Crusade

was merely a dream. 'I–I haven't had time to be angry, Allie.' He choked back a tear and dropped his eyes. 'Your mother and I… we hoped you weren't…'

'Dead?' The princess laughed and moved to the table. 'Hardly. I've been in some tight spots in the last four years, but never that close to the realm of Lord Cyric. The God of Death will have to wait awhile for me.'

By now, sufficient time had passed for Vangerdahast to recover from the shock of seeing Alusair, too. 'You ungrateful little snipe! I ought to blast you into pieces for the worry you've caused your family!' The wizard curled his hands into tight fists and practically shook with rage.

Alusair moved farther into the tent and sighed. 'I've missed you, too, Vangy.' The wizard scowled and looked away. A shadow of anger crossed the princess's features, but she quickly brought up another subject.

'How is Mother? And Tanalasta?' Alusair filled a mug with strong dwarven ale and set it down.

Azoun returned to his place at the long, low table. 'Your mother and sister are both fine. Worried about you, of course.' He rubbed his eyes and gestured to the camp outside. 'What are you doing here?'

With a slight groan, Alusair opened the clasps on her brassards, the armor on her arms. 'I've been helping King Torg defend his land against some ambitious orcs and goblins from the north.' She slipped the heavy plate off her arms and let it fall to the pavilion's grass floor.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Azoun looked to Vangerdahast for direction. The wizard had turned to face the conversation again, but his features were clouded with anger. 'So how did you elude my wizards for all this time?' the king asked at last.

Alusair undid the straps of the cuirass that protected her chest. 'It really wasn't that difficult,' she said, glancing at Vangerdahast. 'No offense to Vangy, but this was all I needed.'

The princess dropped the cuirass beside the brassards, then held up her left hand. A bright gold band hugged her ring finger. 'I bought it from a mage in Ravens Bluff. A spell on the ring makes it impossible for someone to detect my whereabouts through magical means.'

'I knew it had to be something foolish like that,' Vangerdahast grumbled.

The king looked closely at Alusair's hands as she adjusted the padded doublet she wore under her armor. They were grimy with sweat and hardened from years of gripping a sword, but that was not what Azoun noticed. 'Where is your signet ring?' the king demanded.

Her smile fled completely, and Alusair sat down at the low dwarven table. She moved stiffly, not surprising since she'd not removed the brichette from her hips or the cuisses from her legs. 'I threw it away, dropped it into the sea.'

'Why?' Azoun snapped as he stood. 'That ring could have saved your life. It identified you as a princess of House Obarskyr.'

'Which is exactly why I had to get rid of it. I didn't want a bounty hunter to capture me and try to ransom me back to Cormyr.' The princess took a long, slow swallow of ale.

'So you tossed your heritage into the sea?' In the quiet minute that followed the rebuke, Azoun slumped into his chair. 'Make me understand, Allie. Why?'

'I told you, I didn't want someone to blackmail the family. I don't think you realize how much danger you put me in by offering a reward for my return.'

Azoun shook his head and waved his hand angrily. 'No, no. Why did you run away in the first place?'

After another sip of the ale, Alusair leaned forward, her head resting on her hand. 'The note I left should have explained everything, Father. I just couldn't stand it at court any longer. You and Mother were always tied up with some petty political problem, Tanalasta spent more time worrying about fashion than the state of the country.' She took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers. 'I don't want to go over all of this again.'

'Then why are you here?' Vangerdahast interjected from the other side of the tent. His face was hidden in the shadows, but Alusair could imagine the look of puzzlement it held.

Her eyes still closed, the princess sighed. 'I thought it might be time to forget the past.' She turned to her father, her mask of cocky self-assurance cracking for the first time. 'I thought you would finally accept me for what I am, not what you want me to be.'

Vangerdahast walked to Azoun's side. 'I'll explore the camp for a while,' he said softly in the king's ear.

Once Vangerdahast had gone, Azoun waited for Alusair to say something. After a few moments of continued silence, he gave up. 'You threw away your heritage, Allie.' The king paused, trying to push the anger from his voice. The more he thought about his daughter, however, the angrier he became. 'And for what did you give it up?' the king snapped after a moment. 'To become a sell-sword? A freebooter? You could have ruled Cormyr one day!'

Alusair laughed bitterly. 'Tanalasta is older, remember? She'll be queen, alongside whomever you and Mother decide will make a suitable king. Even if I could rule,' she added, turning away from the king, 'I wouldn't want to.'

'You've no respect for responsibility,' Azoun replied. 'That's your biggest problem. You're a princess. But do you use the gifts with which the Goddess of Luck has blessed you? Of course not.' He pointed an accusing finger at Alusair. 'You waste your life roaming the countryside.'

The princess stood, her back still to Azoun. 'This was a mistake,' she said, a measure of hardness returning to her voice. 'You're just not ready.'

Hearing the pain in his child's voice did more to wipe away Azoun's fury than anything he could have done himself. 'I can't help but be angry, Allie,' he said. 'I just don't see why you couldn't live at court. Was life so terrible that you had to run?'

When the princess turned around again, bright tears sparkled in her eyes. The light from the lanterns made each drop look like a diamond as it rolled down Alusair's cheek. 'I am not a politician, Father. I don't belong in the court.' She wiped her eyes with her doublet's sleeve. 'You used to tell me stories about the King's Men, how you used to sneak out and go on adventures. What I did isn't all that different.'

'Of course it's different,' Azoun said almost automatically. 'I was never gone for long, and I always returned.'

Alusair started to say something, then paused and shook her head.

'What is it, Allie?' the king asked, holding his hand out to his daughter. 'You can be honest.'

Looking into her father's eyes, Alusair wondered if she really should speak her mind or let the subject drop. No, she decided, things will never be resolved if I avoid this conflict. 'You must regret it,' she said softly.

A look of confusion crossed the king's face. 'Regret what?'

Alusair swallowed the last of her tears and sat down across from Azoun. 'Coming back. You must regret ever coming back from your adventures with Dimswart and Winefiddle and the others.'

'I had responsibilities, Allie. I couldn't-'

'No, Father. Not couldn't, didn't.' She squeezed the king's hand. 'Even when I was a little girl, I heard it in your voice when you told me about the King's Men.'

'Perhaps I regret it a little,' the king conceded. He gently pulled his hand away from Alusair and steepled his fingers before his face. 'But I had a responsibility to Cormyr-as you do-and I fulfilled it. Anyway,' he added, smiling a little, 'I never could have had a family or done what good I've managed for Cormyr gallivanting around the countryside as Balin the Cavalier.'

'And you wouldn't have been forced to do so many petty wrongs either,' the princess noted firmly. 'You can't worry about each individual in Cormyr, only the state as a whole. So when you tax, you can't consider the minority it really hurts. You take away freedom in deference to law. That's wrong.'

Azoun frowned as he considered his daughter's words. 'What's the alternative? I do good for the most people by creating and upholding the country's laws.'

The princess reached behind her, picked up the cuirass she had dropped onto the ground, and placed it on the table between her and her father. 'With a good suit of armor,' Alusair began, running her finger along the fantastically carved metal, 'and a sharp sword, I can right as many wrongs as I can find between sunup and sundown.'

'That's all fine, Allie, but you can't make any significant change as an adventurer. I tried, remember? That's what the King's Men was all about.'

Alusair stared at the light reflecting on the armor before her. 'I guess I just don't want the responsibility for anyone else. I only kill myself if I try to rescue someone from an ogre or if I decide to take a side in a war.' She