Josephine awaited Raoul as he prepared, quick to embrace him as he came back to her room. She kissed him back with equal passion, holding him close. When they pulled away from each other, arms still keeping their embrace, she looked up into his eyes with calm in her blue eyes.<span style="font-style: italic">"I do not want to leave you any more than you want me to leave... But I swear to you my love that I will return home to you just as swiftly as I can and when I come home we will not be parted again for a while yet"</span>The queen nodded and kissed him on the lips delicately once more, a quick peck before he spoke again.<span style="font-style: italic">"Are you going down to see me off? Or will I simply find you when I return?"</span>"I shall follow you to the castle walls, and watch from there until you are out of sight. Until then, I will not leave your side." Josephine laced her fingers with his, pulling away and leading him out of her bedchamber and into the hall. She kept a brave smile, though she really did not want to be apart from him. Their walk seemed short and brief, but as they approached the wagon, she stopped to whisper something to him before he left. "I shall await your return. And When you come back, nothing shall keep us apart." Her voice held a promise that she didn't speak in words, but she meant in her heart. While he is gone, she would work and convince her family to allow them the freedom they had lacked the night before.