PLANS
All the way back to the Guild, as the carriage rattled over the cobbled streets, my mind was dancing around in circles. Marriage! I could not believe my first meeting with the family would end with Grandfather talking about my marriage. I had expected an inspection of my person, perhaps some questions about my activities or even some information about the family itself, but the last thing to cross my mind would have been marriage. I had prepared for the meeting as best I could and thought myself so clever, playing games with my relatives, using charm to create a good impression and all the while, Grandfather had a plan worked out for my future. He could do it too, the responsibility for arranging marriages lay with the heads of the Houses. Although I did not know much about Houses, thanks to my tutors, I was aware of what heads of families could do. I also knew that my age would not protect me – the Houses often arranged marriages for their young children, although couples did not live together until they reached the age of fourteen or fifteen. I also knew about the struggle Sonea had had to get recognition for her relationship with Akkarin and my status as heir. Without the King's help, I would have been taken away and raised without any knowledge of who my mother was. That was the kind of grip the Houses had over their heirs. They were simply pieces on a game board to be used to further the power and influence of their families.
I could feel my stomach churning and the fancy meal my relatives had served up lay unpleasantly heavy in my belly. My thoughts continued on their circular journey. Where could I turn for help? I was used to talking things over with Mother and Alkaria, but I was worried that if they knew about this, all sorts of trouble would follow. I could not tell them – Alkaria could not keep secrets and Sonea would be so angry there was no telling what she might do. I could easily imagine her breaking down the doors of my family's mansion and striding inside, magic roiling and tumbling about her as she searched for Lukon. I had to prevent her finding out.
Over the next few days, I constantly fretted over what to do. I had some time because I was not due to see my family again for a while, but I really needed a plan, and I was confident I would devise one. You may wonder at my confidence, because I was a mere ten years old, but I never, ever considered myself a child. Firstly, I was a powerful magician. I did not spend my days with toys or play silly games to fill up time. I studied magic and practised. Secondly, I spent all the rest of my time among adults, who treated me like one of themselves, so the fact that I was only ten years old meant nothing to me. I had also inherited a fair share of Akkarin's arrogance and Sonea's stubbornness. So, I told myself that I would think things through, quietly and logically, and a solution would be found. I had no concept of defeat and why should I? I was the child of two famous magicians who almost single-handedly had saved Kyralia!
As time passed with no solution occurring to me, I began to think that the only person who could help me was Akkarin. The more I thought about him, the more convinced I was that he would know what to do and how to plan for success. There were books about him in the Guild Library and my tutors had discussed his life in great detail, so I knew how he could help. His reputation for planning and diplomacy was well known throughout the Allied Lands. Even the King had listened to his advice, and followed it most of the time. My problem was how to talk to him without Sonea being aware of what was going on.
My relationship with my father was unique, as you can imagine. The fact that I had never seen him, nor he me, made communication between us a little awkward and completely unlike conversations between other parents and their children. Sonea's attitude towards him was also very different from that between an ordinary couple. It would be true to say that she was rather possessive of her lover, waiting eagerly for the time they could spend together. Akkarin was careful to ration their meetings because he worried that she would never want to leave him and that restriction irked Sonea, although she understood the reasons for it. She had kept his continued existence secret for obvious reasons. If the Guild had suspected, she would have been treated like a specimen to be examined in great detail with the risk that Akkarin would have been destroyed in the process. Only two other people knew, me, of course, and an old magician she regarded as a friend, although even he was unsure if she was telling the truth. There were times when I would catch a fleeting expression on Sonea's face which was difficult to read but her surface thoughts indicated she was uneasy when I spent a lot of time sending to Akkarin. It was almost as if she wanted to keep all of him to herself. Unfortunately, I needed to be somewhere fairly close to Sonea to even hear him clearly which meant she was privy to what we were saying. Most of the time, that did not matter, but with this particular topic, the fact that she would hear our conversation, ended all possibility of discussing the matter with Akkarin.
I puzzled over this problem for some time. Then I remembered how Sonea had managed to keep control over me, despite not being married to my father – she had had the King's help. That had been Akkarin's advice to her, trust in the King. That was the answer for me too. Somehow, I had to engage the King's interest in my affairs. If he decided my grandfather could not marry me off, then there was nothing Grandfather could do – just as he was forced to give up his fight to take me away from Sonea because the King decreed it.
Now all I had to do was get an audience with the King. I had to go alone, so again, I could not involve Sonea. She probably would not agree to my seeing him anyway because she did not care for Merin at all. Even after all this time, she still blamed him for the exile he had forced upon Akkarin and despite the fact that he had later stated that Akkarin's expulsion from Kyralia was part of a strategy to fool our enemies, many were aware that was not the complete truth. Sonea's view was that their exile and secret return to Imardin to fight the Ichani directly led to Akkarin's death. The fact that she had managed somehow to save his essence was neither here nor there to Sonea. The world viewed him as dead, another was in his place as High Lord and she was effectively a prisoner in the Guild, albeit one with a gilded cage. For all of that, she blamed Merin.
As a consequence of her feelings, neither of us had seen the King very often. There were events which Sonea was obliged to attend although she never stayed long and avoided direct conversation with the King. I had only glimpsed him once when I went to a gathering of the children of the Court, I had not enjoyed the experience and never went to another despite receiving regular invitations. It was not as if I could travel to the Palace, knock on the door and ask nicely to see the King. There had to be an invitation, functionaries had to be informed and the visitor conducted to the King with due ceremony.
It came to me all of a sudden that the answer was Alkaria. She attended Court regularly and had a wide circle of acquaintances there. If anyone could secure me an invitation, she could. I could not tell her why I needed to see the King, but all I needed to do to ensure she helped me was explain it was a Game I was playing against Sonea.
You may have heard about Games; they are one of the most popular activities involving members of the Houses. They are played by all ages and while some are over in a few days, others could last for many seasons. As Games involve a lot of planning and forethought they are regarded as good training for younger nobles and older nobles who had enjoyed them, continue to play. The easiest type of Game involves making someone do something they do not want to do, or put an individual into an awkward situation, and then sit back to watch them struggle to get out of it. Others are more complex and involve a large number of people. If I could persuade Alkaria that my visiting the King was part of a Game, then I was sure she would help. Playing a Game against Sonea would also mean that Alkaria would not mention anything to her, so as far as I was concerned, it was a good idea.
Persuading Alkaria was even easier than I had imagined and it was not long before she had acquired the necessary invitation. She told Sonea she was taking me to a dressmaker's salon to choose my next season's gowns, something my mother had no interest in, so she asked no questions. Alkaria had already taken the gown I was to wear for the visit, so all I had to do was change, once away from the Guild.
On the appointed day, I used the journey time to change into my formal gown of ivory silk and turn myself into a lady suitably attired to attend Court. It was not easy changing in a swaying carriage, but eventually I managed to get everything in the right place. A small trickle of magic removed any creases. Alkaria had pulled my hair back into a formal style, setting it with pink flower buds and a tiny ribbon. The small jewel I had worn to meet the family finished off my outfit. As we neared the Court, I began to have doubts that my plan would work, but it was too late to worry. I had to continue and hope that I had made the right decision.