Difference between revisions of "Logs:Seed"

"So, my dear. Do we have a deal?"

Ienavi shivered, despite the warmth of her fur wrap. Aughan's private study was well heated - Cromcoal, of course - but his proposal left her... uncertain. Rone's death ought to have cleared her way, left her confident, but now she was unsure. Did she hold all the cards?

Or had Aughan just played her? She had a quiet suspicion he knew her hand, every last card of it, and that left her uneasy. A master player, Aughan. A worthy adversary, if that's what he was.

Or an ally. If a person could trust him as far as that, knowing that, always, he would put his own interests first.

"My lady?"

She dropped her gaze towards her glass, and used the time that reaching for it, sipping from it, gave her to organise her thoughts.

"Let me make sure I understand what is being offered," she said, finally.

"By all means. I would not - ever - push you into anything you did not feel comfortable with, from top to bottom, my dear. Inside and out."

She lifted her chin to regard him, dark eyes meeting dark eyes, bringing to bear all the hauteur she - a girl from a third-tier Hold - had had to perfect. He didn't flinch. She could have refused him if he had. "You will give me the seed I require," Ienavi said, "thereby further solidifying my claim on Nabol - my son's claim."

"And in return?" Aughan smiled, and in that moment she knew why he was so often described as magnetic. He was not a handsome man, not objectively, but it seemed as though those who entered his orbit forgot. It wasn't just the prospect of aid that had even her brother hanging on his words. He attracted people, and just now that was unsettling. And yet, her own Lord's people needed to eat.

"I'll wed you, when my turn of mourning is finished. I will give you an heir." When Nabol's fields, too, had been plowed.

"Which will give you the legitimacy of a powerful Hold, backing your claim."

"And unite our two Holds." She let a thread of question linger in that. "You'll come out in public support of me? It won't just be... an unspoken indication?"

"My dear, we cannot be so bold. As you say yourself, this would unite our Holds. There would be those who see that as a... threat. Far better if I sit back and allow others to acknowledge your efforts and vote accordingly."

Ienavi frowned. "You will present it as a love match. As... taking me regardless of the future of my claim."

"You must admit we are far better suited than the Lady Issedi and I would have been. How could I resist you, so valiantly fighting for your son's rights? Afraid for your life, and horrified at the actions of your... your former fianc?. Your step-grandson. It makes a pretty picture, does it not?"

She said nothing.

"Come, my dear. I mean that quite genuinely. We are well suited. You do not trust me, but you can see the advantages. I would not lock you in the bower and turn you into a lapdog. You would have purpose."

"I already have purpose. My son is a baby, I will need--"

"You will be Lady Crom. We'll appoint another to ward Nabol until his age of majority. It's the only way."

She set her jaw.

"Your son will inherit. He will have his birthright. You will give your people the seed they need - you will keep them from starving. Even with Rone gone, there are those who doubt your claim, my dear. Do you want to let them win? It's time to act."

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes. I will marry you."

Aughan smiled.