Part 24

Lucien's mouth floundered open and closed, he stared at Tristan disbelievingly.

"What?" he finally managed to say.

Tristan frowned, normally he would have never tolerated such insolent behavior from anyone, but in this case he was willing to make an exception. Only because Lucien was Nadine's brother.

"My lord…" Lucien murmured. "I…I am afraid I misheard you…"

"You didn't," Tristan cut in. "I want your sister's hand in marriage."

Lucien's eyes widened, he stared at Tristan with his mouth open.

"Why… I mean, she is a servant, my lord…"

"Yes, I am aware of that," Tristan replied calmly. "There is no need for you to worry about details, I will handle everything. First of all, I will arrange you a noble rank, some land and wealth. Then you will officially give up your ownership to your sister as her closest male relative and give her to me…"

"No."

Tristan's eyebrows furrowed.

"Excuse me?"

Lucien swallowed.

"I…" He paused and looked at Tristan in the eye, although he was clearly nervous, his hands were shaking. "Punish me if you wish, my lord, but I must say this. My sister is not an object; she is a sweet young woman who deserves to be treated respectfully. I know that you are her master and you have every right to do whatever you wish with her, but she is my sister, my family. As…as you yourself said, my lord, what kind of a brother wouldn't do anything to protect his sister."

Tristan kept his face free from emotion, but he had to admit that he was impressed by Lucien's obvious affection for Nadine. Of course Lucien knew that he could lose his tongue or even his head because of his words.

"You do understand I just offered you a noble rank?" Tristan stated.

Lucien nodded tensely.

"Yes, my lord, but…why?"

"Why do I wish to wed your sister?"

Normally Tristan wouldn't have explained himself to anyone and no one would have dared to question him, but again, he was willing to make an exception. After all, this man would be his brother-in-law. The thought was quite strange considering that Lucien was a servant; obviously he needed the noble rank first. The whole thing was nothing but strange, Tristan hadn't even considered marriage before last night. Arranging this required a lot of work and it would have been much easier to make Nadine his mistress, but that simply wasn't enough. He wanted her to be completely his. His wife and the mother of his heir. He was determined to make that happen and he always got what he wanted.

"Well… I wish to wed your sister because I want her. I will take a good care of her, no need to worry about that, she will have everything she wants."

Lucien was quiet for a brief moment before replying.

"Has my lord asked for her opinion?"

"Not yet. I wanted to do this properly, so I talked to you first. Have we reached an understanding?"

"My lord… I cannot make my sister's decisions for her; I have no right to do that. I am her closest male relative, but Nadine is very much her own person, I would be a fool to think that I can simply…order her to do anything."

Tristan couldn't deny that he was amused, he had seen a glimpse of the fire his puppet had in her. He had no problem with that, he was curious to see more. Surely that would happen after she would get to know him and learn how to be more comfortable around him. It didn't matter that he would have to teach her many things about being a noblewoman; there would be no need for any kind of formality when they would be alone.

"I see. Well, no need to worry; I shall talk to her today." He paused and glanced at the dark circles under Lucien's eyes. "Go and get some rest, you no longer have to work. After all, you will be a nobleman soon."

Lucien didn't reply to that, he seemed to be too confused to speak. Tristan was pleased with their conversation; he felt that they had understood each other. Now he needed to have a word with his father. It was early, so Count de Martel was still in his bedchamber, but of course he agreed to see his son. Again Tristan went straight to the point right after sending his father's servant away. Count de Martel's eyes widened when Tristan calmly explained his intentions.

"What? A servant? Have you lost your mind?!"

"No, I have not," Tristan replied. "I want her."

"Fine, just take her then!" Count de Martel snapped. "She is your property, use her however you like!"

"No, I want more than just her body."

Count de Martel sighed and stood up.

"Alright… Alright, my son, I understand, I have bedded some…inferior women myself. I admit that they can be a nice change for every now and then and they are certainly eager to please. Just give this girl an official position as your mistress."

Tristan looked at his father calmly and shook his head.

"I want to wed her."

"That is ridiculous, she is a servant…"

"It has been done before," Tristan cut in. "Or was grandmother not brought to grandfather as a spoil of war? She was a slave…"

"She was noble blood," Count de Martel snapped. "Her father was no peasant."

"Neither was Nadine's."

Count de Martel's eyes narrowed.

"No, he was a traitor. That is even worse than a peasant!"

"Minor details," Tristan replied. "We both know this can be done. Her brother needs some proper "distant relative" who has left him a noble rank and some land. That way his sister will be high-ranking enough to become my wife."

"Tristan," Count de Martel stated tensely. "There are much more suitable women…"

"Yes, I am aware of that, but I want her and I will have her, father."

Count de Martel sighed, he knew his son well enough to know that he wasn't going to change his mind.

"People will talk…"

"They can try, but I doubt that anyone dares to continue for long. I will personally make an example of some of them if I have to. You know I can do that, father."

Count de Martel was quiet for a while before speaking.

"This girl… She is very thin and her pelvis seems narrow; can she bare your children?"

"She can, she simply needs to be nourished properly. I will take care of that."

Count de Martel sighed and shook his head.

"I must say that I cannot understand you, son. What is it about this girl?"

Tristan didn't really have an answer to that; all he knew was that he wanted her.

"Will you give her brother the noble rank?"

"Are you absolutely sure about this…"

"Yes. This is what I want, father."

"Fine then," Count de Martel sighed. "I will arrange it, but I expect her to give you a son soon after the wedding. And I want you to arrange someone to train her, make sure she knows how to behave in public."

Tristan nodded.

"I will."

"Good. Oh well, at least she does not speak, I suppose I can see the perks in that. Most women just can't keep their mouth shut."

Tristan didn't comment on that, he simply thanked his father and left. There was still the matter of asking for Nadine's consent. Of course she would agree, she would be crazy not to. She was still asleep when he returned to his chamber; apparently she hadn't slept well last night. Her eyes opened when he closed the door.

"Good morning," he stated and walked over to the bed.

She got quickly into a sitting position.

"You will have breakfast soon, puppet, but first there is something we need to talk about."

She looked at him cautiously when he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Alright… I understand I have perhaps confused you lately, but the truth is that I have discovered certain…feelings I have for you. I love you, puppet, and I want you to be mine. I want to wed you."

Her eyes widened in shock, she looked stunned to say the least.

"I already talked to your brother and my father. Your brother will have a noble rank and some land, he will never have to work again. Neither will you, I will give you everything you want and treat you like a little jewel you are. All you have to do is give me your consent. Will you give it to me, puppet?"