In Which Ietrin States His Demands

July 26, 1171

Like most other young men, Ietrin did have his preferences when it came to girls--physical traits he liked, certain aspects of the personality--but in the end, he had only one hard-and-fast, make-or-break requirement; all he asked was that she be interesting.

And if not interesting, then--at the very least--that she be pretty.

His betrothed, however, was neither. She had a round, doughy face, but he might have been able to get past that had it not been for the bony, pointed chin that shattered the continuum of her jawline. Her mouth was almost impossibly wide, but her nose scarcely existed in profile, which some time ago had given Ietrin's mind a slight association between Jeda and a monkey. Her eyes had something of an exotic shape to them and might have been pretty had they not been hazel, which he found to be the dullest color eyes one could have. Was hazel even a color? Really, Jeda's eyes were just a swampy mess of not-quite-green and not-quite-brown.

At least she had nice hair, even if it was blond as opposed to his preferred black--soft and curly and bountiful. And she did have a rather ample bosom for a fifteen-year-old; Ietrin didn't remember much about Jeda's mother, but he'd heard that the late baroness had been a rather buxom woman, and it was a relief to see that her daughter had inherited her cleavage. Now, if only she would stop wearing such formless gowns...

"Ietrin?"

Her voice was meek and quiet, just like everything else about her. She wouldn't have spoken had she not expected him to do so; it was not the way of Jeda to start a conversation that would not have started anyway, or even to think of fodder for the exchange. She wasn't stupid, but she lacked imagination and was incapable of forming ideas--and as far as Ietrin was concerned, true stupidity would not have been worse. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"

Ietrin nodded. "Yes, well... I guess we only have a little more than a month left now, and I wanted to set something straight quickly; you may then leave if you wish."

Her head bowed, Jeda tugged on the laces of her sleeve. Maybe she was annoyed that he had summoned her from the other side of the kingdom for just a short conversation, or maybe she just wanted to loosen them--Ietrin didn't really care. "All right..."

"Good." He crossed his arms and tried to grin, though it was more difficult than he remembered; after all these months of saving smiles, it almost hurt to waste one on someone other than Ellona. "Now, I want you to know that I don't wish to be one of those husbands who shuts his wife up in the castle all day and beats her where no one will ever see and claims his marital right every night--I could be one of those husbands, but I won't be."

Eyes wide and nearly pretty if not for the hazel, Jeda trembled, as if she had no idea how to reply--not that he'd expected that she would. "Uh... thank you?"

"You're welcome." He placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it. As he had anticipated, it was just as round as her face--and, as he had not, just as bony. "But if I am to be a good husband to you, then I expect that you will be a good wife to me. Now, you're lucky to be highborn enough--and just highborn enough, I daresay--to be marrying a prince, so much of your days will be spent gossiping with my sisters and helping my stepmother accessorize various rooms. We probably won't see much of each other, but you will be cordial whenever we do--I have only two demands, and that is one of them. Can you be cordial?"

No change in her expression, she nodded. "And the other is--?"

"Well, I would have thought that to be obvious!" And it was. Raia wouldn't have had to ask--Ellona certainly wouldn't have had to ask. "I need you to give me an heir."

"Oh." As though embarrassed to be thinking of such things, Jeda flushed. Such squeamishness wasn't befitting of a future queen; he would have to do something about that.

"You have bled, correct?" She nodded; satisfied, he continued. "Well, my father still prospers, so it isn't as if we'll be pressed for time, but I should like a son as soon as possible. A strong, strapping young boy, and with a good head for politics--and he should be handsome too, just like his father. Do you think you can manage that?"

Jeda dropped her hand to her side and stared up at him, seeming to shrink with each passing second. Perhaps she was trying to work out how she could possibly give him a handsome son when she had to work with that flattened excuse for a nose--a problem that had kept Ietrin himself up for many a night already. "Uh... I guess? But don't you want any other children?"

Ietrin shrugged. "Well, I suppose I could forgive you if you gave me a daughter--it would be your first time having a baby, after all, and it might only be fair of me to allow some mistakes there. And perhaps we shall discuss a spare or two once the heir is a little older, but frankly I couldn't be bothered to find uses for a whole snivelling brood. Anyway, I take it we're clear now?"

She still looked a little bewildered, but she nodded all the same. Just as well; he knew for a fact that Ellona was waiting in his bedroom, and he didn't wish to waste any more time with Jeda's silly questions.

"Good. Now, give me a kiss--" Tentative, she took a step toward him and gave him a quick peck on the lips; at least her breath was pleasant enough. "--and you may leave at your convenience. We have nothing further to discuss."

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