In Which Roderick Is a Man of His Word

November 6, 1181

"So." Arydath--for all she'd stolen the title upon marrying Tarien, Roderick refused to anoint her with the word 'lady'--strode from the study door right up to the edge of the desk, no regard for a proper show of a subject's respect at all, not even a 'your majesty'. This was in no small part why he'd never liked her. Even Severin would at least greet him with a quick nod and a muttered instance of his name.

But in regards to certain matters of womanly health, there was supposedly no one better, and Roderick had promised his son the best. And damn it, Roderick would have the best too. He did have other sons, but thrones weren't meant to be passed from brother to brother; even if he didn't outright object to that alternative, he did prefer that the throne pass to a grandson via Ietrin. It was the proper and kingly thing to wish. "You've finished your examination of my daughter-in-law, I presume?"

"This will go better for both of us if you don't interrupt me again. But if I hadn't, I don't see why I'd be here instead of there." Hmph. To think, his own brother-in-law had deemed this vulgar woman worthy of a marriage! It was a small wonder that Tarien and Laralita's parents never visited, even if they had both Celina and Roderick himself to make up for the unfortunate rotten limb on the family tree. Arydath made Severin's jumped-up servant girl look like an empress in comparison.

"I'm a king. I can interrupt whomever I please." But he couldn't be firmer with her because he doubted she was above withholding the coveted information. "Just tell me what the problem is."

She sniffed. "There is no problem."

"Sorry?" Roderick frowned. He'd figured that any issue Jedaline might have had wasn't as severe as it could have been, given the existence of her daughters, so he'd been optimistic in the sense of not assuming the worst. Surely, though, after ten years of marriage and only two children to show for it...

"There.Is.No.Problem." A lock of loose, unruly hair bounced as she raised and lowered one scrawny shoulder. "Not one that I can see or feel or otherwise sense, at least. Her womb is healthy. Her tubes are healthy. Unless there's an issue on some higher level we lack the means to detect, she shouldn't have any difficulty conceiving or gestating."

"Then there must be some higher level." There must have been. Arydath had said so herself, hadn't she? Not that Roderick liked to think they agreed even in the slightest. "A woman of her age, married as long as she's been, only two daughters to show for it. Perhaps you missed something."

"Missed something? I ran the exam four times!" Her fist slammed his desk with a force unbefitting of its size. Roderick's own hand shook. If she hadn't been someone else's wife, he might have hit her. "The poor girl was in tears by the end! How would you feel if I shoved my hand up your ass and poked around because your father-in-law demanded it?"

Had she... had she just... Bitch. That had to have been the rudest thing anyone had ever said to him. This woman was hardly fit to be knee-deep in barnyard mud delivering piglets, much less... that. "How dare you. How dare you speak to me that way! Especially when you didn't even do your job!"

"I did do my job! More than once! I get that you want a grandson, but your daughter-in-law is fine!" After the last belt, she took a couple breaths and tried to calm herself. Furious, Roderick struggled to do the same; he would not have it said that this woman was better composed than he was. "If you ask me, everyone is coming at this from the wrong angle. If it isn't an issue with Jeda, perhaps your son has a problem."

...what? "Is that even possible?"

She shrugged. Of course she couldn't commit to an answer. Not worth her fee in the slightest. "Not having one of those things myself, I'm hardly an expert. But if there's been a virgin pregnancy since or before Mary, no one told me about it; if a cock has something to do with it, a malfunctioning cock won't do."

"Interesting." And yet... not. Surely there wasn't anything wrong with Ietrin? He was a prince, after all, a specimen of... well, not perfect breeding, but it wasn't as if his whore of a mother ever had a problem getting pregnant, and Roderick himself had more children than he knew what to do with. Ietrin must have been above such woes, if there were such woes. Princes did not have... malfunctioning cocks, as she'd so crudely put it. And to think, she kissed her mother with that mouth. "But I don't remember paying you to talk about my son's genitalia."

"And I don't remember you agreeing to my usual half before and half after--kings being men of their words and all." Hmph. A lucky thing that was for her, or she wouldn't be getting a single coin. "And since I did technically examine her more than once, a truly honorable king would adjust the fee fittingly."

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