December 15, 1179
"So. Should I add a plus one to your place at the wedding banquet?"It was half-teasing, but Zareth remained stony and unmoved as ever. He would have been a lost cause had Devidra believed in such things. "No. Just me."
"Pity. Now that you've got that great big castle, it might be nice to have a family to fill it. Let me know if you change your mind about the blond girl, for all you could probably do a little better now... sir." She smirked. Knight or not, he couldn't do better, she'd known it from the minute she'd laid eyes on the girl. She'd met fair-haired Roderick. She'd never met Laralita, but she recalled Lord Severin's description of her as a 'golden-haired, green-eyed nightmare'. So when their brown-eyed brunette daughter had shown up... well, there was no brown-eyed brunette daughter. But the maid with the flaxen hair and the teal eyes?
There must have been a switch. Devidra had kept her silence, sizing up both girls to determine the instigator. A few weeks in and she knew it had to have been the flighty, impulsive blond, no doubt trying to get out of an arranged marriage to a king she barely knew and could hardly be compatible with anyway. Devidra could relate. More importantly, she could use it to her advantage.
But oh, the girl would have to be married off--not to Adrius, of course, but to someone. Someone lowly enough that her father would take offense, but with enough connections that he could do little about it. And seeing as Devidra, mother to the King of Carvallon, had a bastard half-brother who happened to be a bachelor...
Well, it was all too convenient. All but the part where Zareth didn't go for it. "She's a little young.""So? Most men like that in a woman." Devidra wound one of the chains from her diadem around her little finger. If only her brother could be so compliant. "Or shall I put in a good word with the old countess? Her last three husbands did have large noses..."
"Devi, I'm not looking for a wife. Lander is offended enough by my existence as it is."
"Lander?" It was a struggle not to laugh. The name was rarely spoken between the two of them, and Devidra had always thought it because its owner was barely significant enough to merit mention at all. "What does our brother have to do with your taking a bride?""He's had four wives and at least three significant mistresses, but he doesn't have any known children and given that record, he probably never will. That makes Adrius his heir." As if she wasn't aware of that. Nonetheless, if he had a point, she would hear it out. "But under our laws, Adrius can't inherit Hargrath because he already holds a position of higher rank. That leaves Lander's only other living male relative."
"You." He nodded. Hmm. She had to admit, that make him less of an ideal match for Princess Ramona... but unless Zareth somehow knew about that private plan, how could he see any disadvantage? "But if you're Lander's heir, wouldn't he want you to have some heirs of your own?"
Zareth sighed. He looked, in Devidra's opinion, more like their father than Lander ever had. That might have been part of the problem. "If I start a family, then Lander will take that as a sign that I'm making plans and waiting for him to die so I can set them in motion. I can't have him thinking that. He's my brother. He's a cranky, ineffectual ass, but he's still my brother. I won't cause him any more unease than I already have; I won't marry until he has another heir."Another heir. She could work with that. With any luck, it wouldn't be long. "So not until Adrius has a son."
"Two sons, since the first will be king after him."
Two sons. That would be at least a year and a half, unless by some miracle the false princess birthed twin boys. But she supposed she could stall for time if need be. "Brother, you are most honorable."NEXT CHAPTER:
7 comments:
So apparently Blogger's forced change of interface is now mere days away. Unless they've made some serious improvements since I last tested it, this means that you can expect to see some eye-gougeingly awful formatting until I manage to work out a system. Ugh.
You know... pretty much every time I see that some internet-related legislation has been drafted, it's all about restricting privacy and security, and the first thing I do is look for reputable petitions to sign. But if someone ever proposed a law against web services fixing what's not broken, I'd support the shit out of that.
Ah, but Van, might that not also stymie actual improvements?
And Devidra knew! I shouldn't be surprised ... and really, I'm not. What I'm more surprised about is that she's just going with it.
As for Zareth, now that is an honorable man, if a little oversensitive. If his brother has a problem with him getting married and starting a family, his brother should take that problem & shove it.
Or is Zareth only using his brother as an excuse because he knows the truth?
There could be provisions for actual improvements, like a required testing and approval by X number of randomly selected frequent users? But oh, this Blogger thing is a step backward. Last time I used it, it was an absolute nightmare to get both single and double line-spacing in the same post, which is not the sort of thing you want from a blog host aimed at users beyond whiny tweens and bands who still use MySpace.
I think Zareth and Devidra both have a few cards they're not showing the other. What Zareth is saying has some truth in it, but it's probably not the only reason he's refusing. He may be reluctant to consider Mona because A) he might think she'll change her mind and want to go back to being a princess and B) she already went out of her way to get out of one marriage, why bother trying if that's not what she wants?
Devidra is kind of in the time-biding stage. We'll find out what she's up to over the course of the next few years.
I think if Roderick ever finds out about a marriage between Mona and Zareth, someone is going to be in a world of hurt (although, that someone will probably be Roderick). I imagine that there would be nothing that he could do to dissolve the marriage by religious or legal means. Diplomatically, he would probably have to grit his teeth and offer Zareth a title. Hard to say because Zareth has already sworn an oath to Devidra. *shrugs* I think it's all a bit morally dubious considering the times and for once, Roderick would not be in the wrong.
Devidra does seem to have something against Roderick, what with the pawning off all the lousy ships on him and all. And yeah, he really couldn't do much about the marriage unless he could prove it wasn't consummated or they were separated for the minimum divorce in absentia time in both Naroni and Carvallon. But luckily for Roderick, Zareth doesn't seem to keen on the idea, at least as things stand now.
I should have known that you can't pull one over on Devidra. That and, those are some complicated inheritance laws, but then again they seem to be logical and realistic enough. Plus, maybe it's for the better that Mona not get married just yet: she's only just figured out what she wants and I think that though she'd be happy with Zareth, she'd be happier using the next little while adjusting to her new freedom. Especially since she's pretty much got Devidra's blessing on the swap. Convenient how that worked out for everyone involved. ;)
- Scribbles, who is amused that Mona can't get away with nothing. Nobody here is marrying into a family that misses the obvious.
Devidra's reputation did come from somewhere. ;)
The inheritance laws are largely based on what's convenient for the story, but I'm glad they seem plausible. And yeah, I don't think Mona needs to be married right away. She's still young and immature and impulsive, and you're right, she does have all this new freedom to work with.
Convenient indeed... ;)
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