She looked at him, her face confused.<br/><br/>"Will that not make me seem more guilty. That I suddenly appear and marry you while I am considered an assassin by your Ritter Hex? We've only known each other a short time. They will consider me an enchantress or worse, a witch. My mother died by the same accounts and we lived in Goldspar, I can only imagine what your people would do..." She looked down at him, her hand lifting to cup his face affectionately before sliding through his hair. He really was quite charming. Leaning in slightly, she pressed her lips to his. "I ...lo.." her voice then cracked and she looked away, as if the sight of him brought her pain, or rather the idea that she'd soon no longer be able to see him. "..I care about you.." she corrected herself, too close to using that most potent of words, upon which kingdoms had risen and fallen.<br/><br/>"I would not see you hurt by my presence. As much as I wish to be with you, to counsel you, to lie beneath you at night in glorious abandon..."She had let herself get carried away with the mental imagery, but it was a desire of hers to be able to do all of the above with a man worthy of her. She continued looking at him, seemingly uncertain of how to decide. As much as she was her own woman, her sister held certain things over her.<br/><br/>"Yes...but it must be quick before my sister finds out about it...even for a prince, I do not think she would allow it..." she finally relented, but it was the first uncertainty that Gavin would have heard in her voice. "I trust her with my life,  but she is overly fond of me."<br/><br/>~~~~~~~<br/><br/>Nicole smiled. "Well, the Lady HonorÃ¨ loves all those who serve her well. If you would have her love, serve her with your whole being. While you are hers, forbid her nothing and she will shape you into a thing of such beauty that mere mortals would tremble at the most delicate curl of your lip." The thing she didn't mention to Diane was how well HonorÃ¨ was loved by those who served her. So loved that a few had refused to leave her service, such as Nicole herself, despite her own high standing within society.<br/><br/>"Men fear that which is unreachable, but it is also what is desirable. Become that, and you will have their love. "