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Everyone had expected an attack before winter. After the terrible defeat at Erstenwell, the capitulation of Keneburg, and the surrender of the Duke of Leornian, there didn’t seem to be any hope for Pinburg. But the weeks turned into months, and the weather grew colder, and still the Gramirens waited. Then, in November, Vittoria turned up and assured Edwin and his council that Duke Lukas was otherwise occupied at the moment. So there would be no attack until the spring, at the very earliest. Supposedly, the duke was trying to confiscate the lands of the abbey at Erstenwell, and with that taking up all his time and energy, he had let the autumn slip away.
“The man is blinded by greed,” said Caedmon. “Let that be a lesson to you, Edwin. As king, you must always remember your duty.”
Edwin was trying to do that, but some of his duties were more pleasant than others. Council meetings were as much of a chore with the Duke of Pinshire as they had been with Edwin’s uncle and Duchess Flora. The Sigor forces had no money, and no one was quite sure where they were going to find some. There was a serious possibility that they might have to disband their army and send the men home. The duke had given a great deal of gold to the cause already, and Edwin had a strong sense that he didn’t want to give any more unless someone else gave some money, too. But their list of allies was short, and getting shorter by the day.
The duke made it quite plain to Edwin that he had certain expectations in return for his help. He never came right out and said, “You have to marry my daughter,” but he didn’t have to. Nearly every day, his grace would arrange some entertainment or feast, and Edwin was always seated next to Meredith Barras. She was starting to grow on Edwin, and he fancied that he might be growing on her, too. At Finstertide, they got rather tipsy and danced together for hours. Then they walked around the duke’s garden in the moonlight, holding hands. He rarely thought of Penny at all anymore.
Meredith found him in the library one day, and they started meeting there and reading romances together. She never remembered to bring a cloak or a coat with her, so she had to sit very close to him. He liked her voice when she read. He especially liked it when she sighed, and he could feel her chest heave against him. Sometimes he was certain that she wanted him to kiss her, but he reminded himself that he should take this slowly. He had been rash and stupid with Penny, and that had ended badly. Better to be more cautious this time.
But Meredith was very pretty, and she seemed very willing, and Edwin wasn’t sure how long he could wait. Around mid-November, he had what he thought was a brilliant idea: a double wedding on the Winter Solstice, in which he and Elwyn would marry the Barras twins. He was so excited at the notion that he ran immediately to ask Caedmon what he thought.
The hillichmagnar didn’t seem very enthusiastic at all, and counseled caution. “I do not think you should force the issue, your majesty. Wait until you know Lady Meredith better. As for your sister, she will not appreciate further interference in her romantic life.”
Edwin mentioned the idea to Vittoria, as well. But the Immani spy didn’t seem to like the idea any more than Caedmon had.
“If I may be blunt, your majesty,” she said, “you are too young to marry, and your sister is almost too old. Neither of you seems ready to settle down.”
Undaunted, Edwin decided to present his plan to his sister. He waited until after a feast, when Elwyn had a few drinks in her and seemed in a better mood than usual. After detaching himself from Meredith, he asked Elwyn if she wanted to take a walk outside. Once they were in the rhododendron garden and out of earshot of the partygoers on the terrace, he told her what he had in mind.
“What do you think about you and me marrying the twins?”
Elwyn laughed. “Fine. Which one do you want?”
Edwin chuckled politely at her joke. “Meredith, obviously.”
“Are you sure? She’s just my type: curvy and blonde. Although I guess that’s your type, too.”
“I’m serious, Elwyn. Stanley would be perfect for you.”
“Stanley is half my age. In what possible sense is he perfect for me?”
“Well...he’s good-looking. He got very good grades at Atherton.”
“He seems like a pompous little prick, if you want the truth.”
“He likes hunting! See, he’s perfect for you.”
Elwyn was starting to scowl now. “I prefer hunting alone, Edwin.”
“Think about it. Give him a chance.”
They hadn’t quite reached the end of the walk, but Elwyn stopped abruptly and turned around. “Please don’t turn into your uncle. I’ll let you love whoever you want. Let me do the same.”
That wasn’t a promising start, but Edwin had expected worse. Elwyn hadn’t even started shouting. He fancied that she still might be persuaded, particularly if it seemed like Stanley was interested. So Edwin decided to approach the problem from the other direction, as it were.
He went shooting with Stanley in the morning, and once they had talked about hunting and the feast the night before, Edwin brought the conversation around to the subject of Elwyn. “What do you think of my sister?”
“She’s very...,” Stanley paused and blushed, “very outspoken.”
“She’s quite spirited, yes,” said Edwin. “Do you like her?”
“Well, she’s your sister, obviously, and she’s a guest here. She’s...nice.”
That wasn’t quite the ringing endorsement Edwin had hoped for, but he plunged ahead anyway. “I mention her because she’s been asking me about you a lot recently.”
“Me?” Stanley’s eyes widened. “Elwyn was asking about...me?” He smiled.
“Oh, yes. I told her how much you like hunting. She loves hunting, you know.”
“Yes, I...I did know that.” Stanley shook his head. “Are you sure she was really asking about me?”
“Positive.”
He caught Stanley looking at Elwyn quite often after that. Staring at her, in fact, and sometimes in ways that made Edwin want to hit him. But Edwin reminded himself that this was part of the plan, and that if Stanley found Elwyn attractive, things would go much more smoothly.
In the first week of December, Edwin thought things were going well enough that it was time to arrange a meeting between the two prospective lovers. He asked Vittoria to help him set up the rendezvous, but she refused.
“This will end in tears, your majesty. Leave them both alone.”
Edwin wasn’t about to let that discourage him, though. He wrote a letter to Stanley in Elwyn’s name, asking to see him at ten in the evening at the little boathouse on the duke’s private fishing pond. Then he sent a similar letter to Elwyn.
The results were nothing like what he had hoped for. At five minutes to ten, he sent Stanley off with a bottle of wine and his best wishes. At 10:05, Stanley was back with Elwyn, and they were both rather annoyed.
Elwyn tossed the letter in Edwin’s lap. “I know your handwriting, you stupid twat.”
“I think I’ll be going to bed,” said Stanley, “and both of you can go to the Void.” He didn’t talk to Edwin for a week after that.
Elwyn barely spoke to him, either, and when she did, she made it very clear that she was hurt. “If you ever do something like that again,” she said, “I will run off and marry a stableboy. I’m not kidding.”
Even if he couldn’t get Elwyn to marry Stanley, he was still pretty sure that the other half of his plan would work. Three days after the bungled meeting between Stanley and Elwyn, he asked Meredith to walk through the game park with him. He had picked out a romantic spot—on a little footbridge over a frozen stream. Meredith hung on his arm as they walked, and she smiled and laughed like she always did. She was talking about what they would do for the Solstice, and whether her father might want to take them all to his hunting lodge for a few days.
When they got to the bridge, Edwin said, “As it happens, I’ve got an idea for what we can do on the Solstice.” His heart was pounding as he got down on one knee.
She let out a little squeak of surprise. “Edwin....”
“Meredith, will you marry me?” He forced the words out before he dared look up.
Her lip trembled. “Oh, Edwin. I wish I could. But I don’t think I should.”
“Why not?”
“Look, I know this is exactly what my father wants; he’d be thrilled if we came back and said we were betrothed. Stanley would be happy, too.” She took out a handkerchief and ran it over her eyes. “And I won’t deny that I have feelings for you now.”
“So why can’t you marry me?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s not practical. The Gramirens have been stopped for the winter, but they’re going to attack sooner or later, and when that happens, my father might have to capitulate, like Duchess Flora and the Duke of Leornian did. That would be the end of our betrothal.”
“Then we don’t wait. We have the wedding now. Your father wants us to get married. You said so yourself.”
“My father isn’t being logical about this. He’s not thinking ahead, so somebody in my family has to. I’m really very sorry, Edwin, but I can’t accept your proposal. If our side was winning the war, it might be different. But we’re not, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to limit my family’s options.”
“Forget about your family. Forget about mine. Think about you and me. Don’t you think we’d be good together?”
“I can’t do that.” Meredith smiled sadly. “I’m not Penny Ostensen, and I’m not Elwyn. I can’t wish away my family obligations.” She held out a hand to help him up. “Let’s go in now and find some mulled wine. It’s freezing out here.”