In Which Alya Is Free of the Complications

January 1, 1194

"Marry me."

"Mmm?" Alya forced herself to break away from the steady stream of incoming kisses. Of all things Roddie could have sighed between the meetings of their lips. "Are you serious?"

"You know I am. This has been a long time in the making." He swallowed--maybe a little downhearted. "Well... on my part, anyway."

"Oh, no! I didn't mean that. Of course I've thought about it." That wasn't a lie. Problem was, the main thoughts about it tended to be the complications. "Just... the legalities of it all..."

"I know. That's why I didn't ask before now." He ran his hand through her curls before lifting himself off of her. "Um... I hope you don't mind--I know we weren't telling many people--but I went to Aunt Lettie. Just to see if she knew if it would be legal."

"And?"

"She said she didn't know of anything that would make it explicitly illegal." Helpful. "But I'd guess that there aren't too many precedents of a man wanting to marry his adoptive half-niece who's more of an age to be his cousin."

"No, probably not." She couldn't say she failed to understand why. It was probably akin to marrying a step-sibling--though that, she knew thanks to Sir Setran and Lady Evera, was perfectly legal.

"So, I ended up going to the queen, since no one can say no if she approves."

"Dea?" Alya sat up. It still felt odd to call a woman she'd once shared a house with 'the queen'. It also felt odd to call the queen 'Dea'. "What did she say?"

"She said that since we weren't blood-related and I wasn't some creepy old uncle figure who just wanted to get under your skirts, she sees no reason not to allow our marriage as long as you're willing. She also cited the fact that King Oswald let Jadin Andronei marry Renata Tamrion, even though he actually is her uncle. I guess 'more of an age to be cousins' and 'not old and creepy' were major factors there." He took her by the hand and pulled her to his shoulder. She had no idea how he did it, but he always smelled rather like cinnamon. "So... since we are more of an age to be cousins, it should be all right, so long as you don't secretly think I'm old and creepy."

"You're not old and creepy." Alya smirked. The thought of her parents' faces when they found out that while they'd been seeing away New Years' guests, their daughter had been getting engaged to her mother's half-brother was too priceless to let fly by unacknowledged. Even if they weren't blood-related. "And I'll definitely marry you."

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