“Will there be poppy juice in it?"Phresine shook her head."Good. My wife and I agreed that only my wine was to be poisoned.”

“You're awake," he said."Phresine is not," pointed out the queen."Oh?""You gave her lethium.""She gave it to me first.”

“I am not sure I trust you.""You can trust me with your life, My King.""But not with my wine, obviously. Give it back.”

“I knew I would be in the story somewhere," Eugenides interjected."Oh no," said Phresine, "This was a humble servant.""Ouch.""Though very courageous.""Not me," whispered Eugenides to his pillow.”

“He limped slowly over to his own wooden sword and stooped awkwardly to pick it up. Trailing it on the ground behind him, he limped toward the queen, and the courtyard quieted as he approached and was silent again as he dropped to his knees before her and laid the sword across her lap.“My Queen,” he said.“My King,” she said back.Only those closest saw him nod his rueful acceptance. He lifted his hand to brush her cheek softly. As the entire court listened breathlessly, he said, “I want my breakfast.”The queen’s lips thinned, and she shook her head as she said, “You are incorrigible.”

“I stayed only two days in the capital. I was welcomed by a cheering citizenry, who threw flowers at my head. It was disconcerting to think I could have put almost any young man in my retinue on a white horse and they would have thrown flowers at him instead. It was not me they cared about, only what I meant to them: a cessation of hostilities, a chance for prosperity, food on the table.”

“No," he said. "Relius was right and I was wrong. You are My Queen. Even though you cut my head from my shoulders, with my last breath as a noose tightens, to the last beat of my heart if I hang from the walls of the palace, you are My Queen. That I have failed you does not change my love for you or my loyalty.”