The silence is deafening. Bosir, Atna and I are all completely quiet. I can’t take it, so I just say what is on top of my head.

“Well, that came out of nowhere”.

Atna lets her mouth loose and stares at me. Bosir takes his hands to his eyes before answering for all.

“It really didn’t, Yos”

What does he mean? As far as I am concerned, I have never engaged in anything particularly romantic regarding Atna.

“By God, you are serious? And here I thought you were just stringing me along for fun” Atna half-mutters and lowers her head “I am reconsidering the whole thing.”

“And besides, even if I went along with the proposal, he would still have dirt on me.”

“It really doesn’t matter. All you had to do was enthusiastically agree…” I think Atna is sulking. Maybe she was hoping for a more fairy-tale like development. Now that I think about it, the fairy tales told to me as a kid really didn’t have the tropes of love and princesses and focus on beauty. It was much more “became a noble and had many wives” for the hero.

“What do you like about me anyway? What did you see in me that made you willing to marry me… And by the sound of it jump into danger all at the same time?”

Bosir looks like I asked something egregious and Atna lowers her head even further before starting speaking.

“Every day, you work so hard. Every day, you push yourself to the limit in the pursuit of bettering yourself. I see that constant look of determination and your stalwartness, never faltering, only taking time off when forced too. I think you are a great man, and will be an even greater man in the future, perhaps even the best. And I… I want you…”

Wow… I have never put much stock in love. I always saw it as a way to derail me from my training and ignored it the best I could, so I could focus on what I regarded as the more important things. But being praised and desired right now, it fills me with a warmth and embarrassment I really like. I wonder. I wonder if it would be so bad to indulge in this.

“Now you” She says.

“Huh?”

“You think I am a great person too right? Important to you, why?”

Well, that’s simple. “You want to be great, maybe even the best. In my book, that alone is a superb character trait. But not only that, you, even if you seemed prideful, decided to help me get better myself, even as you seemed to want to compete with me. It made me feel really comfortable, not only competing with you, but bettering ourselves together…” That was a little embarrassing

“Geez, both of you are beet red, should I leave?” Bosir suggests.

“NO!” Atna shouts. “You still have to be here to do the thing.”

“Have you re-reconsidered?” Bosir laughs heartily, as he always does.

“Yes, Bosir, please introduce me for real”

“Very well. Yos, pay attention. Our little Atna is actually a noble, and not just any noble. Her name is actually Minera of the Oboern family!”

Silence once again.

“Is that an important family or something?” I ask “I had pretty much figured out Atna was a noble.”

Bosir sighs and rubs his eyes with one hand, as if he were a father watching his son fail to answer what you get when you mix blue and yellow.

“Remind me to drill you some politics, sometimes. Great hunters are never outside of politics.” Bosir says. “The Oboern family is the royal family. They have held the power of the throne for the last 400 years.”

“Wah, so Atna is actually a princess?” I am flabbergasted. I had not imagined she would be a royal.

“Yes, I came to this city a little over two years ago, as my mother was fearing for my life… You see, there is a bit of chaos within the family.” Atna confirms and starts to give me some explanation.

“What kind of chaos?” I ask.

“The king is old and nearing death. However, there is a bit of an issue. The rule of succession we have followed since we took the throne has been as follows: The youngest, adult, male, direct descendant of the king with a gift takes the throne.”

“But no such person exists?” I ask, remembering something or other about English monarch confusion a history teacher glossed over in high school.

“Correct. When I left, it seemed there was debate whether, in case the king dies before one such individual presents itself, should they waive the rule about direct descendant, allowing in a slew of possible candidates from branch families, to eliminate the requirement for a gift, which sits badly with many, because having a king without a blessing from God is bad publicity, or should they allow a girl to take the throne, keeping more order and unity in the family?”

I am surprised the latter option is even on the table. This world seems… Incredibly sexist.

“But there are problems with instituting a girl. First, the number of direct descendant a woman can have is severely limited, secondly, a lot of nobles oppose the idea of being subordinate to a woman. Thus, people apparently sought to eliminate the basis for the discussion, before it could take effect, me…”

She chews a little on her past words, and just as I am about to say something, she continues.

“Ever since I heard of it, I wanted to be king. But I also valued my life, so I obediently went into hiding. But, if being king can help you, and you in return will stay by my side forever, I will eagerly pursue it with all my might.”

I need not think much of it. Atna is one of the few people I have gotten along with, this is a clear path towards my goal, and I think I am immortal, so what’s the worst that can happen?

“I agree”