Story #195 - Marriage Vows

Marriage Vows

“I am not going to marry him!” She tried to keep her voice from sounding strident.

“You are, Valiora, and you know it. Your father and I have determined that he is a good match, both for you and for the Realm, and you are too good a daughter to disobey.” He mother's voice was calm and quiet, with no hint of anger or demand. Queen Tranille typically got what she wanted, but rarely had to raise her voice to do it. Valiora would not be so easily cowed, this time – this was her life they were talking about. She would not throw it away.

“Mother, please,” she said, moving to the small window in her bedchamber, “be reasonable. You know as well as I do that economics and politics cannot be the only foundations for a marriage. Your own story with father was hardly so prosaic.” She swept her eyes quickly over the courtyard below – she could not see him with the guardsmen training, but perhaps he had been sent on an errand outside the castle.

“Come away from there, child.” Her mother's tone was stern. “You will not be carrying on any longer with the man from below. You will speak only to the man we have arranged for you.”

Valiora felt her stomach twist as she turned to face her mother. She and Tyrane had been so careful to never be seen together, and not once had they practiced magic within the castle walls. There should have been no way that her mother even knew she had a man in her life, let alone one she actually wanted to marry.

“How -” she began.

“Child, I was your age once as well, and I had a young fellow at the end of my string just as you do. He was a handsome thing, tall and lean, but he was not the one meant for me. You speak of my union with your father as if it were easy, as if we both heard the Creator's voice and saw the light of day. The stories tell the truth about his deeds – he rescued me from betrayal and rebellion – but not about our feelings. Neither one of us had an interest in the other, but our parents decreed that such daring action must be rewarded with a marriage, no matter what Olvanus and I thought. For years, we barely spoke to each other.”

She knew her mother was trying to comfort her, trying to help her understand why such a marriage was necessary, but Valiora had no interest in listening. It was all so unfair!

“But you said it yourself – you didn't love him, or even like him at first. What if this man you want me to marry is horrible? What if he hits me? What if he uses me for his own foul ends?” She took a deep breath. “What if he wants to use my magic?”

Queen Tranille's face fell slightly. She knew full well that the man they had chosen for Valoria had no skill with magic, nor did any of his kind. Though his nation was powerful and still peaceful, they had not yet been blessed with the Creator's gift, and those without magic tended to both envy and fear those who possessed it.

“Then you will allow him to,” Tranille said flatly, “for he will be your husband.” Her eyes were dark and sorrowful; she knew this was a poor idea, but believed it necessary all the same. Both of her parents were willing to sell her like so many head of cattle, simply to help the Realm.

She was not foolish; her tutors had taught her what to expect as a princess, what to expect when she came of age. Only one Kingdom in the realm allowed its royal sons and daughters to choose their own mates, and that one, Issol, was the weakest of any of the Free Peoples. Without the power of strategic alliances, their Kingdom had been slowly losing tracts of lands to foreign nations, each of which did not wish to see Issol destroyed, but had enough power to annex whatever they wished. Valiora admired their actions, but had to admit that the choice they offered their young nobles was weakening their land.

Still, she was willing to bet that none of them had been in love as she and Tyrane.

“Please, mother,” she cried, moving from the window to fall at the Queen's feet, “please talk to father about this. I know I am a princess, but let Jenfry or Lucil take up this burden. They are almost of age, and neither one of them has a love like mine.”

She could feel the soft touch of her mother's hand on her hair, just as when she had been very small. “Hush, child. I know you are hurting, but you must see reason. You would sell your sisters into a marriage for your own happiness? That is not the daughter I raised. You are a true woman of the Vine, now, and you must act as such. Harold is due here within the week, and you will do your best to charm him.” There was meaning in those words deeper than their face, and Valiora knew there was no doubt about what her mother meant. She was to use magic to capture this man.

Pushing away from the Queen, she stood and turned her back. “I will do as you command, my Queen,” she said coldly, “now get out.”

The sudden crackle of magic behind her spoke to the Queen's anger, but she wisely did not press the issue. Valiora was by far the better sorceress, and in her current state their was no telling how far the battle might go.

“Very well, child – but hear me well.” Tranille's voice was stern. “Harold will leave her with you as a wife, and you will go with him willingly or in chains. Do not disappoint me.”

The closing of her chamber door echoed with the force of her mother's anger, but to her it had the ring of a dungeon gate. She was trapped.

- D