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rainbowfic2013-02-23 12:16 am
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2013-02-23 12:16 am
Entry tags:
Red #14, Ivory #21, Russet #8
Name: shadowsong26
Story: The Proposal
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Red #14. roses are red, Ivory #21. You know the good ole days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems., Russet #8. knotted [Hangman's noose.]
Supplies and Materials: paint-by-numbers (from Kelly), eraser (Murder AU), brush (manifesto), feathers, fabric, modeling clay, charcoal, yarn, beading wire, glitter ("Make a list of lessons you learned / are learning from your teenage years."), glue ("Your imagination continues to run away from reality as the Sun aligns with otherworldly Neptune in your sign...don't fall into the trap of thinking you must make a critical choice today about the direction of your life. There will be time for that once your clarity returns.")
Word Count: 690
Rating: PG
Characters: Kellom
Warnings: Dehumanization of mages, references to the chaos of the thirteen Regent years and teenage heartbreak
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. This takes place in an alternate 968 FY and is seriously super trippy.
"We have received a proposal from King Amassa of the City of Glass," the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced during a lull in the daily business of the Council.
Kellom arched an eyebrow, but nodded to him to continue. Feredar's relations with the desert kingdom were...frosty at best. They almost never received direct envoys or messages.
"He is proposing a treaty," the Minister said, carefully, "to further trade and peaceful relations between the two kingdoms, to be sealed by your marriage to his niece, who is I believe five years older than Your Majesty."
Unsurprisingly, the other Ministers abruptly started making their opinions on the subject known. Kellom made mental notes of who said what as best he could, and allowed them to continue for a few moments before holding up a hand for silence. After another few moments, they complied.
Even two years ago, they never would have fallen in line that fast.
"What is your opinion?" he asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs--he'd ask the others for clarification, as well, but this was the most important.
He was silent for a long moment, which meant he wasn't entirely sure Kellom would like his answer. Interesting.
Kellom was, though he pretended not to be, aware of the so-called Red Rose Movement, and knew that some of his regents had been members, and suspected that a faction in his council still was. He didn't like a shadowy conspiracy too close to him--the open ones had done enough damage as it was. They might give themselves away on this issue. He could figure out how to act against them later.
"I believe," the Minister finally said, "that Your Majesty should seriously consider this. Given recent...unrest, our borders are not as secure as they could be, nor is the Treasury. The City of Glass is extremely wealthy, and those few foreign powers who would consider challenging us now would not do so with the might of the desert united to ours. Such an alliance would have similar defensive advantages to Glass. It cannot be assumed that King Amassa lacks a plan to manipulate our current position, of course, but the benefits to him and his people without such tactics are significant enough that it is possible."
Which all made sense. And yet...
"Is the lady his niece by blood?"
"Yes."
"That would make her a mage."
The Minister took a deep breath. "Yes."
More eruptions from the rest of the Council. Kellom let them run their course, chewing over that. Laws would have to be overturned in order to do this, allowing marriage between humans and mages, and allowing mages to serve in government positions--which King's consort technically wasn't, but obviously their children would be. And the idea of changing those laws made his skin crawl. On the other hand...Red Rose affiliations or not, it had been humans--ordinary humans--who had done most of the damage to his people in his lifetime. And the advantages to the match were, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs had summarized, not at all insignificant.
Five years older would make the young woman twenty-three. A little old for marriage by Feredar standards, but, from what he'd read, on the young end of average for Glass. A niece, not a daughter, so there wouldn't be inheritance tangles. And a foreign match wouldn't antagonize the various factions in his government too badly. Not the way choosing a native bride would. And especially after Voda...
Kellom pushed the girl he'd thought he'd loved out of his thoughts as firmly as he could.
If only she were human, this proposal would be exactly the thing his fractured nation needed. As it was...
It still made his skin crawl. And he couldn't forget what had happened to his father's family. But...
He held up a hand for silence again, and waited. "I will consider it," he said. And talk to my sisters. "What's next?"
For now, Kellom pushed the Glass King's proposal to the back of his mind and focused on less complicated questions. But a tiny piece of him chewed away at the difficulties, and began to wonder.
Story: The Proposal
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Red #14. roses are red, Ivory #21. You know the good ole days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems., Russet #8. knotted [Hangman's noose.]
Supplies and Materials: paint-by-numbers (from Kelly), eraser (Murder AU), brush (manifesto), feathers, fabric, modeling clay, charcoal, yarn, beading wire, glitter ("Make a list of lessons you learned / are learning from your teenage years."), glue ("Your imagination continues to run away from reality as the Sun aligns with otherworldly Neptune in your sign...don't fall into the trap of thinking you must make a critical choice today about the direction of your life. There will be time for that once your clarity returns.")
Word Count: 690
Rating: PG
Characters: Kellom
Warnings: Dehumanization of mages, references to the chaos of the thirteen Regent years and teenage heartbreak
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. This takes place in an alternate 968 FY and is seriously super trippy.
"We have received a proposal from King Amassa of the City of Glass," the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced during a lull in the daily business of the Council.
Kellom arched an eyebrow, but nodded to him to continue. Feredar's relations with the desert kingdom were...frosty at best. They almost never received direct envoys or messages.
"He is proposing a treaty," the Minister said, carefully, "to further trade and peaceful relations between the two kingdoms, to be sealed by your marriage to his niece, who is I believe five years older than Your Majesty."
Unsurprisingly, the other Ministers abruptly started making their opinions on the subject known. Kellom made mental notes of who said what as best he could, and allowed them to continue for a few moments before holding up a hand for silence. After another few moments, they complied.
Even two years ago, they never would have fallen in line that fast.
"What is your opinion?" he asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs--he'd ask the others for clarification, as well, but this was the most important.
He was silent for a long moment, which meant he wasn't entirely sure Kellom would like his answer. Interesting.
Kellom was, though he pretended not to be, aware of the so-called Red Rose Movement, and knew that some of his regents had been members, and suspected that a faction in his council still was. He didn't like a shadowy conspiracy too close to him--the open ones had done enough damage as it was. They might give themselves away on this issue. He could figure out how to act against them later.
"I believe," the Minister finally said, "that Your Majesty should seriously consider this. Given recent...unrest, our borders are not as secure as they could be, nor is the Treasury. The City of Glass is extremely wealthy, and those few foreign powers who would consider challenging us now would not do so with the might of the desert united to ours. Such an alliance would have similar defensive advantages to Glass. It cannot be assumed that King Amassa lacks a plan to manipulate our current position, of course, but the benefits to him and his people without such tactics are significant enough that it is possible."
Which all made sense. And yet...
"Is the lady his niece by blood?"
"Yes."
"That would make her a mage."
The Minister took a deep breath. "Yes."
More eruptions from the rest of the Council. Kellom let them run their course, chewing over that. Laws would have to be overturned in order to do this, allowing marriage between humans and mages, and allowing mages to serve in government positions--which King's consort technically wasn't, but obviously their children would be. And the idea of changing those laws made his skin crawl. On the other hand...Red Rose affiliations or not, it had been humans--ordinary humans--who had done most of the damage to his people in his lifetime. And the advantages to the match were, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs had summarized, not at all insignificant.
Five years older would make the young woman twenty-three. A little old for marriage by Feredar standards, but, from what he'd read, on the young end of average for Glass. A niece, not a daughter, so there wouldn't be inheritance tangles. And a foreign match wouldn't antagonize the various factions in his government too badly. Not the way choosing a native bride would. And especially after Voda...
Kellom pushed the girl he'd thought he'd loved out of his thoughts as firmly as he could.
If only she were human, this proposal would be exactly the thing his fractured nation needed. As it was...
It still made his skin crawl. And he couldn't forget what had happened to his father's family. But...
He held up a hand for silence again, and waited. "I will consider it," he said. And talk to my sisters. "What's next?"
For now, Kellom pushed the Glass King's proposal to the back of his mind and focused on less complicated questions. But a tiny piece of him chewed away at the difficulties, and began to wonder.
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Yeah, it's in the laws of Feredar, and has been gradually growing more restrictive over the past millennium, since the overthrow of the Mage-lord, who was a dictator and...about as pleasant to the people as canon!Kellom is, only he was a lot more subtle about it.
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I'm still not sure whether or not he accepts her proposal, but if I can justify it, I'm leaning towards yes. Just to explore what their children would be like.
And to discover whether they'd go to war against each other or together conquer the world. Y'know. Normal married couple activities.