Janos Gregory, Lord of Stone Hedge, stood in the center of Oakheart's main hall and vented his anger at those in front of him. The man's fists were clenched at his sides and his eyes blazed with anger. "You'll have to cut my throat before I will ever give up my lands to the Blackwoods!" The lord yelled.
Faith repressed a sigh. Surely there were more important things to be dealing with than this nonsense. The discussion had been going on for hours and showed no sign of letting up. In many ways, the conflict had been going on much longer than that between House Gregory and Blackwood, so perhaps the queen mother should just be thankful that she'd only had to put up with a small part of it.
"My lord, you must." A softer, more reasonable voice replied. It was Melinda's. "Each side must make concessions in order for peace to be achieved."
"Buggar peace!" Lord Gregory raged, spit flying from his mouth. "We're at war, aren't we? My House has only recently been recovered from the rebels and taken back lands that were stolen from us. I'll be damned to Hell before I give up some of our lands to another enemy of our house."
"House Blackwood is not your enemy, my lord," the queen said from her place at the head of the council table.
That was not a likely concept that would win any arguments, Melinda. The feud between Blackwood's and Gregory's has lasted for centuries, and certainly will not be solved as easily as that.
Lord Gregory looked quizzically at Melinda as if trying to determine how she had managed to be permitted in the same room, much less be allowed to speak to him. Faith was used to that look as well. "With all due respect, my lady, I don't need you to tell me who my enemies are." He grumbled.
"You're talking to your queen, Janos," her uncle said from beside her. "She is not a lady to you. She is your queen. Best remember it when addressing her."
Lord Gregory turned on the speaker snarling. "What do you know of this Lord Harrison?" He shouted. "It seems both Lady Faith and… Queen Melinda have usurped your power from you here."
Melinda turned in her seat to look at Harrison and so did everyone else in the hall. Faith smiled, happy that her uncle had listened to her criticism toward him last night and was defending their queen.
Harrison York, now the Lord of Oakheart, stood to face the other man. Idly. his hand dropped on to the pommel of his sword. It was a casual gesture but the threat was clear. "My heart is of these lands Janos, same as yours. Besides, may I remind you, my lord, that you swore an oath to obey the crown. That extends to both the king and queen, and believe me," the old man smiled tightly, "that is an oath you will uphold."
Lord Gregory shrunk from his liege lord's harsh tone. He seemed ready to make yet another attempt at an argument but Melinda forestalled him.
"My lord, I implore you, look at the treaty I've drawn up." She said and then her handmaiden Sera brought her a scroll of parchment that she unrolled. "It divides up the disputed lands equally between your two houses and proposes a union by the marriage of the two families in a year or so between your daughter Barbara to Nicolas, Lord Blackwood's heir. Your grandchildren will have a claim to the lands of both houses then."
Janos Gregory stood in silence for a moment, phrasing his response carefully, but his anger seemed to be clear against his better judgment. "With respect," he paused as he rolled his eyes. "my queen," it came out rather harshly before and there was another pause before he continued. "I would rather be dead and rotting in a crypt than give my Barbara to Blackwood's boy."
Faith looked sideways down the table at Melinda. She did warn her about that. Her good-daughter shared a glance with her and she could see the annoyance on her face.
"Again," the angered Lord spoke, "I say this with all my respect to you. No one here has a higher regard for your husband than I, but you are newly arrived in the riverlands and even Oakheart. You cannot be expected to know the history and traditions involved here. How could someone like you possibly be expected to adjudicate this matter correctly?"
Lord Gregory talked as if he was addressing a small girl and Faith looked from the middle-aged lord to Melinda, who did not seem affected by the man's words. At least not outrightly and that was a smart move. The young queen couldn't seem daunted by them for fear of being called over-emotional though she seemed to be considering them.
"I may be new to the region, but it seems to me that this state of affairs cannot continue," Melinda said evenly as she rolled the scroll back up. "And in the king's absence, I have the authority to suggest any course of action." The queen smiled sweetly at the older man, "I am well within my rights to order the settlement to be made."
The young queen left that hanging for a moment and Lord Gregory stared open-mouthed at her, anger radiating from him like a furnace.
"You would dare order me to give up my family's land?" The lord spat, rage consumed his face and turned it a bright red as he stepped forward, but before he could get too far one of the many guards in the room advanced and blocked his path. "You would force my beloved daughter to marry Blackwood's spawn?"
"Your two houses have done such things before, my lord," she reminded him doggedly as she took a sip of wine and leaned back in her chair. "The two houses have been linked by marriage in the past, have they not?"
Much good did it do them.
"I could be wrong, your grace, but remind me," Gregory said, gritting his teeth, "No sovereign, no matter how powerful, has the right to command a marriage. The laws of God and men are clear on this, are they not?"
They may be clear, but that has never stopped anyone before at commanding some young innocent girl to marry a man twice her age or even vice versa.
Still, the Lord had them in a corner, Melinda was too conscious of the need for the high lords and smallfolk's goodwill than to force a marriage between two houses that are so bitterly opposed to it. The queen would not be so stupid and risk a revolt over this.
"I said I could my lord, not that I would," Melinda said calmly as if she couldn't see the man's enmity in front of her. "It is my ardent wish that such two eminent houses can work together to resolve their issues in a peaceful and reasonable way." The queen's eyes and face emanated innocence and sweetness as it always did. "It's true that your houses have been at odds in the past, but I cannot believe that the lords of such noble, honorable, houses could not work together to solve this issue. Would not be wise enough to seek a compromise?"
That's putting it mildly.
Melinda lowered her voice conspiratorially, her eyes narrowing. "I think it would be clever of you to realize that, in order to win, both sides must lose a little sometimes."
Faith expected such a ridiculous ploy to be thrown back in her good-daughter's face and was shocked to see that Janos Gregory had reddened at Melinda's words. The lord seemed chastised, maybe even humbled.
Men really were a foolish lot when called out in front of a large crowd.
"Perhaps," Lord Gregory allowed, adopting a more measured tone as he spoke, "But never in the past has such enmity existed between us. House Gregory has tried to be reasonable-" Her uncle Harrison snorted his disbelief and the Lord gave him a dark look before continuing to address Melinda. "We have tried to be reasonable, my queen. It was out of our wish for peace that we petitioned Lord Harrison to make the final ruling on the matter of the lands currently occupied by the Blackwoods."
Faith fought from rolling her eyes. There was no one present who did not understand that Gregory had approached Harrison at this time hoping to capitalize on the new Lord's inexperience and willingness to please.
The man meant to seek some profit from her fathers' death and for that alone, she wanted to deny him of anything he wanted. The matter of the timing of Janos Gregory's petition was also suspect in that Lord Blackwood wasn't at Riverrun to press his own suit.
The whole thing stank.
Thankfully, her uncle Harrison had seen what was happening and took the scroll directly to Queen Melinda had delayed the discussion of it until the next war council. Faith had been there with the queen, who had wanted to wait until Jim could arrive to discuss it at all, but she had urged her good-daughter to do it anyway and knew that the girl would be able to handle it with her council at her back with whatever decision she made.
Faith wished she had had a painter on hand to capture Lord Gregory's face when he had entered the hall, expecting Harrison to agree to the terms of his petition, which on the face of it had seemed reasonable and proportionate. Except that the man had known that Lord Blackwood was in the field with the King.
Lord Gregory had taken that for victory. However, he was taken aback to discover that Queen Melinda had taken control of the entire situation and drawn up a new settlement of the disputed lands, one that was equal and fair to both parties rather than just seeming so. Not only that, but she had gone one step further by proposing to ally the two houses in marriage, but that had not been his plan at all.
"Your grace, surely you can understand my dismay." Janos Gregory said, gritting his teeth. "The future of my House is uncertain and I will -" At this, his face and tone became even more defiant. "- I will not trade our land away so easily."
"My lord, I understand," Melinda smiled sympathetically at her guest. "Believe me, I do. House Gordon has been accused of usurping Aurora by House Fraser for generations, but the fact that we are at war and that all our lives are at risk is precisely why you must set aside your feud with Lord Blackwood and make peace."
The young queen had him cornered now and Lord Gregory regarded her for a moment, lost in thought. For a moment Faith thought that Melinda's argument may have got through to the Lord of Stone Hedge, but then he shook his head angrily.
"I appreciate your words, your grace, and I know that they were honestly meant." Lord Gregory replied, but he folded his arms, "But I will need to talk the terms through with my family. My Barbara for instance will need to be consulted. I will not sell the flower of my house like some peasant."
Faith looked down the table at her good daughter. The young queen had a small smile on her face. Doubtless, Melinda was considering that that was exactly what her father did to her. Still, she and Jim seem to be well-suited for each other.
"Very well, I understand." The queen said, standing from her seat at the table. The others followed suit. The queen clapped her hands in front of her as she smiled. "Please do think about it, but don't take too long in doing so, my lord."
Janos Gregory nodded stiffly, gave a perfunctory bow, and then strode from the room. The heavy doors closed firmly behind him.
Lord Harrison regarded the queen, "That one will never yield to sense."
"Perhaps," Melinda said, still looking in the direction of the main doors to the hall. "We will give him time to think on the matter. These things should never be rushed into."
"He's a fool." Harrison said, "From a long line of fools. My brother was once asked to mediate the squabbling of the two houses years ago. My brother agreed and then reserved his judgment. He thought them both a pair of fools for arguing in the first place."
"It's a pity that an agreement could not be reached," Melinda said as she settled back into her chair. "It is an ill wish to a liege lord to allow two of his bannermen to be so at odds." At this, the queen turned to look apologetically at both Faith and Harrison. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect."
Faith felt a pang of loss in her heart. She found she could not find the words to reply, fortunately, her uncle came to the rescue.
"Ah, it wasn't Harold's fault." The grizzled old man walked over to a side table to pour himself a tankard of ale. As he poured he spoke over his shoulder. "My brother listened carefully to what they both said but then, in the midst of the discussions he arranged to marry me off to Gregory's daughter." The man turned back to the table, he took a swig from his tankard. "Problem was Harold forgot to ask me what I thought on the subject. Seemed to think it was his right as the elder brother to make matches as he chose."
Harrison sat down at the table, his armor making it difficult to take his seat.
"You were both as bad as each other." Faith reproached him quietly. Brothers never ceased to be brothers no matter how old they get. They knew exactly how to wound one another, even after the other died.
Her uncle looked shamefaced at her. "Ah, ignore me, Faith," Harrison grumbled. "I loved Harold, but on certain things, we could never agree."
"At least your father died knowing that the riverlands were at peace again," Melinda smiled grimly, "That the rebels were pushed from your lands."
That was true at least. "He didn't speak much at the end." Faith said, fighting the urge to cry, "But I like to think he heard me relay the message."
Her uncle gave a satisfied nod. "I bet he did, Faith." Harrison drained his tankard and stifled a belch.
Faith nodded silently. She shut her eyes and willed away the pain and fear until she felt a hand close over hers. She looked up into Melinda's compassionate face.
"Thank you, my lord," Melinda said to her uncle Harrison. "I believe that is enough for today. We will reconvene and call the entire council tomorrow."
"Of course, your grace. We most likely will only hear Lord Gregory's excuse for why he can't take the deal," Harrison grumbled as he rose from his chair.
Faith did not hear he left the room. When she next opened her eyes she was alone with her good-daughter and then moved to stand. "I should go as well, your grace."
"Please stay, mother," Melinda said slowly and gave her hand a squeeze. "I have news I would like to share with you."
What news?
"Nothing too serious I hope?" Faith knew her fear was evident as she turned back around. The tension of her body was excruciating as she sat back down. She felt like a bow being pulled taut before the arrow was let go. She could not bear any more bad news.
"Well, it is serious," Melinda said, but she was smiling at her and didn't look at all worried by whatever she was about to tell Faith. "But it's nothing bad, that I can promise you. I had wanted the king to be the first to know and who knows if the raven I sent ever reached him, but I have wanted to tell someone other than Lady Katherine."
Realization struck the older woman with the force of a hammer on an anvil. She could only look at the queen for a moment and for the first time in as long as she could remember a genuine smile began to pull at her lips. "You mean…"
"Yes," Melinda said, her face radiant with happiness. "I had a healer confirm it yesterday morning and I am carrying the king's child."
Later that day in the outer chamber of the queen's room, Melinda saw Faith Clancy standing at the far side of the room, her hands clasped before her. The lady wore a fine blue and grey dress, embroidered with fishes, the sigil of her late father's house.
"Mother!" She said joyfully as she stepped into the chamber and Lady Katherine left to find Prince Ned as she had just told her. Melinda swept past her friend and took the old woman's hands in hers. Smiling, she reached up and kissed her good-mother on both cheeks. "How nice it is of you to visit me."
Faith Clancy returned her smile, though a bit more thinly and awkwardly. "Thank you for receiving me, your grace."
Melinda could not help but notice the formalness of the tone. Well, that won't do at all. There must be news the woman wanted to tell her. She indicated a set of chairs by the fireplace and the two women settled into their seats.
"I understand that the old healer at Oakheart, Howie, was here earlier?" Faith eyed the queen's stomach anxiously. "There's nothing wrong I hope."
Gossip certainly did travel through Oakheart faster than a bird's flight, and now she knew the old man's name too without asking him shamefully. "Oh, yes. There was nothing wrong. I just wanted to have the old man examine me further." At Faith's skeptical look, she explained further. "Healer Vyman that traveled with us from Aurora had already confirmed I am pregnant, of course, but the healer here at Oakheart has had a greater deal of experience with pregnancy considering you were living here during the last rebellion when you were pregnant with both the king and Prince Ned. I would be foolish not to take advantage of his experience."
"Of course, your grace, I understand that decision entirely." Faith said, nodding in approval with a smile. "Howie was wonderful during both my pregnancies and I doubt he will be any different with you."
Though Melinda could tell she seemed distracted and she let her gather her thoughts. Faith's husband and father were both dead, and her eldest son was off fighting a war. She could certainly forgive the woman if her mind was elsewhere.
"I was surprised to hear about you being pregnant so soon," the old woman said, waking from her revelry. "It is rare for a bride to become pregnant on her wedding night."
Where was Faith going with this? Did she believe Melinda was making it up? No, that couldn't be, right? Surely Faith realized that she wouldn't have asked Howie to examine her today had that been the case?
"Rare, but not unheard of," Melinda replied with a shrug. "After all, you yourself conceived the king on your wedding night if the stories are true."
"The stories are true because King Aiden went off to war three days after we were married," Faith allowed with a slight look of dismay toward her. "It's just such a rare thing."
"Maybe not so rare because Jim is, after all, his father's son," Melinda said simply. "The Clancy's possess strong seed. That's what I'm hearing around the castle about Prince Ned."
Lady Faith smiled in return but the expression died quickly. "Yes, I heard about my son's indiscretion as well, but what I was mainly concerned about was that the dates would not….match up in the end. Perhaps… if you and Jim were intimate with each other earlier than your wedding night…" Melinda froze for a moment as she considered it and regarded her stonily. Faith went on hurriedly, "If that was the case then we can do things to hide it, some babes can come earlier than expected. I just thought you might like to make preparations for any gossip that may arise."
Was that what Jim's mother truly thought? The queen stopped herself from laughing with a simple effort by biting her tongue. She grimaced, but in truth, she had originally feared that Faith had been accusing her of being unfaithful to the king and was grateful that was not the case even if it was not true.
"Mother, you do your son a disservice," she told Faith. "Jim acted honorable with me." Too damned honorable in fact, she thought. Melinda had tried many times to get her husband into bed before their wedding night.
The old woman held her gaze for a second and then breathed out a sigh. Her head sagged slightly. "My apologies, your grace. It's just that it is so unusual and rumors aren't what we want to spread. Not with what is going around right about Ned."
She nodded, understanding even if it cut a little deeper than she would have liked. "I can assure you, my lady, Jim and I did nothing improper before our wedding night." Though it wasn't for the lack of her trying.
Faith nodded. "As I said before I apologize for making any assumptions about Jim's or your own honor, Melinda," the older woman said politely. "I know that my son loves you and I would not want rumors or innuendos being spread just because of a little… impatience… at the beginning of your union with him."
Melinda reached forward and took the older woman's hands. She smiled brightly as she looked firmly into Faith's eyes. "I promise that nothing like that occurred. I came to love him first from afar and there were a few times when we became close… when Jim and I came dangerously close to impropriety..." She saw the king's mother blush slightly and then kept the details simple between them, "That was all it ever was, mother. On my own honor, I swear it."
Jim's mother nodded in satisfaction. "I believe you and express my apologies again."
Melinda spread her arms. "No, no. Thank you. For caring enough to ask and still protect my honor."
Faith fidgeted in her seat. "Is Jim pleased with the news?"
Her smile faded. "I believe he would be, but I have yet to receive a letter from him," she answered.
Faith's eyes narrowed. "You think so? I would have expected my son to be overjoyed at the news of an heir."
Melinda could not meet the other woman's eyes. "He is doubtlessly distracted by the war, mother. I'm sure he's gotten the letter and is excited, but there are a lot of other important things that could be plaguing his mind." She could not bear to tell her to say that she had found Jim's silence to her latest letter quite unusual. Cold even.
More than anything else it confused and hurt her. It left her wondering what could've happened to him and if it was something personal or if it was just the stress of war?
Faith let out another deep sigh. "It's all probably too much for him to take in. Too much has happened in such a short space of time to my son. Aiden dying, the war igniting all over the realm, and now his grandfather has died too. Plus, Jim himself is in constant danger. I fear that my worry and concern led me to overstep my bounds."
Melinda patted her arm reassuringly. "There is no need to reproach yourself, mother. Jim's reign will mark a new era for Grandvista. A golden era." She told her, trying to stay positive. "It's important that it begins well."
Well, it was going as well as could be expected when the nation was in the midst of a civil war.
Faith nodded again, she glanced over her shoulder towards the open window that looked down onto the river. "My father's funeral will be held soon."
The queen was surprised by the change of topic. What could I usefully say to that? "I am so sorry for your loss." She said coridally.
The old woman blinked back tears. "Has there been any either word from the front and if Jim will be returning in time to attend?"
She nodded, smiling. "There has been word of the king returning for his grandfather's funeral and then we all will travel together to Shadow Creek for when Lord Harrison marries one of Lord Dillard's daughters."
"Yes, I remember," Faith confessed, shame creeping into her voice. "But I am glad he will shortly be here – though I fear that leaving the campaign in the west unfinished will be a decision that comes back to haunt him. We truly don't know what Rick Payne has up his sleeves."
"I see no harm in what he's doing," Melinda replied. "The west is all but conquered." God, she was relentlessly morose. But then in Jim's mother's place, she supposed she would be too. "I assure you, my lady. Lord Edward Buckley is an able man. He will keep the west in line for us."
Faith smiled, but it lacked warmth and depth. "I just worry for my family, but am relieved that Jim will be here for my father's funeral, and then head north again with us for your brother's wedding."
She nodded. "Well, in any case. I'm sure Jim will seek justice against the rebels and any raiders left in the capital for their transgressions after all these matters are dealt with."
"I worry about the rebels and Rick Payne." Faith offered. "I simply cannot understand why Lord Rick suddenly rode north instead of fighting Jim at Roquefort. It makes no sense to yield his family seat."
"We don't know why." She said by way of reply. "All we know is that Jim is safe for the moment." Melinda attempted to change the subject. "I know we will discuss this at the next council meeting, but have you had any word from your sister?"
The older woman's eyes blazed with anger. "I have heard nothing from my sister."
Melinda cocked her head to one side. "Perhaps we should send a rider rather than a raven. Surely your sister would not want to miss your father's funeral?" She asked.
"I have no idea what goes on in my sisters' mind." Faith spat. "All I know is that she denied Jim's request for aid when he started this conflict and wanted to ride off to fight with Aiden before he fell at Silverhill. She has also ignored all my letters imploring her to visit us here when our father was ill. For that alone-" The old woman's eyes were full of fury. "I will never be able to forgive her."
"I suppose then that there is no hope of your sister answering our proposal for an alliance?" She enquired but already knew the answer. "You told me that she had an abiding fear of House Payne as an entirety. Surely, the situation is different now? If she joins us your sister can be confident she is on the winning side."
"I can do no more than I have." Faith replied sharply. "Short of going to entreat my sister in person."
"We could send a rider," she said, shrugging. "It would make sure our message got through."
"We know our message is getting through, your grace," was the old woman's curt response. "I have sent messages to all the major castles in the region surrounding her keep. The silence of it all is deafening."
Now, it was Melinda's turn to nod in agreement. There was nothing left to do then.
A/N: Jim is on his way to Oakheart! xx Mariah