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rainbowfic2012-11-27 01:02 am
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2012-11-27 01:02 am
Blood Red #2, Gunmetal #11, Grey #7
Name: shadowsong26
Story: Ultimatum
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Blood Red #2. fistfight, Gunmetal #11. Shotgun, Grey #7. all cats are grey at night
Supplies and Materials: canvas (979 FY), modeling clay, charcoal, pastels (my current GRK card G4 "pride"), novelty beads ("So sit on top of the world and tell me how you're feeling/What you feel is what I feel for you." - Take My Hand, Dido)
Word Count: 485
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Kellom, Sorell
Warnings: Forced marriage
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
Sorell looked up. Kellom stood stiff in the doorway, face closed as it always was. "Yes. Shut the door."
Kellom quietly stepped in and did as he was told, but remained standing. Sorell studied him silently for a moment. His eldest son, his pride--not that he had a favorite child, of course, he would kill anyone who dared to suggest he loved one of his children any more than any of the others--his heir. The flower of his nation, someone had called him, and he was handsome, and charming, but steel and ice, rather than warmth and living things.
Finally, he spoke. "You're nearing thirty, Kellom."
"Sir." Kellom looked slightly weary and uncomfortable, as if he could guess where this conversation was going, but he remained still, and erect, ever the perfect soldier.
"I understand that you felt your military service was more important--and it has been invaluable. But you have a duty to continue the line, as well."
"I acknowledge that, sir."
"Then why do you keep delaying?"
Kellom broke his gaze. "It's not a matter of delaying, sir. Nothing so deliberate."
"By the time I was your age, I had five children."
"Yes, sir." Kellom met his eyes again. "But you have Mother. I have not been so fortunate."
Was that it? The entire problem, that he and Nida had set the bar too high for Kellom? Sorell knew that he and his wife were abnormally close for a royal couple--even those who had managed to produce as many or more children were rarely genuinely in love. Absently, he twisted his wedding ring. "You haven't even tried to look, Kellom."
"As you said before, sir, I found my other duties more pressing."
"I'm not saying they aren't important--the military service or your political participation. But you can't rely on your siblings and their children forever. Things are always more stable if the throne passes directly from father to son."
"Yes, sir."
Persuasion clearly wasn't working, so Sorell gave in and opened the drawer. "I've prepared a list of candidates." He removed and handed Kellom a scroll. His son took it with obvious reluctance. "I want you to meet with them, try to get to know them, see if any strike your fancy."
"Yes, sir."
"And, Kellom?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I want you to give me a name by the end of the year."
"Yes, sir."
He waved a hand, dismissing his son, and watched him go, then sank into his chair and rubbed at his temples. He'd never dreamed his own happiness would be such a challenge to his children. With any luck, Kellom would find his own Nida, somewhere on that list. Sorell took a moment to privately wish his son the best of luck, then turned to the stack of papers his secretary had delivered for his review, trying to put it out of his mind.
Story: Ultimatum
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Blood Red #2. fistfight, Gunmetal #11. Shotgun, Grey #7. all cats are grey at night
Supplies and Materials: canvas (979 FY), modeling clay, charcoal, pastels (my current GRK card G4 "pride"), novelty beads ("So sit on top of the world and tell me how you're feeling/What you feel is what I feel for you." - Take My Hand, Dido)
Word Count: 485
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Kellom, Sorell
Warnings: Forced marriage
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
Sorell looked up. Kellom stood stiff in the doorway, face closed as it always was. "Yes. Shut the door."
Kellom quietly stepped in and did as he was told, but remained standing. Sorell studied him silently for a moment. His eldest son, his pride--not that he had a favorite child, of course, he would kill anyone who dared to suggest he loved one of his children any more than any of the others--his heir. The flower of his nation, someone had called him, and he was handsome, and charming, but steel and ice, rather than warmth and living things.
Finally, he spoke. "You're nearing thirty, Kellom."
"Sir." Kellom looked slightly weary and uncomfortable, as if he could guess where this conversation was going, but he remained still, and erect, ever the perfect soldier.
"I understand that you felt your military service was more important--and it has been invaluable. But you have a duty to continue the line, as well."
"I acknowledge that, sir."
"Then why do you keep delaying?"
Kellom broke his gaze. "It's not a matter of delaying, sir. Nothing so deliberate."
"By the time I was your age, I had five children."
"Yes, sir." Kellom met his eyes again. "But you have Mother. I have not been so fortunate."
Was that it? The entire problem, that he and Nida had set the bar too high for Kellom? Sorell knew that he and his wife were abnormally close for a royal couple--even those who had managed to produce as many or more children were rarely genuinely in love. Absently, he twisted his wedding ring. "You haven't even tried to look, Kellom."
"As you said before, sir, I found my other duties more pressing."
"I'm not saying they aren't important--the military service or your political participation. But you can't rely on your siblings and their children forever. Things are always more stable if the throne passes directly from father to son."
"Yes, sir."
Persuasion clearly wasn't working, so Sorell gave in and opened the drawer. "I've prepared a list of candidates." He removed and handed Kellom a scroll. His son took it with obvious reluctance. "I want you to meet with them, try to get to know them, see if any strike your fancy."
"Yes, sir."
"And, Kellom?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I want you to give me a name by the end of the year."
"Yes, sir."
He waved a hand, dismissing his son, and watched him go, then sank into his chair and rubbed at his temples. He'd never dreamed his own happiness would be such a challenge to his children. With any luck, Kellom would find his own Nida, somewhere on that list. Sorell took a moment to privately wish his son the best of luck, then turned to the stack of papers his secretary had delivered for his review, trying to put it out of his mind.
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It's...sort of complicated, how Sorell would feel. Because he was very lucky and he and his wife are deeply in love, and he genuinely wants all of his children to be happy, or at least not miserable. But if Kellom fell in love with someone entirely inappropriate to be Queen...fortunately, it never comes up, but it would be a very difficult decision for Sorell, how to handle it.
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long comment is long
I don't think Kellom is actually looking for True Love per se. He is, however, a perfectionist, especially in his personal life. So he's looking for a perfect marriage, and his parents' marriage has sort of skewed his idea of what that should be for a royal couple. Since he can't have that, he picks a bride who will be, in theory, fertile and invisible. Largely because he almost never sleeps with her, he only really gets the second.
((Random side note: despite the inherent messiness of sleeping with one's sister, his relationship with Tana in the Incest AU falls into the 'perfect couple' category in his mind, in part because they're in love, and in part because their personalities actually complement each other really well. Like Sorell notes here, Kellom is all steel and ice and Tana is pretty much his temperamental polar opposite, but in a way where they balance each other out--she warms him up, so to speak, and he keeps her in check--rather than clashing.))
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Kellom is falling back on formality to either to minimize or to maximize the awkward. I'm not sure which XD