August 4, 1194
"You're becoming a monk?"Gennie didn't even remember the walk--the storm--over to Aries House. All she remembered was Thetis's casual mention of this... this... dreadful development! And her demand for clarification. And, then, she was here. In the library, at Aries House, with Dalston. Who apparently wanted to be a monk.
"What the hell? I thought you said you'd think about it!"
Surely Dea wouldn't have lied to her! It had been the first thing she'd asked of her sister since Dea had become queen. Dea had little interest in arranging marriages for Gennie or Hollie, but she'd agreed to talk to Lord Severin, and they'd concluded that they had no problems with the match so long as Dalston didn't object. Dalston--Gennie was oh too painfully aware--did not quite feel for her the way she felt for him. But, he'd still said he'd think about it.
So much for dreaming, hoping--if only for lack of any evident competition--that he'd see the light. "I'm sorry, Gennie. I did think about it, but... well, it wouldn't be fair to you.""Oh, yes, leaving me a woman scorned is the epitome of fairness!" Gennie spat. She didn't care for spitting--even spitting words--but in that moment, she didn't care for caring. "How would marrying me be unfair to me? Don't tell me you've taken my father's view of things--that a princess ought to do better than a mere Lord Veldora!" So he'd said the one time she'd dared mention Dalston to him while he'd lived. How could Dalston prove just as despicable?
"It's not that! It's just... I couldn't make you happy. I couldn't make anyone happy."
"You could try!""It's more complicated than that, Gennie. My marrying you--or anyone--wouldn't be in their best interests." He sighed, with the casual gravity of someone announcing a coming rainstorm. How was he so resigned? How was he not even a little emotional about this? Even anger at her daring to question him would have been preferable! "You're a beautiful, intelligent woman. You'll find someone much worthier than me."
"But I want you, you idiot!"
"But after a few years of having me, you wouldn't. And trust me when I say I wouldn't blame you.""Don't presume to know what I may or may not want!"
"Then please don't presume that I'll learn how to make you happy. Please believe me when I say that the kindest thing I can do is let you find someone else." He turned around and pulled back his desk chair, form to the seat and head to the table. He wouldn't even do her the courtesy of eye contact. "Please leave. You deserve someone who can love you properly."
Love you properly.
What the hell did that even mean?NEXT CHAPTER:
3 comments:
Blah. Thursday is probably the worst day on my schedule. :S
(Mimus here, have to wait for my Internet to reset before I can log into anything again. :/)
I think Gennie needs to reassess her priorities a bit. Sure, getting rejected hurts, but I don't think she's really a woman scorned. Wouldn't that imply being strung along? And I don't think Dalston intentionally tried to do that.
Though I really have to wonder why Severin didn't go to Dea yet to tell her about Dalston's decision if they had some sort of agreement there.
Yikes! :S
Gennie has a bit of a blind spot where Dalston was concerned. All her life, she's been drawn to this quiet, awkward boy, all the while telling herself that part of his apparent disinterest is that he's too quiet and awkward to admit to anything. She wasn't really strung along, but she hadn't been flat-out told that this wasn't happening. And, to be fair... I think Dalston did genuinely want to be attracted to her, given everything. :S
As for the agreement... well, it was really more of a "wait and see" king of thing. Nothing had been set, and it wasn't a huge priority for either family, and I wouldn't be surprised if Severin and/or Dea had sort of half-forgotten about it by now.
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