"You aren't attacking, how do you mean to triumph if you never attack?" After an hour of combat Shayley was trying to catch her breath after using every skill at her disposal to strike the cocky pirate down.

"There are a few things I'd like to understand first. Like why you care so much about a man that you have pined for longer than you even knew him. And why you fight so hard for him."

"You'll never understand, it's never been about the amount of time." She ran at him "Pierce heart!" She put every last bit of her love and emotion into this last strike. Every emotion, every longing pain, every gentle happiness. She won't let anyone take her Calloway away from her.

She expected to miss or parry, but her sword struck. Cal never moved to block or dodge he took the direct attack straight through his heart.

Shayley looked up and saw the blood pooling around his shirt where Cal stood. Her gaze upturned to meet Cal's, meeting a single tear at the corner of his eye. He didn't faint or budge. He reached his hand over hers on the hilt.

"Why do you love him?" Cal asked as a droplet of blood fell from his lip.

She left her sword in his chest as she backed off, but he never acted like it was there. He took a sword to the heart just so he could look her in the eye and ask his question.

"Because he taught me how to be happy, Okay!" She yelled.

Calloway was taken aback, he never wrote anything like that in her backstory.

"He gave me a family, and hope. He taught me how to be a good leader and love the people. He's the only person who has ever looked at me like a woman and not a princess or warrior. He was the first person who ever thought I was pretty, I mean look at me!" She threw off her leather jacket revealing her royal huntress markings that coated her arms.

A long moment passed as they stood in silence. Cal finally wrapped his hand around the sword, since the princess was too scared to acknowledge her defeat.

"I'm sorry Shayley."

"I have no forgiveness for the likes of you!" Shayley spat her venom that hurt Cal more than the sword that currently pierced his heart.

"There is something that I know that you don't." He didn't look particularly happy, his expression was sober.

It didn't resemble the face of a man who bested the most powerful warrior in the city and was about to get his three wishes. Cal pulled the sword out of his chest and tossed it to Lucinda. He walked over to Shayley and pressed his sword to her chest.

"I am not left handed." His gaze was ice cold, and Shayley could feel the finality in his next words. "Your best attack could not bring me down, with no weapon, you know you have no chance of beating me. You have lost."

She gritted her teeth, never in a million year would she have imagined losing her Calloway, and now she was about to lose her last ties to the man she loved. But she wasn't about to lose him without some kind of fight. "Fine, have your stupid wishes!" Shayley started crying. "But you should know that only the person who attaches the ring can take it off. And I didn't put the ring on, my Calloway did."

He picked up her hand and looked at the ring, there was no doubt that it was the Ring of Gaia. "Lucinda, confirm this." He held the princess's hand out to the earth elemental.

The faceless elemental examined the ring. "She speaks the truth, only one person can remove this ring and it is not the princess."

"I see." He said examining the ring.

"Don't you understand?" Shayley roared. She pulled her hand out of Cal's and slammed it on the table. "If you want my wedding ring than you're going to have to take my hand off with it."

Cal shrugged apathetically. "that's definitely one for sure way to do this." He traded his cutlass for an intimidating high-level Cleaver.

'Oh, dragon dung, this is really going to happen!' Cold sweat built up all over Shayley's body. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and turned away.

Step.

Step.

Step.

THUMP!

Screams echoed through the room.

Shayley waited for the pain...

...but there wasn't any. She opened her eyes to see Cal grinning in front of her. His cleaver was buried deep in the table nowhere near her hand.

"But I know a far cleaner way." Leaving the cleaver in the table and recaptured her hand. "Yoink," he pulled the ring from her finger and examined it.

Yoink? Yoink! Shayley examined the light band of skin on her finger where the ring had been and felt it to make sure it was gone. He just pulled the ring off! Only one person could do that! That meant-

"Oh man. I remember the raid we went on to get this puppy." Cal tucked the ring in his inventory and didn't give it another look. He collected his cleaver and turned away from Shayley, "the last raid of the Elves of the North Wind. It was the first time I picked up a sword since joining the guild and boy, were they surprised when I showed up the guild master at the time."

"It can't be..." Shayley's eyes glittered with hope.

Cal turned back to Shayley and pulled off his hat and eye patch revealing his true face. "I'm sorry about the deception, I meant to free you, but it seems I was mistaken. We have a lot to talk about, let's start with: I'm home. I missed you, Shayley."

"Calloway, is it really you?"

"Let's go on an adventure, Princess."

Shayley collapsed into Calloway's arms.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Shayley cried in his arms.

On cue Lucinda and Silvia released the knights and in an instant the once brave knights and warrior princess turned into blubbering girls. They ran over to Calloway and joined in the hug. It was like a father coming home and being surrounded by his wife and daughters.

"AAWWWW, Lucy let's get in on this action!" Silvia's eyes glowed and she pulled the stoic Lucinda into the group hug.

"Wait, Silvia if we-" Lucinda got pulled into the hug.

When they joined the hug the other high elementals showed up after sensing the excitement. "Master!" they cried and threw themselves into the pile.

"I'm feeling the love but this might be too mu-ahha" Calloway said getting smothered.

Quest completed: attend birthday celebration.

Reward: It's your party, you can cry if you want to.

After the group hug Shayley sent a body double with an illusion disguise to take her place at the events while Cal and Silvia tried to explain his desire to start a guild and for the freedom of Noami. He also admitted that he and Lucinda were the one who made the Calloway statues and he got a few tight-lipped elementals loyal to Lucinda to help.

As he was describing how he pulled off the statue act, Fauna had a peeved expression on her face. He had just solved her entire investigation but at the same time gave her material to use when explaining it to her people and the noble. Ultimately, her created an even bigger headache for her by admitting he was involved.

When Shayley asked about the statues of her and him in front of the castle, all Cal could do was blush and when Lucinda whispered something in her ear her ears turned as red as her hair.