"Prince Derek! I thought you would be with your father preparing for battle. And who is this?" Titania approached the pair and took his hand affectionately, eyeing the fact that his other hand grasped Finn's.
"Your Majesty," Roland bowed, and Finn curtsied, "Serafina joined us moments ago. She aided Mau in escaping from the jail and Klain. He is speaking with father now."
"Oh, indeed? And to what do we owe this young lady's aid?" Titania looked Finn over with a complex expression.
"Klain betrayed her, mercilessly cutting down her father despite his innocence." Roland repeated Finn's explanation for her defection from Klain.
"Well then welcome, poor child." Titania cooed. "It seems you are already familiar with Prince Derek."
"We knew each other, before I came here. She received news that I had died. She was incredibly surprised to find that not only am I alive, but I am prince of Rhone, the nation she has come to join." As Roland spoke, Titania's delicate eyebrows rose.
"And now she would seek a prince's affection." The statement was not judgmental, only observational.
"Our affection predates our knowledge of my identity. I will marry her immediately." Roland said forcefully. "She thought me dead once; in case I should fall in battle now, I will make her my wife first."
Finn admired his quick thinking. The excuse was better than anything she could come up with about why their marriage had to be immediate. She wondered briefly if he had had the thought before, and her heart ached.
Titania clapped her hands together in delight, "Derek! I am overjoyed at this news, but there is no need to rush. You will not be in any direct danger in the battle. Oh, what a marvelous thing for Rhone! As soon as we have obliterated our enemy, we will have a grand ceremony celebrating the marriage of our returned prince! The celebration will be unmatched by anything we have ever seen!"
She embraced her grandson, which he endured awkwardly, and her future granddaughter-in-law, who did her best not to cringe away from the embrace.
"I cannot tell you how happy you have made me, my dear. Rhone needs a strong bloodline of heirs. I have every confidence you are up to the task of bearing them!" Titania held Finn at arm's length and looked her up and down as if judging her childbearing prowess from her figure alone.
Finn turned crimson at the inspection, but took the treatment without comment.
"We may have a grand ceremony after the battle, but we want to marry immediately," Roland insisted. "I cannot leave her for battle until she is my wife."
"That's out of the question," Titania breezed. "Young people and their thirst for love. Patience is a virtue, Derek! I will plan you a wedding so fantastic you won't regret for a moment that you waited for it!"
Roland pursed his lips but decided against arguing further. Surely his father could find a way for them to marry without Titania finding out, and quickly. He bowed, and Finn curtsied, eyes downcast.
"I have more to do. How thrilling! Be ready for battle soon, Derek. I will find something for your bride to do so that she will stay out of danger," Titania wheeled away and rushed off.
"Hurry," Roland whispered, and he and Finn broke into a near-run.
It was a daunting task to find Duncan as the fires began to wane and the cloying Darkness pressed in. Time was slipping away and they needed to act quickly.
The soldiers were forming into groups and gathering torches to march. Roland scanned their ranks for anyone he knew. Moving past each group, finally he saw Prince Duncan, still speaking with Mau.
Roland decided to avoid the man he'd revealed as a spy and wait until his father was done conversing with the man. Though Roland had been disguised at the Council Meeting, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't be recognized. He lifted his face covering as if he'd never taken it down.
Eventually, Duncan gestured to Mau, and the spy left, sparing Finn and Roland a glance as he left.
When he was out of earshot, which wasn't far, Roland pulled Finn up to Prince Duncan and lowered his face covering to be heard a little better.
"What are the Rhone rites of marriage?" Roland asked. Duncan's eyebrows rose dramatically.
"Why do you ask?" Duncan's gaze flicked to Finn, then back to his son.
"Long story extremely short, we think it will break the curse. The 'roots' were roots of the family tree, and the mountain's keep is where Klain's genealogies were kept. The first king of Rhone was the eldest son of Klain's first king, and the family tree must be rejoined for the curse to be lifted. I am descendant of that son, and Serafina from one of the others."
Duncan examined his son with interest. "You believe that a marriage ceremony between you and this girl will be enough to break the curse? It cannot be so simple."
"Would it hurt to try?" Roland played to his father's reason. Surely such a simple act to save so many lives would be worth the attempt.
"I suppose not. For a Rhone wedding, the groom brings meat and vegetables to the bride. The bride then cooks it into a meal for him and presents it to him. He accepts the food, and they uncover each other's faces and feed each other as a symbol of their mutual dependence. A witness tears the head coverings into strips so that their true faces will never be hidden from one another, then braids the torn coverings into a rope and wraps it around the couple, binding them together. There is usually a feast afterward, but the ceremony is complete without it."
Roland and Finn took in this information eagerly, and shared a glance.
"However," Duncan continued, "the troops will be leaving almost immediately to get in position for the attack. If I attempt to delay them even a little, Titania will attempt to wrest control of the army from me. That would cause infighting and potentially civil war. I cannot risk that for the off-chance that your plan works."
"I understand," Roland replied gravely.
"Where does Roland need to get the ingredients?" Finn asked. As a fairly skilled cook, she would be able to make a meal out of almost anything he provided.
"The food stores are near the center of camp, behind the tent in which we were before. Hurry and provide them, we must leave very soon, Derek. You are to be with me during the battle. We will be supporting the assault on the existing breach in the wall."
Roland closed his eyes. "How will Finn get the food to me once it's cooked? And who will witness for us?"
"I will be consumed with battle. You'll have to find a moment to sneak away somehow. I do not know how you may accomplish this, but I will assign you an aide that will hopefully be willing to assist you. It is tradition for royalty to have such an assistant in battle."
"Let's go," Roland grabbed Finn's hand and hurried off with her just as Mau reapproached with some questions for Prince Duncan.
"Your Highness... if I may ask, who was that who just departed with young Finn?" The spy watched them leave.
"My son, Prince Derek." Duncan responded, realizing it was the first time Mau had seen the prince without his face covered.
"I see. What very striking eyes your son has." Mau said with his brows drawn together. "He has been with you constantly since his triumphant return to Rhone's embrace?"
"With the exception of a short scouting mission he did for me," Duncan studied his spy. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm not sure." Mau's eyes followed the two young people until they left his view. "Your Highness, I have neglected to greet Her Majesty since my return, and I feel it is my duty to update her on all of the occurrences of the city. Would you happen to know her location?"
_______
Roland and Finn hurried toward the center of the camp. He thought to look for a cooking fire, but there were too many fires for that to be a particularly useful designator. Then he thought to smell for it, but that didn't seem to help either. Was smell deadened here in the Darkness, as well as sight and sound?
The thought briefly confused him. Silence and darkness were easily noticed, but does one usually notice the absence of scent? Pushing that idea away for another time, He made it back to where they'd been before and quickly searched through the food stores.
"What do you need?" He asked.
She mentally flipped through a few simple recipes. "Whatever is available, I can make something out of it. I'll just need a pan of some kind, utensils, and something to serve it on. The ingredients can be anything."
Roland emptied one sack of things into another, and then used the empty one as a vessel for the things Finn needed. He also threw in some fresh vegetables, some dried meat, a waterskin, and some spices.
"Is this all right?" He asked, as she watched him fill it.
"Yes, I think that should be fine. I'll try and cook quickly and then find you." She smiled.
"I'm not sure if there's some ceremonial presenting of the ingredients, but," He knelt down and held the sack of food out to her. "Will you accept these ingredients?"