10. Bayn
BAYN
Izzy seemed shocked at my proposal. This was to be expected.
As much as Izzy was a royal, she’d not been raised as one, having lived in the human realm.
I didn’t know if marriages of convenience or arranged marriages were a thing there, but here, especially among the elves, both were common practice.
“If you’ll let me explain, I believe you’ll see this is the right choice,” I said.
“Yes, please explain, a lot… You want to marry me?” Her rather stunning sea-green eyes were a bit wild. “Where did this come from? I don’t even know you!”
“You need not know me for this to work,” I responded. “This would be a po—”
“Stop right there, Colossus. I think I do need to know you. Call me old-fashioned… well actually, old-fashioned people used to do this all the time, so I guess call me new-fashioned.”
Ah, it seemed she was familiar with the idea of an arranged marriage. Good. This would require less of an explanation.
I spoke over her continued rant, raising my voice. “It would be a political marriage.”
That silenced her.
“Political? How?” she asked, looking skeptical.
“You want to defeat Valnea?”
“Of course.”
“Which means you need the titans, correct?” I waited for her agreement.
She nodded slowly. “This is how you get them. If I can return home as king, ruler of elves, that will sway many of my people. Having power over the elves has been the driving force behind everything we titans have done for generations.”
She regarded the dragon with a questioning look. He didn’t seem happy about my proposal either, lending credence to my notion that he had feelings for her. Still, his answer was moderated.
“He’s not wrong. From what I understand, that’s exactly what drives the titans.”
“Okay…” Izzy drew out the word, clearly still not convinced.
“And we have no time for a courtship, no time to get to know each other. This marriage need not be anything more than a political union, if that is what you wish.” Though a part of me hoped for more. I found Izzy rather… fascinating.
She was strong and determined, a fierce warrior.
I’d seen how she’d fought Saldrea every step of the way, even when imprisoned and with a binding collar on, she’d never relented, never given Saldrea the satisfaction of a scream while being tortured.
She had grit and fire, and I admired that.
She was also moderately attractive, if smaller than I usually liked my women.
“What I wish… is to marry for love… eventually… a long time from now,” she replied. “Is there no other way to bring the titans around?”
I sighed.
“How much do you know about titans?” I asked.
“Next to nothing, other than you’re big and you’ve been fighting the elves ever since some guy was chained to a tree for asking for equal rights.”
A vast oversimplification.
“Let me give you some context.”
She rolled her eyes and leaned heavily against a nearby wall, arms crossed over her chest.
“Mansplain away,” she griped, not receptive.
I spoke slowly, picking the right words. “Titans… respect power and strength above all else. It’s why we became titans. We pushed our physical magic to its limits, making ourselves stronger, larger, more powerful.”
“This is not his normal form,” the dragon interrupted. “Titans are normally thirty to forty feet tall. They can, however, reduce themselves to a more… palatable size.”
That wasn’t how I’d say it, but, “Yes.”
“Forty feet tall?” Izzy gasped. She gave me a once over, mouth slightly gaping. “Jesus, you’d be huge!”
I nodded. “That is correct.” I proceeded with my previous line of thought.
“We titans focused so much on strength and power we changed our very nature to be giants. Our kings are chosen through a series of trials and combat. For the most part, it has passed through one line, my family’s, the Davas.
But as a prince, I would have to defeat my father — and any who sought to challenge me — to take the throne. ”
“That’s barbaric!”
“Indeed. But it is our way.” I met her gaze evenly.
“We don’t have time for all of the contests and fights a succession would produce,” I explained.
“But if you and I married, making me king of the elves and all the races of Seial, my kind would see that as a great accomplishment, for that is what we’ve always sought.
It would elevate me above my father without the need for combat. I could sway many titans to our side.”
She grimaced.
“That… makes sense,” she ceded. “But is there no other way, other than marriage?”
I looked over at the dragon. What was his name again? If I was to marry Izzy, I should probably know her retainers. Koar…? Yes, that was it.
“Ask him,” I advised.
The dragon squared his jaw as Izzy and I looked at him expectant.
“I don’t like it, but he’s probably right,” Koar said, reluctant.
“I’ve heard tell of the gruesome succession battles.
And making Bayn your king—” he struggled to say those words, “—would put him in such a position of power that everyone, titans included, would have to acknowledge things were changing.”
“Well fuck,” Izzy grumbled, then pushed off from the wall and glared at me.
We stared at each other.
“So…?” I asked.
“I’m thinking!” she hissed.
“If it helps, marrying me would also give you a general for your armies. I know you said you’d fight, but you also made it clear you lack military experience, which I have.
As king, I could fight by your side and lead our armies to victory.
” This had been one of my goals all along, but I’d added it into the conversation subtly, a secondary notion.
The dragon grumbled at this. “Non-titans wouldn’t follow a titan general.”
“What he said,” Izzy agreed. “People around here have thousands of years of hating you to overcome. It might make things awkward. Being the general of the titan armies makes sense, but everyone else…” She grimaced and shook her head.
My ire rose. That wasn’t good enough.
“No.”
Izzy raised her brow. “No?”
“My people would not respect me if I was king in name only. If I don’t command all the armies, rule over all the people, they’d see our marriage as a farce, with me ceding control to you.
I need to be in control of everything.” Fuck.
I shouldn’t have said that last part. I quickly amended my statement.
“To get the titans on our side, they need to see me in command of all the races.”
Perhaps that was an overstatement. It was possible the titans would follow me if I was simply king, and not commanding all the armies, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
The notion of taking orders from anyone rankled me.
I would not let anyone control me. I was finally free from my parents and Saldrea and I’d not put on shackles for anyone else, ever again.
“Look buddy, we all have to make compromises,” Izzy said. “And I’d be making a rather massive one by marrying you.”
My anger flared.
“And I’d be making a rather massive one by letting you rule beside me, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go,” I growled.
Because, as strong as she was, I wanted nothing more than to have Izzy submit to me.
It was the only way I could trust her. If we were equals, I’d never know if she might betray me, like Osserime had.
“We can rule as equals, but since I’m the one with military experience, it only makes sense for me to command our armies, all of them!
” That was my compromise. We’d both have a say in ruling the fae realms, but I’d control the military.
That way I’d only have to worry about one person turning on me, betraying me… her.
The dragon bristled at my tone. Let him. I was not going to let this go. The calm that I’d tried so hard to maintain for this conversation finally broke, and words poured forth.
“My parents imprisoned me when I disagreed with them, then they gave my sister to Saldrea and I was forced to take orders from that psychopathic elf. I’m not going to take orders from you either, or anyone else!” Fuck. My fury had made me say too much.
“Who said I’d be giving the orders?” Izzy shouted back. “Wouldn’t we be working together, if we did this? I don’t even want to be giving orders, but I’m not so certain you should be the one doing it either. I don’t think I want someone with an anger management problem in charge of our forces.”
Anger management? If only she knew how well I was managing my anger and not giving in to my basest desires to tear this whole world apart for what it had done to me, and my sister.
Still, I took several deep breaths to rein myself in.
Izzy took advantage of that pause.
“Your parents imprisoned you? Why?”
This was why I shouldn’t let my anger speak for me. Now I had to answer a question I didn’t want to.
I gave the abridged version.
“I opposed working with Valnea. We should never have listened to her. I thought it best to wage open war on the elves, not sneak around helping one elf gain power over another, with the promise of more elven deaths in the future. For that, I was imprisoned.” That was the truth, if not all of it.
It was the part Osserime had played in all of that which made my blood boil with resentment.
“That sucks, I’m sorry,” Izzy said, shaking her head.
I didn’t need her sympathy.
“But to be clear, you don’t want to wage open war on the elves anymore, right?” she asked.
“I never said that,” I admitted. “Why else do you think I want to lead our armies against Valnea? Her force will be primarily elves.”
“So, you aren’t fighting for freedom, just revenge.” And I couldn’t quite say why the look of reproach in her eyes stung me so much. “Typical.”
“I am fighting for freedom: for my people… and all those who’ve suffered under the elves.” That sounded reasonable, didn’t it? But Izzy seemed to sense my evasion, eyeing me.
She sighed. “I need time to think about this. And yes, I know we don’t have time, but you’re going to give me some anyway.
This is a big decision. And… you’ll need to get over whatever hang-up you have about bossing everyone around and learn to work with me, work with all of us.
That’s the only way this is going to happen.
I may be the next queen, but I’m not a dictator. ”
That stung too. I didn’t want to be a dictator, I just didn’t want others dictating how my life would be, and the only way I could think to do that, was to have utter control over every aspect of my life.
Izzy kept going. “And that means I’m going to consult with others and maybe put others in charge of things that I don’t know anything about. And maybe that means you get to be general, but not unless everyone I trust agrees that’s the best decision. Got it?”
I ground my teeth at her firm stance. I didn’t like any of this. This is not how I’d hoped this conversation would go. Why couldn’t she agree to marry me and be done with it?
Because she was no pushover.
And a part of me respected her for it. Hell, as infuriating as she was, a part of me really liked arguing with her. She felt like a good match for me, strength for strength, will for will.
“I could walk away, go and live a quiet life with my sister, then you’d have no titans at all,” I said, testing her.
“But you won’t.” She stepped closer to me. Those sea-green eyes — so filled with her blazing spirit — were level with the bottom of my chest, so she had to crane her neck to meet my gaze. “Because you want this fight as much as I don’t want to fight. And we’ll need people who have your fire.”
Fuck if she wasn’t right.
“You have till morning,” I said, mostly because I wanted to give a hard ultimatum.
Before she could argue, I stormed out. I needed to get away from her. She’d been so close, and for some reason I’d wanted nothing more than to grab her, lift her off her feet, and kiss her. And that infuriated me.
How could she affect me like that?
Where had those feelings come from?
She made me feel… vulnerable. Wanting her gave her power over me. I’d given that power to Osserime and she’d abused it. I wouldn’t let another woman captivate my heart or mind.
And yet… I couldn’t stop thinking about Izzy as I returned to my small residence. She was just so different!
She was an elf, she had their strength and pride, but none of the arrogance or haughty superiority.
She had never once, while we’d talked, tried to dominate me or use force like Saldrea.
She was powerful but didn’t revel in her power.
Hell, half the time it sounded like she didn’t want to rule at all.
And that baffled me.
What sort of person didn’t want to use their power to rule over others?
A good person…
So, what did that make me?