Varna Ch. 08

With his five sons all betrothed, my father seemed to lose any further interest in our actual weddings. He was certainly not going to invite hundreds of guests, and undertake the enormous expense of entertaining them all. Those details - and those costs - he left to us.

He could have left his mark on history, as the host and the moving force behind one of the greatest events of the past century: five sons, marrying on the same day, attended by all of the notables in the Duchy. It might have immortalized my father - but his parsimony was greater than his desire to be remembered.

Left to our own devices, Saska and I agreed that we should marry in the spring, at Souglad, her home. Gerdar Tanle was prepared to organize a modest celebration (neither of us wanted anything too extravagant). I submitted a short list of people that I would wish to invite: my brothers Aludar and Toran, and my sister Sanatha. Hurmas and Sezima, the friends I had travelled with. Yazgash and Durgat. Enneiros (unless Gerdar Tanle already intended to invite him). Rhigen, Glasha's father.

I couldn't invite Glasha herself, since Saska had already asked her to be one of the bridal party. It was a generous gesture. I offered to contribute what funds I had, but Gerdar Tanle turned me down.

- "Save what money you have." she suggested. "And Saska's dowry. It's not much, but you'll need all of it if you're to have a house of your own some day. You may not be living in Elmina for the rest of your life."

That was true. With father gone, one day, Aludar would become Duke. Would he want his brothers living with him? Surely he would need our accommodations for his own children. Were I in his shoes, I would want Merik and Nathal as far from the capital as I could send them, with important-sounding but utterly meaningless titles and duties. Inspector of the Southern Hills. Ambassador to Galtin's Port.

But a niggling thought continued to bother me. Why had Father insisted that we all marry? Was he encouraging some kind of competition for the succession? What if Aludar was not the next Duke?

Saska and her mother left two days after Father's banquet.

- "It's so strange." said Saska. "I've only been in Elmina for a matter of days - and yet I feel as though I've known you for years. I'm going to miss you both." She hugged Glasha and me one after the other, and then together.

- "I know what you mean." said Glasha. "I'm going to miss you, too."

- "See you soon." said Gerdar Tanle.

***

Reaction set in the very next day.

- "I'm getting married."

- "Yes, I heard." said Glasha. "I was there, remember?"

Then she saw that I wasn't making light of the situation. "Does that trouble you? Are you having second thoughts?"

- "No. It's not that. I mean ... it just happened so fast. A few days ago we were only thinking of a bride ... and now ..."

Glasha put her arm around me. "You did well, Tauma. We've done well. And look at it this way: you may have gone into this madness with a better idea of who you wouldn't marry than who you would - but Saska and her mother came here to see you."

I hadn't thought of it that way.

"They could rule out your three older brothers before they left home. Aludar was promised to Bathene, Merik was Merik, and Nathal was at Tanarive - on the wrong side. That only left you."

- "And Toran."

- "Too young, and an unknown quantity. You, they knew of. Gerdar Tanle spoke to Rhigen, to learn more about you - and about me, I suppose. Saska came prepared with her questions about Tanarive. Didn't it seem as if she was interviewing you, rather than the other way around?"

- "Yes. You could say that." I smiled at the memory.

- "And then they waited, to see if you would say anything about me. They were making sure that you were the man they wanted."

- "So you're saying that we fell into their trap." I said.

It was Glasha's turn to smile. "Some trap. We got exactly what we hoped for."

- "You're right. Thank you." That did a lot to improve my mood.

Now I could turn my thoughts to the other four who were engaged.

As Glasha had said, Merik was Merik. He had never travelled very far; his grand tour had come to an early and ignominious end when he seduced the Moksha girl. He'd always wanted to be a warrior, and trained with the garrison troops. It was no wonder that he'd developed a strong connection with Tir Storum.

Or had he fallen under Storum's influence? Shurkka was attractive, cruel and a bully, just like him. Two peas in a pod? How would they get along?

Nathal's marriage was more troubling. It was an alliance, and logic suggested that it had been contracted back in the days of Tanarive. That would bear thinking about.

First, though, I needed to clear the air with my eldest brother. Once Bathene and her brother Viken had also departed, to return to Whydah, I went to Aludar's quarters.

He was sitting at his desk, fingers steepled before him, lost in thought. I had to cough loudly to get his attention. His eyes snapped back into focus, and he caught sight of me standing there.

- "Tauma! Ah - good to see you. I was ... meaning to come and see you, as a matter of fact."

- "That can wait for another time, brother." I said. "I only came by to say two things."

- "Oh?" Aludar frowned at my tone.

- "I am happy for you, brother. My congratulations were sincere. Bathene is a prize." I drew a deep breath. "But I am not happy with you, Aludar. You interfered in my courtship of several women, in order to scupper my chances with them."

- "Tauma -"

- "How would you have reacted, brother, if I had tried to prevent you from marrying Bathene? You put your own selfish interests ahead of mine - and Glasha's, for that matter. She's never done you harm - nor have I, that I know of. Yet you sought to manipulate me, and to push me in the direction that you wanted."

- "I had my reasons, Tauma. I -"

- "I don't care!" I shouted. Right away, I realized that I had nothing to gain by getting angry. I lowered my voice. "You know that I love you, Aludar. I want you to be the next Duke. But you sought to ensure my loyalty by pushing me to marry an ally of the Esins. That was arrogant, and disrespectful. Is that the relationship you offer me in future? My loyalty, in return for your disrespect?"

- "You make it sound ... bad."

- "It was. You treated me like a playing piece. Had you come to me and told me of your 'reasons', I might have listened. But you didn't consider what I might want, or what Glasha might need. Disrespect, Aludar."

I instantly recognized the look on his face. He was marshalling his arguments, preparing a convincing rebuttal. I had no desire to hear it.

- "One day, Tauma, you may have to choose ..."

"Never mind." I said. "You need to think this over. Once you can understand why I might be angry with you, we can speak again."

That said, I walked out of his room.

***

I also needed to talk to my youngest brother. This time, though, I wondered if it was me who was out of touch. I spoke to Sanatha, who was just as surprised as I was that Toran had committed himself to Adjan Moksha.

- "No, it's not just you." she said. "It's a terrible match. She's older, more willful, and ... bitter. Angry. He won't be able to stand up to her."

Many relationships devolve into power struggles. My father and mother locked horns - probably from the very beginning. Neither one would give an inch. No one won. But they succeeded in making each other miserable, and left a field of scorched earth all around them, scarring their children.

Sometimes, one partner clearly wins the power struggle - or only one of them engages in a battle for dominance. It's often possible to recognize these relationships from the outside: the ornamental wife, the hen-pecked husband, the submissive partner ... there are many variants.

I can't speak to the effectiveness of these relationships, or to the happiness of the respective partners. It's simply not something that I ever wanted. There was no question, from early on, that Glasha and I would be equals, with an equal voice in our joint future. Nor could I offer anything less to Saska.

Equal doesn't always mean identical. There were (and would be) times when Glasha's wishes or needs had to come first. But I found it difficult to believe that Toran was entering a relationship of equals with Adjan Moksha.

That was without even considering her brother, Tir Moksha. I wasn't sure that I liked the look of that young man at all.

So Sanatha and I approached Toran together.

- "Are you happy, brother?" I asked.

- "Why wouldn't I be?" he retorted.

- "I'm concerned, Toran." I said. "You didn't come to congratulate me on my betrothal to Saska Tanle."

- "You didn't congratulate me." he snapped.

- "That might be because your engagement worries me. I came to find out what you were thinking. What is your reasoning for not coming to see me? You don't approve of Saska?"

Toran had no answer.

"Do you disapprove, or don't you?" I asked him. "Or do you simply not care?"

- "That's not like you, Toran." said Sanatha.

- "There it is! You're both against me."

- "Toran ..." said my sister, trying to soothe him.

- "And you hate the Mokshas!"

Sanatha had no reply. Her mouth simply formed a large 'O' shape.

I thought for a moment.

- "You're mistaken, Toran. Ask Adjan what I said to her - specifically, what I said about Merik. I bear the Mokshas no ill will whatsoever. They were wronged, and I believe that Father should have done something to correct that."

Toran had no answer for that. He hadn't expected me to agree with him.

I continued while I could. "What hurts me is that my brother doesn't care enough about me to ask how I feel about my engagement - or his."

- "You didn't ask me."

- "I'm here now, Toran. When were you planning to come and see me?"

He blushed. I had him thinking, now, but Sanatha spoiled it.

- "We're worried about you." she said.

Toran crossed his arms.

- "Funny way you have of showing it!" he snapped. Toran sounded exactly like what he was at this point: a petulant teenager. We got no further with him.

***

Glasha wouldn't let me rest on my laurels (such as they were).

- "Practice!" she insisted.

We went down to the river every day - not to find a trysting place, but to work on magic. I thought that Rhigen had pushed me, but Glasha was a harsh taskmaster - or taskmistress.

- "You won't know your limits until you push yourself!" she said, a moment before throwing a rock at my head.

- "Glasha!"

- "What? I'm right here!"

- "You could have hurt me!"

- I was aiming at your shoulder."

- "You missed!"

- "Oh, come on, Tauma. It's not like I was throwing a dagger at your head."

Then she threw a dagger at my head. I snapped an aether shield into place, and deflected it.

But I was not happy.

- "Glasha ... what if I wasn't ready? You could have killed me!"

- "That's why I only challenge you when you're ready for it. You'll notice that I don't throw sharp objects at you when we're getting ready for bed. If you would like me to, though, you only have to say so ..."

- "Saska will be upset with you if I don't live long enough to attend the wedding." I said.

- "I'll make it up to her." said Glasha, just before she threw a carrot at my head.

- "A carrot?" I cried out, as I deflected it.

- "I couldn't find a suitable rock." she said.

***

After a few weeks, I wrote a letter to Saska, describing what was going on in Elmina. I told her about my encounters with Aludar and Toran, because they affected her as well, if she was going to be my wife.

It was odd ... I wanted to tell Saska how much I looked forward to the spring, and to our wedding. Yet I spent the bulk of my time with Glasha - and I loved her as much as ever, if not more. Did I have two hearts?

Truth be told, it was an uncomfortable month. Even Sanatha found it difficult.

- "Merik has always been ... that way. Or maybe I just haven't tried to talk to him that often. But now Aludar is being difficult, and Nathal has nothing of value to say. He just tells me that I'm exaggerating. Toran won't even speak to me at all."

- "Try talking to father." I suggested.

Sanatha shrugged, and threw up her hands. But she came back to see me two nights later.

- "Tauma, I did as you said. But ... he wouldn't say anything. And then he asked me to come back, after ... after he'd had time to think about things. What does that mean?"

I'll admit that I was disconcerted. Father had always had a soft spot for Sanatha.

Only a few days later, Seyamka passed me a note. It was from Aludar, asking me to meet him outside Father's audience chamber. I didn't know whether he was prepared to apologize, or if he would try to explain away his conduct again. Nor did I understand why he wanted to meet there. He could have come to me.

Nevertheless, I went.

He was standing in the hallway, apparently lost in thought.

- "Aludar?"

He turned around and saw me. "Ah - there you are." With that, he turned his head again, looking around - I didn't know who or what he was searching for. Then he focused on me again. "Come with me." he said.

I didn't care for his peremptory tone. "Is that a request, or a command?" I asked.

My older brother frowned. "We need to talk. My room is closer." With that, he turned and led the way.

I was halfway tempted to go in the opposite direction. But trying to teach him a lesson struck me as petty - and even counter-productive. Aludar needed to talk, so I followed him.

He closed the door of his chamber behind us.

- "You see what he's doing, don't you?" he began.

- "He? You mean Father? Or someone else?" I wondered if Merik or Nathal had done something that I wasn't aware of.

- "Father, of course. We need to form an alliance, Tauma. If I'm to become Duke, I will need your support."

- "An alliance?"

- "Don't be so dense, brother. Can't you see what Father is doing?"

- "Testing us, in some way. It's always a test, with him. But you know more about this particular test than I do - you had a long conversation with him, when you returned from Whydah. But you decided not to share what he said with me."

Aludar waved his hand, dismissively. "You didn't need to know, at the time."

- "Perhaps you should tell me now." I suggested.

- "Very well." said Aludar. "Father told me that I was a disappointment - that he didn't feel confident to be leaving the Duchy in my care. He informed me that I wouldn't be officially designated as his heir unless I did something to change his perception."

I could only shake my head. Damn the old man.

"So I considered what I might do to remedy the situation." said Aludar. "If he wanted me to produce a male heir, I could remarry. If he needed to see that I had support among the Tirs, I could make a political alliance, and form a party of my own. It was Mother who suggested that I could accomplish both of those goals if I married Bathene."

- "Mother?" Aludar knew how she'd treated me. His own experience had been far different, but my brother had to know how I felt about her.

- "Yes. But somehow, Father found out. Either that, or he decided to open the competition - to include all of his sons - that was when he insisted that we must all marry. So of course Merik and Nathal made alliances with Tirs. Even Toran will marry into the family of a Tir. You were the only one who chose a ... a Gerdar - although she does have some influence in the West ..."

I could hear the missing word quite clearly: a 'mere' Gerdar. And yet Aludar himself had been pushing me to marry a Gerdar's daughter - but one connected to the Esins, of course.

- "That's why I need your help, Tauma." he continued, completely unaware of my reactions. "Two of us together - that might impress Father, and give the others pause. Also, you're closer to Toran than I am. He doesn't want to listen to me, but you could swing him over to our side ..."

- "Why did it take you so long to tell me these things?" I asked. "If you valued my ... support - if you truly wanted me as an ally, could you not have approached me earlier?"

Aludar gave a small huff of exasperation. He was growing impatient with me. "I hoped to do this on my own, without having to involve you. But now it seems wiser to call on your support. Together, we can achieve a great deal. Besides - have you received a better offer? Or are you expecting one?"

An offer? He hadn't offered anything. Did he think that I was weighing the value of my support, prepared to auction it off to the highest bidder?

- "This doesn't sound like the brother I thought I knew. What's happened to you, Aludar?"

- "I'm facing up to realities, Tauma - which is what you should be doing as well."

- "I'll consider your ... offer."

- "You do that." he said. "But don't wait too long. The matter is urgent."

I left my brother's chamber, and closed the door behind me. I took only two steps before I had to stop, and lean against the wall.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Was this how Aludar had always seen me? As a guaranteed supporter, or a useful errand boy? I drew on the aether, trying to calm myself so that I could think clearly.

Perhaps I was partly to blame; perhaps I shouldn't have let him win at games for so long. Had I thrashed him soundly a few times, he might not have taken me so lightly. Or had he been overly influenced by our mother?

I quickly recovered my composure. This was something I needed to discuss with Glasha.

***

The very next day, I was soaking in the bathhouse when Nathal came in.

- "Brother." he said, with a small grin.

- "Brother." I replied.

- "How's the water?"

- "Fine."

Nathal stripped down, and then slid into the pool.

- "Ah ... that is good."

Nathal hadn't joined me for a bath in years. That he was here now was more than a simple coincidence. I just stared at him and waited.

"You're looking at me oddly." he said.

- "What do you want, Nathal?"

- "Can't brothers just share a bath?"

I didn't bother to dignify that with an answer. I was one of the few people who were impervious to Nathal's charm, and his winning smile. It seemed to bother him.

"Fine." he said. "I assume that you've seen it for yourself, now: Aludar is panicking."

- "Is that so?"

- "Yes, it is. Oh - did you think that he came to you first?" Nathal smiled, and shook his head. "No, little brother. Aludar offered me an alliance, too."

I didn't reply, but I was shaken - could that be true?

"It's quite clear that Father has no confidence in Aludar. And our dear brother has only made it worse, by marrying back into the Esin clan. You know what that means: Mother. Father didn't care for that at all."

Nathal was very clever. He was a rogue, but a very plausible rogue. He also knew how to play on my fears and doubts. But Nathal had his own weaknesses: one of them was impatience. Rather than let me absorb what he'd already said, he moved on to his next weapon.

- "If it's not Aludar, then who?" he said. "Merik? You and I both know that he would be a disaster - for Varna, and for us, personally. How could you protect Glasha, if Merik was Duke?"

Thank the Goddesses, I'd summoned up the aether to calm myself. My mind was functioning perfectly. I recognized a line of complete bullshit when I heard it. Aludar was unstable, Merik was Merik, and therefore I should align myself with Nathal.

"You and I could do a lot of good for Varna." said Nathal.

He was just as shameless as Merik. I knew Nathal, and I would never help to make him Duke of Varna.

- "Are you suggesting that I should support you?" I asked him.