Tale of Four

Gerlad looked ahead, seeing the lone horse rider approach. Before, Christians arrival was soemthing he had welcomed, even if he rebelled against his cousin, but now he felt nothing but dread. Grinding his teeth, he couldn’t help but feel hateful towards Mabel. Her performance during the wedding had forced the bedding to be put to a halt, and whilst he had expected it to be carried out the next day, she had vanished in the midst of the night, leaving behind a letter claiming she was needed in the war.

A laughable thought to Gerlad, wondering what she could possibly do in war, but one his father had claimed was real. When he argued to have her brought back, a single letter silenced him, one carrying the king’s seal, demanding his daughter be allowed to freely leave once the wedding vows were said, due to his need for her elsewhere.

’Utter bitch.’ He had been intrigued by her. It wasn’t just her beauty, although nothing compared to his cousin, still vastly above other women, but also her temperament. The insistence on pretending to be a boy. Playing with swords and learning to joust and ride horses. It was a fresh taste compared to the ladies he had met before, but now it was nothing but an annoyance that ruined everything.

Taking a deep breath, Gerlad stepped foward as the lone rider pulled his hood down, revealing eyes and hair greener than any green. Christian gave a warm smile and walked before him, his footsteps leaving behind strong patches of grass. Taking Gerald into a hug, he tightly squeezed him. ”Cousin. Congratulations on your marriage.”

”Thank you, Christian.” Gerald quickly broke away and looked Christian in the eyes. For a moment they stayed silent until Christian sighed.

”But I heard something strange. There was no bedding ceremony.” Gerald opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when Christian placed a finger on his lips. ”Shhh. Let me speak, then you can.” His tone lacked any arrogance despite his actions, and Gerald couldn’t help but listen even if he wanted to defend himself. ”My offer only stands if you were able to consummate the marriage. Now do not lie to me. Did you?”

Gerlad thought for a moment and was prepared to lie, but seeing the pure light in Christian eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to and lowered his head, ”No.” A soft hand landed on his shoulder.

”Then my deal is over. I said you would not see me again if you failed, but I want to give you another chance. Please, Gerald, for your mother, for me, can you please just give this up? Come back to us. Father will be merciful. He may not be as forgiving as he would have been, but he will not be angry for too long.” Christian stared at him. With a shaking lip, Gerald opened his mouth and stopped, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

”Lord Clover will forgive. Lord Clover will be merciful.” Gerald looked up and met his gaze. ”When will you understand that I am not only a Clover, Christian? I am a Doyle as well. I have a princess as a wife now. And you say he will still offer mercy like I am a child. I have connected myself to the Cosmatons; no one else did this but me, and you offer mercy. I deserve more.”

”Gerald, you are not a child anymore,” Christian said with a remorseful voice, ”You did well, getting the marriage and buying your family this much time, but.” Looking up atop the wall, Christian saw Lord Doyle looking down at him. ”You failed. I gave you a task: consummate the marriage and get the Princess pregnant. You did not.”

”I need more time. The fucking bitch, played the frail maiden and...”

”Please do not speak ill of the Princess.” Christian cut him off with a smile.

”She tricked me. Running off after I gave her a day to recover. Using her father’s name to force me to say the vows.” Christian sighed, hearing him.

”What did you expect?” Even if his voice was kind, Gerald couldn’t help but be annoyed. Usually such words free of malice wouldn’t irk him, but after being played along by Mabel, he couldn’t help but curl his fists.

”What is that meant to mean?” His eyes hardened, looking at Christian as he took a step foward. Despite trying to threaten him, Christian continued to smile. With a shrug and sigh, Christian slowly lifted his hands in fake surrender, then, when a cold breeze hit them, moved, grabbed the top of Gerald’s unbuttoned tunic, and buttoned it up.

”Cousin, as of now, everything you have ever done has only been possible becuase your mother is a Clover.” Doing the final button, Christian began to fiddle with the tunic, hiding whatever bit of skin was showing, to make sure the cold breeze didn’t hit. Gerald wished to pull away but couldn’t as Christian continued, ”All your propositions for the Flatlands have been because of Sandra. Your schemes have all been allowed to happen becuase of Sandra. Even your marriage, the grand trick you take pride in, has only been allowed because of Sandra.”

Patting his shoulder down to remove the dirt that didn’t exist, Christian stepped back. ”I know you wish to prove yourself, but you are not an independent player capable of usurping the Kingdom; no Clover is. Father may give us the path we walk down, but we all have a role to play, and becuase of it, Harvest will come.”

”Do you honestly think so little of me?” Gerald asked with a half-self-pitying chuckle. Christian shook his head and closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he gave a reassuring smile.

”I don’t think little of you, Gerald, but you must understand the realm. You blame the Princess, Anton, and whoever else, but did you not learn and understand anything from it?”Fixing his own collar after another cold breeze, Christian’s eyes shone with respect. ”The Princess is a woman, with no political power of her own, having to rely on the names of others. She was a pawn in her brothers’ and father’s game, and despite that, she did what it took to have her way, even if it meant embarrassing herself. Could you do what she did?”

”You know what happened?” Gerlad asked, wondering why they did nothing to help.

”Of course. Father’s and my people were there.” Chuckling, he carried on, ”But back to the point. Could you? Destroy your own reputation if it meant having your way. Or what about Anton? You blame him for interfering, but he earned the right. A mere third son, a Prince, but a third son. And he became a king. Sure, one of his eldest brothers died, but he didn’t inherit because he was the next choice. The relam voted for him to be King. Forcing you to comply with his will is natural.”

Resting a hand on his shoulder, Christian took a deep breath. ”These are only two people, Gerald. When I say what you can do is becuase of your Clover blood, it is not an insult but reality. On one hand you have those willing to do anything to avoid being a pawn, and on the other hand, those who far outclass the rest to earn their place at the top.”

”I can be like that as well.”

”Of course you can.” Christian earnestly replied, ”But will you? Before you answer that, answer this. What did your wife do to give herself even greater legal defence should she annul the marriage?” Gerald frowned and thought. After a minute, he shrugged. ”She didn’t swear to the Lord Creator. Your wife has left every loophole she can find for grounds of annulment and did everything she could to buy herself time. Now back to my first question. Will you do everything you can?”

”Of course,” Gerald said with a sharp glare. Christian shook his head.

”You already failed.”

”Are you just rubb...” Lifting a hand, Christian cut him off.

”Why didn’t you rape her?” The words were said with such calmness that it was unsettling, and it was only made more so by the smile that never changed. Staring at him, Gerald couldn’t even believe it was possible for him to utter such a thing.

”Wh...What?”

”My task for you was to consummate the marriage. Had you been willing to do everything, you would have pinned her down and forced yourself upon her. Like her, you would have destroyed your own image, becuase it would have been necessary. Now, unless you are lucky and she suddenly finds herself in love with you, you will never get such a chance again, because I have no doubt she will stay as far as she can from you, until she gets an annulment.” Christian sighed and looked up to see Lord Doyle again.

Nodding to him, Adrian nodded in reply, understanding Christian wished to meet with him. Looking back at Gerald, Christian smiled, ”Come back, Gerald, and all will be forgiven.” Stepping past, his fists curled as he peeked back towards Christian.

Christian said nothing and waited; Adrian appeared after a few seconds. Much like Christian, he leaned forward and gave the bolding man a hug, making him uncomfortable and the rest of the keep utterly confused. Christian ignored all the looks and patted Adrian’s back before pulling away.

”In a month, come to the Wells land just after his son’s wedding. Lord Wells has decided to act as a neutral party for you and all the other houses rebelling against us at the moment. Let me make this clear: we do not wish to punish you at the moment, but we must understand why you are doing this and hope we can solve these issues.” Adrian opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Christian smile widened. ”In a month, say your piece. I know it is pointless to say, but if you don’t trust me, trust Lord Wells. Do you think he would let us commit a tragedy at his home?” Before he walked off, Christian stopped and nodded to himself with a wide grin, ”Make sure you send the Little Wells a gift. His soon-to-be wife is pregnant. Maybe soemthing for the child would be nice.”

Turning around, Christian walked off. Passing Gerald, he stopped for a second. ”Turn me down, and we won’t see each other again, Cousin.” His voice was quiet and mournful. Stepping past and climbing his horse, he rode off.