Nothing that Eowyn said surprised her overmuch, as Eowyn no doubt would have known. Hild did sneer in disgust at the mention of this Grima, who would play the aide to her uncle but plot destruction; a man who would be so cowardly in his actions would surely turn Eowyn's stomach, and as a lover it would have been unthinkable. She eased her expression back into something more neutral before continuing.

"But did you not have lovers? Your brother, for example. Surely he must have been reserved for some alliance as well, but just as surely there had to have been a kitchen maid, a farmer, someone he kept quietly?"

Hild frowned and bit her lip. "I am the same as you, you know. I should have been given to some princeling and many had designs for my death. But my mother told me, as long as I kept it quiet, as long as it was someone who did not matter in the court, I could be with whomever I liked. If I made a bad choice, someone with power or influence, or got myself with child, yes, I would have paid dearly. And for this reason, and so I had no distractions, I kept to myself. But here is different. Here no one has plans for our marriages. Here we may act as ourselves and only have ourselves to answer for it."