Author's Note: yes, I know it's not canonic. Canon isn't the point; Annie and Lil are plot devices to bring out J/T interaction. So maybe I should have done more than flip through FT, but I didn't realize initially that the younger Conté children were specified in canon. So just stretch your mind a bit - Lianne has a twin sister and they're… *counts* three years behind Kally (I think I have license on that, at least), as this is set around the LK timeframe. And I don't know much about Oron - still have to read TC - but I did my best. Reviews are… um, well received. *nods* *puppy eyes*
Inexpressible gratitude to my dearest Candice. *glomps*
Disclaimer: Tortall, Jon, Thayet, Lianne, the Copper Isles, and Oron belong to Tammy. Lilia is my fabrication; so is this fic.
Of Two Minds
The king of Tortall stared resolutely at the wall opposite his desk as Thayet looked over the document he had just handed her - To my royal brethren King Jonathan III and Queen Thayet the Peerless of Tortall, concerning Their Royal Highnesses Princess Lianne and Princess Lilia of Conté . The parchment bore the seal of House Rittevon, the rulers of the Copper Isles. The current king, Oron, was best marked among politicians as a dangerous man: he was mad, as were many of his line. And just now he had suggested terms that put the rulers of Tortall in a very difficult position, to say the least.
He waited as Thayet put down the paper with deliberate care. Unlike his Champion, Jonathan's Queen was not apt to raise her voice and hurl curses when angry. She was infinitely more composed, more self-contained and possessed of a highly sensitive touch to protocol when it came to her conduct as queen - for all of which Jonathan was grateful. But all the same, he could tell when she was infuriated, sufficiently outraged to unsheathe her formidable Raven Armory sword and chop whoever had provoked her to mincemeat. It was the tension to the graceful line of her jaw, the fire that blazed in her almost golden eyes. After more than a quarter century of marriage, such signs were as plain as day to Jonathan's eye. And they were in full exhibit now.
Thayet looked at him expectantly, one delicate eyebrow raised.
He produced a dilatory clearing of the throat.
"Hrrm. Politically speaking," Jonathan began gingerly, "the proposal is not beyond reason. The Copper Islanders have practiced polygamy for centuries - rulers included."
"Well, we do not." The Queen's voice was tense, but even. "And I am not going to sell two of my daughters to a man clearly cruel and unstable, not to mention over fifty years their senior - political advantages notwithstanding." She inclined her head briskly, waiting for assent from him.
"Thayet," he said quietly, "we need this alliance. Relations with the Copper Isles have always been… tenuous at best, and Oron is not the kind of man we'll want to be up against. Not only does his navy nearly match Carthak's, but he has a history of …brutality. He's conscripted loyal vassals, or his own family, let alone -"
"I'm well aware of the gruesome facts, Jonathan. No need to educated me." Her eyes tightened. "But do you really think it's wiser to align oneself with tyranny than to fight it?"
He squirmed subtly. She noticed.
"Now wait a moment, Sire." She leaned forward, hands braced on the edge of his desk. "Originally he was negotiating for Annie, and now he wants Lil as well. Do you know what that's called? Upping the stakes. And last thing I heard -" her face was less than a foot from his - "I understood you were going to send back a no."
"Thayet, don't you understand - Oron takes a 'no' as a direct attack."
"And a 'maybe' as an invitation to set the terms as he pleases. I thought you knew that well."
"It was hardly the case when we were negotiating that commercial fleet -"
"Jonathan." She hadn't changed position. "Tell me you are not considering this match."
With an act of will, he met her gaze defiantly.
One eyebrow shot up, and her mouth opened slightly - as if she were looking at him in an entirely new light.
Thayet turned away and began to pace the study slowly, arms crossed, evidently pondering. She bore the tense mien of a woman pushed to dire measures.
"So if I understand you," she said slowly, "you would not object to ship off both Annie and Lil to marry a man old enough to be their grandfather. A man who has tortured the country all his reign and might have given Ozorne a run for his money as a political sadist. A man who, judging from his past conduct, would play with them at his whim and stow them in his harem the rest of the time." She turned back to face Jonathan, chin propped on one hand. "Let's start from the beginning." She extended her index finger to emphasize a point. "You do realize, Jonathan, that these young women are our daughters."
"Of course I do," he snapped.
"And you do realize -" her eyes bored into him - "that they're twins."
"I've known that for sixteen years."
"And -" Thayet's voice had an edge to it - "that it is not the most healthy situation for sisters to be married to the same man, in any case."
Jonathan stood abruptly, mouth tight. "And do you realize, my lady, that the Copper Isles are an imminent threat to this realm?" He strode around his desk to stand in front of Thayet. "That in the case of a war, the Dominion Jewel would have little bearing on the outcome, as its influence does not extend to the ocean? That our military chances in such a situation would be grave, given the comparative bearings of our naval forces?"
The King and Queen were matched stare for stare, stance for stance. Virtually any other person in the kingdom would yield under their lofty gaze, the stately and commanding demeanor. Virtually anyone else's resolve would melt away in the glare of royal disapproval.
But when Jonathan and Thayet confronted each other, the only net outcome was an impasse.
"You do realize, Your Majesty," he continued, "that, given necessary sacrifices, we have an obligation to act in the best interest of our country?"
"And you do realize, Jonathan," she said evenly, "that, given the demands of our work, we have an obligation to act in the best interest of our children?"
He faltered - caught off guard - his eyes widening slightly, his shoulders loosening.
Her piercing gaze didn't leave him.
After a moment, she stepped around him and strode to the door. Pulling it open, she paused in the doorway and turned back to look at him. He had turned to face her, jaw muscles working.
Thayet bowed stiffly. "If you will excuse me - my lord." She closed the door with care - it barely made a sound - and left Jonathan standing alone in the middle of his office.