In Which Cladelia's Children Are Named

November 19, 1188

"I... I believe the afterlife will be kind to her," Cladelia muttered, not sure what else she could say to comfort her betrothed. She had lost her own mother at the tender age of ten minutes, and while that was tragic in itself, the pain was much more tangible, much more scarring at twenty. Knowing how Arkon's mother's life had gone? It certainly didn't make things better. "She and your father won't be in the same place."

"No. They won't. Thank God." Arkon slouched further downward, rubbing at his temples. His hair was brown, like his father's, but that man's had never been so thick and lustrous. That texture came from his mother. "It's just... it's such a waste, you know? She didn't have enough time to heal. She could have been someone amazing if not for my father."

"Maybe she already was, in her own way. In spite of him." Sure, maybe Xetrica hadn't fought back. But she'd still survived, hadn't she? Didn't she get credit for that? She hadn't been obliged to fight back, or even to survive. To think otherwise shifted the blame to the wrong person. "I always thought she was lovely."

"She was." Arkon sighed. "You should have heard her last request from me. I believe it was largely for Grandmother's sake."

"Oh?"

In her last hours, Xetrica had asked for a private moment with each of the children, plus Cladelia and--both oddly and not--Rina's friend Severin. Of Cladelia, she'd simply asked to watch over Arkon, and not to name any of her sons Felron. Simple enough.

As for what she'd asked of Arkon, it wasn't surprising that it may have centered around Nearina. She'd been her primary caregiver since she'd fallen ill, after all--and perhaps Xetrica had sensed Nearina's guilt over Felron, wanted her to know that she didn't blame her.

"She wants me to be the last Tamrion Count of Tagrien. For a while, at least." He pulled himself upright, composed but not comfortable. "She wants our children to carry the Ysettra name."

Cladelia nodded. Tertius, the first Tamrion of that title, had been wonderful. Felron had smashed that legacy. Arkon would rebuild it before handing it back to the name to which it belonged. "So they will."

"Abrich Ysettra, Count of Tagrien." Tragic, how easily he'd chosen her father's name for their eldest son. "And his sisters, Xetrica and Cladelia. And Nearina. Our second son will be Severin, if Severin marries Rina.

"And our third will be Tertius."

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