"Has the King made all the changes he said he would? Are K'miri rites respected? Are the K'miri allowed to gather? Are they still killed for sports?" asked Thayet.
"Sort of to all your questions," Jasper said.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "What my brother means to say is simply that yes, on paper all the changed have been made. Does this mean the K'miri are always treated as equal? No. Will they ever be? We both know that will take a complete revolution. Our father can't control all the lords and farmers who still persecute the K'miri, but the worst of it is over."
"Do you think he's doing the most he can?"
Olivia sighed. "No. He could have put a half K'mir on the throne. We both know that's the only way peace will ever truly come to Saren, and even then the King would have to be accepted. He looks the other way more than I think he should, but if he didn't occasionally he would face overthrow by his lords. The stability of Saren kings has never been strong."
"Will he continue to protect the K'mir after this marriage?"
"You'll have to stay aware and still be willing to sever the trade agreement. I think he's betting that you won't check up on him after the marriage goes through. The real question is will you be willing to deal with the backlash you may get from your wife if tensions become strained when you continue to insist on fair treatment," Olivia said, looking at Liam.
Liam shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine; she seems like a nice girl."
Olivia didn't react to his words, but Jasper's lips twitched slightly."
"So you really think there's no way that tensions can ease in the future if we continue to push for fair dealings with the K'mir," Jonathan said.
Olivia cocked her head, looking at her brother questioningly. Finally, she said, "I wouldn't say that. No one can really predict what the future will bring."
Jonathan narrowed his eyes, evaluating the woman's words. "Do you have some knowledge of this potential future situation?"
Olivia gave a player's smile. "Now, no one knows what the future will bring do they, majesty? Best not to make bets on that sort of thing in my experience."
"What sort of thing?"
"Change of course."
"What could change?"
"Why everything, of course."
"How?"
"Well, when people change."
"What people are changing?"
"Only the gods know that, your majesty. And the people themselves of course."
"Are you one of the changing people?"
"Well, I do like to remain mysterious, and change always helps with that."
Jonathan made a frustrated noise. "You are being deliberately obtuse."
"Who me?" Olivia said, widening her eyes innocently.
George laughed. "Come on, your highness. You know something about what is coming. A rebellion would be my bet. A rebellion that could nullify this treaty."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Olivia said calmly. "However, I would point out that while the marriage could be less useful, and having her here may force you to support efforts against this change, most people regardless of who they are would have an interest in maintaining this treaty. Saren needs this trade. More then the king has led you to believe. The royal treasury is going to be beggared for the dowry."
"Would you advise us to pursue the marriage?" Thayet asked.
"I suppose I would suggest going through with it if you think that my darling sister will be a good wife to his highness. If you are questioning that, I would perhaps try and drag things out a little, see if the omens that say change will come within say a year come to pass," Olivia said.
"Do you think she'd be a good wife for me?" Liam asked, his face expressionless.
Olivia smiled and cocked her head. "Perhaps the real question is will you be a good husband to her? I have no idea who would be a good wife to you. Any other questions?"
"Do you want support in this change?" Thayet asked.
"Thayet!" Jonathan snapped.
"I need nothing, your majesty. I don't know anything about it. Thank you for your generous offer."
Ignoring her husband, Thayet said, "Well, if the people that could be changing needed anything from me. I would be happy to provide what was needed."
Olivia bowed her head slightly. "Anything else we can help you with, your majesties?"
"No, that is all. Thank you," Jonathan said, seething slightly.
Olivia curtsied, and Jasper bowed. Before they left, Olivia turned and said to Liam, "Want to run tomorrow along the wall?"
Liam smiled. "I'll meet you a little after dawn?"
"See you then. Good night, your highness."
As soon as the door closed behind the twins, Jonathan looked at his son and said, "Don't even think about it."
Liam rolled his eyes. "Stop worrying. I won't be following in your footsteps."
George snorted, and Jonathan and Alanna both turned deep shades of red. Deciding to ignore his son's remark, Jonathan turned to his wife and said, "Are you out of your mind?"
"No, putting Jasper on the throne is the best thing that could happen for Saren and for Tortall. The K'miri would be well treated, and our support would guarantee a more than fair trade agreement."
"Will Jasper be a good ruler? At this point, I'd happily have Olivia put up there, but I have no idea how Jasper would be."
"I suspect he'll be good," Numair said. "We've talked about magic a few times. He's smart. He's also ruthless."
"He listens to his sister, too. More than Thom ever listened to me. If you think Olivia can rule, he'll listen enough to rule as well as she would. At first I saw so much of Thom in him, but he's less removed from humanity than Thom was," Alanna said, her eyes sad. George squeezed her hand, and Alanna smiled tightly at him.
"I take it you are on the side of waiting this out," Jon said.
"I think it depends on what Liam wants," Alanna said. "Like Olivia said, if you like Kendra than we may as well move forward with it. If not, then we try and drag this out."
Liam frowned, thinking about Kendra. Finally he said, "As of now, I have no objection, but I can't help but feel like she is not nearly as nice as she seems to be. Princess Olivia has never said anything bad about her, but she's never said anything good."
"Why would she have anything good to say? She would have no reason to love the daughter who was exalted over her," Gary pointed out.
"She also might not like her because she does things like smack her servants around," George said.
"Does she really?" Liam said.
"Of course she does," Buri snapped, standing up so sharply her chair flipped over behind her. "She's related to her mother isn't she. Her mother once beat a laundress unconscious because she ripped one of her favorite dresses. Don't think that woman will do anything but what she absolutely has to help the K'miri. Queen Lorinda may have called Thayet a K'miri brat once, but she called me a lot worse than that at least once a day when I lived at the palace with Thayet. This marriage is a terrible idea. That girl will do her utmost to destroy all the respect you have worked so hard to build among the common people. And if you don't support whatever Olivia and Jasper are up to, I swear by all the K'miri gods I will go support them with my own sword."
She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
"How long has that been building?" Gary asked, his eyes still on the door.
"Since the first conversation about it," Raoul said. "I'm glad she's finally said it. It's been interesting avoiding the words marriage, Liam, K'miri, Kendra, Saren, treaty and trade for the last months. I'm going to go after her, but if you want my opinion I'm with her and not just because if you do anything different I'll have no peace. She's right. The last thing this country needs is a princess who smacks around her servants."
Once Raoul left, Gary said, "I wonder if we could try and train her."
"She's not a dog," Thayet said.
Gary sighed. "I just don't see us being able to drag this out a full year."
"Well, we don't have to decide now," Liam pointed out. "I'll try and spend more time with her, see if she's trainable and then we can see what we want to do. We can definitely stretch it out a month or two easily. Asking us to only get certain fruit from them is totally unreasonable anyways. We were going to have to argue more."
Jonathan looked at his son in a mixture of exasperation and respect. "Fine. In the meantime, make sure running is the only physical thing you do with Olivia."
Liam sighed. "You know every time you tell me not to it just makes her even more attractive. Can I go to bed now?"
"Are you going to go find someone to join you first?"
"I wish," Liam grumbled to himself. "Good night, mother and father."
Liam walked back to his room, his thoughts on the two sisters and marriage.
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The next one will be very amusing. I've got part of it written already. Also, I'm thinking of just making this full on M. Everyone who has read my stuff knows that all my Ts are just barely acceptable Ts, and since I plan to go more into Liam's......habits.....I think I might be pushing it a little too much...and I'd kind of like to not hold back....it probably wouldn't be as detailed as the stuff in Life at the Swoop, but still maybe a little more than Raoul's Girl or Kalasin's Guard. Thoughts on this matter? I'd really appreciate your input on this.
