AN: Alright, I'm going to be honest. I had no idea that it had been four months (almost) since I've last posted. It was my last semester and I was uncommonly overwhelmed and anxious about everything so I wrote very little. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this story rather soon, and get it out to you in a more timely fashion. Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing and messaging me on Tumblr, even if I don't always reply to you, I love your kind words and they make me smile.

This chapter was tricky to put together, so let me know what you think if you can spare a moment. It's all building up now and that's the part of the story I always get clumsy with. Juggling all the different subplots and weaving it all together, so if you think I'm forgetting about something, just let me know please so I can fix it before it's too late. Much appreciation

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."

― Harvey Fierstein

Chapter Twenty-Five: And the Truth Comes Out

Bella had taken to her new role rather quickly. She was still in pain, still grieving for Charles, for the loss of her brother James as well even if he wasn't dead. She knew that he would never forgive her for what she had done, and she had to come to terms with that.

But she simply couldn't find time to dwell on it. She had so many other things to do as of late. She was building an army, getting trained to use her magic by the Dark Lord, and generally just bossing people around. It was fantastic. The Dark Lord have even found her a dragon. He called in a Cornish Fireball, but she called it beautiful. It was sleek with black scales that glowed red when it breathed fire.

He had actually been giving her all kinds of gifts, and she appreciated the attention. There were little elves that did everything for her and punished themselves when they did something wrong, there was a breast plate forged by goblins in the mountains, and he'd even promised to find her a wand. There were other gifts as well, clothing and shoes and jewelry, but Bella didn't have much interest in those, not when the other gifts were so much more fantastic.

She walked down to the Great Hall of the castle they were hiding out in, barefoot and wearing a simple gown. She had her hair down and it hadn't been brushed in a few days, and she felt excellent. As she walked into the room, she had a flame dancing over her fingertips, fire being one of her more accomplished new skills.

"Bella, there you are." Rodophus called out, walking up to her and smiling. She was finding that he was much more appealing in this new environment; here when she wasn't being forced to marry him.

She was finding most things to be much more agreeable than before, and she had Voldemort to thank for that. Now that she didn't feel the need to hide anymore, now that she had no reason to hold back her magic or refrain from doing whatever she wanted, life was just so much simpler.

"Hello, Rod." She said with a playful smile. "What can I do for you today?" She asked, placing her hand on his arm as she brought her other hand, along with her dancing flame, closer to him as well. He eyed the fire wearily and gave her a look, but for some reason he trusted that she wouldn't burn him so he started talking anyway.

"The Dark Lord wanted me to let you know that your sister should be arriving shortly."

"Narcissa?" She asked, narrowing her brow. She hadn't talked to her in a while, but the last time she'd seen her in person, she'd told her that killing King Charles wasn't such a good idea. She felt a small pang of discomfort at the thought of the late king, still not used to thinking of him dead, nor liking the fact that it had been at her hand. Though she understood now that Voldemort was only trying to show her what she was capable of, show her what her magic was capable of. She knew that King Charles was an obstacle that needed to be cut down, but that didn't mean that she liked that she had to be the one to do it. "When will she be here?" She asked, her flame going out and she gripped his arm a bit tighter.

"She'll be here in the morning. I believe he was trying to surprise you." He said, looking perplexed at the notion. "You've definitely intrigued him."

"Of course I have," Bella snapped, pulling her arm away and running a hand through her hair. "You don't think Cissy will be upset with me, do you?"

"Why would she be upset?" He asked.

"Because I did what she told me not to-"

"You followed orders, Bella. And your sister knows that. She also knows that she has no right to tell you what you can and can-"

"She's my sister." Bella interrupted him. "She's the only true family that I have left."

"What about-"

"Don't mention her name to me." She said, her brow narrowing. She'd heard that her oldest sister was in Camelot, that she was actually staying in the castle with James and it made her sick to her stomach. She hadn't come to visit the castle once when Bella had lived there, so afraid of the king she was, but the second he was dead, she up and moved her family to the capital city. It felt like a knife to the back. Hadn't she cared that Bella had been trapped there? Forced to hide her magic and play daughter to the man that had killed their parents? She hadn't even had the decency to write her a proper letter.

"Of course," Rod sighed. "Well Narcissa is coming, and her husband will be coming with her. "

"I never cared for him." Bella made a face, which Rodolphus mirrored.

"Yes, he's an interesting character." He agreed. "Though not the interesting I'd want to be left alone with." Bella actually laughed at that, which seemed to surprise Rodolphus more than anything and he ended up smiling at her. "Stop that." She said, furrowing her brow. "You made one funny comment out of a million boring ones, I wouldn't get used to it." He sighed and took a step away from her.

"Fine. I'll see you when she arrives then." He said as he started to walk away.

Bella shook her head and spun on her heel, bringing her hand up so she could make a small flame again. Yes, things were going quite nicely for her here and now that her sister was coming, things were going to be even better.

One thing that she'd been quite oblivious too, and not on accident either, was the growing population in the area surrounding the castle. She'd hardly been outside of the castle at all due to all the gifts that Voldemort had been giving her.

So she didn't see the men living in tents, or the strange creatures that were inhumanly large living in the mountains. She hadn't noticed the dragons being chained up in the dungeons or the goblins forging swords and armor. She'd been too busy playing with her magic, too busy with her new toys, and testing out her magic, and believing that she was manipulating the situation with her and the Dark Lord. She thought that she had him in her pocket, when in reality, he was doing his best to keep her in the dark until the right moment. He knew that she was a difficult, strong willed woman and that if he told her what his plan was before she was ready to hear it, there was a chance that she would do something stupid, something that she was regret very much. And he didn't want to see her do that to herself.

Belle turned around and went back to her room, humming quietly to herself as she went through all her new gowns in her head, trying to decide which one she would wear for her sister's arrival.

oOoOo

The next day of the tourney turned out to be the most emotional and intense day for almost everyone. Though when James woke up that morning and decided that the first thing he wanted to do was go and see Lily, he had no way of knowing that. He had no way of knowing how today's events would shape the future. So, he felt pretty good as he started walking towards Lily's house.

His feet took him down a very familiar path, one that he had taken maybe a hundred times in the last few months, but he still wasn't sure if he was pushing his luck or not until Lily's bright red hair caught his eye. It was when he saw her that all of the doubts that he'd spent the night mulling over just vanished and he felt as though they were still on the roof, just the two of them looking out at the city and up at the stars. They had talked for hours as though they'd been spending all their time alone in each other's presence. He knew that he should probably be giving her some space after what she'd said last night about her needed to make a decision for herself. The odds of her having decided what she wanted to do between now and when he'd last seen her were very slim, but he couldn't help it. He felt as though he needed to see her, and so here he was.

Lily saw him coming, before he said anything, and waved cheerfully at him. "Hullo, James." She was smiling like she had last night, with little restraint and it made his stomach flip and his heart rate pick up considerably. She was hanging up laundry on a line connected from the corner of her house to the corner of her neighbor's house. She stopped what she was doing and turned around, grabbing a book off the windowsill. "I've gotten through the whole first chapter. There's a few words that I skipped over, because I don't know them. But I think I'm getting much better."

James tried to smile at her. He tried to plant his feet a reasonable distance away and smile like he should, but his feet were following a plan that they hadn't let his brain in on, so his feet didn't stop at a reasonable distance. They didn't stop at an unreasonable distance either. In fact, they didn't stop until James' feet and Lily's feet were damn near on top of one another. So much for not pushing his luck.

When Lily didn't immediately back away, James slowly started to wrap his arms around her middle and pull her closer to him, his right hand finding the small of her back and his left lightly trailing up her arm.

Lily's lips parted slightly and her breathing became shallow. James ran a thumb along her cheek and finally looked her in the eye. There was one thing he'd wanted to do last night, but hadn't found the courage to do it.

"Did you mark the words you didn't know?" He asked, his tone completely normal, if not quiet, as though he had stopped at a reasonable distance. He didn't know how he was managing that.

Lily blinked up at him and swallowed hard. "I folded down the corner of the pages that they were on." She said, her voice quiet and thick. He wondered if she could hear his heart pounding around in his chest.

"We'll go over them later." James said, leaning down slightly, so his forehead was resting on hers.

"You can come over for dinner if you'd like." Lily whispered. James relished in the feeling of her hot breath washing over his face and had to bit the tip of his tongue to keep from sighing. "We can go over them after we eat."

"That sounds perfect." James said, now whispering himself. His hand slowly moved from her cheek to the base of her neck and he leaned in further, angling his head as he went. Lily's hands had been at her sides up until this point, holding onto the book that he had leant her. He heard a thump and saw Lily close her eyes before he felt her slide her hands up over his chest and wrap her arms around his neck.

James closed his eyes and leaned forward. When their lips finally met, he could feel the kiss all the way in his toes. He moved slowly at first, continuing with the pace he had first set, but when she ran a hand through his hair and sighed against his lips, he almost lost himself completely.

He started walking her backwards, past the clotheslines, until he had her backed up against the wall of her house. His arms stayed wrapped around her and his lips moved with hers hungrily; and maybe this was too much for a first kiss but it felt like he'd been waiting for it forever and now that it was finally happening, he couldn't stop himself from being a bit overexcited, a bit overzealous. He tried to take everything in, the taste of her tongue, the feel of her lips, the curve of her waist, but kissing her was overwhelming. He could feel his heart pounding, and his face was flushed. He couldn't focus on anything specific, he just let the kiss envelope him.

When he finally ran out of breath, he pulled back only slightly and settled for resting his forehead against hers again.

For a long while neither of them said a word, they just stood there with their heads together. Lily's hands were still lost in James' hair and James was afraid that if he let go of Lily, then she might vanish all together. That he would wake up in his bed and this would have all just been some wonderful dream.

He couldn't think straight; his mind was clouded over and he started speaking before he knew what he was going to say. "Marry me." He whispered fervently, his voice ragged. His heart seemed to stop for a moment when he heard himself, but he had no doubt in his mind that that's what he wanted. He knew he wanted to marry her for over a year now and so he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Lily opened her eyes and stopped breathing all in less than a second, but James just looked back at her resolutely.

"I told you once, almost a year ago, that I was falling in love with you and that was long before I had gotten to know you Lily. I love you, and I want to marry you."

Her hands fell from his hair and would have found her sides again if his arms hadn't still been wrapped around her middle. The dazed look that had adorn her face had turned hard and her lips were now pressed in a thin line.

"I know that things won't be easy, especially not at first but-"

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" She interrupted him, trying to lean away from him, but the wall was getting in her way. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. "What do you think you're doing?!" She shouted again.

James stumbled back, more shocked than he should have been. "I'm being honest with you! I don't want to-"

"No! No, you don't get to- This isn't fair of you! You can't just come down here, kiss me and then tell me to marry you."

"I wasn't telling you to do anything!" James said quickly, ran a hand through his hair and took a step towards her. She slunk to the side and walked back toward the street. "I was asking you-" She spun back around.

"No! You weren't asking me, you said, 'Marry me,'"

"Lily, will you marry me?"

"No!" Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed, and not just because she and James had been snogging only a minute before. She was angry and James didn't understand why, because he was still mostly ecstatic about the whole snogging part.

"Why not?" He said, sounding dangerously close to petulant.

"Because that's not how things work! Last week you had no desire to marry me, but then this week, some king comes to town and tries to sell you his daughter-"

"I've wanted to marry you since last year, Lily." James interrupted her this time, taking a few steps towards her and catching her hand in his. "You know damn well my feelings for you are not motivated by some king trying to pawn off his daughter."

"Well, your timing is impeccable." She tried to yank her hand away, but James held onto it tightly, desperately.

"I love you." He repeated. Lily huffed and covered her eyes with her free hand.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do." He took a step closer and when she stayed where she was, he wrapped his other hand around her middle and pulled her up against him again. "I love you, I want to marry you."

Lily took a deep, shaky breath and then sighed. She started shaking her head. "No." She said, stepping out of his reach again and through the clothes that were on the line so she was back on the street. "No, you need to go. You need to get to the tournament and you need to- you need to-" She floundered for a moment as he walked out onto the street with her, looking rather dejected. "You need to go." She settled on. James couldn't help how he was feeling just then. As though his guts were twisting up inside of him. He shouldn't have done anything of that, he shouldn't have kissed her, he shouldn't have asked her to marry him.

And if he wasn't so bull-headed and if she wasn't so flustered, they might have been able to better explain themselves. But he took her dismissal as rejection and she had no clue where this sudden declaration had come from.

He looked at her for a moment, hoping that she'd change her mind or trying to think of something else to say, even he wasn't sure. But she just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and after a moment he nodded sharply and turned back toward the castle. After all, he had a busy day and he couldn't waste any more time where he clearly wasn't wanted.

oOoOo

Marlene paced back and forth in her tent. She had her helmet firmly in place, and there were about half a dozen squires running in and out of the tent doing whatever it was they were supposed to be doing but Marlene couldn't be bothered by them, she had just won the jousting tournament and placed quite well in both sword fighting and archery. She was quite sure that most of the squires coming in were just trying to get a glimpse of her. News of the Masked-Knight was in high demand and she had to be extra careful to keep her helmet in place with all of these extra spectators around trying to see what kind of deformity she was hiding.

And then there was the matter of her family. She still hadn't seen them and she was running out of time to make a decision about how she wanted to handle all of this. She desperately wanted to see her mother at the very least, but she didn't know how her mother would react, what she would end up telling her father, or how she would even get her mother alone when she was constantly with the rest of her family. And it wasn't as though she didn't miss her siblings as well. They had been her best friends when she was younger and she'd gone so long without seeing them. She didn't regret leaving, but she did wish that there had been a way for her to keep in contact with them. A way for her father to understand that she needed to be free, that she wasn't made to be a princess or to be married to some prince.

She sighed and clenched her hands into fists, her leather gloves tightening uncomfortably around her knuckles.

"Alright, Lance?" Sirius Black said by way of greeting as he walked into the tent. Marlene looked up and watched as he walked over to the small table in the corner of her tent and poured himself a glass of mead. "There are too many people here." He'd bested her in the sword fight, not that she was surprised of course, but it was the first time that the two of them had actually gone up against one another and the challenge of it had been exhilarating. It had even made her forget that her family was watching for a time.

"Far too many." She agreed.

"You think you'll ever take your helm off around me and the other knights?" He asked, because it was always one of the first things he asked when he talked to Lance.

"I'm not sure," She said, though she was becoming more and more sure that she would reveal herself to them. "I want you to train with me though. You're good, and I can learn from you."

Sirius grinned at her, "Why are you always so humble?" He chuckled and took a long drink. "You just bested most of the men out there, brag a little."

"I did just best most of the men out there, but they aren't in my tent."

"I suppose that's true. I'm really rather good aren't I?"

"And you brag enough for the both of us."

"I could start bragging for you if you want," He shrugged. "Because you're really rather good as well. I just happen to be better. Slightly." He winked and Marlene shook her head. "So what's James told you about this table of his?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

"The table? He didn't tell me any more than what he said in his address last week. He's looking for men of strong character and unbreakable faith in the common good to sit at the table and serve the people."

"He's going to ask you to join him." Sirius said to which Marlene snorted. "To take a seat at the table- why is that funny?"

"Why would he ask me?" She deadpanned.

"Why wouldn't he? You're one of the most kind and fair people we know. Also the fact that you laughed at the thought of being nominated kind of proves you should be there."

"I'm lying to everyone…" She snapped. "I can't stand for those values and continue to lie-"

"This is why I'm telling you ahead of time, so you can shout at me in private and not shout at anyone while James is talking to you."

"There are so many other noble knights that he could ask- You! Why doesn't he ask you?"

"I'm sure he will even though I told him not to. But there are twelve seats at the table, Lance. He's not asking you to govern the kingdom by yourself." He took another drink and then set his mug down and started walking towards the exit. "But try and act surprised when he makes the announcement, I wasn't supposed to tell you this. Not that we'll be able to see you face so I suppose you can react however you want." He chuckled.

"What does Remus think of this?"

"Remus?" Sirius turned back towards him and shrugged. "We're all rooting for you." And then he disappeared behind the tent flap and Marlene was left to panic alone. Soon however, more squires were rushing in and out, fixing the mess that Sirius had just made, and re-shinning her armor and congratulating her on her victory, but she couldn't even be proud of herself anymore.

"Lancelot, please follow me." Another squire came in, though Marlene recognized him as one of James' men. His name was Benjy and Lance had seen him around the training fields a great number of times, but she'd never seen him look so proud before and it made her stomach churn. "The king has a great honor to bestow upon you."

"Now?" She asked, her voice jumping an octave and sounding far to feminine. Benjy didn't seem to notice however and Marlene made herself take a deep breath.

The next few moments were a blur, as she was led back out to the middle of the arena. She climbed up a few steps to stand on the victor's stage, but when she looked around, she found that she was the only one standing there. The crowd was going crazy, chanting her name and she felt her eyes start to sting. She searched the crowd for Mary and Dory, she needed to see them. What she really needed was both of them up on stage with her.

Instead she saw King James step out onto his balcony and raise his hands to quiet the crowd. "Yes," He said, smiling widely at the crowd. "Yes, this is a very exciting time. The tournaments are winding down, we have many new champions to honor," Marlene was going to be sick. "And Lance here is one of our favorites!" The crowds cheering was almost deafening but she kept her eyes on James. She watched as he turned around and smiled at whoever was in his box. She would bet money that Sirius had made his way back there by now, that Lily and Remus were seated nearby as well.

"I am especially proud of Lancelot's accomplishments," James said, putting his hand up again. "He has shown time and time again that he will stand up and defend those who cannot defend themselves. He's shown that he is an honorable man, who believes in justice and fairness and doing what is right even when it's not always the easy things to do." She felt a tear slide down her cheek and cursed herself. She shouldn't be here right now, she shouldn't have competed in this bloody tournament. The minutes she heard her parents were coming to the castle, she should have asked for some time off and went and hid in the woods, then none of this would be happening.

"I spoke earlier last week of the round table," He said the phrase with such conviction that it didn't sound humorous anymore, even now the thought of this table and what it stood for made Marlene feel hopeful. "I told you all that I would be using this tournament to be looking for people from my great kingdom, to work with me to make us even stronger, to work towards closing the lines of division that still hold us back," The cheering was growing again. James was getting much better at giving speeches, but Marlene had now started to tremble. What was she going to do? James continued to speak and the crowd continued to cheer and Marlene found herself looking for the exits, counting how many people would try and stop her if she were to run.

"So here I am," James drew her attention back to him, standing up in his balcony looking straight at her. "Asking you, Lancelot, to be the first of twelve men to join me at my table. To join me in working to look after the people of this kingdom. I am asking you to swear your loyalty and your sword, to become a knight of the round table." There was a slight hush over the crowd now, they were holding back their cheering so they could hear Marlene's response.

She cleared her throat and looked around nervously. She was very grateful to Sirius for having warned her earlier, otherwise she would have been completely blindsided instead of only partially blindsided. She couldn't accept, all of her morals and values, all of the things that he wanted her to be, that she wanted to be, prevented her from kneeling before her king and swearing to him her sword. She had already deceived him once when she first became a knight, but it had been different then, he hadn't been king, he hadn't been her friend.

She cleared her throat again. "Your majesty," She called out, her voice trembling. "I've fought many a foe before this day, and yet I've never felt as nervous as I do right now." The crowd chuckled and she took the moment of reprieve to find her father's face. It was easy to spot, as her family had their own box as well. She saw her mother seated beside her sister. Her brothers were standing off to the side, paying attention only partially, and having a conversation of their own. "I am humbled and honored by your request- simply that you think I'm good enough to start this quest with you means the world to me, but I have to-" She cleared her throat again and made sure she was speaking loudly enough so that everyone would hear her and she wouldn't have to repeat herself. "I have to reject the offer." She said.

The crowd was confused, James was confused.

James' smile was forced, she could tell even from this distance. Sirius walked up beside him and gave her a look but it didn't matter, she couldn't accept his offer. "Lance," James said. "You mean a great deal to the people of Camelot, judging by their applause I would say that they are willing to put their faith in you, to trust that you would be willing to make hard decisions while keeping their best interest at heart." The crowd cheered again. He went on, singing her praise and getting the crowd to cheer for her and she felt worse and worse. She looked over to her family again, her father was quite interested now that she was causing a scene. She was making a mockery of James' first order as king and this would not go over well for him- or her.

She needed to tell the truth.

James continued to go on and Marlene, without much warning or build up – because she wouldn't have been able to do it then – reached up both arms and lifted her helmet off her head. Her long blonde hair came falling out of her helmet and she looked at the ground and James and the crowd got quiet. "I've lied to you all," She said, speaking for the first time as herself and not the character she'd been playing. Her voice was steady, despite her feeling as though rocks were tumbling around in her stomach. "I've broken the law by becoming a knight, and I refuse to let this charade ruin your plan to bring our Kingdom together and make us stronger." She chanced a peek over at her father and wished she hadn't, because it was clear that her entire family had recognized her. Her mother looked as though she wanted to call out to her, but she wouldn't. Finding out that Lance was a woman was enough of a shock without adding that he was also a former princess from another kingdom as well.

The crowd was murmuring, James was at a loss for words, Sirius looked gob smacked and then she saw Remus rush up to James' side and whisper something into his ear. James nodded and then shook his head.

Everyone just seemed confused. She had been expecting to get arrested when the news finally came out, but no one seemed to be itching to get her thrown in a cell. At least not yet.

"That marks the end of the Tourney for today," James called out. "Lance- er, madam, please meet me in the Throne Room." He disappeared into his box and Marlene felt as though she had been dowsed in cold water. Everyone was still muttering, still not sure what to think, and she slowly stepped down from the champions stage and made her way to the castle, keeping off the main roads to try and avoid the crowds, but because of this damned Tourney, there were crowds everywhere, and they seemed to part as she walked by.

oOoOo

"Why didn't you tell me?" James shouted at Sirius and Remus when they were back in the castle.

"It wasn't my secret to tell," Remus sighed, rubbing his hands. "If I thought she might reveal herself like that I would have told you so that you could talk to her in private first, but I- I didn't know-"

"I didn't know she was a woman!" Sirius shouted. "But I knew that he- she wasn't going to feel like he- she deserved it." He looked frustrated and shook his head. "Bloody hell."

"Yes, okay, but I didn't think that she'd stand in front of the entire kingdom and- and tell the truth!"

"I think it's pretty neat." Lily said, walking up and almost completely calm, a stark contrast from that morning. "I mean, it's a stupid rule that a woman can't be a knight."

"She's not just a woman, Lily." Remus said, stretching at the back of his neck.

"I knew you liked her," Lily said, grinning at him.

"No, I don't- She's Princess Marlene McKinnon."

"That she is," King Johnathan boomed, walking into the Throne Room behind them. James didn't even have a chance to be dumbfounded and his three companions were already stepping to the side of the room and bowing to the royal family that followed after their patriarch. "Did you know she was here? Did you listen to me lament over my lost child and-"

"He didn't know." Marlene was last to enter the room. "No one knew because I didn't tell anyone." She said, pursing her lips. Her helmet was tucked under one of her arms and her hair was all pushed over to one side. She was filthy, as one tended to be after winning a jousting tournament, but James definitely recognized her from the little girl he had known as a child. "When I wasn't being Lance, I didn't let James see me. I knew that he was the only one in this entire kingdom that could recognize me. At least, that was true until you all came to town." She kicked her toe at the ground, her sheathed sword bouncing off her leg.

"Marlene," Her mum breathed, walking up and cupping her cheek. "I've missed you so much, my heart." She kissed her cheeks. Her brothers and Charlotte walked over to greet her as well, but King Johnathan stayed where he was, looking at his daughter as though she were some kind of imposter.

James felt as though he were intruding. He turned to the others and nodded towards the door. Sirius didn't see him, but Lily grabbed him by the arm and started walking away. James excused himself, and followed after them.

When they were all out in the corridor James took a deep and shaky breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. "What the bloody hell is going on here?"

"I like it," Lily said.

"That's her, James. The girl I was telling you about the other day." Sirius said.

"You can't sleep with Marlene," Remus hissed. "She's a princess."

"Not anymore," James laughed humorlessly. "She's been pretending to be a man for- for at least the last two years. Her family is not going to claim her, let alone let her take her thrown back."

"This is barmy." Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Absolutely mad." James agreed. "She was my first appointment." He said. "What are people going to think now? Not only did she turn me down, but then she's a- she's a she." He leaned against the wall and shook his head.

"Are you going to let her be a knight still?" Lily asked. "I understand if you can't put her at the table right away-"

"Lily," James sighed, "I can't think about that right now."

She pressed her lips together. "I'm not letting you kick her out." James chose to pretend that he couldn't hear this.

Unfortunately for him, Lily hadn't been very quiet since that morning and she wasn't taking his silence as she might have before he'd kissed her and purposed all in the span of about five minutes. "James look at me," She said, and he looked at her, his arms crossed over his chest and his brows raised. "You can't kick her out. She's been nothing but loyal and one of your best knights." He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off before he could say anything. "No I mean it." She said. "She's saved so many people, been an inspiration to so many people and her being a woman doesn't change any of that. She chose to keep it a secret because she knew she wouldn't be able to help if she was a woman. People wouldn't have taken her seriously. You see the way the knights talk to Dory, and Mary when she speaks up. She kept a secret from you in order to help the kingdom. To do the most good that she could and you can't punish her for that."

"I understand, Lily." He said, but his mind was still clouded and he just needed to think. "But things are never that simply and you know this." She pressed her lips together and turned away from him. She muttered something under her breath but James couldn't hear her and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know what she said because Sirius heard and snickered. He turned away and looked at Remus. "We were bound to hit some sort of problem during this tourney." He said. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Yes." But it wasn't Remus that spoke up. It was Lily.

James turned back around to look at her. "She's a princess, Lily. It's all more comp-"

"I wasn't talking about your betrothed," She frowned and he was surprised for a moment, having forgotten that he'd told her that he had been betrothed to King Johnathan's first born daughter. "I just wanted to know if you've found out anything about that man I told you about."

"Snape?" He asked. "I've not had much time to look into it, but I haven't found anything on him yet."

"I'm telling you, he's up to something." James took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I heard you the first time," He said. "But I don't have the man power to-"

"I'm not asking you to do much. Just have him followed. Sirius could do it."

"Who is this man?" Sirius asked, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning on.

"He's terrifying." Lily said. "And he keeps just popping up around the city and he makes me feel uncomfortable."

"He hasn't done anything wrong though, right?" He asked. "You told me that he hadn't done anything wrong and that-"

"So why are you two fighting?" Remus asked, finally getting to the real issue at hand.

"We're not fighting." James said at the same time Lily said, "Because he's a presumptuous arse." Sirius snickered again and James wanted to throw something at him.

"Well, alright then." Remus said and then looked at Lily. "I'll talk to you later."

"Can you stop talking like I'm not here?" James asked.

"Like you're not here or like you're not our king?" Lily asked, raising a brow. "Because you can't have it both ways. We can't be on equal footing and treat you like you're better than us."

"That's not the issue here." He said, running a hand through his hair. "I need to go and talk to Marlene. I'll be back later."

"Fine." Lily said, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest.

He looked at her, wanting to say something that would fix this, that would make her not so angry or upset or whatever she was, but he didn't know what would do that, so he turned around without saying anything and walked out of the room.

oOoOo

It wasn't until a few hours later that James got a chance to talk to Marlene alone. Her father had yelled at her quite a bit and then forced everyone else in the family to follow him back to their suite. He entered the Throne Room and found her seated in a windowsill, all of her armor was lying next to the wall. It was strange to see a woman wearing a pair of trousers, but that was the least of his concerns today.

"Long day?" He asked gently, not wanting to startle her. She was startled anyway and moved to get up from where she had looked almost comfortable. "Please don't get up, Mar." He said, using her old nickname.

She sighed, and when James got closer he could see how red her eyes were. She'd been crying. "Don't do that." She said. "I know we were friends once upon a time, but… we're not equals anymore." She sighed. "You're my king, and I lied to you and I might have ruined your reputation earlier today."

"Don't give yourself so much credit." He sighed, hopping up on the windowsill beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. "I mean, I'm honestly not that surprised. You were always good with a sword when we were kids. Always wanting to prove you were just as good as your brothers."

"I didn't want to prove I was just as good, I wanted to prove that I was the best." She corrected, almost grinning. "But that's not what my father wanted. He wanted me to marry you," She laughed then, but she still didn't smile.

"And my father wanted me to marry you." He said. "You became a knight and I'm going to marry a peasant." He chuckled, because despite everything that had happened today, he wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel. Not when he knew that she finally had feelings for him.

"You think your dad would be disappointed in you?" She asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her eyes.

"You met him," He said. "As a princess and a knight. You know the answer to that."

"He'd be disappointed that you fell in love." She said. James pressed his lips together. His parents had been in love and Charles had always told James that while he wanted that for him, it was more important to create strong alliances with James' marriage.

"He might." He nodded. "By the end, it seemed like everything I did disappointed him."

She sighed and leaned her head against the glass, looking out on the grounds. "I think fathers sometimes forget that they're children are human." She said quietly. "They build us up in their heads to these- these paradigms that we couldn't possible live up to and then blame us when we fall short." She looked at him and the corner of her mouth quirked upward. "Not that I gave my father much of a chance to be disappointed in me before today. I ran as soon as I could."

"Why?" He asked. "You had a family that loved you, and while I understand how heavy the crown can be-"

"That's not it, James." She said quietly. "It's different when you're a princess. You got to argue with your father, stand up to him, tell him when he was wrong- whether he listened to you or not- you had a right to an opinion.

"It was so oppressive in that castle. I hated watching my mum bit her tongue, hated watching my father blatantly favor my older brothers, even my younger brother, over my sister and me. And it wasn't as though he were doing it to hurt me or because he didn't love me. That's just the way things are." She hopped down from the window sill and walked over to his throne, running her hand over the arm of the chair. "I had no voice, no power over what my future would be like, and so I ran away and became everything that I wanted to be. The only way to really do that though, was to become a man. I was after freedom and power and so I pretended that I was a man and I lied to you and everyone else here in this wonderful kingdom that you're rebuilding."

James thought about Dory and Mary and Lily and how all three of them got upset whenever anyone brought up their gender as a means to dismiss them, or acted as though they couldn't protect themselves, or needed to be watched or told them that they were over reacting to something. "Dory-"

"Dory was… we'll say traded? She was traded by her family, the Meadows, when she was thirteen, to the Lestranges. Her family wanted protection from bandits, and they wanted a bride for their eldest son." She looked at him and narrowed her brows. "Of course the whole things was a moot point after everyone found out she had magic. Her family disowned her before the wedding and suddenly she was a nobody."

They were quiet for a while and Marlene glanced at him and then tentatively sat in his throne. He grinned at her. "As uncomfortable as you remember?"

"Yeah," She said, gripping the arms tightly and taking a deep breath. "My dad told me I'm not allowed to go home." She said, her voice cracking. "My mum was sobbing and he just-" Her grip on the chair tightened. "I know that I- I embarrassed you in front of everyone today but would you let me stay in the city? I'll just be out by Hagrid's-"

"Why would I make you leave?" He asked, even though he knew exactly why she was so nervous. He had been angry with her, after he stopped being so confused, but she had been his friend once, and he understood her reasoning. He had listened to Remus and Sirius and Lily, only two of which had been any help. "It might be difficult," He said. "But I'd like to keep you on as a knight as well." He hadn't been sure about that until just now, despite what Lily had said.

"What?" She said, clearly shocked by this.

"You're the best knight we have."

"No, Sirius is the best knight you have."

"He hardly counts," James said, dismissing this. "He never trains or goes on patrol. He's more like a bodyguard."

"No one is going to let me-"

"I think you're underestimating them." He said. "And I've done that before when it came to whether or not they would accept me. They tend to follow my example." She smiled and stood up, crossing the room and throwing her arms around him.

"You know," She said into his shoulder. "Being married to you might not have been so bad."

"That's high praise, Lance." He said and when she laughed this time he could tell she was smiling.

"Thank you," She muttered, hugging him tighter.

"It's not going to be easy," He said. "At least I don't think it will be."

"That's fine." She said.

"Do you want me to talk to your father tomorrow morning?" He asked.

"No, he's not going to change his mind."

"I know, but if I'm talking to him you could go and see the rest of your family."

"You've done enough," She assured him. "But yes please." She nodded against him and then pulled away smiling. "You're being far too kind."

"Trying to collect good karma," He grinned. "Or right past wrongs. One or the other."

"Thank you again." She left shortly afterwards and James sat down in his throne and rested his chin against his fist. He had no idea if he'd made the right choice with Marlene, but it was hard for him to look a someone in pain and not help. Especially when helping was so easy. All she needed was forgiveness and a chance.