by Alex Avrio
“Why would a Merrovigian want to do this?” the Emperor asked.
“There is benefit for both nations.”
The Emperor looked at her scornfully. Regina realized she’d almost played her hand out. There was no use talking about honor or higher motives. Her final card needed to be something the Emperor would believe. Something base yet acceptable.
“Frankly, Your Majesty, I do not wish to die today, or any day soon. I place great value on my hide and consider it a great asset. I also believe that you might show your appreciation for our part in this match when it happens.”
“Spoken like a true Merrovigian.” A deep crease appeared in the Emperor’s brow. “There is value in your suggestion. If you speak truly, it could rekindle the negotiations. Naturally, your life will be on the line if you fail. My agents will find you.” The Emperor stopped. Regina felt a bead of sweat run down her neck. After an interminable pause, he seemed to make a decision. “I require more assurances than just your word, Captain Fitzwaters.” He licked his lips. “You will take the good Major there with you. He will report back to me.” He smiled at the prospect.
“Meanwhile the Kapitan will be married.”
“Your Majesty is wise as he is kind,” Regina said. She had gotten a measure of the man. A faint smile appeared on the Emperor’s lips. “But it has to be Kapitan Jaeger. We need the cooperation of certain– ladies who hold the Prince’s ear. He’s got a better face for it.”
The Emperor looked at Jaeger, and started to chuckle. “Does he?” He gave Jaeger another blow to the gut. Jaeger crumpled to the floor like a dropped marionette. “I thought women found scars added appeal to a man’s visage,” the Emperor mused, walking over to Morgenstern. He grabbed the flesh of his cheek and squeezed, making the scar stand out. Then he pushed Morgenstern backward with such force that he fell to the ground once more.
“Eressian ladies of rank may think so. Merrovigian courtesans prefer it that men who do not pay them are less scarred.”
“You speak from experience?” There was a sneer on the Emperor’s face.
Regina ignored the insinuation. “I am paid to make the scars, Majesty.”
The Emperor’s expression changed once more. “This is how a respectable woman puts a man in his place, Emilia, even if he is the Emperor of Eressia. If only more of my councillors were like you. Gutsy, clever, easy on the eyes.”
Gunther coughed but held his tongue. Regina saw weakness in the enemy lines and pressed on.
“It doesn’t matter who the princess marries, Your Majesty, just that she does. Frankly, I would choose Major Morgenstern; by far the more respectable of the two and still an officer in the Imperial Army. Kapitan Jaeger, on the other hand, as a member of the Merchant Blades, is more suited to work with me and to report back to you.”
Between shallow breaths, Regina could tell the Emperor was impressed. Seeing him up close she could detect the family resemblance with Emilia. He didn’t have the freckles on the nose but had the same dark blue eyes; except malice shone brightly from his. Regina could understand. His plans had been royally messed up. Having heard them, despite what Schaefer said, they seemed like a good way out of Eressia’s current difficulties. She had him close, but his mood could turn on a whim.
“Emilia gets married, a few years pass, we start the talks again. It won’t hurt if they start earlier. It’s not a bad plan at all. We just need to iron out some wrinkles first. You see, I hate being taken for a fool, and I’ll be damned if I’m made a monkey by my officers. Which one of you screwed my sister?”
Regina could see that, unless one of them confessed, no one was leaving the room alive. Sometimes sacrifice took a different form. “Anything to say?” The Emperor looked down at them.
“Princess Emilia is not to blame. I pressed myself upon her. I seduced her,” Morgenstern said.
“Is this true, Emilia?” the Emperor asked, for the first time a hint of compassion in his face. Emilia opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to make a sound. The Emperor squatted to Morgenstern’s level.
“You are lucky I have need of you alive. Despite everything that has happened, she is still my sister. If I hear one word of complaint from her, I will cut the offending member off, feed it to my dogs and make you watch them eat it. Do we have an understanding?” Lothaer got up and gave Morgenstern one last kick. “He was willing to do the honorable thing and blow his brains out. He will do so in a couple of years’ time, a hunting accident, leaving you a respectable widow. Then I can resume the talks with the Merrovigians. Renegotiate. All is not lost.”
The Emperor now refocused on Regina. “My dear lady,” he said. “I have my own people working on reigniting the negotiations. However, another ace in play is a good thing. Your word, even as an officer, is not enough. I need something more binding from you. A show of loyalty and trust. Are you willing to provide one?”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” Regina assured him.
“You are Merrovigian and that places you out of my reach once you return to Merrovigia. It also casts a cloud over your loyalty. I would have you become Eressian. It will be a guarantee of your good faith.”
“How will I become Eressian, Your Majesty?” Regina asked, her soul sinking in quicksand.
“By marriage. It is a legally binding declaration of faith. As it happens, we have a spare groom.”
The Emperor took her mortified silence for agreement. It was this or death. Self-preservation won, just.
“Kherr Jaeger, is it the Sylerian Jaegers or the Kiran Jaegers?” the Emperor asked.
Jaeger had to lick his lips before answering. He winced. “The Sylerian Jaegers, your Majesty.”
The Emperor returned to his desk, took out a sheet of paper from a drawer and dipped a pen in the crystal inkpot. The scratching of the pen could be heard loud and clear in the quiet room. When he finished he took a pinch of sand, sprinkled it on the surface, then tapped the document on the desk. A dainty gesture, Regina thought, considering everything else that had happened. He took another sheet and started writing again. When he finished he repeated the process of drying the excess ink.
“Your Emperor can be generous,” he said. “This paper makes Major Morgenstern a prince of Eressia and Kommandant of Ausberg. Effective immediately after the wedding.” He handed it to Gunther.
“This one is more interesting. I have given certain privileges to your estate, Kherr Jaeger. The conduct of your new wife will reflect on the prosperity of your estate and the health of the rest of your family. Captain Regina Fitzwaters will now have ties and reasons to be faithful and truthful to the crown. Kapitan Jaeger will have reasons to be vigilant that she is.”
He handed this document to Gunther as well.
“Gunther, get everything ready,” the Emperor said. “There will be wedding bells this evening.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Gunther said, casting a glance at Morgenstern. It was doubtful whether the two grooms would be able to stand for their own wedding.
“I do so love a wedding,” Lothaer said to Gunther. “Don’t you?”
72 OIL MEETS FIRE
REGINA’S thumb absentmindedly rubbed the golden band, making it endlessly rotate around her left ring finger. It was a new thing, one she was unused to, one she loathed with a passion. She looked at the dress lying neatly over a chair. Emilia had worn an exquisite ivory silk gown with a silver silk net that made it shimmer. Delicate lace edged the décolletage. Emilia’s veil was ivory lace. She had worn a diamond tiara and a spectacular diamond necklace with earrings to match. How did the old rhyme go? Wear white, you’ve chosen right. Morgenstern had coughed throughout the ceremony, each time hastily hiding the blood in his glove. When he’d taken Emilia’s hand her glove had absorbed the red stain as well. Red, you’ll wish you were dead.
Her own wedding gown was borrowed from a lady-in-waiting. A cream silk and taffeta gown, with elaborate embroidery at the waist and such a low bust-line that even the Emperor chanced a downwards glance.
Regina always expected it would be her father that gave her away. She’d never really thought she’d be married but had hoped, if it happened, some family and friends would be there. She disliked the thought of William giving her away, but at least he was her brother. Never in her worst nightmare did she imagine the Emperor of Eressia giving her away to a groom wearing full Eressian dress uniform. Jaeger would have looked rather fetching in his dark blue jacket with the silver epaulets, if his face hadn’t been swollen and purple. In blue, will it be true? She’d worn a necklace of emeralds, with emerald earrings in the shape of leaves. Green, ashamed to be seen.
She got up and paced over the lush forest-green carpet, her feet treading on the golden leaves that swirled in circles around the room. As gilded cages went, this was as good as it got. The pale robin egg wallpaper was adorned with small white flowers. Paintings of vases of flowers adorned the walls, a huge mirror with a gilded frame hung opposite the four-poster bed. The groom had collapsed into a heap after the wedding ceremony. Regina was surprised he’d lasted that long. On their wedding night Regina procured ice for Jaeger’s ribs, piled the pillows so he could sleep upright and measured out laudanum in a spoon. For both of them - she felt the pain almost as keenly as he did. Whatever Emilia had imagined for her wedding night, Regina was sure it hadn’t involved feeding her groom chicken soup and watching him cough blood over the bedspread.
Jaeger woke with a start.
“Are you awake, dear?” Regina asked, the last word a drop of poison on her tongue.
“Yes, my flower,” he replied, his epithet equally cutting. The purple patches on his face were slowly turning yellow. Regina didn’t have to ask how he was feeling.
“Getting better, I see,” she commented, days of anger simmering to the surface.
“We’ll have to leave soon,” he said. Grimacing, he reached for a drink of water.
“In a hurry to fulfil our mission?” Regina’s mouth twitched.
“These injuries take weeks to heal. It’s been five days and I’m already on the mend. People will start noticing. Morgenstern can barely get up.”
“He’s got more broken ribs than you. Poor Emilia. She must think that conjugal duties are bringing tea and feeding soup.”
Jaeger stifled a laugh. “I don’t foresee any other conjugal duties for a while.” He took a few shallow breaths to moderate the pain.
“It’s not funny,” Regina commented. “Emilia was distressed. It’s not how a lady imagines her wedding. Or her wedding night. I never thought I’d have to give advice on marital– hmm– affairs. She had no clue. I had to explain.”
“I swear you’re doing it on purpose,” he said as his laughter turned into a cough. “I expect Morgenstern would still be too honorable to press himself on Emilia, even if his ribs weren’t broken.”
“He didn’t have a problem pressing himself on Schaefer,” Regina said. She sat on the chair close to the bed, and poured some more water for Jaeger.
“That was entirely different.”
“Was it really?”
“Yes, I fear he was in love with Schaefer. Emilia agreed to marry him to save all of us.”
“About this marriage business. We need to talk.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jaeger said.
Regina got up in a huff. This excess energy that was building these last days was gathering like thunderclouds. She paced round the room. She’d had little opportunity to leave, and when she had she’d been closely watched.
“We’ve painted ourselves into a corner,” she said. She went to the door, opened it to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, closed it and returned to sit close to Jaeger.
“I would describe it more as a deep hole. Whatever possessed you to say you can get the trade agreement talks back on track?”
“Better a deep hole tomorrow than a six-foot hole today. It was the only thing I could come up with to save us.”
“I didn’t know your grandfather was an earl,” Jaeger said.
“He wasn’t.” Jaeger’s eyes opened so wide one of his cuts cracked open; blood wept out. “Did it not occur to you that I might lie?” Regina threw her hands up in exasperation. “Of course not. You got seven shades of shit beaten out of you and didn’t utter a peep.”
“He’s the Emperor.”
“Your Emperor. Not mine.”
“But you really do know Prince Michael?” Jaeger said hopefully.
“Of course not. I know of him. I’ve been presented in court, with no personal acquaintance.”
Regina could see the cogs turning as Jaeger tried to comprehend. “How do you propose to approach him and renew the treaty negotiations?”
“Look, Max,” she said firmly, “my great grandfather was an earl. My grandfather was his third son. The connection is feeble at best. Now, I might have access to the daughter of an earl–”
“But you never had any intentions of doing anything of the sort, did you?”
“You’re alive.” Regina said sternly. “My only concern was to get us out of there with our brains still in our heads, and some bones unbroken. I’m not about to commit high treason just because your Emperor wants to trade. If the Merrovigian ministers stopped the talks, they must have had reason.”
“Really?” Jaeger said pulling himself out of bed. “You thought you’d just tell him any old fairy tale and he’d just let us out of there? He’s your Emperor too now. This,” he lifted his left hand to show the golden ring on it, “is legally binding. You are his subject. A subject of Eressia.”
“I am no such thing,” Regina snarled. “I am Merrovigian, I was born Merrovigian, and I shall die Merrovigian.”
“I didn’t see you doing much dying when we were in the Emperor’s chambers,” Jaeger scoffed.
“I was trying to keep you alive. And myself, since if you die, I die.”
“Did you seriously think for a moment that he was going to let you walk? We went there to die an honorable death. Even without this curse he would have shot both of us. If you felt so strongly maybe you should have kept your mouth shut.”
“I will not become a traitor, Jaeger. They drown, quarter and hang traitors and I believe that’s too good for them. I tried to save our lives.”
“I didn’t need saving and didn’t want to be saved. When you believe in something, Regina Fitzwaters - like not betraying your country - then you should die for it. I was perfectly willing to die; it was the penalty for our failure.”
Regina turned white. “Don’t you dare take the moral high ground. I did what I had to. I bought us time to get out of that room alive and find a solution. We’ll be safe in Merrovigia.”
“The Emperor expects results. Do you think we’ll just go hide in Merrovigia until he forgets about us?” That was exactly what Regina had hoped. “What about this?” he said again, showing the ring.
“You can’t possibly think we’re really married,” Regina hissed.
“Which part of the ceremony made you think it was a joke?” Jaeger asked, his ears red. “I told you before: this is real, legally binding across the whole continent, even in the South Across the Water. You are my wife and you'd better start getting used to it.”
“We have to keep this quiet,” Regina answered back, her face red too.
“And you say I’m stupid. It’s been in the papers all week. It’ll be in News Quarterly. How do you propose keeping that quiet?”
Regina sat down on the bed. She felt faint. “Oh, Mother and Child, News Quarterly goes to the whole of Merrovigia. I’ll be ruined. I won’t be able to show my face there again.”
“What are you talking about?” Jaeger’s anger was building like steam in a closed vat.
“We need to get a divorce,” Regina said, bouncing up like a jack on a spring.
“Divorces in Eressia have to be signed by the Archbishop or the Emperor. Which shall we ask?”
Regina sat down again, pale as the bedsheets. “My Mother will never speak to me again,” she whispered. “I never thought
I’d say this but– what will William say?”
“Who’s William?”
Regina took a deep breath. “My brother. I’ve worked so hard for my good name and reputation. And now–” she bit her lip. “Two of my brothers were killed in the war. How can I show up with an Eressian Kapitan for a husband?”
“Are you embarrassed to be married to me?”
“Why didn’t you want to be with me after Nephthys’s curse? Ever since I met you, I have had nothing but misfortune and pain. We can’t set foot in Pella, Korthi, soon Eressia and possibly Merrovigia. I suffer being bound to you and I will not even speak of the three days of the full moon. I never needed to be married. I am a woman who can make her own way in the world. I have no need of protectors. I do not want someone to marry me. I think it a burden, something to be suffered. If I ever married, I wanted a man who would love me, appreciate me and think I’m the best thing that ever happened in his life.” Regina’s voice, a saber cutting deep, wounded both of them.
“My brothers were killed in the war as well. Have you considered that?” he said.
“I’m sorry,” Regina said.
“What have I been to you all this time?” Jaeger’s voice was flat. Regina looked at the carpet, the leaves exactly where they had been all day. When she gave him no answer he changed the subject.
“You never had any intention of helping resume the trade talks, did you? It was all a lie.” The accusation was sharp as a knife. “And people say I’m a bastard. We will have to find a way,” Jaeger said. “Bring back some trade agreement that is acceptable to both nations.”
Regina remained silent.
“It is not treason if it benefits Merrovigia too,” Jaeger said.
“I can’t begin to think where to start.” Regina said.
“We’ll have to find a way,” Jaeger said more sharply this time. “The Emperor has clearly indicated that my family is at risk. That’s the leverage he has. Me. To keep you in line.”
“So now I’m responsible for the wellbeing of the Jaeger clan? Splendid.”
“Yes, you are. Because you made a deal with him, Regina, a deal that is as bad as the one I made with Gold.” The anger he’d been holding back broke. “You kept telling me I can be better, that I am better than I thought. Well, this is me trying to be better. I love you. But if I have to kill you to get this done and keep them safe, I will.”