that's the whole reason why you stayed, and gave me this chance to explain myself. You trusted me. I don't ever want to risk losing that... not for anything in the world. I cherish that understanding, and would never do anything to jeopardize it. So, perhaps in future, if I'm ever doing something that seems completely out of character and I tell you not to worry, you'll maybe give me the benefit of the doubt?"

"'Not to worry,' he says." She snorted softly. "So, you didn't almost die today?"

"Well, that's true. Twice, actually." I raised a tired hand to interrupt the question I saw forming on her lips. "I'll tell you about the second one later. It happened this morning in the vault, during the first break-in attempt... forgot to mention. It was Borshank that time as well. And yes, at times you may be justified in worrying about some of the insanity I've gotten myself mixed up with, and when you're concerned I certainly want you to put voice to your worries and tell me about them. But you get what I mean."

Talia pursed her lips and nodded, at which point she went still, allowing the silence between us to linger for what seemed like a rather long time. Eventually, I realized that Talia could be attempting to find the best way to phrase her next question. Considering how quick she'd been to share her thoughts thus far, a part of me became a touch concerned by this lengthy pause.

"So," she said, eventually, "tell me this then - exactly why is it you couldn't have told me about all of these various plans of yours earlier? And by 'earlier', I mean much earlier."

Feeling quite exhausted all of a sudden, I slumped back in my chair, briefly raising my hands in a gesture of both frustration and surrender.

"There wasn't really any chance to tell you, before."

"Wasn't any- ... we've had months, Vincent!"

"Talia, I was courting you! Attempting to figure you out. We've already established that I was doing a pretty lousy job of piecing together exactly what you were thinking and feeling this whole time, and it didn't seem like any of my various attempts at wooing mattered to you in the slightest. Hades, there were moments where I began to suspect that you didn't even like me... that you were simply going through the motions of courtship so you could teach me a lesson of some sort. Sure, we've made a significant breakthrough recently, and I understand things a whole lot better now, but honestly, to have told you about this plan months ago?

"I've been playing everything very close to the chest. Nobody who wasn't already playing an instrumental part in this plan knew any of the reasons behind why I was doing what I was doing. Only myself and two others, in fact. So, considering this whole thing involved me risking my neck on multiple occasions, does putting my life in the hands of someone who I found completely and utterly baffling strike you as a particularly sound course of action? Do you really think I ought to have put the fate of everything at the feet of someone who I couldn't figure out well enough to even woo properly, or not make spontaneously burst into tears, or-"

One of the sleepier portions of my brain became awake at that point, and notified me that I was sounding a shade accusatory and standoffish, not to mention a bit loud.

Closing my eyes, I allowed my palm to slap my forehead. A moment later I pressed my thumb and forefinger against my tightly shut eyes, and I began to shake my head sadly back and forth.

I really, really needed sleep.

"Talia, I-"

"No, I get it," she said quietly, and not in the quiet, passive voice people use when attempting to communicate resentment. "You're right. A lot has changed these past few days, and I was thinking in terms of how it felt now, not taking into account how things were months ago."

"It's not just that, Talia. This whole thing was dangerous, and I didn't want to put you in a situation where you could get hurt. Hades, despite my best efforts to keep things from involving you at all, you were still somehow pulled into everything! One of the biggest reasons I had for keeping you out of it was because I knew just how risky this whole plan would be, and I wanted to protect you from the various things I had going on. Which is not to say you need me to protect you, of course, because I know you're more than capable of looking out for yourself... but you can only really do that if you're aware of everything going on around you, which I couldn't tell you! Only I can now, but I couldn't back then, because it was in the middle of happening then, and now it isn't!" I paused, and sleepily considered my last few sentences. "Hang on. That sort of made sense, right? I'm afraid I can no longer tell if I sound crazy or not."

"Well, some aspects of this 'plan' of yours sound rather crazy to begin with, so it's hard to tell." She eyed me critically. "You're saying that everything you did today was done just so they'd arrest you? Why?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to get the prince and all four preceptors in the same room? Part of the plan was to ensure that I was in the presence of Prince Tenarreau and the four preceptors when the vault was robbed, and to have it happen in such a way that there could be no question as to my whereabouts, both at that precise moment and the time leading up to it."

"So, all of that, just so you'd be on trial in one of the highest courts in Harael, in the presence of Tenarreau and the four preceptors."

"Yup."

"All of which you knew would take place during the actual vault break-in."

I nodded.

"And so the new prince is... who exactly?" she asked.

"Nobody knows at the moment. Harael presently has no prince."

Talia's eyes narrowed. "So, not you then?"

"How could it be me? I didn't personally remove anything from the vault, did I? I'd been standing right there with Hartman in the Executioner's hall when it all happened."

"So then, you wanted everyone to know... it couldn't have been you."

"Correct."

"Even though it clearly was you who orchestrated the entire thing." She frowned. "But if you've gone to all that trouble, why wouldn't you choose to become the new prince?"

I grinned at her.

"Would you like to be the new Princess of Harael, darling?" I asked. "We haven't had a princess running things around here for at least seventy years, if I'm remembering my history correctly. I could arrange it for you, if you'd like. And, why just imagine - I'd be courting a princess! Something like that would certainly improve my social standing!"

Talia looked decidedly surprised and off-balanced all of a sudden.

"Uh..." she began.

"So if the notion of becoming Princess of Harael strikes your fancy, you have but to say the word and I'll make it happen. You could be running this city tomorrow, if you wish – meting out justice, crafting new laws, engaging with foreign diplomats and rulers of other cities, negotiating the web of intrigue and suspicion that is the essence of palace politics, keeping lords such as myself in line with an iron fist, spending every single waking moment-"

"Okay, okay," Talia said, raising her hands in surrender. "Not a whole lot of fun... I get it. You've made your point. Being prince sounds a bit more like some cruel form of punishment when you put it like that."

"That's not too far off the mark, actually. Nobody actually wants to become prince unless they've got a very, very compelling reason. Doubtless hundreds of lords are even now trying to account for their whereabouts during the theft so that the finger of suspicion doesn't end up being pointed at them, even temporarily. Lord Hartman may actually end up thanking me for providing him with the same iron-clad alibi that I have."

"And that's another thing I don't quite get, Vincent... Lord Hartman. While I'm certainly glad you didn't kill him, I do have to ask – how did you convince him to go along with this plan of yours? And how could you possibly have put things aside long enough to team up with the very man who Tenarreau himself identified as the murderer you've been looking for all this time?"

"That note didn't come from Tenarreau," I said.

Talia looked a bit confused, and frowned. "It didn't? But-"

"That note had to come from someone who knows that I'm looking for whoever murdered my family. Furthermore, I believe it came from someone who wanted Hartman murdered, and who wished me to be the one to kill him, for whatever reason. When I informed Hartman that it appeared someone was setting him up to be murdered, he very quickly agreed to help in order that we might try to find out who was behind it."

"But how could you have known the note didn't come from Tenarreau? What if he is the one who wanted Hartman dead?"

"It's a little hard to explain. You see, after you were attacked in the alley I broke into the palace and confronted Tenarreau directly. We talked, and he had this thing called a Flori-... uh, he had this thing that detects lies. He used it to assure me that he wasn't the one behind the attack on you, but in addition to that he also told me that it was impossible for him to assist me in any way when it came to finding the information I was looking for. Then, within hours of that meeting, I discovered that I was in possession of a note that doesn't just hint at the identity of who I'm looking for, but actually spells out precisely who it is. Once you figured it out, and I saw that it identified Hartman by name, I realized that note couldn't have come from the prince, because I knew he couldn't overtly help me." I considered the last of my words, and then frowned. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that difficult to explain after all."

Talia nodded slowly at that, considering, and I found myself nodding along while simultaneously attempting to stifle a yawn. Hades, I was tired.

"It sounds like this 'thing that detects lies' you mentioned was very convincing," said Talia.

"A small crystal, about so big," I said, pointing to my pinkie finger. "It is very, very convincing, and it came in quite handy. I, uh... 'borrowed' one from Tenarreau, because I figured I could find some way to use it later. With it I was able to convince Hartman well enough to go along with my plan. I gave him a quick demonstration to show him how it worked, and then explained what was going on while holding it, so he knew I was being truthful. Once I laid out everything I wished to do, as well as what I'd need him to do, I had him hold the crystal and tell me if he agreed to participate in the manner I required."

"Hmm," Talia mused, tapping her lips with a single finger as though considering. "Perhaps we should have located one of these crystals of yours before starting this whole conversation. If they're half as convincing as you say, things would have likely gone much quicker."

"Would you like me to fetch it for you now?" I asked. "We can start again if you'd like."

Appearing slightly startled by the offer, she shook her head.

"I was only teasing, Vincent."

"I'm not," I said, gripping the arms of my chair so that I might stand, something I managed with only a slight groan. "I can go get it right now, come back and tell you everything once more from the very beginning. Once that's done, you can ask me any questions you wish."

"You think I require proof?" Talia regarded me from her chair, and after a moment she smirked. "Oooh, clever. The only reason you're even offering is because you know I won't accept, because asking for proof would negate the very idea that I trust you in the first place."

"Nothing that clever," I said, giving her a quick shake of my head. "I'm far too tired to have any clever thoughts right now. And no, I don't think you require proof. But I do think you deserve it, because you did trust me. That's the whole reason you're here with me right now – why you didn't simply pack your belongings and leave. You stayed, having no logical reason to do so other than believing deep down inside that I was the person you thought I was, and I want you to know how important that is to me. I want to fetch it for you, if only to show you that your faith in me was justified, because I want you to know that more than anything right now, and this is the only real way I can think of to do that."

I could sense I was on the verge of babbling...

Talia's eyes softened a little."Vincent, it's fine. You don't need-"

"No, I know I don't need to. But I want to. I want to tell you everything, Talia. I want to share these things with you... tell you things that I've never told anyone else, because I feel they're things you might understand, or already do. I want to try to repair some of this damage I inadvertently created, because it hurts just to know it's still there, needing to be addressed. And I don't want you angry with me because of some stupid complication in some silly scheme I've hatched, or any other reason, because I tried my damnedest not to think about it all day long, but seeing you like that this morning just about killed me-"

"Vincent-"

Full-on babbling now....

"-and I don't ever want to feel that way again... not ever! And I know that if anything I'm the one who messed things up here, and I'm tired of messing these sorts of things up between us! I'm really tired of not getting things right, or not knowing what to do or how to fix things when they get broken like this," I said, my voice cracking the tiniest bit. "I may not even deserve to feel this way, because I'm only telling you about all of these things now, whereas if I'd discussed any of this with you before today none of this would have happened the way it did, and I wouldn't be standing in front of you, prattling on like some simple, dumbstruck idiot. And now it's like I can't help but want to show you – prove to you – that I'm telling you everything and being as open with you as I can be, because it doesn't feel like things are okay, and all I could possibly want right now is for you to know-"

"I do know, Vincent."

"But it's-"

And suddenly she was kissing me.

I don't exactly know how it was Talia managed to go from sitting in her chair to pressing herself against me without me noticing, but she must have done so because, well... there she was. And there I was. And there we were.

It was a kiss I'm tempted to call 'devastating'.

Nothing else existed all of a sudden. The knots in my stomach, the tight fists of worry gripping my chest, and every single jagged, painful feeling I'd been experiencing up to then just seemed to fall away and vanish completely. Every thought I'd been desperately trying to articulate up to that point was scattered and dispersed into nothing, like plumes of smoke meeting a brisk wind.

Honestly, I don't know how I managed to remain standing upright, because at some point it seemed as though I couldn't even feel my feet. But right then I wasn't thinking about feet, nor of the possibility of awkwardly losing my balance, nor any other mundane stuff like that.

Instead, I was marvelling at the fact that Talia and I had somehow stumbled upon a way to make the entire world stop.

About a thousand years later I broke off the kiss, and after collecting what remained of my thoughts I found myself staring into her eyes.

"I do understand, Vincent," Talia said, her voice just shy of a whisper. "You said it yourself, earlier. I'm still here because I do know what kind of a person you are. And you've already proved it. I don't need you to prove it again."

She turned her head slightly and settled it against my shoulder, at which point I became aware of the fact that we were embracing one another, though I couldn't remember having moved my arms. I took a moment to reposition myself so I could properly wrap my arms around her, which caused her to press herself even closer against me.

I don't know how long we stayed like that... it could have been minutes, or days. As I may have mentioned, my whole concept of time was a bit off just then, and I was more tired than I could ever remember being in my entire life.

But at that moment I was also the happiest I could ever remember being, too.

Thoughts slowly began to permeate my brain once more, and while most of them involved attempting to find new ways to describe just how wonderful everything was all of a sudden, one particular thought stood out rather urgently. It informed me that my nose had caught the faintest whiff of something coming from my tunic, likely residue from the gas I had unleashed in the vault earlier. Among other things.

I briefly considered how I must have smelled just then...

"Uh, I apologize, Talia... but I really should get myself cleaned up, or something," I murmured softly into the whereabouts of her neck, arms still wrapped comfortably around her. "I can't remember when I last bathed, but I know I probably-"

"Vincent?"

"Mmm?"

"Shut up."

With that, she tightened her embrace slightly, and followed it with another kiss shortly thereafter... which did, in fact, do a good job of shutting me up.

Another thousand years or so passed, and this time it was Talia who broke off the kiss. We remained where we were, however, and considered one another with our faces inches apart.

"Those gems you mentioned before," she said, finally. "The others, like that one in the letter opener. How did you locate them, exactly?"

"There's this salve I've got in my study – you dab a little around your eyes, and you can see them once you make any sort of noise around them."

"Hmm." She gave me a shrewd look, then raised an upturned palm into the almost nonexistent space between us. "Milord, may I borrow the key to your study, please?"

Argh.

I was now 'Milord' once more.

Feeling a touch disappointed, I fetched the key from my inside tunic pocket and pressed it into her hand without a word.

"And where exactly is this salve?"

"Desk drawer, the one on the top left side," I said, tiredly. "But, why-"

"I would argue that, as keepmistress, it's my duty to locate and remove any of these ensorcelled gemstones that may still remain in Tucat Keep, Milord."

"Seriously, Talia, something like that can wait."

"I'm afraid it can't wait, Milord," Talia said, coyly. "You see, depending on how tired you are, I may have plans for you later this evening. I'd like additional information regarding this plan of yours, and getting it from you may involve things like interrogation, or torture... the possibilities abound." She took a step forward and pressed herself against me once more, dropping her voice to a whisper. "And I don't think you'll want anyone listening in."

I felt much less tired all of a sudden....

I think I also forgot how to speak.

"In the meantime, you," she continued, pressing a finger to my chest, "need to get some sleep. Now. Even if it's only a brief nap. You've had a very busy day, from the sounds of it, and I can tell you're practically out on your feet."

"I will, but not just yet, unfortunately. I have to check on a few of the urgent things that are still in motion, make sure that nothing has slipped through the cracks." I noticed the presence of a rather sharp pain in my stomach, and I frowned slightly. "And I just realized, I haven't eaten in, uh... wow. I think the first thing I should do is head to the kitchen and get Mosond to make me up a little something I can take downstairs with me."

"You and your exercise hall... always going down there for one reason or another," Talia mused teasingly. "You know, I just realized – that's probably where you've been keeping your mistress all this time."

"It-" I began, suddenly both flummoxed and flabbergasted, despite the lightheartedness of her tone. "I... you can't possibly think... because I'd never... I-"

Grinning at me, Talia threw her arms over my shoulders once more, and proceeded to shut me up in the very best way imaginable.

At some point, I thought I caught a whispered 'I trust you' dancing past my ear.