Chapter Two: How Much is She Worth?
*It had been four months. Four months since Hiiro Yui had inherited his father's fief. Since then he hadn't paused from work for more than a moment. He worked just as hard as any of his servants, only earning their admiration more. From the beginning of the time when he inherited the land, Hiiro had set about improving it. Forcing the lesser nobles to reaffirm their oaths to stay loyal to him as their suzerain, he was at least comfortable knowing his own people could not riot against him. After that, he had taken a new survey of the land and decided it was time to begin planting for the coming spring season. After that he had checked the mill and taken note that he needed to replace a few of the grinding stones his father had let wear down too much. Hunting everyday in the melting snow he caught only small game, and then had to make sure that the day's catch was divided between all of his serfs and servants equally. He still pondered over his books, but with not nearly as much time to spare it was hard to catch a quiet moment.
"My Lord, the Earl of Walden is riding up the north field, and is headed for here." A serf bowed, giving Hiiro the information.
"How far away is he?" Hiiro asked, uninterestedly.
"Almost here my Lord."
"When he gets here, send him in to the great hall and we will feast together tonight." Hiiro waved the serf away.
"Very good my Lord." The serf bowed once more, then left to relay the information to the necessary people.
"Ah. So you are the son of William Yui." Hiiro had been sitting at the feasting table, surrounded by food, loudly talking men, serfs serving food, barking dogs, and other distractions. However, even with all of the distractions, Hiiro was not enjoying himself. Instead he had been working out a few figures for the next crop rotation he would have to deal with. When the dark, sneering voice snapped his father's name, he looked up to whom he assumed was the Earl of Walden.
"Yes. I am Hiiro Yui, the Lord of Blue Crest." Hiiro gave a short nod, sizing the 'Earl' up. He was of medium height and build with coal black hair and large brown eyes. Though he looked thin, it was not because he was in good health. A heavy tan green cloak rested over the man's broad shoulders, and his face was lined deep with the wrinkles age and worry had caused. He didn't particularly dislike the man upon appearance, but neither was he completely taken. The man seemed decent enough.
"I am Richard Jacobs, Earl of Walden."
"Sit." Hiiro commanded of his guest.
"I really don't have the time. It is the planting season, and I need to return to my fief soon,. I trust you know why I have even taken this much time to pay you a visit?"
"The marriage contract." Hiiro nodded in affirmative.
"When do you want her?" Richard asked.
"When can your heart part from her?" Hiiro countered. He didn't care much for when the wedding should take place, but he had read that certain fathers could have a hard time letting go of their children. His father had never been one of those fathers. But perhaps this man was…
"It really doesn't matter. Shall we discusses the dowry instead? After that, we shall set a date."
"As you wish. Why don't we leave this loud mess and discuss this more privately?" Hiiro suggested, looking around at the ruckus that his dining hall had become.
"Of course." Hiiro stood, and both he and Richard strolled out of the room, down the hall, and into a completely separate portion of the citadel. Shutting the door behind them, Hiiro offered a seat to Richard and then sat on the slightly raised chair in front of him.
"How much would you say your daughter is worth?"
"Well now. It would depend on what you are weighing. Should you wish to weigh her beauty, she would be worth over a hundred golden coins." Hiiro, despite, his aloof behavior, slightly widened his eyes. No one could be that beautiful. It wasn't possible.
"Well then. I will judge this woman upon her behavior. How much will she be worth?" Hiiro pressed. He narrowed his eyes slightly when Richard laughed nervously.
"Her behavior. She is a good strong little girl who will bare plenty of children. She will never leave you bored, I assure you of that."
"What kind of a wife will she be? An obedient one who will hold her tongue? Will she work hard and not complain?"
"My daughter will bare lots of children for you. She is strong and surprisingly quick-witted for a woman. And she is beautiful. Very beautiful. She even…"
"You have avoided my question. Will she be obedient, hard working, and non-complaining?" Richard narrowed his eyes at the young Duke Yui. This one was just like his father, quick to point out even the smallest detail missing or passed over. But he was not as friendly as his father William had been. Richard sighed.
He had first met William Yui almost twenty years ago when the two had gone before King Henry when he had been king. They had together sworn their oaths of loyalty to the King, and both had, unfortunately, together sworn their fealty to King Henry's son and successor, King John. This new king was wreaking havoc on the old ways of the feudal code, but there was nothing they could do. Back to the matter at hand.
He and William had been good friends, almost brothers until they had settled down with their families and become busy with the work of the fief. And now, here he was, arranging a marriage between his youngest child, his only daughter, and his dead best friend's son.
"She will be obedient. However, you will need to keep a firm hand with her. While she will obey you, she will not trust you. This and her attitude towards the entire situation will complicate matters deeply." Richard answered wisely.
"Her attitude towards the situation?" Hiiro asked concerned.
"She does not wish this marriage to commence. She believes I should let her marry for love." Richard sighed deeply, relaying his problem to Hiiro. Hiiro simply smirked.
"Foolish woman. They all have pretty thoughts in their head of a fantasy which they will never achieve. I will be firm with her." Hiiro assured Richard. Richard balked. Even he had never gone as so far as to even think his daughter's ideals of love and marriage were foolish. Surely he had known they would most likely never be achieved, but even his daughter herself knew that.
"My daughter is not foolish. As much as she would like to marry for love, she knows how important a good political marriage is to me. That is why she is going to go through with this in the first place."
"Well at least she has more sense than most I suppose then." Hiiro grunted. "Back to the matter of the dowry. If what you say about her beauty is true, she is worth much. And if she is strong, it makes her more valuable. But her uncivil behavior, as I understand it from your tone, will heavily tax her dowry. Five goats, five lambs, and sixty gold coins." Hiiro worked out allowed.
"Sixty! She is worth forty at the most! Her attitude is most atrocious!" Richard bartered.
"Forty! An outrage! You claimed her beauty alone was worth over one hundred gold coins!"
"Her attitude! You must remember her outlandish behavior. And you will receive the sheep and goats as well with your money."
"Fifty gold coins." Hiiro stayed firm.
"Forty." Richard pushed.
"Fifty." Hiiro wasn't about to give in.
"Forty and ten slivers." Richard caved slightly.
"Done." Hiiro said, tried of the conversation with the man. He didn't really need an extra ten gold coins anyway. Half of the dowry would pay the year's taxes on the fief. The other half would go towards another cause.
"Very well then. Is there a date that would be best for you?" Richard asked Hiiro calmly. He had just sold his child away. His youngest, only daughter. How quiet things would be without her to cause such mayhem as she usually did. How much he would miss her smart remarks and brilliant puns. Her educated, thoughtful, and imaginative mind would leave an empty space in his home. He missed her already. But perhaps this move would be good for her. Maybe now she would now not be so bored. With a new place to explore and new duties to undertake, she would be too busy to keep in trouble. And Hiiro, though he seemed harsh and cool on the otter rim, was man enough to keep her safe and healthy, that much he could trust William had taught his son.
"Anytime. Best after the snow melts, but before the ground thaws I suppose. Then she will be here in time to help plant the spring crop." Hiiro mussed to himself.
"Early May?" Asked Richard.
"Yes… a perfect time. May Day. We shall be wed on the first of May, on May Day. That way we will not miss any workdays. And the priest come through the fief around then too." Hiiro agreed with Richard's suggestion.
"Very well then. My daughter and I will be here on the first of May so that you may wed her." Richard nodded to Hiiro. "Now that this issue has been resolved, I must return home at once. Good day to you, and I will see you in three months for the joyous day." With that, he stood and exited the room, cloak flapping wildly behind him.
Hiiro stayed seated. So the woman he was going to marry was a dreamer? An idle, lazy woman who thought up pretty ideas of the ideal life. She would soon be cured of her longings once he had her in his home, he would make sure to see to that. But she was string and beautiful- and educated. At least she would know more than most frivolous he had met in his lifetime. Well, he had three months.
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"Father! How could you! Without so much as a whisper to me, you went and decided my fate!" The girl cried in horror at her father.
"Now listen here!" Her father boomed. Richard Jacobs could be a very intimidating many when he chose to be. "I am the man in this family, and I am the head of this house hold. I will decided what I want for my daughter without consulting her if I so chose to. Now you will marry Hiiro Yui on the first of May, whether you like the idea or not!" Tears filled her eyes.
"I will marry him father. But I will never bare him a child, I will never speak to him, and I will most certainly never love him!" With her final words of whispered contempt, she turned on her heel and ran up the steps into the second floor corridor. Running to the turret, she slammed the door behind her, making sure to lock it so no one could follow her.
When she finally reached the top of the turret, the view was breathtaking. Her tears forgotten, she looked out of the countryside that was her home. The lush valley was still filled with snow. But a few of the trees, precious few, had tiny blots of green upon their tips. The evergreens were beginning to look slightly more alive, and the snow was thinning. The waterfall over the lake to the west could be heard beginning to trickle. Soon there would be a flood of icy mountain water flowing through the forest on the edge of her father's land. But this year she would not be able to swim in it freely. This year was the first year she would not see it all summer. Beginning this year, she would never see her home again.
Sweet sobs echoed through the valley's frost bitten air as the tiny cherub remembered her arranged fate. The angels in heaven heard the cries and took pity on the girl who had once dreamed of so much more than what fate had dealt her in the gamble of life. The silent angels consoled the child from their pious heights in heaven, breathing whispers of the promise that everything would one day be as she had always wished.*
~~~ Hey! So? Have I hooked anyone yet? I didn't get that many reviews for this fic. Sniff. That hurt. Anyone just dying to know who the girl is? HAHAHA! I want to tell you, but I'm afraid when people find out who she is, they'll leave if they don't like the pairing! HELP!!! Only your reviews will inspire me to write more.- Vixen Rix13Rix@aol.com!