Foreign Affairs
“And?” Her mother's voice was cool. “I don't recall asking for your opinion on the matter. You are expected to obey us in all things, daughter - why would this be any different?”
Shelby bit back a vicious reply; her mother could be free with swift, open-handed strikes if she felt she was being defied, and this certainly qualified. Speaking to her father would have yielded better results, but Ferdinand Weiss would be out of the city for the next five weeks. Shelby found that just a bit too convenient.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms underneath her breasts. At sixteen, she was far and away the most attractive Weiss in the household, and the one that had caught the eye of the most suitors. Her mother and father had refused all of them, however, and Shelby had begun to think that perhaps she would actually have a voice in choosing who she married. She should have known better. “May I be excused?”
Anna Weiss fixed cool blue eyes on her for a moment before she nodded quickly. “Very well. But know this, child - we do not do this thing to torment you, but to make our family stronger. Your father understands this as well as I.”
Shelby was out the door before her mother had finished speaking, and could hear the older woman's voice rise in irritation. Of course her father felt the same way, but he was too cowardly to face his daughter directly. It had been years since Shelby had failed at getting anything she wanted from him, and he clearly knew he would have no chance of standing up to the force of her displeasure over their foolish choice. She had known full well marriage would come soon; it was obvious the family fortune was not as robust as when she was a child, but she has been sure her union would come with one of the local heirs. Most of those Shelby knew fairly well, or at least more intimately than her parents were aware. The world of young socialites was something of a free-for-all, and she had received quite the education in the last two years.
Slamming the door to her room open hard enough to make it rebound, Shelby barely manged to catch it before it struck her face. While there would be some victory in maiming herself enough so as to no longer be desirable, she was not quite ready to take that step.
“What's your problem, Shel?” Giza asked from her bed, ever-present book propped on her lap. “You seem out of sorts.”
“Out of sorts?” Shelby's voice rose. At fourteen, Giza was just beginning to understand the world into which she had been born, but without Shelby's smooth features and quickly-developing body, was having a difficult time attracting attention. It didn't seem to bother her, however - she was far more comfortable alone, book in hand, than in the company of lusty-eyed young men and women. “You're damn right I am!” Shelby didn't swear often, but the situation was unique. Her parents could not do this to her!
“Why?” Giza snapped her book shut. “Didn't get what you wanted for once?”
“No, you troll!” Shelby shot back. “They're marrying me off to a foreigner next month, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Father is out of town until the day before the wedding, and you know what it's like talking with mother.”
“I certainly do,” her sister said with a clever smirk. Ordinarily, Shelby would have pounced on her for such a comparison, but she had bigger problems to worry about. Sitting down heavily on her own bed, she sighed. There was no way out.
“A foreigner, you say?” Giza went on. “Did mother tell you anything about him?”
Shelby nodded. “Said his name was Freezul Adal - a merchant or something, I don't know. He's twenty years older than me, Giz, and he's foreign!” The last was delivered in a wail. Who knew what kind of sick appetites the man might have?
“So he's an Eterian. Hmm...” Giza trailed off.
“He is? Mother didn't say.”
Her sister nodded. “Adal is an Eterian name. You may have less to be concerned about than you think, Shel.”
“What? How can you say that? I know you're not getting married off, but this will affect you too! If it works out well, you'll be next in line.”
Giz waved a hand dismissively. “That's not what I'm talking about. What do you know about Eterians?”
Shelby shrugged. They had probably been mentioned by her tutor at some point during the last few years, but her mind had been on other things – things like Jodar, heir of house Hied.
“I'll assume that means nothing.” Giz set her book down next to her leg. “Eterians are a very conservative people, and put a great deal of stock in younger generations. It's why their men prefer to marry young, and why so many of their heads of state are little more than children. It's also why you rarely see a Eterian who's over fifty.”
“Oh?” Her sister had a way of wandering away from the main point, and Shelby could feel herself losing interest.
“Listen!” Giz barked. “One of the responsibilities of an Eterian house head is to ensure that younger members of the family have room to flourish, and they do so by removing anyone in the household over fifty years old.”
Shelby frowned. That would mean...
“How old are mother and father now, Giz?” She asked quietly.
“Father is forty-nine next month, and mother - that cradle-robber - is already fifty. They may be marrying you off to a foreigner, dear sister, but you're the one they're putting in charge, whether they know it or not. Without your help, they won't live out the year.”
Shelby felt a smile spread across her face.
- D
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