She looked up at the warrior. The bridge was so feeble looking, as if a sharp kick would knock it to pieces. The warrior looked down at her.

“Do you keep your bargain?” he asked, holding the Crown in his hands.

“You have used the Crown already, how do I know that you will not use it for the ill purposes that it was made for!”

“I sense that you could challenge me, we are both weakened. How do I know that you are able to resist the temptations it offers?”

“I was raised in the Order of the Most High. I have never been subject to temptation or cruelty as you have.” She said in protest.

“That is what you should fear.” He offered.

“What is this, a riddle?”

“Have you ever been driven by anger or revenge?” he asked.

“Never.” She stated proudly.

“Have you never felt the desire to exact a punishment on someone for some little slight? Have you ever had such things done to you in any form?”

She wavered in her answer. “Never.” It was a true statement; she had led a life protected in the abbey, free from such grief. “Does your having been tormented make you somehow more worthy to claim the Crown than I!” she found that she had raised her Lance during her protest, it embarrassed her a little.

“No, not more worthy, but perhaps more capable.” He had reached a painful moment of truth that must be revealed. The Prophetess looked perplexed.

He took a deep breath and let his eyes meet hers. “I have experienced all of these things. I know the savory flavor of revenge, and the bitter after taste. I have been wronged and abused with no chance to retaliate and I would not wish it on any other being.”

“But” she retorted “was using the Crown on your enemy an act of revenge or justice?”

“There are rare cases where they are the same thing. I pity the poor soul that I had to squelch. Perhaps he did have the Right to claim the Crown, more so than any other on the Quest. That did not mean that he was with in his rights to use it as he sought to. He could know nothing but his desire. What would you do in the long lonely hours of your life in this chamber? Your beast might be a companion for a time but he would wither at his separation from the natural world he craves.”

“In your isolation simple desires would grow into unnatural perversions and with out the experience of having tasted the real thing, they would rule you. You may not even realize what horrors you are visiting on others, the things you would command them to do would seem as natural and necessary as the food you eat.”

She suddenly felt the truth of it. She recalled the unwholesome spirit in the woods that had tempted her. She was willing to give in to what it wanted so she could experience what it offered for one time, regardless of the unseemliness of the thing. She had felt her self esteem grow in her struggle, now she saw it now as a false confidence; she had no opportunity to test her faith or skill in the real world.

“Can you trust yourself to not use the Crown?” she asked.

“No, the Crown will likely be used.” He looked to the Maiden “But with proper guidance its power will only be used in its own defense, to keep others from it while I live.”

She had let the point of the Lance drop and it rested near the dead Ghoul. She looked down at herself and saw that she was in a state of such dishevelment that she was suddenly ashamed of the way she looked. That sealed her decision. The warrior and the Maiden were no better off but somehow she thought she should appear in a better light. She was vain! It was a vice that she would turn into a virtue with unbridled access to the Crown. That would be the start of it, and it had not even been a few minutes in the presence of the thing.

“Keep it well warrior, and take care of him dear Maiden.” She turned to go, tears welling in her eyes, partly from sorrow, partly from relief.

“I will keep the way clear.” was the last he said to her.