Chapter 34 #3
“You would just marry Sam, wouldn’t you?” I asked. “Awful advice. Truly unhelpful.”
“I did warn you,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes. “You know what? I don’t believe you,” I told him.
He cocked his head.
“I don’t. You said just a bit ago, ‘did you think I cared that she was married?’ Uh-huh. You’re a snake apparently. Sliding into people’s nooks and crannies.”
He choked on a laugh, loudly. “Nooks and crannies, is it? I’m offended by that.”
“No you aren’t. Tell me. What’s your real solution?” I asked. “If my mother wouldn’t have done what she did, would you have left the Castle at the King’s command? Would you have left her? Me?”
“No,” he said plainly. “No. I would have struck a deal with Nikolai. Nikolai liked deals. Sure, there was a chance he might have killed me for suggesting it, but it would’ve been more likely received.”
“What sort of deal?” I asked.
“It’s too boorish for a lady’s ears,” he said.
I blinked. “Too boorish? What sort of deal would you have made?”
He waved me off. “We’re speaking of your situation, not mine.
In yours, I would offer a trade. Miss Agatha for Cyrus somehow.
Sameer would keep her in Chalke; you’d bring Cyrus here, build him a home in King’s Land likely, and then you would both simply carry on with life as it was, despite your marriage. ”
“Despite my marriage. So I should just…marry Sam and agree to an open arrangement?”
He hesitated. “In the perfect world, yes. Unfortunately, your Cyrus is more noble than I am. He might not agree to that. He likely wouldn’t, unless you offered him something else in addition.
Something big. Something that gave him security outside of you, somehow.
Something that said, ‘Look, I do love you, but this is the best that I can do.’”
“‘This is the best that I can do,’” I repeated. “Very romantic. Wait. Is that how you got your cottage?”
“No,” he said.
“Gross,” I groaned. “Fine. But what is ‘big?’ Money? The cottage? A title? I mean, I already offered to knight him before. He refused.”
Elías raised his brows. “He refused?”
“Yes. He thought I was just giving it to him, but I wasn’t. He saved my life, and it’s not unheard of–plenty of knights earn their suits by saving the lives of their lords and ladies or through service.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m surprised he said no.”
“It would elevate his status,” I said. “Immensely. He wouldn’t be able to complain about his station anymore.”
“That’s true,” he said. There was a pause.
“Would you… Would you be alright with that? Would you entertain the idea, as Lord Commander?” I asked.
Elías slowly agreed. “Yes. As Lord Commander, I would be honored to serve with him,” he said. “He’s more than demonstrated his commitment toward your safety, I think, and that’s the whole point of the Queensguard.”
“Queensguard,” I said, sharp. “That’s the first time I’ve heard it said.”
“I’m sorry.”
“...What if I simply did it anyway? What if I didn’t give him the option to refuse? Then he would have to live here with me. Sameer couldn’t keep him. And refusing the knighthood would be…well, treason. Right?”
“Not exactly,” Elías said.
“But he’d be refusing a direct order from his Princess–Queen–his Queen.”
“No. Men can refuse the knighthood, Svana,” he said. “It’s an honor, not something you can make him do.”
“Ugh.”
“But… knowing your Cyrus, if you made a public spectacle of it… He probably would be too flattered to refuse.”
My eyes darted to his. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Cyrus Evergreen is the flashiest person I’ve ever known! Ha! Take that, you rake!” I fisted the air once in delight.
Elías chuckled.
“Would it be enough though?” I asked. “If my mother… I’m so sorry to keep asking you like this, but if my mother hadn’t done what she did, would it have been enough for you to have her but never truly have her? Could you have lived with your secret boorish deal?”
“I can’t answer that for another man, but I can tell you that yes, for me, it would’ve been enough.
Love, true love, like what I felt for your mother, like what I feel for her every day, does not wither with time or circumstance.
If Willem ólason loves you the way you love him, his honor is only so long-lasting.
Eventually, your absence or your presence, depending on if he accepts the knighthood, will eat him alive and he will seek any chance he can find to be close to you, even if not for physical pursuits. ”
I had to stop. “Did she appreciate your devotion?” I asked. “Did my mother realize how much you cared for her? The things you would endure for her?”
“Yes,” Elías said. “Your mother and I loved each other equally.”
“I don’t want to be like her,” I said. “Sometimes when I walk these halls, I feel a certain kind of sadness. I always used to worry what that meant, that I would become as sad as her. But I don’t want to be.
And I don’t want to be like my father either.
I want to be me. My own person. I want my people to hear my name and associate it with the things I do.
And I want to do good things, like give freedom and peace, and love to our people.
I want them to see that love exists. That even in the hardest of times, I am there, and I am there protecting those things.
Protecting love. Love of family, love of empire, love of each other and love of self.
My father always said iron does not shatter, but in his letter–his last letter–he said it builds.
It protects. I want that to be the Eisson legacy.
Not the War. Not the death of a queen or king.
The War was never about winning, it was about protecting Oreia and building its future, and you can’t do that if you don’t have something worth building for. ”
“You’re right,” he said.
“‘This is the best that I can do’ is not enough,” I said. “No. We need to rework the Treaty. We need to say to Chalke, this is your option. If you refuse then… Then so be it. Treaty’s off. Here are the consequences.”
“Not exactly how treaties work when already signed, but wars have been started for less. Are you willing to risk that? Risk war for your Willem?”
“It’s not just for Willem,” I told him. “It’s for Oreia.
It’s for justice. It’s for… It’s for women everywhere.
For every little girl who looks at me and thinks ‘that is my queen. She wasn’t traded.
She wasn’t bought. She wasn’t afraid. She chose her fate, just as I can choose mine.
’ Yes. I’m willing to risk war for that. Are you?”
“And a thousand more to follow, with that purpose,” he said. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that; however.”
“Right. Of course. We need to word it in a way that benefits both kingdoms, not just me.” I sat at the helm of the desk and drew the Treaty closer. “How do I do that?”
“Land,” Elías said. “Marriages. Money. Resources.”
“Right.” I sat still. Then I looked up at him over my back.
“Here,” he said. He pulled the map out from beneath the parchment, placing it half way over the Treaty. “Look at the map. Look at the houses.”
“Yes, the map,” I said, annoyed. “This map is the bane of my existence, Eli. How do I even do this? I’m so lost.”
He rested his palm on my shoulder. “You need to give King Azarii something in exchange for breaking the marriage clause. In order to do that, you need to understand why the marriage worked in the first place.” He placed his finger on the border.
“By marrying into Oreian royalty, Chalke gained Oreian influence, but also a foot in the door for resources and commerce. By not marrying Sameer, you’ve broken that bridge for him. ”
“What if I just… redirected the bridge somehow?”
“Good,” he said, nodding. He pointed to another place. “You could suggest he marry someone else. Someone noble.”
My brow furrowed. “But that defeats the purpose of breaking the marriage. Doesn’t it?”
“The purpose is to free yourself, yes?”
“No, it’s—Well, yes. But don’t you think it’s only fair that Sam should be allowed to marry Agatha?”
A pause.
“Alright,” he said. “Agatha is of Chalke. She’s not royalty. She’s not noble. She’s coin. Her father is a merchant.”
“Her father advises the Crown in Chalke,” I said.
“Yes. A temporary position that could disappear once the Prince comes into power and appoints his own accountant,” he said.
“Sam would get rid of Aggy’s father?”
“It’s best not to assume he would or wouldn’t do anything,” Elías said. “Focus on what we know. And we know that her father’s importance is not guaranteed.”
“Alright. Fleeting, got it,” I said. I stared at the page.
He moved closer, directing me along the map as he spoke.
“Let’s look at existing land divides. Your father was working on recommissioning Oreian territory and their boundaries.
There are some unclaimed areas you could potentially gift to Chalke, if we can find something to entice His Majesty.
You’ll want something that appeals to him the same way his son marrying you did.
For instance, you’re not just Princess. With your coming of age, you inherited your mother’s title, Duchess of Dawne.
By marrying Sameer, his son–his lineage, would’ve gained the title ‘Duke,’ yes? "
“Yes, but there are no other duchies, and therefore no Duchesses to offer Sameer,” I said.
“Not yet there isn’t,” Elías said. He pointed to the map, to an area near Farham, close to the Chalke border.
“Here. Nikolai recently had this area surveyed. He has drafted a new boundary.” He lifted the map, then drew out another one, much smaller, more transparent, laying it over the first. It created a new area entirely for the region, splitting it into two pieces.
“He created a new place? He could do that?” I asked.
“Aye,” Elías said. “The Crown can do whatever it wants with its land and its titles. Your father envisioned this as a barony. What if you appointed someone here as Baron? Say… the Prince?”