After dinner, we both retired to his rooms. I hoped against hope he had forgotten the bangage, but he had not. After he requested to see it, I gave it with all the willingness of a five-year old who knows that the strange liquid is going to sting or taste bitter. When he saw the stolen ring, he sighed. He remained quiet for many minutes, just staring into space. I finally felt compelled to break the silence.

"Father?"

"Yes, dear?" He sounded very tired, which was strange, for he hadn't stopped talking the entire length of the dinner.

"Are you angry?"

"No, just surprised. I don't suppose you know the story behind that ring, do you?"

A story? "No, I don't." Taking another deep sigh, he began.

"Your mother was very beautiful. No figure to speak of, but very charming and petite. Long hair, white skin. You look much like her, except for the eyes. I met her while she was under a spell. After she woke up, she said she had eaten a bad apple. But she was always very possessive. She seemed to hate with a passion the thought of me even looking at someone else, especially as no one else in the court at that time was nearly as beautiful as her."

"Anyway, she gave birth to you, and we lived happily for some time. I'm guessing you saw the matching necklace and pin in the drawer in your snooping today. They were gifts after you were born. She treasured that ring. Wore it all the time, if I remember correctly. "

"When you were four, she got very ill. Her decline was rapid, and within a few months she was dead. On her deathbed, she made me promise to marry again, but to only marry someone who could wear her ring. A few months later, I began to search for a wife. You needed a mother, and I still needed a legitimate heir. However, no one could wear the ring. It was always too small."

"Until now, no one fit the ring. I still need to marry. And you fit the ring."

"WHAT!" Up till now I had remained silent. I had waited for him to tell his tale, but what he was suggesting was….

"What do you think you are suggesting? That I marry you, my own father, and have a child that will have the most messed up family imaginable? What happened to the kind father who bounced me on his knee and always sheltered me?"

"I'm sorry, but this is the only way I can think of that will allow me to fulfill my beloved's wishes. You are young, and will give a son in time. I am getting old, Anna Maria. Do you think I will live forever?"

"NO, but there must be some other way! You still feel, after all this time, you must honor a dead woman's wishes? It's been over twelve years, Father, and you still feel compelled by a wife's whims?"

"You have her temper, and her looks," he half-mused. He was not rethinking his position. He was going to sacrifice his daughter to her mother's ideals, and not think of her feelings on the matter.

"I WILL NOT DO IT!"

"SILENCE!" OK, he was really angry now. He was a king used to having his way, and had not been refused in a long time. I think he has gone a little crazy for want of a companion. Still, I will NOT be that companion. He went on-

"Girl, you will marry me, or you will be thrown on the streets with only you body to your name. You have until morning to decide." With that, he motioned for me to leave the room. Only too glad, I left.

Back in my own chambers, I wept. The episode with my own father had disgusted and sickened me. I did not want to do it, but I wanted to live as well. If he threw me out as he said, I would have nothing to do but die.

I could escape. But at this point in time, that would be as bad as running away.

I could marry him. But that would kill my soul, as well as my own inner peace. I would hate myself.

I could…no, that wouldn't work either.

Unfortunately, my father happened to be the most powerful king in the entire continent. I could have eloped with some visiting prince, but that would also kill my soul, and he would as like as not make war and win to bring me back.

What I needed was more time. My best option was, in my opinion, was still to run away. But with more time at the palace, I could learn skills that would help me secure some small post in a manor somewhere far from here.

But how to gain time? Father could be impatient, but he was also generous. I knew this from experience. The more difficult the request, the more anxious he was to fulfill it. I would ask for difficult wedding gifts. As a bride, I would require new gowns anyway. I could ask for dresses, as girlish as that sounds. It takes at least a few months to make a gown. It would give me time as the gowns were made. I made my plans, figuring what I would ask for as well as where I could learn how to start a fire and mend a ripped bodice.