In Which Severin Knows the Most Important Thing

November 10, 1155

"Girls are so spoilt, aren't they, Lorn?" Dalston asked the baby in his arms as Severin lifted his own from her crib. "Rahileine's papa gave her a whole nursery all to herself, and all you have is a crib at the foot of our bed."

Severin shook his head. "I wouldn't say she has the nursery all to herself; either Alina or I sleep in here on any given night. Sometimes we both do."

"In that case, I hope by sleep, you actually mean sleep," his friend teased.

"Of course. Why would we do such things in a nursery when there are so many other rooms that are much more suitable? Such as the kitchen, or the stables, or my study..."

"What about your bedroom?"

"Well, that's a given."

He locked eyes with his baby daughter, a warm feeling welling up inside of him as she greeted him with a tiny smile. "You know, Dalston," he mused aloud, "it really isn't fair to the rest of mankind that I have the two most beautiful women in the world all to myself."

Dalston grinned slyly. "Your father had the same problem; his wife solved it for him by finding a husband for your mother."

"Don't be ridiculous, Dalston--this little girl's mother already has a husband. Doesn't she, Raia?" Severin inquired of his wide-eyed daughter, cradling her in his arms.

"Raia?" repeated Dalston. "I thought you were calling her Rahia."

"Yes, well, Prince Ietrin found 'Rahia' a little difficult to pronounce, and the name stuck."

"Her resemblance to you is uncanny," the duke noticed.

"You aren't the first to tell me that," answered Severin, closing his eyes for a moment. "If my baby is any indication, I daresay I would have been a very pretty girl."

Dalston took a moment to consider. "I don't know. You have a little too much of a beard for my personal taste."

"That wouldn't have mattered, considering I'm partial to slender redheads, and you are not one yourself."

"That certainly is convenient. Anyway, Severin, I wanted to talk to you about something."

He nodded. "What about?"

"Your daughter's future."

Trying not to frown, Severin slowly turned away from him. He knew what Dalston wanted to discuss, and he was not ready for it; he doubted he ever would be.

Therefore, he chose to answer jokingly. "Raia's future? You're right, Dalston, I should be thinking about her future. When she is about half an hour older, Alina should probably feed her."

"Severin, that's not what I mean," Dalston insisted.

"Regardless, it is important." Severin took Raia in his hands and held her at eye level. "What do you think, Raia? Are you hungry?"

At the sound of his voice, Lorn and Raia both giggled, prompting a small smile from Dalston. "Isn't it funny how you talk to them and expect them to reply?"

"They do reply," Severin assured him, Raia's excited laughter ringing throughout the room, "only without words."

He shifted his gaze to the corner, where Alina stood with Celina and Thetis. The girl and the duchess seemed to have taken to each other quite nicely, he noticed, and of course, Alina and Thetis absolutely adored one another.

Her due date was vast approaching--Severin was dreading the day she returned to her monstrous husband.

Thetis truly was enjoying her time with them, he knew for a fact; she had told him many times. Perhaps he would not send her back to Norwan if she didn't want to go--and of course she didn't want to go.

"Princess," he addressed Alina as he approached the ladies. "Dalston wants to discuss something with me; would you mind holding Raia for a while?"

"Of course not!" she laughed. "The way you hoard her, I'll snatch up any opportunity to have her."

Gently, Severin surrendered the baby, enjoying the sight of his two favorite girls together. Sure, Raia looked like him now, and maybe she always would have his coloring, but he did secretly hope that she would grow into Alina's fine features. He wondered how many more daughters they would have, and how many sons. How many would resemble him? And how many her?

"Be good for Mama while Papa talks to Uncle Dalston," Severin warned Raia sternly, "or else..."

He teasingly made some spider-like motions with his hands; Raia squealed. "...you may find yourself at the mercy of the tickle monster!"

"Severin, you're scaring her!" laughed Alina. "Just go and talk to Dalston; can't you see he's already waiting for you on the couch?"

"He wouldn't be if he knew the sorts of things we've done on that couch!" he joked. Thetis's eyes bulged, while Celina gave a shy smile; Alina blushed heavily. Chuckling to himself, Severin planted a quick kiss on his daughter's forehead, then another on his wife's lips before joining Dalston on the couch.

Exactly what he should expect, Severin had no idea. What should I say to him? he thought, praying silently that Dalston was unable to sense his inward panic. How should I respond? What should I do? What if I make a terrible mistake?

You should have never gotten yourself into this position, his father's voice replied. You should have never had a child at all--you should have never even married, and definitely not to her. She was for your brother, from the day she was born; by all rights, he should be the one where you are now. You were never meant for this. You should have never left that monastery.

But I love her! I've loved her for as long as we've both been alive--longer!

Some things are more important than love, son. Believe me.

"Well, Severin, I have to hand it to you," began Dalston with a smile, "you've managed to produce quite a charming young lady. In a few years, every young man in Naroni will be willing to give his right arm for just one glance from the lovely Rahileine of Veldora."

Gravely, Severin turned away; he did not know how he was supposed to reply. "If they try for anything more than a glance, rest assured I'll have their heads as well as their right arms."

Beside him, Dalston laughed softly. "Well, yes, that will be fine for when she's younger, but eventually, you'll have to find her a husband, and maybe you should start giving some thought as to who that husband will be."

"Dalston, I myself haven't even had her for a month yet!" protested Severin. "How can you expect me to start thinking already about what man will have her next?"

"If you arrange something now, her future will be secured and you won't need to worry," Dalston pressed, "but I think you know what I'm trying to say. Severin, I would like to know what you think of the possibility of a marriage between Raia and Lorn."

He had known this; it had been obvious from the beginning just what Dalston wanted to say. But no... he wasn't ready for this. He couldn't be thinking of his little girl in a long white gown, standing at the alter with the duke's heir, even if he was a good boy and the child of his friend and his cousin. He couldn't be thinking of her own babies, brown-eyed and hazel-eyed, dark and fair. No, he wanted more for her--Raia would not be a pawn in this game that his family had played for centuries. Alina had only very narrowly escaped a loveless, purely political marriage, and he, an eternity of service to the church; he did not want their daughter to have to escape as well.

You're wrong, Father; nothing is more important than love.

"What if they don't love each other? Then it would just be a trap for the both of them, would it not?"

Dalston sighed. "I should have expected that you wouldn't understand. I fell in love with Celina after I married her--maybe it will be the same with these two little ones."

After. Maybe. Severin didn't like the sound of those words. "Dalston, I don't want Raia to feel the pain and fear of walking down that aisle and into the arms of a man she does not love, even if she will eventually grow to love him. Everyone else will be happy on her wedding day; why shouldn't she feel that happiness as well?"

"For all you know, she will feel that happiness," argued the duke in a falsely passive manner; as fond of Dalston as Severin was, he could not see him as anything but a villain until this conversation was over.

"I will not take the risk that she won't be," Severin stated bluntly. "Maybe one day, she will marry your son, but if she wants otherwise, I will not force her."

"In fact, that goes for all the children I will have. No son or daughter of mine will ever become my chessman," he declared once and for all.

"Oh, please don't say it like that!" pleaded Dalston, a pained expression taking hold of his features. "Believe me, this is just so I can rest easy about Lorn's future--if it were a matter of politics, I would be asking Roderick about Learianna. I just thought that a daughter of you and Alina would be more suitable for him than a daughter of Roderick and Geneva."

"Well, thank you, but I'm afraid I can't promise you anything."

Dalston looked as though he wanted to argue this, but he was cut off by a sharp moan coming from where the women stood.

"Thetis!" Celina exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"I... I don't know!" the girl cried. "It hurts... it hurts so much..."

She stumbled slightly to one side--a suspicious fluid could be seen where she had been standing seconds before.

"Oh God, Severin!" gasped Alina as Thetis continued to wail in pain. "Her baby is coming!"

"Dalston, hurry back to your shire and return with Goodwife Diarn," Severin ordered, suddenly unaware of the fact that his friend was a duke and he himself was only a lord, "and for God's sake, hurry!"

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