by Tara Grayce
She would be married to an elf. That would be interesting. No worse than any other marriage alliance to a stranger.
She raised her chin. “Yes, we are genuine in our offer.”
Master Wendee cleared his throat. “Generally, a marriage alliance would include our princess marrying one of your princes while one of your princesses would marry a prince from Escarland.”
King Weylind’s face hardened until his pale skin almost seemed to be made from stone. “No. I will not marry my sister to a human.”
There was just a hint of derision in his tone. As if it took extreme effort to say human without spitting it out.
Averett’s eyes sparked. “And I’m not going to marry my sister to an elf without a reciprocating offer from you. Unless your offers of peace weren’t genuine?”
King Weylind glared back. “Your people trespassed into Tarenhiel first. All of Tarenhiel’s raids have been in response to your provocation. I believe Escarland should be the first to bend and offer peace as you were the first to harden.”
Averett blew out a long breath as if he was trying to keep hold of his temper. “As I already stated, I have decried the actions of the few who crossed the border. I’m the one who sent messengers to arrange this talk. I’m the one reaching out for peace first. I believe I have already done my share of bending.”
“Weylind Daresheni, shashon.” The silver-haired elf spoke again, his head bowed toward his king so Essie couldn’t see his eyes or much of his face past the curtain of his silver-blond hair.
As he spoke, King Weylind’s face hardened, and his reply in elvish was sharp. After a few more moments of conversation, King Weylind’s expression smoothed, and something in his posture shifted, though Essie couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was. Almost as if his shoulders slumped, but the movement wasn’t as perceptible as that.
King Weylind faced Averett. “He has agreed to marry your princess.”
“And who is he?” Averett’s back was as stiff as the palace’s walls. He looked about ready to grab Essie’s hand and drag her out of there.
“He is my youngest brother, Farrendel Laesornysh.”
HE WAS LAESORNYSH. Essie took several deep breaths trying to keep the room from spinning. The elf king’s youngest brother was Laesornysh. The same youngest brother she might end up marrying. Who had volunteered to marry her.
If they went through with this marriage, she would end up married to the infamous elf warrior-assassin.
She exhaled slowly. All right. This was all right. Focus on the good parts of this.
It would solve Averett’s worries about the elves using Laesornysh against them. If he cared anything for his wife and marriage, he wouldn’t attack her people. And, as the whispered conversations seemed to indicate, he had some sway with his older brother.
Averett’s eyes had narrowed, his jaw hardening. He opened his mouth.
Essie grabbed his arm. “Avie. We need to talk. In private.” She sent what she hoped was a winsome smile at the elves. “Your Majesty, please excuse my brother and me for a moment.”
She all but dragged Averett from his chair and pushed him toward the side of the tent farthest away from the elves. With their superior hearing, they most likely could still hear every word, but there wasn’t a place on this tiny rock of an island that was far enough to be out of earshot, so she’d settle for a semblance of privacy that would hopefully allow Averett to speak freely.
“This is ridiculous.” Averett clenched and unclenched his hands. “This was supposed to be just a throwaway suggestion. They weren’t actually supposed to...there is no way I’m just marrying you off to some elf assassin. What if he’s cruel? I’m not going to let him hurt you.”
Essie wanted to let out another sigh, but she’d done enough sighing already. Her brother loved her and wanted to protect her, but this was a princess’s job. It wasn’t glamorous, being married and shipped off to some foreign land to buy her homeland a bit of peace and safety, but it was what was expected of her. And she was strong enough to be able to handle it and make it into something good.
She sneaked a glance toward the elves. Laesornysh’s head was tipped down, but she got the feeling his eyes were still focused on her and Averett. Probably hearing every word they said.
King Weylind’s dark eyes were stormy, for lack of a better word. His jaw hard. Would he consider it a grave insult if they refused a marriage alliance after the elves had deigned to take them up on the offer? After all, it was a huge deal for the elves to bend that much. Marrying one of their royalty to a human just wasn’t something they did. Ever.
Why do it now? It was an action that reeked of desperation. As if the elves were just as terrified as Averett that a war could break out between Escarland and Tarenhiel. Unless the elves thought it was a war they couldn’t win, even with Laesornysh on their side. Why? Were they scared of Escarland? Or of something else?
She turned back to Averett. “It’s gone too far already. I don’t think we can refuse. Nor do I want to.”
“You want to marry that elf?” Averett’s face twisted. “Elves killed Father.”
“On the battlefield. Honorably. They could’ve sent in elven assassins against us, but they never did. Only against the trolls. Besides, Laesornysh didn’t kill Father. He was captured by trolls at the time. So he’s actually one of the few elves I can marry without worrying about marrying Father’s killer.” Essie gripped Averett’s arm. She needed to make him understand. This was best for their country. And, it might even be best for her. “Marriage alliances are always a chance. I would be running the same risk if I married into a human kingdom. Maybe more of a risk. Elves aren’t known for their cruelty. Cold and distant, maybe, but not cruel.”
“Essie, I...” Averett pulled her into a hug and mumbled over her shoulder. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” Essie patted his shoulder. “This is an opportunity—and adventure—that I’m not about to let slip by. I will be invited places few humans ever see. I will be able to learn their language, their culture, in a way we can’t from the outside. And they will learn ours from me. Perhaps I’ll be able to foster trade between our nations and an understanding that will prevent future wars even decades after you and I are long dead.”
Averett shook his head, but a hint of a smile played across his face. “You’re actually excited about this idea.”
“You know? I think I might be.” Essie twitched her skirts. “I’ve heard elvish women don’t have to wear petticoats or corsets.”
Averett snorted and tapped her nose with a finger as he’d done when she was a little tot of five following her older brothers around. “I guess I have no choice but to approve, if for no other reason than to see the utter chaos you’re going to bring to the staid and stuffy elves.”
Essie tried her best to temper her grin as she and Averett returned to the table and took their seats once again.
Averett pulled himself straight in his chair, returning to his professional, cool demeanor. “We find a match between my sister and your brother acceptable. I believe her presence with your people will reassure my people that they have an advocate to maintain peaceful relations. Peace will still take time, but I believe it is achievable along this path.”
King Weylind tipped his head, the equivalent of nodding enthusiastically for an elf. “As do I. If, after a period of six months, your sister’s marriage to my brother has sufficiently cooled tensions, I will agree to send one of my sisters for an extended visit to your capital as an ambassador to further peaceful relations.”
It wasn’t a reciprocating marriage, but it was probably a huge concession for the elves.
Averett opened his mouth, and Essie nudged him under the table. It was the best offer they were going to receive. Maybe the elf princess would fall madly in love with one of Essie’s brothers and accidentally bring about a strengthening of the marriage alliance. Even if Avie was already wonderfully married to Paige, Essie’s friend, Essie still had
two other brothers who were both free.
Averett shot glares at both her and Master Wendee, so Essie probably hadn’t been the only one nudging him under the table to prevent him from saying something they’d all regret. He straightened his shoulders and expression. “Very well. Now that we have worked out that part of this treaty, let’s get to the particulars.”
It turned out the first particular they had to work out was the wedding. The elves insisted they didn’t want to leave the treaty signing without her in tow, and Averett seemed reluctant to just hand her over on such short notice.
It took all of Master Wendee’s diplomacy and Essie’s insistence to keep the wedding meant to keep the peace from turning into the thing that sparked the war.
In the end, they agreed on two weddings. The first, a human-style wedding, would take place on the Escarland side of the border in two days immediately after the treaty was signed. Essie would leave with the elves shortly afterwards and journey to their capital city Estyra where a second, elven wedding would take place to make things official.
After Essie and Averett were rowed from Linder Island to their steamboat, which took them across the Hydalla River toward the Escarlish shore, they were shown to a suite of guest rooms in the army fort guarding this section of river.
Essie made herself comfortable on one end of the settee, kicking off her shoes and curling her legs beneath her. Based on Avie’s expression, this was going to be a long discussion.
Sinking onto the other side of the settee, Averett took off his crown and rubbed at the mark it had left across his forehead. His auburn hair stuck up in places, dimpled in others. “I’m sorry. I tried to give you more time. Two days...”
She couldn’t let him beat himself up over this. “Will be more than enough time. If we wire Mother tonight, she will be able to arrive here in time.”
Avie massaged his forehead. “I know you will want Paige here. But she needs to stay with the boys back home. The elves seem committed to peace, but if this is some trick to lure Escarland’s royal family here to be slaughtered...”
Essie hadn’t thought of that. She didn’t think it was a scheme the elves were likely to pull, but it never hurt to be cautious. It was never wise to have the whole royal family in one place except at the palace where they were well guarded.
Perhaps Paige could come while Essie’s nephews stayed behind, but if the worst should happen, they would need at least one of their parents to survive.
Essie shook herself. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing besides a wedding, anyway.
She pasted her smile into place and forced the laugh back into her voice. She was getting married in two days. She wasn’t going to spend the days before her wedding moping. “I’ll miss her terribly. I never imagined I’d get married without her to gush with me. But I guess we’ll just have to do that later.”
Whenever that would be. Once Essie moved to Tarenhiel with her new elf husband, when would she see her family again? Would her family be allowed to visit? Would they dare step foot in Tarenhiel? Her elf husband wasn’t likely to want to visit Escarland.
No moping. This was an adventure. The best adventure she was likely to get.
“Edmund and Julien should be able to come, if they can be spared from their duties, so I’ll have most of my family here.” Essie’s smile came less forced now. She leaned forward, thinking through the details. “Mother can bring a few of my personal items and favorite dresses, but I doubt I’ll need to pack much. He’s an elf prince. He can probably afford to outfit me with a new wardrobe.”
Averett grimaced. “I’m not going to send you off to the elves looking like a pauper. What will they think?”
“They will probably think my human dresses are horrid and be offended by how much luggage I have. They seem to travel light.” Essie shook her head. “No, the lighter the better. I’ll take my two favorite dresses, which will be enough to introduce human culture and fashion to the elves if I deem appropriate. Taking my personal jewelry—the pieces you have given me that aren’t a part of Escarland’s royal jewels—will be enough to show wealth while still being easy to carry.”
And, if she was going to blend human fashion with elven, it would probably go over better if she wore a few human pieces of jewelry with elven clothing. She was, after all, marrying their prince. She would need to adapt to their ways as much as possible or they would never see her as anything other than an outsider at best and an intruder at worst.
“How are you so calm about all this?” Averett rested his elbows on his knees, his shoulders drooping.
“There’s no point getting all hysterical. It won’t change anything but make me and everyone around me miserable.” Would a good shake get that notion through Averett’s thick head, or would she have to take more drastic measures? “I told you. I always knew a marriage of alliance would be in my future eventually. I can be thankful it didn’t happen until I’m twenty-years-old instead of a sixteen-year-old child paired off with a fifty-year-old somewhere.”
Averett’s face turned a shade of green in the fading light of dusk. “I never would have done that to you. I don’t even want to do this to you.” He dropped his head in his hands. “I’m such a horrible brother.”
He probably felt like he was sacrificing her and her happiness for the sake of the kingdom’s peace. While it warmed her to know her brother would put her happiness above the kingdom’s wellbeing, this was her duty as it was his.
Besides, it wasn’t as if a true love, story book romance would be in her future if she refused this arranged marriage. A romance between a princess and some guard or regular citizen sounded wonderful in stories.
But those stories didn’t take into account the realities such a couple would face. The commoner would either be out for the money he could wheedle from his princess bride, if he was the unsavory sort, or, if he was a better man, he might resent that she would forever have more money, rank, and prestige than he did. If he was truly a good man, maybe he could work through the difficulties of marrying a princess. Maybe he could overcome the differences.
The chances of that were slim. Essie had chased off—or had her brothers chase off—enough gold diggers to know there were a lot more of them than good men out there who would actually approach a princess and spend time with her long enough to fall in love.
No, this was the best Essie could hope for, really. This elf was also a prince, so he had no need of her title or money. He was even a younger prince, meaning they were probably in similar places in their respective lines of succession. It was about as equal a marriage as she was likely to get, and that equality meant she would be able to interact with him without titles getting in the way.
She patted Avie’s shoulder. “I told you. I chose this. I’m determined I’ll be happy. So that’s exactly what I will be.”
“I hope that elf learns to appreciate your eternal optimism as much as I do.” Averett raised his head from his hands, though he wasn’t smiling. “You do realize that those elves probably see you as little more than a child compared to their long lives? For all we know, the elf you’re going to be marrying is the human equivalent of a fifty-year-old.”
Essie snorted. “That’s one of the first things I’ll have to ask him. But, I don’t think he’s that old. I don’t know why, but I got the impression that he’s young, relatively speaking, for an elf. King Weylind certainly seemed extra protective of him. Not like he would be for a younger brother near his own age, but one that he still sees as his little brother. Much like how you are with me.”
Averett gave a small groan and flopped his head back into his hands. “How am I going to explain this to Mother?”
“I’ll take care of it. You worry about negotiating the rest of this treaty.” Essie patted his shoulder.
That’s how she ended up spending the day before her wedding back on the Escarlish shore, sending telegrams back and forth between the capital and the outpost where she and Averett were staying. She would’ve liked to go w
ith Averett to Linder Island again and at least see her groom-to-be, maybe even talk with him, but organizing her wedding dress with her mother and packing her personal belongings long distance via telegram took precedence.
Oh, well. She’d have time to talk with him on the trip from the border to Estyra. While they would be married in her kingdom’s eyes, they would be more like betrothed in the elves’ eyes until the elven ceremony so she would have some chance to get to know him.
Not that she was expecting romance. After all, this wasn’t a story book where the handsome, brooding elf prince whisked her away to his home and fell passionately in love with her.
But she could dream he would tolerate her. Maybe even be mildly fond of her.
Either way, she was determined he wasn’t going to steal her joy or her happiness. She didn’t need him to make her happy.
HIS FINGERS WERE long and slim clasped around hers. And kind of cold. Did elves’ fingers go cold when they were nervous? Or did elves have a naturally cooler temperature than humans?
Essie gave herself another mental shake and tried to concentrate as the officiant droned the ceremony. Her groom was too elf to shift uncomfortably. Or even change his expression from stony-faced blankness into boredom. But he had to be bored. She was bored, and this was supposed to be her culturally significant ceremony.
But maybe the elves had a similarly boring wedding ceremony. She would find out once they reached Estyra.
She wore a white dress with voluminous petticoats aiding the crinoline in puffing the skirt to large proportions around her. Lace overlaid the soft silk, flowing into a long train behind her. How her mother had managed to pull together such a princessly wedding gown on such short notice, Essie didn’t know. But there had been plenty of tears and hugs when her mother had unveiled it.
Across from her, her elf groom wore a long, flowing blue-silver tunic that nearly matched his eyes. It was stunning against his silver hair cascading down his back. He wore a circlet made of twining silver branches complete with tiny maple and oak leaves.