In Which Octavius Is Left Alone with His Fury

April 14, 1171

"My God!" Roderick gasped as he barged unheralded into the study. "I swear, if you don't fire that abominable man and find yourself a respectable steward, don't think I shall hesitate to do so on your behalf!"

Octavius put down the stylus and forced back a groan. So much for sending off the letter to Oswald within the next half hour or so. If there was anything Octavius had learned after two marriages, it was that the agreeability of any given in-law was inversely proportional to the likelihood of seeing him or her on a regular basis. Maybe absence really did make the heart grow fonder and all that nonsense; then again, that might have implied a counter-truth which wasn't often a truth at all.

Or maybe it was in regards to Roderick. "What did he do this time?"

"The nerve of that man!" In his typical fashion, the king crossed his arms and scowled. "Would you believe he had the gall to ask me if I wore my crown to bed?"

Trust Florian to ask that of a king. Octavius stepped around his desk and stopped at Roderick's feet, then tried to remember the last time he'd seen his brother-in-law uncrowned; now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure there had been a first time. "...Do you?"

Roderick sniffed. "That is none of your business. Besides, I have something important to discuss with you."

"Then please, make it quick." Octavius didn't have any specific plans for the day, but he did not particularly care to endure Roderick's presence for any longer than necessary--besides, he thought he knew what this was about anyway. It was hard to believe, but it was the only important issue that came to mind: Roderick must have finally swallowed his pride and decided to bury Geneva in the royal crypt. She'd already been buried of course--in Octavius's own castle crypt, beside Medea--but it wasn't as if digging up the coffin was out of the question.

However, he was proven wrong by the grin on the king's face--at least, with all of Roderick's other flaws, Octavius liked to think he lived in a kingdom ruled by a man who didn't grin when discussing the location of his wife's corpse. "Well, perhaps you haven't heard, but my eldest daughter will be getting married in September."

Oh--wedding business. Any interest he might have had left him--and even if it hadn't, what did any of it have to do with him? "Roderick, I don't live under a rock."

"I never said you did." And yet, that idiotic smile remained. "Anyway, Learianna and Camaline came to my study the other day and proposed the most charming idea; care to guess what it is?"

Octavius raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I don't know... the rings flown in by a pair of doves?"

Roderick's hand flew to his chin, uncharacteristically and almost frighteningly thoughtful. "No, but now that you mention it, that would be quite charming; I'll have to see what Laralita thinks."

"I was being sarcastic!"

"Ah, but I was not." Typical--but at the very least, at least he was looking like his foolish old self again. "Anyway, what the girls suggested was that instead of a mere single royal wedding--as fantastic an occasion that would be on its own--we make this a double royal wedding! Learianna will marry Lornian, and Camaline will marry your son!"

"...What?" Of all the things he hadn't been expecting to hear that day--and really, of all the things he'd been dreading hearing ever. For the life of him he couldn't recall having ever felt less comfortable; at the very least, he supposed that this visit could no longer get any worse.

"Oh, but it gets even better!" Roderick clapped his hands together like a child who had just been presented with a pony. "After that, I mentioned the idea to my wife, and she managed to take its brilliance one step further. What if, instead of a mere double royal wedding--again, as fantastic an occasion that would be on its own--we make this a triple royal wedding! Why not have Ietrin marry your daughter as well?"

Well, so much for thinking that the visit couldn't have gotten any worse. "Roderick, you do realize that the twins aren't even fifteen yet, right?"

"So? Neither is Camaline." The king dismissed the objection with a shrug, then resumed his infernal grinning. "And I'll have you know that she seems especially excited to marry Sparron."

Camaline? Excited? He'd believe it when he saw it--not that that mattered much in any case, considering all the other problems with Roderick's half of the dialogue. "If that's the case, then I'm sorry, but I don't feel as though either of them are ready to be married."

Roderick blinked, as if he didn't quite understand--more than likely, knowing him. "My other daughter and her betrothed aren't much older."

"I won't presume to judge your children's maturity," Octavius told him, "but I know my own, and I don't think it would be in their best interests to marry them off so soon."

"Then clearly you don't know what is and what is not in their best interests."

Having grown up with seven brothers, indulging people's idiocy was something Octavius had been practically conditioned to do; Roderick, however, had just crossed the line into outright rudeness. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you questioning my competency as a parent?" One did not live forty-one years without being insulted. Octavius had been called his fair share of unpleasant things during the course of that time, but this was the one affront he would not suffer lightly.

"Oh heavens, no!" Roderick laughed, just as one laughed at small children who let slip unwitting curse words; if he was trying to relieve the tension, it wasn't working. "I'm just saying that you need to learn to let go; you should have known when they were born that they wouldn't be babies forever."

"Yes, but they're not ready!" How many more times would he have to stress this? Any other man in the world would have understood! "You're never going to find a girl sweeter than my Jeda, but the poor thing still needs to develop the confidence required of a princess and a wife and a mother, and Sparron... well, I don't know exactly what's going on there, but it hardly takes a genius to see that something's troubling him and being forced into a marriage at such a time--"

"Has it not occured to you that he might be depressed because he has a stifling father who won't even let him get married?" The king tossed back his head, eyes narrowed and nose in the air like the pompous ass he was; that damn crown didn't even budge. "My God! I thought you would have wanted to see them married sooner rather than later! I thought you would have wanted to get a few grandchildren out of them before they lost their minds and offed themselves like their--"

The next few seconds were a black spot on Octavius's memory. One moment, Roderick had spewed forth the greatest of blasphemies; the next, the man was stunned, silent, as Octavius's shaking fist returned to his side. He recalled nothing of what had happened in between, but after a few strained seconds, Roderick reminded him. "Did you just strike me?"

Octavius said nothing. His anger was such that he didn't doubt he would kill the son of a bitch if he allowed himself to move.

"You bastard!" Roderick stepped back and scowled. "You dare strike your king? Do you have any idea what I might do to you if you weren't married to my sister?"

"Do you have any idea what I'll do to you if you ever speak about my children that way again?" He took one warning step forward; Roderick ducked to the side. "King or not, I won't stand by while some arrogant prick insults my babies! No wonder no one respects you--not only are you a complete imbecile, but you're also the most inflated sack of shit in the whole damn kingdom! Don't think that my children will be marrying yours in September or any time after that; congratulations, your majesty, but you've just lost yourself an agreement!"

The king's brow furrowed, a hint of angry smugness in his frown. "You seem to be forgetting a few important details. First of all, I never had an agreement with you; I had an agreement with the children's mother, who has been dead for several years now and whose wishes must be respected. Besides, I am a king, damn it--under Dovian law, I can and will insist that your children marry mine, whether you like it or not. Now, I have nothing more to say about this, and quite frankly I don't care to wish you a good day."

And with that, Roderick stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Octavius alone with his fury.

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