Two
Hiland - Rachel's Castle
"Dad?"
I looked up from the reports I'd been going over from General Carso on the current status and deployment of our armies. Suisan, my only daughter with Rachel, and my second-oldest daughter, was standing there looking at me.
"Yes?"
"I want to go with you and Mom when you leave to go to the Seven Worlds."
I blinked. "Why?"
"Because I'll never have much of a life here?" she said, giving me a look that was both embarrassed and sad.
"Suisan, you have your mom's looks and brains, plus my skill at arms. You can do whatever you want here."
Suisan sighed. "No, Dad. I can't. I'm a princess, for all that it doesn't mean much.
But guys are either too afraid of me or have all sorts of ulterior motives.
As for any princes I could marry? There aren't any.
Well, not that I'd want anything to do with.
You let Diament join the Mowoks, and while going there is a bit tempting, I think I'm a bit too spoiled to want to spend life living in a tent. "
"But if it was a choice between here and there, you'd still go, wouldn't you?"
Suisan nodded. "They don't care who my parents are, really."
"So why the Seven Worlds?"
"Because you and Mom go there. Because you'll be able to visit with me if I do find a good man and settle down.
I know Carrie is off traveling the portals like you once did, and may even end up a champion like you or Aunt Nikki, but I don't think I want that much excitement in my life.
Travis is running your inn back where he grew up and Dennis I guess is joining the guard or something.
Of course, there, you're just an innkeeper with some powerful friends, and Darlene's not the queen. "
"You know I'm famous on Juntura, though, right?"
"Yeah, I know. However, I didn't grow up there, and there's a lot more people there.
So everyone isn't going to know instantly who I am, or find out soon enough if they don't. Even if they do, so what?
Yeah, my father's a famous military leader and a champion, but I'm just one of a dozen of his kids. "
"Umm…" I felt my ears go down in embarrassment.
"Dad, that's what I'll tell anyone who thinks it makes me special. I'm not upset or mad about it, even if the number is twice that!" Suisan said and laughed. "You've been here for me whenever I needed you."
"Thanks."
"But I want to be something a little bit more than a leftover princess. Something without the politics, the intrigue, any of that. A nice husband, a family, a nice place to live. Yes, I'm boring, Dad. While I don't want much, I've finally come to realize that I can't get it here."
Standing up, I gave her a hug. "I'll tell your mother. You do understand that things are different there, right?"
Suisan nodded. "I talked with Evean when she was here, as well as Jane. The culture's not too different, even though the way of life is, because they have 'technology' and boats that can fly."
"So there's less fighting and farming, and more jobs building and making. In general. Have you given any thought as to what you'll do to make money?"
"Not really, no," she said with a shake of her head. "I figured I could just start off sweeping floors and cleaning at the church Feliogustus has there, or at the temple you mentioned they're building. That would give me a place to sleep while I learned about everything."
I nodded slowly. "Glad to see you've given it some thought, and worse comes to worst, I can always bring you back home, and you can try something else."
"Thanks, Dad."
"I want all of you to be happy, and if not happy, at least content. Go pack, and keep it light. Most of what you have here you won't be able to use there, so no use in burdening yourself down with a lot of useless stuff."
Suisan nodded, hugged me again with a slight head rub under my chin—of course, she was a lot shorter than me—and left. I took a few minutes to finish up Carso's report, then went in search of Rachel.
"So what did Suisan want?" Rachel asked when I finally caught up with her in her office.
"Having her followed?" I asked with a smirk.
"No, I just know she's been a bit unhappy of late, and when I saw her head into your office, I went the other way."
I nodded. "She wants to move to Juntura and start over."
Rachel stopped, took the scroll she was reading, and set it aside, then looked at me.
"You told her yes, didn't you?"
I nodded.
"Why?"
"Remember when we talked about what do you do with a spare prince?"
"She's not a spare… oh, I think I'm starting to see. There's no one we can marry her off to—"
"Assuming I'd allow it."
"—yes, assuming, which I wouldn't unless I liked him anyway." Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. "They're all seeing her as a political move, aren't they?"
"The ones who aren't too afraid of marrying our daughter because you're the queen, and I'm a vicious military leader."
"So why Juntura?"
"Because she'd rather not live in a tent, and yes, I think she was serious about that option."
"Still, it's a lot different than what she grew up with."
"Maybe that's the point? I know people there, you know people there. She figures she can start out working at Fel's church, sweeping and cleaning—enough to cover a bed and maybe eating—until she figures things out."
"What's her goal?"
"Right now? I think she just wants a good husband."
"But there's so much more she could be doing!" Rachel said with a sigh.
"Right, because you got a good husband," I said, grinning at her. Rather than retort, she looked thoughtful again. "What?"
"I'm starting to wonder if she's ever had a good boyfriend? Damn, maybe I should have sent her out to the Mowoks when you went visiting?"
"And what, have her playing bed bingo?"
"Bingo? What's that?"
I snorted. "I mean bed-hopping."
"Ah. But yes, exactly that. Then at least she would have experienced a good, strong male who was more interested in her and not in who her parents are."
I sighed. "We screwed up."
Rachel nodded. "I think we just might have. But she's not going to sweep floors."
"She's not?"
"Well, maybe at first she can. I'll have to talk to Nue. Suisan's got a lot of training and education. She could easily help Nue run the church, or Carol run Feliogustus' temple there. Actually, she'd probably be invaluable, helping Carol oversee the construction."
"I don't—"
"Will, construction workers are usually big and buff, and a lot of them are skilled. With her looks, she'll get a lot of attention, and if she wants to spend some time playing 'Bed Bingo', as you called it, she can."
"Assuming they're not afraid of me."
Rachel laughed. "How many people there know your last name?"
I thought about that for a moment. "No one?"
"Yes, so I'll be sure to tell Nue and Carol not to tell anyone who her father is."
"And then what?"
"That's up to her, Will, but once she sees that there's good men out there, and she can have one just like everyone else, she'll start thinking about what she wants her future to be like and what kind of man fits into that."
"Do you think we have to worry about Darlene's youngest?"
Rachel shook her head. "Darlene's children aren't royalty, so as far as I've heard, they're not getting the same treatment. I'm sure she's keeping an eye on them, however, so you might want to talk with her about them. The rest of your children don't live here in the castle and aren't royalty."
"So they're hopefully not having this kind of problem."
"I just feel bad that I missed it," Rachel said with a sigh. "I'm also surprised Baron missed it."
"Maybe he or Leiss has been trying to set her up with somebody and just failing?"
Rachel shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore, as Suisan is leaving with us when we head off to your daughter's kingdom in a few more days. I wonder how much work they've gotten done on the new palace?"
"When I was there five months ago, they had everything marked out and the foundations were almost complete."
"If only it was easier to get there," Rachel said with a sigh.
"For me I think it's about to get easier, but I'm not sure if it will be for you, unfortunately."
"Something Feliogustus is doing?"
I nodded. "I'll be able to gate directly to any of his temples there. My daughter Tiru has one on Lassen, which is less than a week away."
"Sounds like you need to turn that church you built in Suffolk into a temple, then, and of course, build a few more."
I thought about that. Rachel had a point. Also, as Fel's champion, I did have an obligation to help him build more temples.
"I'll have to talk to Nara and see what help she can provide."
"What about Carol?"
"She's mainly focused on Juntura and Syzkilmyr.
If I have to hire more people, I'll probably do it in Mangan on Lassen.
I'm sure Bazz and Makill will help me with that.
The main issue will be paying for it," I said as I considered the logistics involved.
I suddenly recalled that there was a temple and a church on Rossiya that I probably needed to check on, as well.
"Might be time to get another cargo ship or three and use the profits from that," Rachel suggested.
I nodded slowly. "Yes, it just might."
#
Four days later, we were at Fel's temple and ready to depart.
It was just me, Rachel, and Suisan. Because the priests I was planning on bringing would constitute as 'helping' with Fel's religion, I'd have to fly to our temple in Syzkilmyr and gate them through myself.
While it wasn't much fun to do that, Carol had asked for a dozen more priests or priestesses, if we could spare them, and I wanted to bring a half-dozen more of our warrior priests through, as well, to staff up the training team at the church we'd built in Dani's memory.
Plus, I was thinking of bringing along a few regular priests and priestesses to set up a new church near where the palace was being built, and a few missionaries, as well.
I didn't just want to set up the kingdom for my daughter by Dani. I wanted to set it up for Fel, as well.