A/N: Finally found some wifi while travelling :)
TheRanger'sDaughter: Haha...have fun cheering :) Neither Scout nor Caitlyn were fans of their titles. Scout grew into hers. Caitlyn had no need to, so she just gave it up altogether.
AER: I miss Halt and Pauline too...perhaps Pauline's ideas will have to live on in the coming weddings...
HammyMC: Glad you found it :) I am enjoying it. I've tried to stop...3 times now? I go to other projects and seem to keep coming back to this one. This was supposed to be a trilogy...we're on #7. One day I hope to have this problem with something a publisher is interested in. That would actually be the opposite of a problem :)
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
As the welcoming feast came to an end, guests drifted to comfortable gathering places around the castle and back to their bedrooms for a good night's rest before wedding festivities really picked up. Scout settled on her balcony in a chaise with Mason. William and Anamaria had joined them, as had Tucker and Caitlyn, Daniel and Julia, Ace and Kelly, and Daniel and Julia. The only child among them was Little Lina, who slept soundly in a slump against her father. The couples settled underneath blankets in their places around the Hibernian royals' balcony.
"Elizabet and Gabe so close together," William sighed. "So sudden."
"Sean and Kineta are happy about it," Scout assured them. "It's not like the marriages are taking them far away, and they adore Neil and Lorelei."
"And Noah," Mason added. "He'll receive a title of some sort. He won't be a prince, but he'll get something."
"You're going to title him?" Ace asked. Mason and Scout both nodded.
"We were thinking earl," Scout explained. "Lord Noah Peterson, Earl of Davenshire."
"Claymound is in Davenshire fief," Mason went on. "We'll title and start training him between the two weddings. He's been eager to both find a place with us but stay connected to the home he grew up in.
"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," William smiled.
As they continued Anamaria brushed her hand against Scout's arm. Scout glanced to the Araluen queen and leaned towards her, realizing she was hoping for a private side conversation.
"Reese still no like Hazen. I hope to change that this trip."
Scout sighed, giving her a slide nod. "I agree they should get along, but how? We can't force them."
"They need be friends for political reason," Anamaria continued. "I worry we become like my home country if we no have strong ally, and Reese have no good friends with any other important family."
"He likes Robin," Scout pointed out. "The Araluen O'Carricks are becoming almost as prominent us thanks to Gabby."
"I mean royal family."
Scout nodded. "I want them to be friends too, Anamaria. Truly. But I don't see how we can force them. Hazen embraces his title fully while Reese pulls against his like a leash. If anything trying to force them will just make Reese pull even more."
Now it was Anamaria's time to sigh. "Why can Reese no take crown like Hazen?"
"I think I know the answer to that actually," Scout went on. "Hazen is taking on a crown that is new and exciting. He will be the first to begin a reign over a fully united Hibernia in centuries. Reese, however, is being put into a box with a longstanding history of tradition and expectation."
"My home country fail because no one make good friends," Anamaria whispered fearfully. "I no want Reese to make that mistake."
"He won't," Scout assured her. "He'll find his way."
"You no want to be queen at first. How you find your way?"
"Sean and Kineta pitched the title to me as an apprenticeship. I committed to five years with no obligation to go on afterwards. By then they had Elizabet and Gabe. I could have walked away without the country going into shambles, but I guess I found my fit."
Anamaria nodded, her forehead creased in seriousness. "I want Reese find his way soon."
Scout turned back to Mason and joined in explaining how the Hibernian Cavalry would do a presentation at Gabe's wedding. She wanted Reese to find his way soon too. Araluen needed a committed crown heir just as much as Hibernia, and Reese was too old to make an apprenticeship agreement the way she had. However, she knew how dangerous it would be to push him too hard. William and Anamaria had tried everything she'd try with Hazen if he had a similar attitude and none had worked thus far. She had no idea how to inspire Reese to commit to his title without tragedy or fear, so she kept quiet when his parents sought advice.
Reese went to his room the moment he could slip away unnoticed. He pulled off his princely jacket and boots and collapse on his bed. He slipped off his insignia ring, fiddling with it as he spitefully went over the night's events. Hazen proved himself a proper royal, everything his family wished he'd be, over and over without fail. He welcomed every single important guest in their native language and shared humorous conversations full of charm and wit with those around him. Though there was no formal call to dance, a few musicians had been placed throughout the castle for the guests to enjoy and Hazen spent several songs spinning of the ladies around, including each of the Araluen princesses. All this while Reese was scolded for using the wrong fork at dinner (a conscious choice purely to upset the balance of order that plagued such formal events), kept getting blocked from talking to Jin and Robin by hopeless idiots after them for their positions, and accidentally ran both Gabby and Anne into twin pillars less than two minutes after promising he'd be careful.
To top it all off, he was made a fool in front of Empress Sun by none other than the pompous Hibernian prince himself. Hazen was superior even in Nihon-Ja, a language Reese embraced on his own terms to set himself apart from the others in his family. Of course Hazen would be better that that, though. His mother raised them speaking it alongside the common tongue. Reese wished his mother had taught him more Iberion. He knew enough, but it wasn't the way Hazen knew Nihon-Ja. His mother had wanted to break off from her home country fully, and a casualty of that decision was limited Iberion-speakers to practice with. Anamaria herself only spoke it with the handful of staff she brought with her when she married his father. Reese felt cheated of half his adopted heritage on that alone.
His parents told him he'd been born to a woman enslaved by a cruel regime. The regime left its mark throughout their circle. They'd enslaved Mason, now King of Hibernia. They'd forced Ranger Liam away from his family for over two years, during which time he lost his first wife without even knowing. They had captured Caitlyn and tortured her until Liam stumbled across her covertly and rescued her.
Their actions killed his birthmother, and probably would have killed him too if Talia hadn't intervened on his behalf. Reese often wondered who his birthfather was. He tried not to let that bother him too much. After all, there were plenty of important men who didn't know their birthfathers. Kane, Russ, as well as Rangers Will and Liam.
Reese did love William and Anamaria, but he wished being their son didn't come with such an intense title and responsibility.