July 26, 1186
"Is it true?" Ricky didn't wait for his father to ask what he wanted. While he'd always known that his sisters marrying and moving away would be more likely than not, this hadn't been how he'd thought it would happen--his father making deals behind their backs, not letting anyone into the loop except for maybe their mother. Aunt Rona had warned him that his father didn't have the best approach to marriages, for all she liked Uncle Ashe now, but Ricky had assumed his father would have had it figured out by the time his own children were ready for betrothals. At least Karlspan hadn't won Celina in a tournament. "Celina's going to marry Karlspan?"His father frowned. "Who told you that?"
"Karlspan, just before he and Celina headed to Veldora. She asked if he was sure he wanted to go, and he said they should get to know each other anyway. But he thought we already knew, or at least that she did." And while Karlspan made a lot of assumptions for Ricky's taste, that one hadn't been unreasonable. "Why didn't she know?"
"I thought she might be happier if she had a little more time to just enjoy her youth. I was going to tell her when she's sixteen--same with the others.""The others?" Neva? Camaline? Celina, he could get--he'd overheard his mother telling his father that Celina had started a bodily function he preferred not to think about--but Neva was still a child. And Camaline was just a baby! "You've arranged marriages for the others?"
"Uh... well, they're all tentative, but yes." His father folded his hands and slid his wedding band about between his knuckles. "Neva will marry your cousin Prior. Dalston will marry one of Tarien Andronei's daughters, and Arkon will marry my cousin Abrich's youngest. As for Camaline, I'm in talks with Prince Sparron of Dovia for one of his sons."
His brothers too? "What about me?""You?" He'd thought it a valid question. But all his father could do was shake his head. "I haven't arranged anything for you."
"Why not?" Five for six didn't speak to any qualms about arranged marriages. "I'm your heir. Technically, I'm the only one who has to get married."
"Yes, well... you know, I was betrothed to your mother before I even knew what a betrothal was. And damn it, my father could have never found a better woman for me if he'd had a thousand years to look. I wouldn't be half the duke I am without your mother as my duchess."
He nudged the wedding ring firmly to the base of his finger. "I can't count on having that same good luck my father had if I were to find you a wife. As a duke, I do have to think of my people first--and I believe that it would be in everyone's best interest if you were to choose your own bride. No one will know better what you need in a wife than you, after all.""Oh."
"So, now you know my plans. And do know that if any of the people I've found for your siblings turn out to be objectionable in some way, I won't force them to go through with the marriage." That... was reassuring. Ish. "Celina doesn't have a problem with Karlspan, does she?"
"I don't think so." But Ricky made a mental note to avoid finding spouses for his future children without their involvement. Celina may not have had a problem with Karlspan, but after this afternoon, she likely had a problem with someone. "You might want to apologize for not telling her, though."NEXT CHAPTER:
11 comments:
What? It's barely evening over here? WHAT INSANITY IS THIS?
It's pretty sad when you're a parent and your teenage kid has to school you like that *shakes head*.
I wonder what Sparron was thinking when he arranged Prior's marriage. Wait, strike that last. I think he was thinking, "Let there be no possibility of Prior growing up to marry his sister."
A little bit, yeah. :S
Eliminating any chance of Prior/Alina was probably a huge factor on Sparron's (and Octavius's) agreement to the match. Plus, Sparron himself kind of lucked out with his arranged marriage, all things considered.
*looks at Lorn suspiciously*
Do I smell favoritism here?
All his other children have to take what they get, only the oldest son is allowed to chose?
I can't even say that I am surprised at Lorn here... v.v'
Sadly, I think more parents than not do have favorites, even if some are better at keeping it in check than others. :S
Lorn is not a bad guy, but he is a fairly traditional fellow from a line of fairly traditional fellows, unfortunately.
Heh, I think the problem here is that, technically, none of his children except Ricky need to get married. And then he's the one not betrothed yet...
At least Ricky seems to try avoiding arranging marriages and not telling his children.
Seriously, what does Lorn think his children would say if he comes into their rooms one day and says: "Come on, get dressed, you're getting married today?"
Admittedly, they have much less time to protest.
He may not be a bad guy, but his tendency to decide for others without even Consulting them really rubs me the wrong way.
Sorry that I took a while to get back to you there. It's my dad's birthday and I was making a pie.
It is strange, isn't it? Nothing wrong with the idea of Ricky being a better ruler if he isn't dealing with a shitty arranged marriage, but there's no reason why any of the others should have to put up with a spouse they don't really like. I guess at least they have veto power.
To his credit, though, I'm thinking he would have told them before the wedding day--probably whenever romance became feasible, to avoid any extra entanglements (in theory). Still, probably better to get them used to the idea of So-And-So McLorn's-Choice if there's going to be So-And-So McLorn's-Choice at all.
Yeah, Lorn does tend to make important life decisions for other people with little or no warning. Probably overcompensation from back when he was a duke at ten and didn't always know what he was doing; now, he at least has to pretend he does.
No problem at all, you don't need to apologize for something like that. ^^'
Yes, that's why I thought there was some sort of favoritism. Though it would be hilarious if that came biting Lorn in the butt. Like if Ricky wants to marry someone much below his status.
Well, I exagerated that a little bit of course. xD
Though it really would be better if he would just be honest with his children or he might find himself very alone later on because his children are still angry at him.
Argh, where did my response disappear to? >.<
You really don't need to apologize for something like that. We have all a life outside of the Internet (or at least I hope so...).
Would be funny, though, if Ricky fell in love with and intended to marry someone who Lorn wouldn't agree with at all (social Standing much lower than Ricky etc.)
Well, it WAS an exageration. xD
But I bet his children would feel like that, if he told them: "Oh, I had you betrothed to this guy/girl since your birth, but I didn't see a reason to tell you earlier. Of course you can still object, though you would probably be stepping on a lot of toes, because it had been in the works for so long."
Oh Blogger, always hungry for comments. :S It did show up in my email, so I'll check the spam filter (the spam filter that often misses actual spam...)
True. Life kind of happens. XD
That could be quite amusing--Ricky and the last girl Lorn would have ever picked for him. As things stand now, I'm thinking Ricky will marry a little older than most of his peers, like late twenties or even early thirties--like, what we today would call "reasonable marrying age". XD This is because my current pick for his future wife is significantly younger than he is, so she'll have to grow up and get through university first.
Now that he's upset Celina, at least, here's hoping Lorn learns from that mistake and lets the other kids in the know sooner rather than later. Neva and Dalston, at least, are probably old enough that they should be told.
Aaaaand yep. Crummy spam filter strikes again. :S
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