Alum did not respond to my question, which was obviously a bad sign. If he’d been able to secure more men to defend Ebonreach, he should have been ecstatic about it.

'Have you?' he asked me.

I made my answer short so that I wouldn't forget that he still owed me an answer. 'Thirty men, from Gentleman Tefgae.’

'I'm impressed that you've had any success at all,' Timoth said. 'The landholders of Halivaara have developed an increasingly tight grasp on their purses and their housecarls.'

'I’ve noticed. So have you had any success?' I repeated.

He put his cutlery down and looked at me. I knew from his expression and his posture that he was about to say something I wouldn’t like. I took a sip of the bloodberry wine to brace myself as he spoke. 'Your approach thus far has been to ask nicely for the men that your brother needs. Perhaps what is needed is a stronger hand. The men are there, they simply need to be claimed.'

'All of the men in Halivaara are already claimed,' I started, but he continued speaking.

'If you were hungry and you needed food, what would you do?' Alum asked, changing his tack. I sensed that he was trying to infer something discreetly to me, but that my apathy to political studies had forced him to speak more plainly.

'I'd buy some food,' I replied.

'If you had no coin?'

'I don't know.'

'Would you steal it? To survive?'

'I don't know. I guess it's better than starving to death,' I said, with a shrug of my shoulders. It was not a scenario I found myself likely to be in.

'So if you needed food to survive, you would take it from another?' he asked.

'Maybe,' I said, trying not to get angry at his incessant questions.

'Ebonreach is hungry for men, which it needs to survive,' Alum said, and then reclined in his chair as if he had made his point.

I was not so daft that I did not understand what he meant at that point. War between duchies was tolerated by the King as a legal right of the duchies, as long as it did not disturb the ability of the realm to defend itself against external threats. War between counties was the province of the ruling duchy, and conflict between estates was the province of the ruling county. It was how the disparate cultures of Halivaara had come to live together in a single union under the Goldmanes: their weapons were still permitted to be turned on one another without fear of punishment.

Alum was suggesting that Ebonreach declare war on Trent – for Trent was the only Duchy that neighboured Ebonreach, and would defend any county that Ebonreach might invade – and take advantage of the unstable situation there to claim a piece of land, which could then supply Haelling Cove with a tithe.

The obvious location for a land grab was the land north of the Dreadwood Forest, bordered on the west by Trackford and on the east by Iyasgorth. There were several towns along that road, though Iyasgorth was the real prize, particularly when one considered the iron mine located there. Those lands had once belonged to Ebonreach. Certainly, the folk of those lands seemed closer, culturally, to folk of the Reach rather than those of Trent.

Yet that was the full list of benefits, and to me they seemed to be heavily outweighed by the negative consequences of such a bold action. Trent was larger than Ebonreach, and could summon many more men to its defence. Many men of the Reach would die in such a war, which was precisely the opposite of what I was trying to achieve. In fact, victory was far from assured. Obviously Alum had only made the suggestion on account of the instability within the Duchy which weakened its military capabilities, but that presented another reason not to follow his advice: such an invasion would threaten the ability of the realm to defend itself, at least in Prince Milos' eyes. If King Degron intervened, Ebonreach would be forced to seek a peace not to its benefit. Finally, it would destroy relations between Ebonreach and Trent, which could have a devastating impact on trade between the two realms.

As such, I slowly shook my head as I responded to the Prince. 'It is true that I had not considered your suggestion previously. Yet the risks are too great. I will write to Timoth suggesting it, but I doubt that he will think it a good idea. He has a much more militaristic mind than I, and has probably already decided against it.'

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

'Fear not,' Alum said, reaching his hand across the table and taking mine. 'I am not attached to the idea, I only felt it necessary to present you with every available option. Rather, I am attached to you.'

I should have smiled, but my face was frozen. If that was all Alum had been able to come up with, I would have little choice but to wed Wilbern. I suddenly felt the need to keep Alum at arm's length, and to that end I pulled my hand free of his.

'What is it?' he asked, his voice conveying undisguised dread. He was no fool and had probably guessed my intentions, yet I tried to convey my thoughts into words as best I could without meeting his eyes.

'Alum… I don't know how to say this. You have been very kind to me, and I know you have strong feelings for me. I reciprocate them,' My last words were the most non-committal way I could think of telling him that I loved him. 'Yet my duty has always been to marry for the benefit of Ebonreach. When Halivaara was at peace and Ebonreach was prosperous, I thought that any nobleman would suffice. I was free to pursue the desires of my heart by entertaining your suit. Up until today, I had hoped that it could continue. I see now that it cannot.'

I was aware that tears had begun to fall down my cheeks. My chin was screwed up awfully, but I restrained myself from sobbing or falling apart. I could do that when I got back to my chambers. I wanted to see how Alum was reacting, but dared not look up. I took a sip of wine and continued.

'You have already been more generous than anyone by pledging half of your housecarls. Yet they will not suffice to defend the Haelling when the Tokuans return. My duty, and my orders, are to find more men. Duke Wilbern has them.'

Silence lingered between us, and then Alum spoke. His voice was faltering, and I caught a glimpse of his watery eyes. 'I could go and live in Haelling Cove, and bring the rest of my housecarls with me.' He offered. A desperate plea. I shook my head roughly, causing some of my hair to fall free from Regeda's braid.

'Wilbern has an entire duchy as his disposal. His family's housecarls outnumber yours at least ten-to-one, and his militia is among the largest in Halivaara,' I said.

'Trent is in disarray! There's no way he can offer you all of his men,' Alum countered. ‘That’s why I suggested invasion.’

'Do you think I have not considered this?' I demanded. Why was he making things so difficult for me? There was no need for him to quiz me on my decision. 'By wedding him I can serve to stabilise his realm. Even if Wiseria's bastards do cause trouble, the Crower housecarls that could be spared for Haelling Cove would still greatly outnumber your own.'

'He already courts another,' Alum said, as if he were running off a checklist for why I should stay with him. I suspected he’d been preparing for this eventuality for some time.

'A mere landholder's daughter. She has not even inherited yet,' I dismissed his words. I knew that Wilbern desired me, and I’d heard that she was plain. In every way I was her superior, and I was certain that Wilbern would not scorn me if I chose to entertain his affections.

'My brother will be so pleased,' Alum said glumly, collapsing in his seat as if all was lost. It was his clear disappointment and the betrayal in his tone that stung me the most. I downed the remainder of my wine and stood from the table.

'Thank you for the meal,' I said to him, choking on the tears that now descended freely over my cheeks. I hoped he understood that I was thanking him for more than dinner.

‘There's only one lady in all Halivaara I ever wanted, and she's the only one who won't have me,' he said miserably. I think he spoke them more to himself than me, but his words served to remind me of how I had pursued him before I’d even known him, and how every other noblewoman was jealous of his reciprocation. I was throwing that all away now to save Ebonreach. Timoth had better be grateful.

I cried the whole way home, not caring who saw me. I had no power to stop the tears anyway.

Just like that, it was done. The finality of it shocked me. One minute we could be a beautiful royal couple intent on marriage, and the next we could be nothing. Broken memories and shattered glass.

My hair fell loosely over my shoulders and chest as I trudged unevenly through the street, rubbing my eyes raw. Never again would I feel the warmth of Alum’s companionship, the smoothness of his uncalloused hands. I was alone, and if I married Wilbern, I would be alone for the rest of my life. It was just as well that I’d somehow found an attendant who would stay with me, for she might be my only friend for the rest of my life. A life spent in Helmfirth.

Part of me hoped that Wilbern would refuse my offer of courtship, even though the logic I had presented to Prince Alum and to myself had been unassailable. Even if he did, it was likely that I’d hurt Alum too much for us to easily renew our relationship. It was over between us, and I would be forced to bed a man – one who was dogged by rumours of depraved sadism – every night for the rest of my life. I shuddered at the thought, and shook again at the consideration that I would never enjoy the tenderness of Alum's lovemaking, nor even put my hand in his ever again.

The shock left me bedridden the next day, leaving only to seek the solitude of my portal realm. Tears suppressed since my last fit of crying over my dismembered family tree now spilt freely for Prince Alum, and I allowed myself to wallow in sorrow in the hope that I would be strong enough to approach Duke Wilbern the following day.

Regeda was my sole comfort. The line between servant and mistress was truly crossed, as Regeda held me bodily and spoke rude and disdainful tales of men she’d known or had heard of. She was only a few years older than me, but she seemed to think that these sorts of stories made all the difference in recovering from failed relationships.