In Which Rona Makes a Fair Trade

July 25, 1177

Rona had promised herself that she wouldn't cry in front of everyone at the banquet, but it was a rare lucky break that everyone had been too busy congratulating Ashe to notice her slip away.

She'd sat in the stands during the finals praying that he'd win but now that reality had hit her she almost wished that Neilor had beaten him. It would have been so easy to resent a man like Neilor, to tell herself that he'd only been after her dowry and connections. Ashe seemed so much kinder and that made her hate herself for hating him. He could try so hard and she would never give him an inch because she would never get over this. It was a petty, ill-directed vengeance and she knew it but it was already set in motion. Lorn had launched this attack on Ashe the day he'd agreed to this whole stupid tournament.

Someone tapped at her sitting room door. Rona swallowed. The only person who might have noticed her absence was her mother, but it was a man's knock and she couldn't name a man she cared to see just then. "Who is it?"

"It's... Ashe." His voice had started clear but he'd let his name fall to a resigned murmur. He'd probably guessed she didn't want his company and that made her hate both him and herself all the more. "Can I come in?"

Rona sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her dress. What did it matter? There was no one to see it and she didn't care besides. "I can't st-stop you."

She choked back a sob as he pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was hard to read his face through the filter of her tears but he looked neither annoyed nor insulted; if anything, he was concerned. And go figure, she only felt worse. "I'm sorry. I saw you run off and, er... it's not presumptuous of me to be here, is it?"

Why would it have been? He could do what he wanted with her and no one would think anything of it. "No..."

"Are you all right?" Rona couldn't even bring herself to shake her head. It should have been obvious that she wasn't, but it had been obvious for months and that hadn't stopped anyone else from not noticing. Frowning, Ashe shut the door and approached her, taking a seat on the nearer end of the couch. "I wanted to apologize to you."

Surprised, Rona let her hands drop to her lap. "But you didn't do anything." It would have been so much easier if he had.

"I did." He leaned slightly forward, eyes fixed on hers. For all she couldn't like him right now she supposed those apple green eyes would be cute on their red-haired, freckled babies. "I can't tell you the whole story, but I thought I entered this tournament with good intentions. I didn't, though. You would have been hurt regardless and I should have realized it."

And why should he have cared? He didn't know her. For all he'd known, she could have been some giggly, empty-headed sap who just wanted a knight in shining armor, with no particular care as to how he came along. "You are so strange."

"That doesn't matter. I just... I wanted you to know that." He reached under his collar and fished out the chain with her mother's key, then pulled it over his head and passed it over. "Thank you for the luck."

Rona looked down at the pile of old metal in her hand and tried to fight back a tear before tucking it away. "Glad it did something for one of us."

"Rona?"

She stiffened, but then it hit her that she had no reason not to let him call her that. That didn't help her relax. "Yes?"

"Look, I... I like you. At least, as much I can like you, given that we just met and all." Of all the odd things to say. "But I'm guessing that after all this, you don't like me all that much."

Rona sighed, her fist clenching around her mother's key, the flesh of her palm numb to the teeth. "If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have liked anyone."

"I know." Ashe stood, taking a step toward her and offering an outstretched hand. She supposed she was obliged to take it. "Can I ask you something?"

What was there left to ask? Rona swallowed. "If it please you."

A slight smile crossed his mouth as he reached for her other hand. "Your brother said he wanted to see you married before your birthday, but I was thinking... what if I took the time to court you properly?"

"What?" Her mouth fell agape as a shock surged up her spine. It was the most agreeable sensation she'd had in months. "What do you mean, 'court me properly'?"

"You know--I'll call on you a couple times a week, we'll spend some time together, get to know each other a little. And then maybe around Christmas or so--or later, if you feel like you need more time--you can let me know whether or not you care to go through with it."

She stared at him, not sure whether or not she dared believe what he was saying. "And if I don't?"

"Then I'll tell your brother that you're the most wonderful woman I've ever known, but that I can't in good conscience marry you against your wishes."

Rona blinked. It had been so long since she'd been given an option that she'd almost forgotten what to do with it. "You mean it?"

"Of course I do." He let go of her left hand and ran his right along the side of her face, one of her curls between two of his fingers. Had he done so a few minutes prior, she would have minded. "Or if you prefer, I could just tell him right away. But if you're willing..." He wound the lock around his index finger and let it spring back into place. "...I'd appreciate the chance."

As best she could with his fingers on her cheek, Rona nodded. A chance for chance wasn't an unfair trade.

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