“I no longer wish to evade.” He gave her a crooked smile. “My Queen, I have found a woman that I want to be my wife.”
She clapped her hands together with a squeal of delight. “
Finally!
Who?”
Why was this more nerve-wracking than going to a battlefield with only a dagger in hand? “Amalah Sebresos.”
Tresea froze, mouth opening and closing several times without sound coming out. Darius didn’t quite know what to make of her response. Did she react this way because she knew that Amalah was betrothed? Did she expect him to name some other woman instead?
Sego, thankfully, stepped in at this point. “My Queen, I’m not sure if you are aware of the full situation. You do know that Amalah Sebresos is betrothed?”
Regaining her composure, she focused briefly on Sego. “Yes, to Merikh Grygotis, I believe.”
“Are you also aware of his exact status as raj?” Sego continued neutrally.
She must have seen where these questions were leading her as the surprise faded from her face and the light in her eyes became calculating. “Indeed I do. He is the second son of the Grygotis family, and came into an inheritance through his mother, inheriting her land dowry. I believe it to be a modest estate but nothing to boast about.”
“I double checked the records last night. The estate he inherited was granted to the family by your great-grandfather.”
Tresea clearly understood what Sego truly meant. Her eyes shifted to Darius, eyebrows quirked. “Even with the position that you have in this court, you do not have the necessary right to challenge Grygotis.”
He gave a grim nod and kept going with the speech he had mentally planned out. “I am not asking you to interfere on my behalf. All I ask is that you give me the right to fight for her. A simple acre will suffice.”
Under the table, Sego smacked him in the shin with his cane. Darius grimaced at him but didn’t retract the statement. To him, a simple acre really would be enough.
Tresea caught the exchange and giggled. “I do not think that your steward agrees with you, Darius. But then, he has been working very hard to build up the reputation and power of your House. An estate granted by my Word would be very helpful in moving things along, would they not, Sego.”
Sego managed an elegant half-bow despite the table top in his way. “It is my selfish wish, My Queen.”
She gave a hum of amusement. “I could only wish that your Raj would be as selfish.” The look she gave him made him want to squirm in his seat a little.
“Very well.” She clapped her hands together in open satisfaction. “Darius, I will not give you a small amount of land. The very idea is preposterous. You will, in fact, accept the estate that I wanted to give you in the first place.” Her eyes narrowed in warning. “And when you do have it, you will
immediately
see to governing it. Every available estate that I have has been without a ruling family for at least a decade and needs a great amount of work to restore to its former glory.”
Wait, she made it sound as if she didn’t have a specific estate in mind for him. Strange, he had been under the impression that she wanted to give him one in particular. “Of course, My Queen.”
“Very good.” Standing, she went to a long bell hanging from the side of one of the bookshelves and gave it a solid
clang
. “I thought of simply choosing an estate and giving it to you,” she stated as she made her way back to her seat. “But then I realized that these estates are in different areas of the country and some of them are in more obscure locations. I didn’t know if you wanted to be in a certain strategic location or not.”
Truly, that was a question. Did he want his home in jeopardy whenever war hovered on Niotan’s doorstep? But at the same time, did he dare choose an estate that would leave him days away from the front lines? A general of his rank could not afford to be out of reach. “I do not want to fear for my family’s safety while I am away,” he told her honestly. “But on the other hand, I dare not live in an area that would leave me isolated. It would be folly to do so. Perhaps an estate near the center of the country, where I can be assured of my family’s safety, but also be able to respond quickly?”
She nodded in approval. “There are two estates that I think would be a good choice. Now if Tomes would ever get here…,” a quick knock at the door interrupted her and she looked up with anticipation. “Ah, there he is. Enter!”
A short, unremarkable man scurried inside and with his eyes on the floor, he bobbed a quick bow. His hair was so wispy as to be insubstantial and he seemed to hunch in on himself.
“Tomes, fetch the estate map,” Tresea commanded.
He scurried back outside, disappearing into the hallway for a long moment before returning with a long, rolled up cloth in both hands. Without looking at anyone, he gave a short bow before heading directly to the table and rolling out the cloth in his hands.
It was, in fact, a very detailed map of Niotan with the names of the individual estates and the boundaries it occupied. It almost filled the table from end to end, colored in the brightest tones that Darius had ever seen on a map.
“Tomes, which estates are available near the center of the country?”
“This one,” Tomes responded in a voice so soft that Darius could barely hear him, “and this one.”
He’d pointed so quickly and in such a general manner that Darius didn’t know if he really knew which estates the man meant. But Tresea knew more of her court and she clearly did understand. “Ahhh. I did remember that correctly. Darius, which would you prefer? The Tavalas estate which is here, just north of the capital, or the Soohr Estate which is closer to the harbor?”
Both seemed like prime locations. Tavalas sat more toward the Songhorn Mountains and seemed to be rather sizeable. As he had never ventured to that side of the country before, he had no idea of what the land looked like. But the estate did lay only a half-day’s travel from the capital, so it would be a good location for him. The other one, Soohr, he knew a little more about because he had travelled through that general area to get to the harbor. Hmmm. Actually that was a thought. A great deal of traffic went through there because of the trading going on between the capital and the harbor. If he were on an estate that lay near a major trade route—which this one would be—then he would never have to worry about economic problems. He was, after all, a merchant’s son. If he couldn’t do at least
some
business and come ahead, his father would disown him completely.
“Soohr,” he said confidently.
Tresea gave him a sideways look. “That estate has not had a reigning family for almost twenty years.”
If she thought that the amount of work would scare him off, she was sadly mistaken. “Soohr,” he repeated with a half-smile. “Because I want the trade routes it offers me. Even if I fall in battle, I believe that my wife and family can continue to make their home into a prosperous place.”
Her eyes crinkled up at the corners. “You truly do think like a merchant at times.”
He shrugged, unapologetic. His knowledge of trade routes and accounting had saved him more times than any amount of battle tactics would have.
“Very well, Soohr.” She gave a significant nod to Tomes. “Let it be recorded that at this hour, of this day, Soohr was granted to Darius Bresalier of the House of Bresalier.”
Tomes gave her a deep bow. “It shall be recorded as so.”
“Very good. Darius.” Her eyes softened and warmed in an almost maternal manner. “Amalah Sebresos is not a woman that I would have ever chosen for you. But I believe that she would be a good choice. Because of that, I will support your decision. But if you cannot get Grygotis to accept the challenge, then I want you to promise me something.”
This woman had just granted him a huge favor and did it without making him grovel for it. He owed her more than he could possibly repay. So without hesitation he responded, “Name it, My Queen.”
“Promise me that if you cannot win her, then you
will
choose someone else. I think you have earned some measure of happiness.”
He had absolutely no intention of losing Amalah. If Grygotis didn’t choose to accept the challenge, Darius would find a way to goad him into it somehow. From what he’d seen of the man, it wouldn’t take much to make him lose his temper. But he did not attempt to reassure her. “I promise.”
“Good. Then go. I will have Tomes send the official paperwork to you later,” she waved her hand to Sego indicating who the paperwork would
really
go to. “But as of this moment, you are officially the Raj of Soohr. Please manage it well.”
He stood from the table and crossed both arms over his chest before giving her a deep bow from the waist. It was the most formal version of thanks and gratitude that an Arapeen could do. “I can never repay this generosity, My Queen.”
“Oh, you’ll find a way,” she responded dryly. “You always do. Go. Go get your chosen bride. And when you do set the challenge, tell me.” Her eyes sparkled with anticipation and she bared her teeth in a feral way. “I want to see that man get just what he deserves.”
So she had no love for Grygotis, eh? Perhaps that had also weighed in his favor. Regardless, Darius had what he wanted, which meant it was time to set the next part of his plan in motion. With one last bow, he took his leave of her, Sego in his wake.
When they had gained the relative silence of the hallway, he turned to Sego and asked, “Where do you think we can find Grygotis at this time of day?”
“He’s normally in the inner gardens, currying favor with his betrothed’s family,” Sego responded quickly.
Darius gave him a baffled look. “Why do you always have the answer before I can even ask the question?”
“You’re predictable.”
Odd, his enemies on the battlefield never seemed to think so…. “Am I, now?”
“Oh yes. In matters regarding the heart, at least.” Sego seemed quite pleased with himself at that moment. But then, the man had cause to be.
Deciding to think about that comment later, Darius shook his head and headed for the inner sanctum of the palace.
~~~
Proving to be a creature of habit, Grygotis was in the very garden that he’d been in the previous day. In fact, he even sat at the very same bench, with his future parents-in-law on either side of him. Amalah stood cautiously to the side, out of his reach.
Darius walked directly to him in that quick stride that devoured ground. Grygotis saw him coming and stopped mid-sentence, turning to face him.
Without any preamble, Darius launched into the prepared speech. “Raj Grygotis, I issue a right of challenge under the law of this land. I challenge you for Raja Amalah Sebresos’s hand.”
Raj Sebresos looked ready to bust a blood vessel, his wife waffled between fainting from the shock or screeching, and the bystanders around him were just frozen with disbelief. He really couldn’t care less what everyone around him thought. The only woman whose opinion mattered hadn’t responded.
Amalah was rooted to the spot, her eyes wide with surprise, one hand covering her mouth. She looked…almost terrified with hope. That expression told him that he had not, after all, jumped to any conclusions. The fist clenching his heart eased and let him breathe again.
“Now wait a minute!” Grygotis took two steps forward, putting himself directly in front of Darius, brows slammed together in an expression of epic fury. “Challenge me? You think you can?”
Darius took in a breath and reminded himself to be patient. Losing his temper would make him look just as idiotic as this fool in front of him. “The queen granted me land this morning. I have the legal right necessary to challenge you.”
“Land-greedy are you?” Grygotis sneered at him in an arrogant tilt of the head. “You think that you can win more land easily by claiming a woman with a good dowry?”
In this situation, if the roles were reversed, the very
last
thing that Darius would be worried about would be the dowry. Shaking his head in pity, he turned to the woman watching this scene, and caught her eyes with his.
“Amalah,” he started and ignored the gasps for his dismissal of honorifics, “what would you have me do? I do not really care anything about your dowry. I will challenge him for just you, if you so wish.”
Grygotis and the rest of her family spluttered, staring at him as if he had just sprouted a second head. Darius spared them a glance but nothing more than that.
Amalah looked confounded for a moment as well. Then her eyes softened and her hand lowered to reveal the gentlest smile he had ever seen from her. “I don’t care about the dowry either.”
“Amalah!” her father barked in disbelief.
The look that she shot her sire had enough heat to melt steel. She clearly hated that dowry, as it had forced her into a betrothal with a man she loathed. Darius hadn’t thought she’d care much about it, but he felt it only fair to ask. It
was
her dowry, after all. She turned to face Grygotis, her head high, like a woman geared for battle. “If you will consent to release me from our betrothal, then I will give you the dowry outright.”
Like a penalty for a broken contract? Not a bad idea. One look at Grygotis clearly said he wouldn’t go for it, though. He was so red in the face that Darius half-expected steam to start escaping from his ears.
“So, you think that you can buy me with my own land?” He took a menacing step toward her, hands balling into fists at his side. “You shameless woman! You and your dowry are already mine, you have no power here!”
By the laws of this land, Grygotis was unfortunately correct. Darius had to challenge him for that reason alone. “Then my challenge stands, Grygotis.”
The man whirled on him and snarled, “Accepted.”
Amalah clapped her hands in delight, smile radiant.
“Amalah,” her mother said slowly, studying her daughter as if she were some foreign creature, “are you so sure the General will win?”
“He’ll win,” she responded matter-of-factly, as if it were already a forgone conclusion. “I’ve seen both of these men spar. Darius is clearly the better swordsman.”