A Bargain Made A House Fallen Ch 06

As the carriage made its way up the main thoroughfare of the city where the processional would begin, Deres looked upon Neral in quiet awe as the hoof beats clicked on the stone streets and the carriage jostled slightly with the uneven nature of the streets. She casually looked out, watching the city under the orange glow of the street lamps and gave waves to the inhabitants that had lined the streets of the route in hopes of catching a glimpse of the nobles. It seemed as though she could wear any role perfectly. She was regal just sitting there, and he could watch her spar with sword or staff and she would move with such fluidity, speed, and power that, if he didn't know better, he would have sworn that she was using magic to enhance her abilities.

Those brown eyes fixed on him. "Yes, Deres?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing."

He decided to play along. "What does it look like?"

She settled back in her seat. "It looks like you'd like to kiss me."

Deres crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knee. "I am often guilty of that. I admit that, while as far as I'm concerned, you don't need the makeup, when you do wear it it makes you look...

She jabbed at him with a bit of self-deprecation. "Like an expensive Courtesan? That's what I feel like in it."

"I was going to say 'extraordinary,' but you're not entirely wrong. It's an interesting contrast with the soldier. As for kissing you, yes, but, I suppose doing something so gauche in the open is frowned upon." He wanted to groan.

She surprised him with,"Before the outer gates to the palace, it's acceptable for heads of House to pause the procession and kiss in view of the populace if they wish. The people like to see the display of affection. It shows them that nobility is not so different from them, and, even amongst those marriages that are arranged, love blossoms. For some it's part of a proper show, but it's allowed all the same."

"Would you be all right with that? I mean, it's not some added slip of military discipline?"

She looked pleased with herself. "I cannot say that it won't be a shock to some of the honor guard, as some of the rank and file question my humanity," shaking her head, she went on, "but, no, it's not an issue. I leave whether or not it happens to my husband."

"Then it shall certainly happen," he declared happily.

"To show your love for me? Or to thumb your nose at Court in a completely acceptable fashion?"

He was thoughtful. "Would you despise me if I said it was mostly the former, but just a smidgen of the latter."

She leaned forward and waved through both windows, "Not at all. Indeed, I find it heartening. It reminds me that the mage is as the rest of we mere mortals."

"There is also a bit of wanting to rub Lord Vesik's nose in the fact that you live."

"No doubt he's miserable every time he has to be in the presence of a queen that should be in the ground. All he can hope for now is that no one knows of his involvement. Or that the revenge is done rather than risk an open feud before the queen."

Ordinarily, Tessa would have been there as was her place, but Neral had asked to meet at the point where families were dropped off from their carriages for the walking processional to the castle. Tessa had thought nothing of it deciding that perhaps Mistress wanted calm any of his lingering butterflies. "Tonight should be interesting."

Deres nodded, looking out the window, "It should be. I don't expect them to break down right there or anything unless they really are animals, but the general's keen eye should see a few cracks in the facade. Once they start though, they won't be able to stop. It's only a matter of time."

Given all they had been responsible for, Neral couldn't say she had much sympathy for Tonn Vesik or his daughter, Sere. There was some for Lady Jeron Vesik until Neral reminded herself that she could have put an end to all of it, even in secret, but didn't. They all deserved what would happen, for their actions against the queen if nothing else. Evaline had ruled well, was popular with the people, and had no real enemies at Court because she cultivated unity instead of playing the families as pawns before sitting back to watch them snipe for her personal entertainment, as some of her predecessors had.

That Vesik had wanted to use Neral as a tool for a naked grab at power was what angered Neral more than anything. It had taken all she had in the weeks since the plot was uncovered to keep her temper when she reported to Court. She spent the idle moments in those meetings envisioning one smooth leap over the table, driving the dagger at her hip into his throat before coming up after a smooth shoulder roll just in time to see him gasp his last.

The carriage finally reached the cross-street roughly two blocks from the castle and placed itself near the ones next to those of the other members of her House. Honor guards opened the doors on each side and she and Deres stepped out onto the perfectly manicured grass. Cheers could be heard as they did so. Houses, over time, developed their own celebrity followings in the same manner arena combatants, actors, or bards had. Houses had used that fact over years to help push their policy positions at Court, so it was useful for all.

The soldier and protector in Neral looked around. Her honor guard awaited in formation for the family to form behind it. When the queen finished her speech from the castle, the processional would begin, first with House Jaye, as it was considered closest to the Royal House. From this point forward there was no one in uniform near them that she didn't know on sight. But her senses and intuitions were limited in comparison to his, "All is well, Husband?" Her tone was casual even if the question and its meaning was not.

She knew fingers of his magic were weaving throughout the crowds in the street in ways that she could not see and that she only understood in the small bit that she did now after many long hours talking it through with her two. But she knew he was grazing all the minds around, looking for anything that seemed out of place. In the end, he gave her an answer that she hoped for, "This cape is still nonsense."

She had sympathy, "You'll grow accustomed."

Neral looked to her left and Tessa was simply there, giving her mistress one more look before deciding all was well. Neral's sisters, Maia and Nessein and their families made their way to Neral and hugs went all around, though all tried to be careful so as not to cause another wave of fussing over attire, all wearing colors and styles that complemented Neral's uniform. All the choices were elegant and befitting their wealth and status. In appearance, older sister Maia took after A'marin with hair the color of straw and finely sculpted features, while Nessein shared her features more with Neral herself and with their father.

"I am surprised, Sister," Maia said, looking Deres over from head to toe. "He cleans up adequately."

"It's one of the reasons I selected him."

Her tone was light, "We will postpone discussing the other reasons due to mixed company." Neral got the same visual scrutiny, but Maia drew a very different conclusion, "You're very happy tonight."

"Why shouldn't I be? It's spring, is there a greater time of year?"

"Mother has decided to yield?"

"You've spoken to her?"

"Not about that," Maia said as though the assumption that she had to have discussed it to know that something was different was absurd. "The cloud that has followed you is gone and there was only one reason for it that I knew."

It almost didn't surprise Neral, Maia had a way of knowing what was going on within her family without even trying. "I believe she has." Neral had to concede with a sigh, "You were right, I had to be firm."

"She fixates on her version of correct and, with something like this, you were never going to coax her to your point of view."

Neral nodded. "I was just hoping that time would have done the work for me."

"No matter. All is as you wish it to be."

Nessein studied Deres carefully, "Try not to eat with your hands." Light shone in her dark eyes as she waited patiently.

He gave her a visual appraisal as well. "I'll try not to, Nessein, though, given the fact that you probably spent as much time getting ready as anyone else and that's the best you could manage with your hair, I thought we were throwing caution to the wind this evening."

She touched her carefully curled, placed, piled, and pinned dark hair, and her lips turned upward ever so slightly. Neral had told Deres how each sister would appraise him. With Maia, honesty and firmness was the path to approval. She did not need every detail of his life, but if she sensed he was being disingenuous or opportunistic, she was lost to him. She could accept his desire for status as a reason to want to marry Neral, but it couldn't be allowed to be the only one.

Nessein, on the other hand, liked banter and liked barbs. His intellect and wit had to be keen. There was always acid on the tip of her tongue, even as she maintained respectability at Court. In her mind, for him to be fit to remain, he had to not be chained to the pain of his upbringing. He had to be able to endure barbs and give back with wit and just the right amount of disdain. "She will leave it to Maia to get the particulars of your life," Neral told him before they arrived at their home for the first time. "She'll test your emotions, and your mind, and your center. Do not anger. Just give back the same measure of what you get from her."

And, while talking to Maia had initially felt like a completely necessary and understandable interrogation, Deres fell into easily sparring with the youngest of the sisters. His mother had demanded he cultivate his intellect and, in some ways the nuanced to and fro was like many of her quizzes of him as a child. Even with the simple questions, he needed to give more than one word answers and he had to pay attention to her words to glean what she really wanted to know from what she'd asked. As a result, Nessein was challenged that night and she enjoyed a challenge.

Neral smiled as her nieces and nephews that ranged from toddler to adolescent gathered together. They were each beautiful in their own ways and she was as proud of them as she would be of her own. One of her older nieces looked to her and saluted as smartly as any elite soldier, right fist against her heart with a sharp bow of the head. She was prepared for the service, wanting it in the same way Neral had at that age. No one had to speak to her of her responsibility to it, it was something she was born feeling. The general returned the salute with the same precision before smiling in return. "Excellent stance."

"Thank you, Aunt Neral. I look forward to showing you that on the field someday."

Neral waved her hand, "No rush for that. You still have some childhood to enjoy yet, so don't make me have to order you to do that."

"No, General." The look that came with those words was all young girl prepared to do just that

A'marin walked the field, looking over each member of her family in turn."I hope everyone is ready."

No one dared suggest they weren't, so Deres and Neral stood in the front together just between the honor guards, their dress armor, sparkling with an orange hue from the lamps in a way that seemed almost magical itself. Everyone else took their proper places a few steps behind and waited patiently for the trumpets to sound, which marked the end of the queen's speech and the beginning of the processional.

Neral moved smoothly without thinking about it while Deres had to spend a moment or two actually thinking about Neral's lessons until he built some muscle memory into the motion. "Don't forget to wave, Husband."

He put his hand up, certain that it looked as awkward as it felt, "I feel like an idiot."

"I know. No such pomp and circumstance in the land that raised you."

"In the wastes, survival was more important than flourish. Once Adar was thriving, they just saw little need for most of it."

"Terrible for you to be among the backward," she quipped, squeezing his hand.

He squeezed back. "I did miss home, and there are benefits." He looked out at the crowds and it didn't taker him long to note that some of the loudest voices cheering came from the most plainly dressed as they jostled for a place in the front or let their children climb upon their shoulders. Neral seemed to know what was on his mind without asking. "You are a hero to many in the south quarter."

"Just because I married into status?"

"That's no small feat in Erette," she told him, "or in any of the kingdoms for that matter. They know you grew up amongst them. They know you are them. They know you give of yourself to help their lot. If you can get to something better, so can they. There have been meetings regarding you within Court. Some fear unrest because of what you represent."

The thought incensed him. "They should fear unrest because of a stratified society they thrive within, not because of me. Other lands are allowed to live as they choose, and it's not to me to change it, no matter how much sympathy I have. Rest assured, Neral, that I am not a revolutionary. I would neither incite nor join one."

"As I have informed Court repeatedly. And, to take your measure is one of the reasons the queen has met with you more than once. She wanted to be certain you had no grand designs."

He shook his head, "I want to have my family and live in peace. I want to help those that I can, and if I can champion them within the bounds of the current system, I always will, but I will not work to upend that system and be responsible for the chaos that would follow."

"The queen has faith in that now. You will find a better judge of people nowhere in the kingdom."

They walked the street, the grand gold gates of the castle growing ever closer and Neral felt uneasy. It was always something that she felt during these processionals. The tactician in her could never shake the knowledge of how exposed all the families were during these things. It served to show the people that the nobility was not so far above and beyond them, but the opportunity the disgruntled had with such ceremony could not be ignored. She was even more on edge with the knowledge of the threat to her and her family from within. Neral leaned in slightly, "Is she close?"

Deres glanced over before leaning to her himself, "One pace behind you to your left, watching everything."

Neral glanced reflexively, seeing nothing, though she attempted to will it so.

He kept his voice just high enough to be heard by her, "If something were to happen, she would act decisively, as will I", he promised, "law be damned. But there is nothing here that shouldn't be in the crowd; no undue anxiety, no undue tension, no magic telltales, and no mind blocked from me."

That did make her feel better as the gates opened to the castle, "If you plan to spite Court with my lips, the proper place is in six paces, just before the Nisk bushes."

His voice was teasingly indifferent, "If you would prefer I didn't..."

"Shut up and kiss your wife."

"Yes, Neral."

"Surely you see how much more easily your life progresses with those two words?"

"'Yes, Bryana' is also helpful," he noted.

"Some men live married for decades before they learn that, and some never do."

He smiled as he turned her to him. "I have always prided myself on being a quick study." His heart fluttered at her nearness to him. Those eyes that one could fall into and the softness of her skin, gentleness of her touch, and her inner strength all combined to always make him feel a bit like a flustered teenager when he was so close to him. Her arms went around him, her head tilting as she drifted to him. Their lips met in the middle and, while Deres did hear more than a few boos, they were almost immediately drowned out by cheers. He took some pleasure from that even though the fact that she loved him was all that truly mattered.

Once inside, they walked through the main hall, decorated floor to ceiling with murals depicting key moments in the history of the kingdom, each framed in gold trim and divided by smooth marble columns. Chandeliers, fully lit every few feet bathed the hallway in near daylight as the Jaye family progressed, knowing they would not break the smooth march they carried during the processional until they entered the main ballroom. Midway down the hall on their left was a smaller banquet area where the lesser families of Court would gather. The queen would meet and greet them as High Court mingled before it sat down to the banquet, as High Court would be where the queen spent most of her evening.

The corridor opened to the main ballroom, a room of gleaming white marble with gold seemingly everywhere. The room could easily accommodate hundreds as servants with hors d'oeuvres began to mill about as the first families trickled in. Spring flowers dotted the room, selected specifically so their scents would compliment one another and not overwhelm and the far end was an impromptu stage for bare-chested men and women with only slightly more covering danced together and separately, some with white and pink ribbons flowing with them and some not. It all came together as an elegant display of opulence that impressed Deres simply because, for some reason, he expected something more crass.

He took two glasses of wine from one of the servants, handing one to Neral. Sipping it, he discovered it had a slightly earthy flavor that went down smoothly. She sipped with him as they took in the surroundings. "Lovely scenery," he noted, looking in the direction of the dancers.

"It is," she agreed. "And spring is renewal. Spring is change. It's the perfect time of year."

"Winter has its appeal, too," he said.

"All seasons have a joy that is theirs. In winter one can wrap in a thick blanket with a steaming, buttery rum and pass the night even as you watch the snow blow through the city."

"I love the poet that lives in you, Neral Jaye."

She shook her head and sipped, "Poetry is best left to poets, Deres. I fight. The images matter to me as they remind me of what I fight for. They counter the fact that I also fight for the likes of them." She swallowed the rest of her drink quickly, a castle servant taking the glass away from her almost as quickly as the Vesik's approached them. She put on her most diplomatic smile as they closed the distance between them. Tonn Vesik was a tall man, with several inches of height on most that he had no issue with using to intimidate others, whether it be business associates in the merchant guilds or other families at Court.

His hair was dark and slicked back with a bit of silver streaked through at the temples and his beard. His eyes smouldered as they set deeply within the sockets and a somewhat hawkish nose. He bowed with Neral to the exact depth protocol demanded, "Good evening, Lady Jaye."

She returned the gesture. "Good evening to you, Lord Vesik. I trust you enjoyed the procession?"

"How could one not? One should always enjoy a chance to revel in their status." His voice was smooth, but Neral had always thought it had a smarmy undercurrent to it, as though he were attempting to talk someone into a deal that benefited him greatly and them not so much. "Deres certainly did."

Deres polished off the rest of his drink and the empty glass disappeared just as quickly as Neral's had. "Custom allows me to kiss my wife."

He smiled as he extended his hand, "Oh, it does. It does indeed, and there's no reason you shouldn't be proud of the fact that you actually have a place in society now."

Deres took the proffered hand and noted that Vesik was attempting to dominate with his grip.

How petty and expected?

Admittedly it was just as petty to meet the grip and add to it as he did, but he would not even pretend to be cowed before this man. "True status is a function of honor and not birth. People with the most noble of title can be among the most bereft of soul while I know of families in the south quarter that will share what food they have with anyone that comes to their door."