The night's celebrations had ended, but there were still pockets of people awake in the early hours of the morning. Four young men, striking in their own ways, sank into the comfort of the heated rock pool and each other's company. The blond one, a foreigner, had brought with him a magnificent stallion who he had obscurely befriended. The horse stood at the water's edge, head lowered and lapping the water inconspicuously. At least it was not partaking in the liquor. The bottle floated on a tray between the men. Each one had a glass at various stages of empty.

The marquis was the one to break the most recent stretch of comfortable silence. "Suppose they copulate tonight-"

"They're not copulating," Orion interrupted.

"Ok, but let's just suppose they are," Chom drawled.

Emron splashed water at him, but he was not deterred.

"And then suppose that she falls pregnant-"

"Shut up, Chom," Romlan growled. The only thing that made him stopped short of covering his ears and singing 'la lal la' to block out the sounds was that he was the prince's captain. He took a deep drink from his glass.

"Do you think she would consent to marriage then?" the marquis finally finished his train of thought.

The time that the group took to ponder the question was drawn out by some of the men's unwillingness to even hear the question.

It was Orion who answered first. "She would have to. My mother would disown her otherwise."

"I think Sasha's beyond that," Emron said. "She fought a duel just to protest a betrothal. It's not that far removed to consider that she might simply renounce the Suters if they forced her to marry."

Chom looked at Orion expectantly, but the brother of the woman in question shook his head. "I try not to think about it too much. I just focus my efforts on cleaning up the mess."

"And suppose she were to give birth to a child out of wedlock with the prince, who has claim? Fin or Aeryoine?" Chom asked.

"Enough! I refuse to fall ill with this nonsense in my down time!" Romlan topped up his glass with more amber liquid and proceeded to serve the others.

"Perhaps you'd rather Squalt Chomondeley in the corner," Emron said with a straight face as Romlan filled his glass.

The marquis was the first to let out a startled laugh, followed by a shocked guffaw from Romlan. Orion shot Emron a stern look.

Do not insult foreign nobility, he seemed to think at Emron very loudly.

"Why all the supposing?" Emron asked. "Why not just let nature take its course?"

Chom paused, weighing up how much he should tell the foreigners. In the end, he decided that this was common knowledge anyway.

"The Queen is the most respected person in all of Fin. But she often has to make the difficult decisions, which means that she's not always the most beloved. The prince, on the other hand, inspires a different sort of loyalty. The Queen might be at the head, but it's the Prince at the kingdom's heart."

The four sank into another bout of silence as they all considered the implications of this.

Emron raised his glass, "To the heart of Fin."

The others joined him in the toast.

"And to no copulation," Orion added.

Characters' Notes (as author has exited the story at this point)

Emron: *excitedly* So... wanna make some stuff up?

Mortimer: I'm not sure I want a third installment. I'm pretty happy with this ending.

Emron: Of course you are, but I haven't had my day in the sun.

Sasha: And I haven't had a tournament!

Orion: I need to make things right before word gets to mother.

Tessa: I want to get back to my own story, fighting Chaos Lords and saving the world.

Squalt: The civilized thing would be to take a vote. All in favor, raise your hands.

*Emron, Orion, Sasha raise hands*

Charisse: Oooh, me too! I was unfairly portrayed as the villain of this story. I would like to rectify that, please.

Squalt: Sorry, lady, I don't think we can count your vote. All opposed?

*Mortimer, Tessa, Squalt raise hands*

*eyes turn to Romlan and Stephanie*

Romlan: I'm all for it... if... uh... Emron and I get a chance to interact more.

Stephanie: I'm against it if it gives Charisse any more screen time.

To be continued?