In Which Ellona Is Made to Say It Again

June 14, 1179

"Thank God you're back!" Ietrin almost squealed as he finally loosened his grip. So much for thinking he might give her some space for the next few days, but knowing him, Ellona supposed she should have figured. "Miss me?"

"I didn't have much time to--a little busy mourning my father and all." That seemed to shut him up. But for all it might have been harsh, it didn't hurt like it should have. She supposed she'd miss her father, but he'd been so distant and frequently absent that all she'd had in him was a parent who wasn't Elarys. It was not the loss Ietrin should have assumed it was. It was not the loss it ought to have been. "But never mind. Why are you here?"

If she even needed to ask. "Are the children around?"

"You would ask that!" Dear God, he wouldn't even pretend to be concerned; she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or annoyed. Or perhaps hints of both were not beyond merit. "No, I only got back this morning and I haven't had a chance to pick them up from Raia's yet. But don't get any ideas; I've had a long trip and I'm really not in the mood."

"That's all right. I'm a little exhausted on that front anyway; Jeda had better be pregnant again soon."

Ellona's teeth barred her tongue as she tried to find a subtle retort. She did not like it when Ietrin spoke of Jeda's fertility; he made it clear that he found it unsatisfactory, but Ellona herself had the same number of children and she'd been sleeping with him longer. Not only did she resent the implication that she too was somehow less than she ought to have been, but it was getting increasingly difficult to withhold any wayward comments about how the one reproductive factor she and Jeda had in common was Ietrin himself. "How old is Geneva, again?"

"She'll be two next month."

And Ella would be three next month. And he thought Jeda was overdue for another baby. Men. "Hmm. Well, if you don't want sex, then why are you here?"

"Mostly just to see how your trip was." He took her hand in his and kissed it, then winked at her. "But I also need a favor. There's a document in your study that I'd like you to sign."

"Well, it was awful." And even if he hadn't sparked her curiosity, she didn't think she'd have cared to elaborate. "What sort of document?"

"Oh, nothing troubling." He waved back a hand, as if to say 'Stupid questions deserve stupid answers'. As if it had been completely unnecessary for her to be aware of just what she was supposed to sign. "It just certifies Kaldar's paternity and names him my heir in the event that I never have a legitimate son."

Well. That scarcely required a second's thought. "No."

Ietrin blinked, his mouth falling to the point where he might have been a fish trying to adjust to land. "Sorry?"

"No." And how could he have even brought it up? Did he not care about their son at all? "Do you need me to spell it for you?"

"Hardly, but I can't see why you would protest." And he said it like he meant it. Either he was too much of an idiot to realize the obvious problem, or he just didn't give a damn. "If you sign this, your son might be king."

"Maybe--but not everyone would respect him as such. Or would continue to respect you, for that matter." That was, if many did respect him now; certainly he wasn't well-liked, and more and more she was reminded of why that was. "As far as some of these people are concerned, I might as well be a whore at a brothel. My son is a bastard, and some would take issue with a bastard king."

"Lord Severin is a bastard. His people seem to respect him well enough."

"Because he's the sort of man who can make them overlook that fact--and while Kaldar could grow up to be that sort, he could just as easily not. And even if he does, it's easier to gain the respect of a shire than that of an entire kingdom."

"But--"

"No!" And by God, she'd tear out his tongue if he made her say it again! "I will not ruin my son's life just to secure your line. That is not the sort of mother I choose to be."

"But--"

"You have brothers, in case you've forgotten. And daughters." Why did he always forget the daughters? "I've heard that Medea is quite clever. Naroni could do far worse than a ruler with a brain between her ears."

"But Medea's a girl."

"And?"

There was really no answer to that, but it didn't stop him from giving one. "That's just not how things are done. Come on, please just sign the document? I'll even take Kaldar to live with me if you do--to prepare him, if you will, and to prepare the people. If they have a chance to get used to the idea--"

"For the love of God, no!" That was it. How dare he. How fucking dare he. "I will not have you take him away to live with your other family! Your wife and daughters will hate him and your parents will treat him like shit and if Jeda has a son, you'll send him right back here with nothing to show for it. And then people will know he's your son and for the rest of his life no one will ever see him for anything else. Just... no!"

"Ellona--"

"Don't start with me, you selfish cunt-faced son of a bitch!"

Ietrin reared back, seething. He looked like he wanted to hit her and she wished he would. She wished he'd box her in the eye and leave it purple and swollen, and she'd ride through the towns with her hair tied back and her battered face for all to see. She'd ride all the way to Raia's house in Veldora and she'd let her children see what their daddy had done, and if Raia asked, she'd tell her. Raia would go to her father. Raia's father would go to the duke and the baron. And the three of them would go to the king and tell him that his son didn't even have the shame to beat a woman where no one could see.

But he didn't. He just kept snarling like some crouching beast. "How dare you vilify me for trying to keep my family's throne!"

"If you want to keep your family's throne, then stop being such a prick to your wife! Just leave my son out of it!" And if he came back to make a further issue of it, he would never see Kaldar or Ella again, she swore it. She would take them so far away that even death could not reunite them. "And get the hell out of my castle!"

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