Queen's Own: This is a follow-up fic to Being His. This is the story of Lianne and Kaddar. There's a little bit of alternate history here; remember this is an AU. This fic is being beta-ed by Milky Way Bar, so everyone should give her claps for that. So please, read on and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tammy came up with first.
Lianne of Conte murmured a quiet 'Thanks' to her youngest brother as he stepped in beside her with a glass of red wine. Quietly, he slid into the seat beside her, and tried to insert a few chance remarks into the conversation she was having with two girls fresh from the convent. Both were from fairly liberal families and were fairly pretty and polished. But, as always, their good manners deteriorated when it came to him and their snubs were only thinly disguised behind a veneer of politeness.
Roger of Eldorne sighed and sipped at a glass of his own wine. He could hardly blame them- most people's manners were nonexistent when confronted by the king's bastard. Excluded from the conversation, he surveyed the ballroom.
It was fairly full tonight, what with the expected guest and whatnot. Normally, there were only ambassadors from foreign countries, but the Carthaki delegation had been working hard here ever since a group of mages at the University had uncovered Emperor Ozorne's plot to unleash immortals upon Tortall and its neighboring lands. After a messy fiasco, during which the barrier between the Divine realms and the mortal realms had in fact been breached, the emperor had been dethroned. His heir, Kaddar, had acted instantly to replace his country's political alliances. In a show of good will, the emperor himself had come to Tortall for what promised to be a week of dinners, balls and political maneuvering. Tonight was the first of those balls.
Roger sighed again and took another sip of wine. Lianne had begged him to come along, after the piece of gossip that strictly political bonds were not the only ones Kaddar hoped to have with Tortall's royal family. Faced with his beloved sister's request, he had quickly given in. Yet now, disappointing his sister seemed nothing next to the thinly-veiled scorn and disgust he always faced at gatherings like these.
He discreetly surveyed his sister. She was more than a match for anything Carthak had to throw at them. Her deep lilac dress skimmed her slender curves, setting off amethyst eyes that had a spark of intelligence and her mother's fire in them. The round neckline showed off her collarbones and the long sleeves hugged her arms down to slightly past the wrist. Red curls tumbled down to the bottom of her ribcage, partly drawn back in front in a clasp made from purple glass, practically glowing against the dark dress.
His eyes were drawn sharply to a squire, making his way towards Lianne and himself. "Your Highness," the squire said. "The king requests your presence by his side, as His Imperial Majesty should be arriving any time now." Lianne smiled and thanked him. Excusing herself from the girls, she beckoned for him to follow her, as she stood. Roger too excused himself, though the two paid him no mind, and followed his half-sister.
Lianne stepped up beside her father, swallowing back the butterflies churning in her stomach. I knew it would come to this. I always knew I would have to make a political marriage. Yet the idea in theory was a bit easier to handle than the stark reality approaching her right now.
She took her place standing to the left of her father's throne. Roald, the heir, stood on his right, tall and somber in charcoal grey. He smiled encouragingly at her across the throne- she smiled weakly back, amethyst eyes worried.
There was no time to speak with either her sibling or her father, though, because at that point, one of the doors was opened and a herald stepped out. Banging his staff, he began to call out a list of foreign names and titles that Lianne didn't bother to listen to. She knew these men already, having been in social events with them for the past few months. Instead, she watched politely, though her real attention was spent glancing out of the corner of her eyes for the nearly identical brothers she knew must be somewhere near. She finally located Jasson and Roger standing not three feet away from her, when the second door was swung open.
The attention of the entire ballroom was suddenly riveted on whoever was about to walk down the Queen's Stair. The herald cleared his throat and announced the arrival of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Kaddar Inialt of Carthak. The following list of titles was long and foreign, but Lianne's attention was diverted by the figure of the emperor himself.
Looking at him, she was quite sure that most of the convent girls were probably sighing right now. He was tall, though not intimidating so, dark and handsome and carried himself with the erect bearing of someone in command. His black hair was in small braids, but not gilded, as she had heard Ozorne's to have been. The beads on the end were not precious metal but glass –obviously hand-blown though, she observed critically- in a multitude of blues and greens from nearly white to almost black. He did not wear Ozorne's famed black opal necklace, she noted, and his jewelry was fairly limited for a Carthaki. He wore only small hoops and studs in his ears, a stud in his nose, a silver bangle on one wrist and only a scattering of rings –she thought she counted four on his fingers. Well-polished leather boots came to his knees over a pair of dark green breeches. A flowing, sleeveless embroidered robe that came down to mid calf in a green several shades lighter over a loose light blue shirt completed the ensemble.
On the whole, she observed critically. Not an ostentatious peacock as we were lead to possibly believe. Definitely creates a contrast to his uncle. And despite the jewelry and the vest, very masculine- and very handsome. In spite of herself, Lianne felt a bit of excitement stir amongst the butterflies. This might very well turn out to be fun. Though she had a bit less time for flirtation than many girls her age, she was no more immune to men than they were.
In the time it had taken for Lianne to make these observations, Kaddar had traversed the length of the ballroom and was shaking hands with King Jonathan IV. He then turned to her, intelligent dark eyes meeting her own purple ones. She dipped a curtsey –precisely the right depth, she noted proudly- before rising and offering him her hand. He took it and brushed the back with a light kiss that sent tingles up her spine. Her eyes danced.
"So pleased to have you in Tortall, Your Imperial Majesty," she said softly.
"It is a pleasure," he assured her. "I was sorry to hear the news of your mother. A tragic event, to be sure. I offer my condolences."
"My thanks," she said, eyes clouding for a moment before they cleared again. He returned her hand, before moving on to greet Roald. Lianne searched the room quickly, and met Jasson's eyes. She did not show her rising excitement outwardly –it would not do for all the nobles Tortallan and Carthaki to see- but allowed her eyes to dance slightly. Jasson knew her- he would get the message and pass it to Roger. Satisfied, she returned her attention to her father.
As the monarch stood, the nobles –already quiet- subsided into silence. Despite all the odds, her father had managed to keep the respect and cautious love of many of his people.
"It is my pleasure to welcome Emperor Kaddar and to re-extend my welcome to his ambassadors. My fondest hope is that we can use your time here to reaffirm and strengthen the bonds joining our countries. Enjoy the ball with no thought to politics- business will start tomorrow. For now, I leave you to the festivities." The nobles remained silent for only a heartbeat more before the sound of talking grew again. Within seconds, the conversation was back to its normal volume.
"Your Highness." Lianne's attention flew sharply back to the Emperor, now back in front of her. "May I request the pleasure of your presence as I go to greet my ambassadors?"
"The pleasure is mine," she accepted. He extended his arm and she placed her palm on it. They swept down the steps of the dais together. Lianne was aware of the thousands of eyes on them, yet she disregarded them as the annoyances she had felt all her life. Instead, she concentrated on the light talk between her and the emperor. Time swept by as they encompassed other nobles, Tortallan and Carthaki alike, in their conversation. She was drawn quickly from the chatter by a familiar voice.
"Lianne," came Jasson's voice from slightly behind her. She turned to meet Roger and Jasson, the latter looking slightly happier than he had at the beginning of the ball, the former still looking apprehensive. She sighed; Roger was suspicious of just about everything thanks to his witch of a mother.
"Emperor Kaddar," she said, effectively drawing his attention from a conversation with Baron Piers of Mindelan, the former Yamani ambassador, and his wife, Ilane. "May I introduce you to the youngest of my siblings, Prince Jasson of Conte, and his and my dear friend, Roger of Eldorne?" Kaddar was clearly momentarily thrown off by the fact that the two identical boys were not both Contes, but his sure knowledge of Tortallan court goings-on quickly caught up and gave Roger the correct identification.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both," he said smoothly. Jasson and Roger rose from their bows –Roger's considerably deeper than Jasson's- and, after extracting a promise from Lianne to meet them on one of the balconies in a few moments, excused themselves from the Emperor's presence.
Lianne talked quietly for a few more minutes with the Mindelans before Kaddar made polite apologies for them both and excused them. She added her own excuses before accepting the emperor's arm and allowing him to escort them to the next group of people. His next choice of people was rather surprising though- a Carthaki man that Lianne hadn't met yet and the first Carthaki woman she had seen so far- there had been none with the original delegation.
Kaddar introduced the woman as Sima and the man as Aveela. The woman's personality was warm and open and she obviously knew Kaddar quite well. The man didn't speak at all; instead his eyes seemed to take in everyone and everything very intently. Sima was dressed in an open mage's robe –the color indicated a Mastery- over a pair of loose white linen pants and a fiery orange shirt that hung slightly longer than normal to the tops of her thighs. The silk shirt clung to her slender, athletic form and perfectly set off her dark skin, lighter than that of the two men, but still darker than that of say a Yamani. Aveela was much less flashy and dressed simply in a deep blue shirt and a pair of tan pants. His skin was dark, the color of chocolate. The two were an enigma, Lianne mused. Sima was obviously wealthy and Aveela's dress held no hints of affiliations to a profession, yet he wasn't dressed as flashily as many of the other Carthaki nobles she had seen.
"Sima, why don't you and Lianne go talk for a while," Kaddar said. While he was obviously trying to be polite, he was equally obvious in his wish to talk to Aveela alone for a moment. Sima bowed to Kaddar and the two women walked out onto one of the open balconies. Within minutes, Sima had swept the princess into a lively conversation about Carthak and the University.
After a while, though, Sima paused after a funny story about one of the tangles she had gotten herself into while a student. She looked at Lianne directly, and Lianne started at her direct hazel eyes. "You know that one of the reasons Kaddar's advisors sent him here is to form a marriage contract with your father." The bluntness was a refreshing change from the polite social banter she'd been engaging in all night.
"Yes," Lianne said evenly. "I was well aware of that. It's not an uncommon or particularly surprising move."
"Well, as you can probably guess, Kaddar and I have been close friends for a while," Sima said. "And so he sent me to ask you what you thought of the idea. He wants to know who he'd be marrying."
Lianne shrugged. "I knew that I was eventually going to have to make a marriage of convenience. Frankly, I can't say that the idea of a love match appealed to me that much- just look what happened to my parents. At least with a political match you've got insurance in the fact that your husband can't anger your home country by beating you or having open affairs."
"But what do you think of Kaddar as a person?" Sima persisted.
"He's handsome," Lianne admitted. "And he seems nice. Honestly, though, I've known him for less than a few hours."
"If I know him," Sima said. "He's probably worrying to Aveela right now. He thinks you're beautiful, there's no getting around that." Lianne blushed. "But Copper Islanders can be pretty stunning and they're all insane."
"I think I could learn to love him," Lianne said slowly. "If nothing else, we could easily be good friends if what I've seen tonight holds true."
Sima nodded. "Well you two will get to know each other better over this week, what with all the social events your father has planned." Lianne laughed.
"Sima?" she asked hesitatingly. "Who are you and Aveela? I mean, what is your relation to Kaddar? I noticed you were the only woman with the delegation, and Aveela I hadn't seen before today, so…" She let her voice trail off as Sima laughed softly.
"I'm not Kaddar's lover, if that's what you're asking," the Carthaki said, still laughing. "I'm simply a mage, and one of Kaddar's old friends. Aveela-" Here she hesitated for a split second. "-Aveela is –well, was- Kaddar's personal slave. Kaddar freed him upon Ozorne's death, but Aveela decided to stay with him, because, well, he's mute." Lianne gaped.
"Oh," was the only thing that made itself out of her mouth for several moments. Sima's eyes were sympathetic.
"You're going to have to get used to slavery if you move to Carthak," she said after a moment. "While Kaddar's trying to weed it out slowly on the recommendation of Veralidaine –you'll like her- it's a slow process. The economy would collapse if it were a sudden change, and there are a lot of nobles whose respect he would lose. But we are trying." The woman's eyes begged Lianne to see the reason in Kaddar's actions.
"I understand," Lianne said. "We've begun to run into problems like that here with the conservatives." She shook her head.
Sima looked relieved. "I'm glad you understand. It would be hard to live in Carthak if you didn't." Lianne tensed slightly, as it occurred to her that the woman was acting as though she'd already agreed to marry Kaddar. You know you as good as have, she scolded herself. It's an opportunity Father can't refuse. We need this alliance with Carthak.
Nevertheless, she needed to get away from these Carthakis for a few minutes. She'd only found out that Kaddar's nobles were pressuring this move a few weeks ago, when it had come up at a lunch. Tortall's nobles had never been a problem- they'd been pressing for her marriage since she'd turned fifteen. Though an alliance with Carthak had only come into question a few months ago, with Ozorne's fall, there had been a few close calls with the Yamani Islands, Galla and Tusaine. Kaddar was by far the best offer so far- and probably the best she was likely to get.
These thoughts and many more swirling through her head, she politely excused herself from Sima's company and went to meet her brothers where she had promised. To her surprise, Roald had joined Jasson and Roger. Upon seeing her, all three pounced.
"What do you think of Kaddar?"
"Who was that woman you were talking to?"
"Has the Emperor said anything about the marriage proposal?"
She waved them quiet and answered their questions. The three boys were quiet for another minute, before Roald asked the question every noble in Tortall was dying for the answer to. "Lianne, do you want to marry Kaddar? Not is it a good political move, but can you see yourself spending the rest of your life with him?"
She shrugged. "He's the best offer for a political marriage I'm likely to get," she pointed out. "He's handsome, and he seems intelligent and nice. From all appearances, he's a fairly decent emperor, and everything we've heard seems to confirm that. Yes, I could see us being good friends, even falling in love if he doesn't change too drastically. I-" She broke off at the sight of the Emperor. Roald, seeing the direction her eyes had drifted, turned quickly, and bowed. Jasson and Roger followed suit.
"Your Highness," Kaddar said. "Sima told me you had excused yourself, and I took it upon myself to ensure that you were feeling alright." Lianne smiled in spite of herself.
"Your Imperial Majesty," she said. "I'm honored by your concern. I'm feeling fine- I just wanted to speak to my brothers for a moment, that's all."
"Please," the emperor said. "Call me Kaddar. Your Imperial Majesty reminds me of my most formidable uncle." Lianne laughed lightly.
"Then I am Lianne," she insisted.
"Would you care to get a drink, Lianne?" Kaddar asked. "I hear the wine tonight is wonderful- Tusaine grown and harvested."
"Really?" she said. "That sounds wonderful. Roald, Jasson, Roger? Would that be all right?" All three assured her it was fine, so she took Kaddar's extended arm and allowed herself to be led into the ballroom. The three brothers looked at each other.
"She likes him," Jasson said finally, in that teasing tone that is a trademark little brother act.
"Yes," Roald admitted. "And he seems to return the feelings."
"It's a political move," Roger said irritably. "How much feeling can there be in it?"
"There seems to be some," Roald said quietly. "Besides, look how a love match turned out." Roger stiffened slightly.
"Political marriages can turn out much the same," Roger retorted. "Only more subtly."
"Then how do you know it goes on?" Jasson asked. Roger looked from one to the other.
"So now you're all ready to throw Lianne to him for the sake of an alliance?" he accused.
"No," Roald said, refusing to be ruffled. "But there isn't much a choice for her, is there? So why not try to see the best of it?" The anger in Roger's eyes went out.
"It's all right, little brother," Jasson said cheerfully. "She gets her determination from Mother. She'll do fine with Emperor Kaddar. Who knows? This might turn out to the best thing Father's ever done for us."
Queen's Own: So what are you all thinking so far? Please review- there is going to be some continuation if I get a decent number of reviews. So please do review- it as always means the world to me.