Oh, Constance. Always you must bear under this authority, this mantle, this glory. Better to agonize over the choice than to not have one at all, isn't it? Better to be the speaker for the land than one of many who suffer without redress. Better to know that you hold Britain in your hand than to despair and refuse food until you do not wake.

"Pellinore," you say, stern. "King of the Isles. Right hand of the High King. Luckless huntress. The land screams her pain beneath our very feet, and still you brawl and squabble and neglect your [i]hunt[/i]. Until you catch the Beast, there will be no peace in England." You are a mouthpiece; the doom flows through you. "Or did you forget the words of Merlin? It is your quarry, Pellinore-- but not to kill. That has not been given to you." And if she rises to strike at you, or savage you with words that sting like whips, well. Let that be [i]your[/i] doom, then.

Then you turn to Robena, and your mouth dries. No. Please. "Robena, called the Bear Knight," you proclaim. "Though you fight for Britain admirably, you struck against a King in your anger, and without declaration of war. The Huntress is not your enemy, not yet. You and the Lady Sandsfern are to offer Pellinore penance and restitution. Such are the ways of Britain."

Once more you turn to Pellinore, your eyes hot. "But if ever you loved Britain," you say, and your voice is as fragile as a spider's web spun between two beams, "then let the matter lie for a year and a day, and then you may have your satisfaction. If you will have your recompense now, then I offer you the blessing of the waters of Britain, and the invocation of the Lady of the Hunt who rides in chalk upon the downs, made in their stead. They, too, are Britain's champions; they have a part to play as much as you do. You shall [i]not[/i] hinder them upon their quest. You may hunt the Beast, but they hunt the Land's Wound."

[With a roll of Good, an [b]8[/b]. I have the right to ask any question I may, and so I ask: [i]what is the dearest desire of your heart, Pellinore of the Isles?[/i]]