After being seen to be chummy with Master Corey, Volithur found himself released from the extra exercise session following lunch. The Sergeant instructed him to cultivate inside the barracks at the conclusion of sparring, a command which Volithur eagerly obeyed. No one openly asked what his conversation with the noble had been about, but plenty of eyes followed his every move that day.
The next morning, the Marshal collected him after breakfast to have a meeting with the family council. “Before we get there,” the Marshal said, “I think it important for you to remember that Master Zara and Master Corey will be leaving soon. Do not poison the well to gain a momentary victory.”
As he walked beside and slightly behind the Marshal, Volithur thought on the advice. “Is this meeting to approve my marriage?”
“I think you know that it is. Be respectful and don’t speak unless requested. Do not compin and definitely do not argue.”
“Understood, Master Marshal.”
“You cause me so many headaches, Ward Harridan.”
“I’m genuinely sorry, Master Marshal.”
They went all the way to the third floor of the pace, where they were told to wait outside a rge conference room with walls of gss to give it a clear view of the exterior. Through the open doors, they could hear the sounds of an ongoing meeting. It seemed to be the Casteln presenting business to prominent members of the fifth household, then receiving approvals or denials. Occasionally there would be debates among the nobles.
The business in question seemed mostly around the schedule for using the cosmic chamber and distribution of resources. The Casteln occasionally brought up budgetary items, but anything dealing with normal currency instead of resources received an instant rubber stamp.
Finally, the Casteln announced that they would bring a marriage request up for review. The Marshal seized Volithur’s arm and dragged him through the open doors, stopping his progress just inside the room. “I, Marshal Lethevar, represent the prospective groom. He is Harridan, a ward of the Lord General pced in my care.”
A familiar form at the table stood. “I, Rowan Shaocheth, represent the prospective bride. She is Khana, the daughter of my sister and a descendant of the Lord General.”
In one of the corners of the room that held observers, Khana stood from her chair and raised her hand in a subtle wave at him. Volithur smiled back, suddenly happier than he had been in days.
The Casteln resumed his duties. “The prospective groom wishes to marry?”
“I do, Master Casteln,” Volithur managed to squeak out.
“And the prospective bride wishes to marry?”
“I do,” Khana said clearly.
“And what do the members of the family council say?”
“They shouldn’t be allowed,” came the vicious words of Lydia. Volithur spotted her at the long table, where she gred at him with a self-pleased expression.
“There is no reason to prevent a marriage,” Master Rowan insisted. “Khana is disinherited already. No scandal exists. This will even save the household conventional funds.”
“He was responsible for us losing the academic competition. He shouldn’t be rewarded.”
As one, the other members of the council turned to one of the corners as if awaiting something. With a sigh, a woman there with a level nine soul stood. She had ptinum hair in a short cut that framed hawkish features. Her piercing gaze swept the room, causing anyone who met it to freeze and look downwards meekly. She dispced the Casteln to stand at the head of the table.
“I don’t prefer to interfere in the self-governance of the auxiliary households. But in this case, I believe there is an important matter to be addressed. Why is there a child on the family council?”
No one spoke. Volithur found great joy in seeing Lydia go pale at the question.
Master Zara scowled. “Everyone remains silent? Then you stand and speak, child. Justify your presence here. That was a command.”
A quivering Lydia rose to her feet. “I am sorry, Senior Zara.”
“You are sorry? That is an apology, not a justification. Why are you here?”
The Casteln bowed and interjected when the girl could not respond. “Master Zara, the girl is not on the family council. She comes to observe.”
“She sits at the table. She voices opinions. Child, I demand you justify your presence.”
Lydia, tears running down her cheeks, could only apologize once more.
“You have no justification. Children have no pce here. Lydia, you are to leave this room and never return until you reach your majority. The adults in this room should heed my advice well. Do not allow any child, no matter how promising you think their meager talents, take a position of leadership in the household.” Master Zara skewered everyone at the table with her fierce gaze before retreating back to her chair. Just before she sat, she issued a crisp order. “Continue.”
The Casteln cleared his throat. “Are there any objections to the marriage?”
Silence. “Then approval is given. Congratutions, Khana and Harridan. Master Rowan, do you have a timeline for the wedding celebration?”
Master Rowan stood once more. “I would like to hold it on the day of her majority. That is a little over one month away.”
“Does anyone object?” Silence met the Casteln’s question. “Approved. Is this sufficient, Master Rowan, Marshal?”
When both men agreed, the Casteln pronounced that item of business complete. The Marshal pulled Volithur back out the door. “You are free until lunch, Ward Harridan. Don’t cause me any further headaches.” Then the Marshal entered the room and moved to stand near the Casteln.
Volithur’s fascination with the proceedings vanished as Khana jumped through the door and embraced him hard enough to take his breath away. “You have no idea how much I missed you,” Khana said. He brushed a stray hair away to tuck behind her ear. “I couldn’t wait to see you again.”
The voice of Master Zara echoed out into the hall. “I hope I do not need to give a lecture on the inappropriateness of public expressions of affection.”
They both turned to stare back through the door, where every head had turned their way. Master Zara wore a small smirk, but the Marshal had spped his hand over his face in despair. Khana pulled him into a fast run away from the disapproving adults.
Their path to escape ended in the library where they had spent so much time together. Khana spun on him when they were alone once more. “I can’t believe you swayed Senior Corey to champion our cause.”
Volithur took her hand. “Khana, I never asked you to marry me.”
She winced. “I know. I thought you might, though, and we needed an excuse in the moment.”
“I want to. Marry you, I mean. I want you to be my wife.”
He didn’t get out any more words before Khana pounced on him. They almost repeated the events of the night they had been caught, but something in Volithur’s brain warned him that ravishing a noble girl on the library table could cause the Marshal a bit of a headache. Khana seemed to realize that as well, because she didn’t object when he pulled back.
“I am so happy Senior Corey intervened,” she said.
“I know how we can repay his kindness,” Volithur said. “Tell Ronda what he did for us.”
“I think everyone in the pace already knows about that.”
“Oh. Maybe tell Ronda that he sparred really gently with me?”
Khana ughed. “Senior Corey doesn’t need our assistance. Ronda may not be overly clever, but she understands her circumstances well enough. The third daughter is the most influential of the Lord General’s children. So long as Corey doesn’t make a complete ass of himself, he will have an easy courtship. From what little I have seen, they appear well matched. Attractive and charitable and a touch naive.”
“I wonder what people say about us as a match?”
“Nothing nice, I would imagine. Two troublemakers shaming the estate. It doesn’t matter. We won’t be here for much longer.”
“Khana? What if the Lord General doesn’t make me a footman? It was a casual conversation from years ago. He might not even remember it.”
“Then we find our own way to Tian.” Her voice was filled with such certainty that Volithur almost believed they had the ability to forge their own destiny. The truth, of course, was that neither of them possessed much talent and would go nowhere without the resources a noble family could provide. He wasn’t even sure they would be better off on the Xian home world if they arrived without connections of any kind.
As they slowly gravitated closer towards one another in a way that would no doubt cause problems should they be caught, strident screams erupted from deeper in the pace.
