I hate him. I’m going to gut him like a river-eel.

“Brother!”

“Sister. Ah, you’re still spending time with that urchin?”

Climb blanched. Renner twitched. Barbro ignored them both and walked into the room, knight Teloran and another man in tow. Teloran was a young man in his late twenties with cropped blond hair, but he had honored himself in combat many times, and had already earned himself a future through conquest greater then what the progeny of most lower houses could aspire too. He was dressed in a stripped down version of his dress uniform, but still bore a shortsword on his hip. The other man was less familiar. He was dressed well enough to mark him as one belonging in high places, but did not bear finery that would signify his nobility.

That’s Margrave Harlink’s representative to the court. It seems like my brother is focusing on courting the easterly nobles.

Margrave Harlink was one of the nobles on the border with the Empire, with the villages on the edges of his domain brushing against The Great Forest of Tob. Although he nominally would have been a count, the strength of forces he committed annually had earned him accolades from the King himself, and he was granted the title of Margrave, typically reserved for those with larger demenses.

Margrave Harlink is one of Bajan’s rivals, he’s trying to muscle the count out of those small settlements on the edge of Tob. Ulrena, Telkirk, Carne, and Rellenue villages I think. The only way he could earn the support of Harlink would be to offer him something significant enough to ignore his meddling. That would mean…

Renner sighed internally, she knew what this meeting would entail. Barbro sat down immediately, but Harlink’s representative set his hand on the chair he intended to take. Climb stood up, vacating the seat instinctually. It was not his place to sit at the same table as the crown prince, and Knight Teloran took the seat he had just vacated. With all four seats around the coffee table taken, the space had suddenly shrunk to an unbearably small size. Renner was boxxed in. As Barbro opened his mouth to speak, the Harlink’s man cut him off.

“I’m Salco Jonque, I serve as the voice of Margrave Harlink here in the Capital. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness.”

“Pleased to make yours as well! Please, sit.”

Salco bowed and then sat. By this time Climb had already shuffled around behind Renner, a clearly nervous look on his face. He swept his gaze over all three men who had just entered, and accidentally caught Barbro’s. He looked away, but not swiftly enough.

“Charledon, you’re not going to dismiss that pet of yours? I brought such a nice guest for you!”

Barbro was clearly trying to provoke Renner with the use of her first name, but his anger was not preformative. He genuinely despised Climb; in his mind, what lowblood had a place here anyway? Climb was just some toy of Renner’s, a thing she pulled out of the gutter, dressed up in pretty clothing, and treated like a doll. Barbro found it unnerving, and he masked this fear of Climb (or rather, what he meant) with hate.

“He’s my bodyguard. The king wants me to be safe wherever I go.”

“Ha! As if he could protect you from one of the levy, much less an Imperial knight! He’s a boy!”

“He’s been training all his life, brother.”

“So? Look at him. He barely has the strength to hold a blade. Just a lowblood who you had no business snatching up from the streets.”

“He’s a warrior who would - Gods forbid - defend me with his life!”

“He’ll defend you, die, and get you killed! Look him over again, do you think he could fend off an assassin? Does he have the strength of mind to hold in the face of death? That boy has yet to know true fear. If he had to stand between you and a threat to your life, he would piss himself! He has no place being your bodyguard.”

Salco kicked in, clearly flustered by the fighting in his presence,

“Your Highness, if I may interject, I have a proposal to make to her Highness.”

“Oh? And I’m excited to hear it, Mister Jonque.”

“And besides, we both know the only reason our father lets you keep Climb as your bodyguard is because you talked him into it.”

“That does not diminish his value as one, he trains daily to protect me. He is dedicated, loyal, and-”

“So what?! We all know it's because you're his favorite. Letting you go unmarried for so long, keeping a damned low-blood as some sick project of yours. He’s been nicer to you than he’s been to any of us!”

You’re receiving a kingdom because of him! You would have this nation dashed to pieces against the Empire if you had your way. And I have to sit here and listen to this dribble spew from your mouth simply because you were born first! I wish I could gut-

“Your Highness-”

“By the time you finally stop ogling him you’re going to be dried up! The third princess will be nothing but a Gods-damned crone!”

“Please, Your Highness!”

Salco snapped, frustrated by the sudden turmoil; in half a second, he realized the depth of his indiscretion.

“What! Fine. Present your offer of marriage to that bat.”

At the prince spoiling the purpose of his visit, Salco deflated, and Renner had her fears of marriage proposals realized.

Unbelievable, Barbro is using my hand in marriage as a bargaining chip with Harlink.

“I apologize, Your Highnesses; to you, Crown Prince, and to you too, Golden Princess.”

“It’s fine, Mister Jonque. Say, would you like some tea?”

Barbro scoffed, but Jonque seemed genuinely surprised at her magnanimity and calm dedication to decorum despite the conflict that just rang through the room. Uplifted, he nodded in the affirmative, and with a smile on his face dug through his bag. Renner poured out cups for each of those in attendance, even to Climb, earning another scoff from her brother. Removing a scroll, he forcibly composed himself in the face of Barbro’s open disgust for his little sister, and unfurled it.

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“To the Golden Princess, Third Daughter of King Ramposa the Third, Her Highness Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself; I, Margrave Ield Joshel Nuen Harlink have a request. It is the most important request of my life, and one I hope with all my heart you will grant. There are no words that would capture so much as a twip of your beauty, but forgive me for trying. You are sunlight, the highest cloud, the grand joys in life. You are the heavens above, the anticipation of a new day, the secret love locked in the heart of every man. You are mirth, the petrichor of those precious moments after dawn, the flow of water through pristine ranges. To gaze upon you is to give a starved man the feasts of the palace. True happiness fills the hearts of all who are graced with the sight of you. To be in your presence is to be exalted. Verily, you are the Fifth Treasure of Re-Estize. What I ask is for the greatest boon you can bestow. Princess, I wish to meet you upon the altar and to take your hand in marriage.”

He obviously fancies himself a zealous poet. How cringeworthy! “The petrichor”? Is he seriously comparing me to the smell of soil after the rain? He’s clearly never stepped outside his Chateau on a rainy day. The droplets rehydrate all the vile miasmas that clog the streets of this Kingdom. Not only is he self-inflating. He’s out of touch.

“Eh? How beautiful!”

“I thought so too, Your Highness. He’s truly in love with you! I hope you can find it to accept his offer.”

She heard a tepid exhalation of breath behind her. Climb was suffering. She could guess the maelstrom of thoughts swirling inside of his head, all of them negative. For all his loyalty, Climb knew he would never be able to offer marriage to Renner. His chest felt like it was being eaten away by an alchemical solvent.

I’m sorry Climb, but please suffer through this a little longer.

After a short silence, Renner continued speaking

“Still, I know nothing about the borderlands, and-”

“Are you seriously rejecting his offer?!”

Barbro exploded, and he struck the table, catching the saucer Salco’s cup was set in with his finger. The cup flew through the room, striking the ground and shattering. Maid Lucilia near the door screamed at this, causing Climb to step forward, instinctually trying to interpose himself between his savior and the violently angry Barbro. Teloran shot up in response and set his offhand on the haft of his blade, glaring at Climb. Barbro, catching this interaction, used it as the basis for his next tirade

“Control your damned dog Renner! What right does he have to stand here, much less try and step between us?! Do you even know what you’re doing?! You have no right to refuse this! Every day you go unmarried you drag our father’s name through the mud. Would you do something useful once in your life? What sort of princess refuses to get married? You’re a bat, a crone, a witch!”

“Brother, why are you so angry?”

“Who do you think you are? You’re the third princess! You have no value besides your hand, your blood, and your body. Your only purpose in life is to be married off to someone! To provide someone with the keys to power! To link families together. That’s all you are Renner! No matter how much you meddle in politics, fancy yourself a benevolent princess of the people who advocates for ‘paving the highways’ or ‘freeing the slaves’, you’ll never justify sitting in this room of yours day after day doing nothing but eying your disgusting fancy.”

“Slavery is an abomination, how could I not fight to end it?! Besides, paving the roads is without a doubt-”

“Commoners can walk in the mud! It’s where they belong. You lose sight of that ‘princess’.”

Renner stood up, letting some of her anger rise to the surface.

“I will not let the people of the Kingdom suffer!”

Suffer needlessly. Slavery is innefficient, a regressive way of providing the Kingdom a workforce, and will stifle Re-Estize in its development. The same goes for dirt highways. You say that the commoners can walk in the mud, but can they drag their carts through it? Can they get goods into cities, to furnish your palaces or your halls of power?

“That is the duty of people like me, like your father and that fatass of a brother of mine! We are supposed to protect the people of the Kingdom from invasion and the destruction of their villages. Not coddle them with wasted amenities! You have no place in this business Renner. Sit down, shut up, and marry Harlink.”

Renner was silent. She looked at Barbro’s face, reading its curves and edges. Salco raised his face, having long since buried it in his hands out of frustration and powerlessness. Climb and Teloran were the only two that had maintained steady breathing - such was the focus of trained fighters - both managing to keep composure in spite of the shameful insults thrown. Despite that, Climb was near tears; the brutal assault delivered by Barbro made all the worse by its lack of acknowledgement of Climb’s presence. Renner swallowed the spit inside her throat and turned to Salco. After spending a moment, she regained the same smile she had when she initially invited Salco to share Harlink’s proposal. Indeed, were it not for her reddened eyes, her regal visage would be completely intact.

“Forgive me, Mister Jonque. I didn't mean to couch my words in soft denial. I found his profession of love beautiful, and I thank Lord Harlink for his offer, but I must decline.”

Salco’s impression of the princess rose to new heights at that moment.

“No, no it is me who should be asking for forgiveness.”

He stood, and gave a deep bow.

“Thank you for your hearing of it, and for your kind response. I apologize for my departure so soon after meeting you, but I will be taking my leave now.”

Suddenly he twitched around to look at the cup, and as he was about to speak. Renner cut him off

“As you say Mister Jonque. Oh, and don’t worry about the cup, I can get it fixed.”

With a nervous affirmative, he bowed once more, and then quickly found his exit. In his haste to leave, he had completely forgotten about the Crown Prince, and Barbro’s face twitched. Sensing the tension was relieving, Teloran released his hand from the handle of his sword, and let the ephemeral fueled battle-readiness of his body fade. Climb did likewise, and he was suddenly struck by an overwhelming nausea.

“Now, brother, I would like to finish my afternoon in peace.”

Barbro searched for a retort, for some ground to skewer his sister on, but found none. His strength had left him, and all he felt was a hollow pride and frustration at the alliance that had slipped through his grasp.

This is why you cannot lead. You are completely incapable of laying a scheme. You did everything wrong here. You made a promise you had no ability to keep; worse, it's a promise you don’t have the power to break without consequence. I could not be trusted to act reliably, you have no leverage over me besides your anger, which I have always weathered without fail. Now you’ll have to explain to the Margrave why he should support you in spite of your failure, in spite of your assistance to his enemy. Salco will report this in great detail to Harlink, and you’ll have lost his respect and his assistance at the first notion of your violence. Further, you fundamentally failed to control the flow of information out of this meeting. You didn’t dismiss the maid before speaking. They’ll gossip, and not only will this make its way back to Harlink and Bajan, but by the time the absurdity of this day greets his ears, it will have been old news. The entirety of the nobility of Re-Estize will have heard this in a week, and it may even make it to the underhands of the Empire and Theocracy, and they will celebrate its coming. Barbro, you continually seal your fate as the fool. A one man comedy. You may be granted this kingdom by birthright, but you will never rule it.

The Crown Prince of Re-Estize and his adjutant knight left in silence, with only Barbro whispering the word ‘bitch’ under his breath as a goodbye. Once he and his flank were out of sight, Climb felt vomit come up the back of his throat, and he nearly fell over from the effort of swallowing it. Renner immediately grabbed her love as he doubled over, trying her best to keep him level.

“What’s wrong Climb?”

You’re overwhelmed, I couldn’t protect you from his rage. His abuses are too much to handle. I love you Climb, love you without bound. Let me take care of you.

“N-nothing, Your Highness. I just don’t feel well.”

“Sit, sit!”

Renner guided him into a chair, and turned to the still shaking Lucilia.

“Please go and get him some seltzer tabs from the court physician”

“No, I-I’m fine, I promise Your Highness.”

“Are you sure?”

“Y-yes I’m sure, Your Highness. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“Please don’t say sorry.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”