'If I tell you,' said the Princess, 'will you give your Royal word that the execution you have ordered for this morning shall be really the last? You can destroy the object that I have hidden his Charmed Life in, and then you can destroy him. But you must promise me not to ask me to hide his Life in any new place, because I am tired of hide-and-seek.'
All the judges and lords-in-waiting and people felt really sorry for the Princess, for they thought all these executions had turned her brain.
'I give you my Royal word,' said the King upon his throne. 'I won't ask you to hide his Life any more. Indeed, I was against the practice from the first. Now, where have you hidden his Life?'
'In my heart,' said the Princess, brave and clear, so that everyone heard her in the big hall. 'You can't take his Life without taking mine, and if you take mine you may as well take his, for he won't care to go on living without me.'
She sprang across the throne steps to Florizel, and his fetters jangled as she threw her arms round him.
'Dear me!' said the King, rubbing his nose with his sceptre; 'this is very awkward.'
The Princess laughed happily.
'Oh, my clever Princess,' whispered Florizel; 'you're as clever as you're dear, and as dear as you're beautiful.'
There was a silence.
'Well, really,' said the King, 'I don't quite see——'