"if you do not muzzle yourself, rune, i will find a kennel for you," steffen said.

elise stifled another peal of laughter as she left the brothers and darted into her bedroom.

clotilde's presence and king torgen's games were a foul chapter of her life, but there was no reason to let them spoil the rest of her days.

one day, she and rune would marry-although steffen was right, it would not be for a handful of years. elise wanted to get the country back on its feet, its financial power restored, and carabas harbor opened before she married. she had no doubts rune wouldn't agree to the waiting-he had patiently waited for years to tell her his feelings, after all.

she would have to tell falk. she didn't look forward to this, he would be hurt. however, elise knew her antisocial foster-brother had a warm heart. he would learn to love another.

elise had made her choice. rune would be her true love from now until she died. the hero and the banker was something of an odd combination, but-elise realized with a start- perhaps she was a hero, too.

either way, it didn't matter. rune chose elise, and elise chose rune. for the first time in months, perhaps since the death of queen ingrid, elise looked forward to the future.

"you may tell advisor withold that i will certainly take his advice under consideration, but the return on investment of a merchant fleet hardly seems worth it when we can tax our country's imports and exports, saving us the expense of building and outfitting ships and stimulating our economy by investing in diverse merchants," elise said as she marched down a hallway, scribes and couriers scrambling at her side.

"b-but princess," the scribe protested.

"furthermore, we have a navy to complete. three more ships are being built as we speak. it seems silly to build merchant ships when we already have a flotilla of boats," elise frowned.

"princess, your brother wishes to speak with you," a new courier said, jostling in the crowd.

"which one?" elise asked.

"crown prince steffen."

elise sucked in air through clenched teeth. "no. no, that is too bad. tell steffen that no, i will not be the master of ceremonies for the anniversary celebration of clotilde's defeat. it's tacky."

"but the people, princess, they long to honor you," the courier wheedled.

"they can honor captain meier, or gabrielle, or her cat. they did just as much as i did," elise said, adjusting the red sash of her customary work uniform.

"princess," the courier protested.

"princess elise," a young page boy shouted at the top of his lungs as he skidded into the hallway. "princess elise!"

"yes?" elise asked, directing her gaze to the small boy. this shift of attention earned the young boy many glares from the scribes and couriers.

"he's home!"

"rune is?"

"yes! he's just arrived at the stables."

the scribes and couriers groaned, knowing their lady well enough to predict what would happen next.

"thank you, wulf," elise said to the young boy as she lifted her skirts several inches off the ground. "if you will excuse me, ladies, gentlemen," elise said before she, in a most undignified and certainly not perfect princess fashion, ran down the hallway.

elise tore through the castle, dodging maids and footmen. she flung herself into an open air corridor and cut across the gardens, slipping through a gap in the hedge that walled the gardens in. she skidded into the castle grounds just as rune left the stables. he was dusty and dirty from traveling and camping in the woods, but elise never thought him more handsome.

"rune!" elise said, throwing herself at him.

rune, who was carrying several saddle bags, dropped his load and swept elise up in a whirling bundle of skirts and laughter. he laid a solid kiss on elise's lips that was so long, the servants in the area clapped and catcalled.

elise hid her blushing face in rune's shoulder as rune laughed and held her close. "i will never grow tired of returning home to you. it almost makes the separation worth it," rune said, tugging the ribbon that held elise's hair in a low ponytail until it released, spilling her wild curls about her shoulders.

"i am glad you are home," elise said, recovering enough to smile.

rune kissed the palm of her hand before he adjusted the beautiful engagement ring on her finger. "and i am glad to be home. only two months," he said before he threw the saddle bags over one arm and twined his free arm around elise. "any trouble with the wedding plans?"

"falk has been crusading against the cook to convince us to serve pilaf at the banquet. he thinks we can hook the foreign guests on the taste and increase our rice exports," elise said.

rune sighed. "i almost wish you hadn't introduced him to that little secretary minion of the commerce department. since those two started courting he's been nagging me to crack down on monsters to create safer trade routes for food exports."