The phrase that the queen had apparently muttered absently only brought more worry to Ephraim. [i]She [b]was[/b] thinking of revenge again...[/i] He sighed. She really seemed to be more consumed by it all the time. The crown atop her head was proof of that, as was her altered façade and now the thoughts that she let slip. He tried to refocus on what she had said after that. 

"I know this is important, but please don't let yourself overdo it. People tend to betray themselves more when the strings are too taut, you know?" He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it in what was meant to be a calming gesture. 

"So you have made your decision?" The king was actually quite surprised that he had not been informed previously. He supposed that the message must have gotten lost somewhere, perhaps. Either way, this did seem like a bit of an problem, since he had just dismissed the knight, and who knew where he was at this point. Once they were off duty, even the great warriors of the kingdom had lives outside of the castle. Calling him back would take time hat he didn't know that they had. 

"Are you sure you want Argus? He has been doing quite a bit lately, I doubt that he even has time to sleep anymore. As impressive as he is, he is not a machine, and he has been busy almost nonstop with preparations as far as I can tell." This much was also true, he knew that the knight was in charge of many operations regarding the military, and with the recent increase in martial activity and border security measures, he couldn't imagine that the man had very much - if any - time to himself anymore.