Aery gasped, nodded, then shook her head no, then sighed and pressed her face into his hand. "I don't even know. Don't put another murder on my conscience. Thank you, but. We shouldn't... It's not honorable." She let out a pent-up breath, as an idea came to her. "The easiest thing to do would be to get married, but we can't announce that, not all of a sudden.. Not when we just got new foreign dignitaries." She said it honestly, ignoring the rush of emotions. "Of course, then Adarlan would have a thousand people suddenly quit vying to be our favorites, and the purity of the royal bloodline would be compromised, at least in the eyes of the people. But it wouldn't be the first time such a marriage happened. My great-great-grandfather's third wife was a kitchen maid. What's to stop a captain of the elite guard and a queen?" She hiccuped, her tears having run out suddenly, pressed herself against him, buried her face in his shoulder, only to suddenly jerk upright as she had a second epiphany. "Oh, I know! My grandmother's diamond ring. I've worn it at every occasion for the last couple of months, but on my second finger... I can put it on my fourth finger tonight and when asked about it say that I wasn't ready to announce my engagement to the world, but decided that now was the time. And it would explain my reluctance to dance with the Prince of Fenharrow."