The king and Valerie stayed together — lovers and companions, bound not only by love, but by common duty. The

The king and Valerie stayed together — lovers and companions, bound not only by love, but by common duty. The amazing union underlies dozens of ballads and poems written by delighted subjects and echoed all throughout Avistan. There's more fiction than truth in those poems, of course — our hero and his beloved keep their relationship well behind closed doors.