Arcaea/Dining Hall Late 08-09/Jenred's Jumbled Jabberings
He'd found it. It had taken longer than his anticipated week, but he'd finally found the gift he wanted for Edara...
As he rode back, he looked mournfully at the mountain of correspondence he had to read through, and sighed. At least he had the time...
Tenal's plan discussed...Cypreana joined, well and good...Sartania falling...Tenal and Madelena back together? My my...A colony in Niel? Aenil above!
Jenred tossed the letters aside.
"I leave for a week and a half and the most interesting diplomacy breaks out..."
Sir Jenred Bedwyr Imperial Magistrate of Arcaea
Jenred sighed as his latest letter was dispatched. He hadn't wanted it like this. There had been a plan, it would have allowed a graceful transition, no ill-will, it would have felt right...This just left a bad taste in his mouth. He knew it was still necessary, but...
Jenred shook his head, rising. He just hoped things would not devolve too far...
Sir Jenred Bedwyr Imperial Magistrate of Arcaea
Jenred closed his eyes and settled himself for a moment. He had always been too hasty, and needed to think rationally. Perhaps...He settled back onto the Lesser Throne and reached for that curious book. He needed to think as the King, not as Jenred, and sitting in the throne helped with that...And the book...
Much of it seemed to be nonsense, about a world almost laughable fantastical. So many things that were not even possible...But here and there, gems of brilliance shone out..."Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, religious, and upright, and also to be so; but the mind should be so balanced that were it needful not to be so, you should be able and know how to change to the contrary..."
Jenred sat and pondered this passage for a long moment. Ye-es...This was one of the tenets of statecraft...And, in fact, was exactly what Keffer had done...Jenred sighed, letting the anger drain out of him with it. This was no time to let his old hatred get the best of him...
Sir Jenred Bedwyr King of Arcaea
Jenred had stood, watching the sunset alone for some time. Edara was sleeping, rather exhausted from the welcome he had given her on returning from the raid on Anaos. What with one thing and another, they hadn't had much time together since the wedding, and he had spent an hour registering his disapproval of this state of affairs...His face smoothed into a smile as he turned toward her tent again, seeing her face in his mind's eye, and caressing the hilt of his gift-knife.
But then his eyes caught the flap of a distant Ethialan flag, and blazed with anger. He had risen to become King for many reasons, but one had been so that if the situation arose, none would dispute his right to take vengeance. Grafan's death had been incredibly satisfying, but now, with Keffer in Arcaean dungeons...Madelena refused. And, damn them, his chief advisers, save Edara, had agreed.
He spun, sword flickering out, and sliced clear through a sapling, watching it crash into a neighbour.
"That should have been one of Keffer's fingers flying through the air..."
Jenred handed the blade to a squire as he strode back into camp. It had only been a practice blade, thankfully, as he had originally thought to practice the Sword Dance to release some of his tension...It would have been a shame to coat that fine new sword with sap...
Jenred shook his head. He and Edara had wondered who the swords might be from...But the rocking chair had left only one option. Many could have left swords, but the man with the sense of humour to leave swords and a rocking chair...His lips curled into a wry smile, wondering if he'd ever understand the man.
Sir Jenred Bedwyr King of Arcaea
As Jenred breathed in the cool night air, his heart was light. Greater Aenilia had suffered a crushing defeat, Ethiala was in shambles...And...He was married. Edara was his wife by all the Aenil...He still smiled every time that thought crossed his mind, which was very often indeed...And he devoutly hoped that it would always be so...
As these thought flitted in Jenred's mind, he suddenly noticed something. His hair...He'd let it down out of the usual warrior's braid he used on campaign, and now he noticed a few strands of silver interwoven with the black. Well. That certainly explained why he'd been getting tired more easily these days...
Contrary to what some might expect, Jenred grinned. He'd looked forward to the silvering of his hair...And it looked like his hair would be turning in streaks...Perfect. The effect, with his usual garments and cornet, given the length of his hair...Excellent indeed.
Jenred idly wondered how feisty Edara was feeling...He had a new game he wanted to try, now that he was getting old and dignified...
A good day indeed...
Sir Jenred Bedwyr King of Arcaea
Jenred stood, grinning down at his slightly nervous wife.
"Oh, come now love, it's not like you haven't been made a Duchess before...And Talex is in much better shape than Nocaneb was when you got it. We go through a brief ceremony, I introduce you to the city, they cheer, you beam, they fall in love with their new Duchess, and I take you back to our rooms to show you how much I've missed you...Sound like a good plan?"
Edara nodded, grinning up at him, and pulled him down for a long kiss.
"Alright, we can go now. Couldn't become a Duchess again without a kiss first!"
She winked at him as they strode out together, and they shared a chuckle. As they entered the Duchal throne room, Jenred's face underwent that strange transformation from man to King, and his steps became more purposeful. He turned, facing Edara, with the assembled court of Talex at his back, and lifted the coronet of the Dukes of Talex in his hands. It had...amused him greatly that the populace had taken that when they had revolted against Ethiala...Of course, Jenred had no way of knowing whether he held the true coronet or whether the locals had just told Dren that...Dren was too gullible, and Jenred obviously couldn't doubt their claim after Dren accepted it...
"Lady Edara Kindon, as the King of Arcaea, Sovereign of this Realm, I now proclaim you Duchess of Talex!"
Jenred placed the coronet on Edara's head, and turned to face the cheers and applause from the crowd. Edara grinned, dimpling, and true to Jenred's guess, he could see the court melting, and knew it would only be a matter of time before the people of Talex loved her as much as those of Nocaneb did.
Jenred leaned down and whispered, still smiling and waving for the crowd...
"Ready to see how much I've been wanting you, lover?"
Sir Jenred Bedwyr King of Arcaea
