At first Adelaide couldn't decide what to say. Eustace motioned for her to sit and started for her.
"Does your father know you're here?"
"Well... no, not exactly," she confessed. "But some of his advisors do."
"'Some' meaning...?"
"One." Eustace leaned back and waited for the rest. "My father's on his deathbed. He could care less what's happening in the world, and Karl is dying for an excuse to go to war – "
"Who's Karl?"
"My brother. So you see, I had to come. It was the only chance for a peaceful resolution. If my father dies and Karl becomes the next duke – "
"So you made the proposals up yourself and took your father's ship."
"I had to!"
"And gave Rilian terms for peace which the Duke has never seen!" he couldn't believe it. Adelaide knew she had lost and avoided his eyes. "You have to tell the king."
"No – no, please. Please, it's the only way to have peace."
"By negotiating with you?"
"It has to be me! My father is deathly ill and there's no reasoning with my brother. The deception's unfortunate, but entirely necessary." Eustace looked her in the eye.
"If you don't tell him, I will." Adelaide said nothing but looked down at the ground. Eustace calmed down a little. "You do realize that without the permission of the Duke, you have no legal say." She nodded. "How much did you really hope to accomplish without it?"
"I... just thought I could do something. I know what the Islanders want – Dad doesn't and Karl couldn't care less. If the king would just agree to the terms, I know they're not official, but you must believe that they are all that the islanders want!"
"And who are you to determine that?"
"I'm the only member of the duke's family that has any contact with them – except for Karl who goes to them only to spread lies about how Narnia is plotting against us. He wants a revolution."
"Adelaide," Eustace sighed, "none of this makes any sense. Why would your brother want a revolution?"
"I don't know. He's always been like that – power hungry and eager to prove how big and tough he is. So he's picking on our rulers who have done nothing to us – just have some old-fashioned laws. It's not right."
"Then why not go to the king with the truth in the first place?"
"Because he wouldn't listen to me. As you say, without my father's blessing I have no political power."
"Alright," Eustace stood up. "I'll try and speak to Rilian about it. Till then, is it enough that I ask you to stop lying?" she looked up guiltily.
"I didn't want to, you know."
"I don't care. Just stop. That's not how diplomacy works in this place, remember? That's what happened to Gumpas!" Eustace laughed at the memory and Adelaide smiled.
"I won't say anything more about the proposals until you've spoken to the king," she promised.
"Thank you." He kissed her hand, and took his leave. As he walked back to his rooms he smiled at how the Narnian air had once again brought back some of his more courtly manners. If he'd tried kissing any girl's hand at school he'd have been thrown into the river. Something about this land that has always seemed more graceful – he knew he had missed it.
TBC