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| - "The future is just like that /being it good or bad / we will lose all we had / and may get nothing for it (so sad)" ---Ode to the Present, fourth strophe. At this moment, Anita, who had been hearing the swords hitting each other, entered the room and instinctively threw her shoe at Hobenrûd, distracting him. "Hoben, stop that!" Anita cried out, not knowing what else she could do. "She's still Priscilla; the only thing that changed was her name! You will regret slaying her!" In response, Hobenrûd hit Marin's sword with such power that the kris fell out of her hand, then brought his flamberge in a furious, horizontal sweep. Noticing the attack coming, Marin collapsed flat on the ground, narrowly avoiding the edge of death. Anita tried to tug Hobenrûd away, and was totally unprepared to be hit in her ribs by Hobenrûd's pommel. She took an involuntary gasp of air before crumbling onto the ground. Hobenrûd whirled around, shouting, "Stay out of this!" Marin was still lying prostrate on the ground, and Hobenrûd stood over her, holding his sword with both hands, as if he had not decided if he should cleave her or not. Hobenrûd looked at Marin with surprise, mouth agape and standing still. "What!?" He blinked. "Hoben, I was going to tell you," Marin tried to explain in a pleading voice. "Then why didn't you!?" he yelled again, tears on his eyes. "If you had told me earlier, and of your own volition, I--I would've believed you." "Then believe me now." "You could've told me earlier!" he yelled once more, his voice faltering, while Anita regained her feet, trying to think on something to do. "Yes! I could!" replied Marin. "I could've told you when I saved your life, I could've told you in Pulti, I could've told you in Sumdo and I could've told you in Lukavia! I could've told you, but I didn't!... And there's nothing I can do about that. I'm telling you now, please... Believe me," On her knees, Marin supplicated before him, tears streaking down her cheeks. Hobenrûd stood there looking at Marin a few more seconds, questioning whether or not he really wanted to kill her. After all, she really did seem to be sorry, and she had been such a help on their travels... Then, Hobenrûd dropped the flamberge, which fell to the floor with a clang. He was immersed in deliberation. "I--I can't do this. Gilbert's going to kill me," and let himself fall to the ground his will exhausted. A moment of silence. "Gilbert convinced you to do this?" asked Anita, unbelievingly. "No...well, I'm not sure. He wanted to get a ransom for you. But he...he said that it was probably you that told the Sardinians and...I think he convinced me to do it while pretending not to," Hobenrûd said, with his face in his hands. Anita and Marin both remained speechless, trying to figure out what the distraught Hobenrûd was saying. "But why would he..." "Gilbert has a grudge with your father, and Gilbert takes grudges very seriously. You remember what I told you about that commander in Daor? After everything was over... Gilbert sliced off the commander's head, struck the arrow from his leg into the dead man's eye, and burned the corpse in the fires from one of the villager's houses...Gilbert is not the kind of guy that forgives easily..." "So you're saying that he'll not accept having Marin with us?" "I'm saying he's capable of doing anything to her, as long as it'll hurt the king." "I doubt dad will care much about what happened to me, I betrayed him, you know?" Marin responded. "Gilbert doesn't believe that, and he probably won't," Hobenrûd insisted. "What...what will we do with him?" asked Anita, now that she calmed down. "We can't leave him in Jyptia, so we'll bring him to Ruivoca...then...I don't know, but we should keep an eye on him," he said, then he took his sword again and stood up. He breathed heavily, and knelt, his head bowed and his sword above it, held horizontally. Marin was puzzled. "Princess Marion of Ruivoca... I, Dur Hobenrûd, leader of the Cherry Wood Knights, offer my sword to you in submission and loyalty," he said. Marin stood up in the proud posture she had so carefully practiced during her years in the court, not sure what to do, then she took the sword, touched his shoulder with it and declared, "Dur Hobenrûd, in thankful recognition of services given to me, I declare you Sir Hobenrûd, knight of Ruivoca." They looked out a nearby window. A flock of glumbelies flew across the firmament in a circular formation. Recalling the first days on the adventure, Marin remembered the omen of the strange birds... Hobenrûd nodded, looked up, and smiled. "Don't worry, Princess Marin, I have seen into your soul, and have determined that you deserve the throne, and I will help you get it." Marin gulped down the last of her fears, and nodded appreciatively. "Thanks, Hoben, for your trust in me. I'll not let you down either. Come, get up." She helped the stalwart back to his feet. Yuri was at his left. Hobenrûd nodded, "The dragons will probably be ready by tomorrow, we'll use the flying ones to go to Pulti and prepare the final offensive, while the land ones will have to take the longer route through the sea, in three weeks or less they'll reach us, and we'll proceed to liberate the capital. In less than two months, you should be the queen...and Marin..." She looked at him again. "I ho...I trust that you'll do your best for the people of Ruivoca." She let her gaze fall to the floor, "I hope my best is enough."
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