"You will marry an untitled nobleman of royal descent today," your father announced to you once you came of age. "When the betrothal is announced, you will attend with him at court and when the marriage takes place, you will move to the castle and your husband will take over the running of the estate. That is all there is to it. Do not argue."
The only thing you said was, "That is impossible. How do you know this man? Why did you choose him?"
"It is my personal opinion and preference that you marry him, so I know the man well. I do not need to answer to any of your questions. You will hear no further argument from you. Is that understood?" he said, his tone of voice becoming nasty.
You shook your head. "Of course," you answered. "I suppose my lips are sealed."
"What?" he demanded angrily.
You smirked. "Sealed."
"I am sorry, what?" he said, now clearly agitated.
"My lips are sealed. I will be a good little girl and do as I am told. Just tell me who the lucky man is, exactly. You cannot mean Edward Conrad, can you? I do not understand how he—he is not of proper descent! And he is not a nobleman!"
"Of course not!" he answered. "But that is not any of your concern. You will not ask questions!"
"But father!" you blurted out with a bit too much volume than best kept for your father's ears.
"What did I tell you?" he now spoke in a threatening tone. "Your future has been chosen for you. You will do as I told you!"
"But father! Please!" you said, stammering. "There has to be another way, a better way. I cannot marry a commoner. Have you not heard of me? Do you not know that I have dreamt of marriage to a future High King? I cannot marry a commoner!"
"Marriage to a future High King? Do not be ridiculous!" he shouted at you. "Do not utter another word," he ordered.
You bit your tongue. You did not say anything back.
"The amount of maids and servants is no concern to you. They are paid to serve, as is reasonable. As is reasonable, if you get on with it, they will serve you. You need no particular concern yourself," he said. "The only concern you should have, is the betrothal ceremony and the process of the marriage itself. Do not use your influence to influence me or your husband and brother. If you do that, I have of course the right to terminate the engagement and will. Do you understand?"
"No, father. I do not understand," you answered. "I have not disrespected Edward. I am not a commoner. I have many lands, many estates. I have everything that I need, as well as what I want. So, who are you referring to?"
"Enough!" he bellowed, and collected his black cape, falling his bowler and walking away from the library doors. "Wait just a moment, please," you said, taking a few steps after him towards the door. "I demand an answer to my questions. At the very least, I demand to know if this is at least partly of my own doing. Has Edward not been proposing to me for my hand at least once a day, every single day?"
"Of course!" your father said, his tone of voice making you feel cross. "Of course he has! Why else would I do this?"
"And here I thought that it was because he loved me," you mumbled as you heard his footsteps walk away, down the hall.
"Oh, that nonsense! That is not why I am doing this! I will not have you trying to manipulate me. For a long time now, I have been putting off marrying, but I had no desire to be with a commoner. Some women I know have married lowly noblemen, and they have not been happy. There is only so much one can take. I want a High King man, not a commoner!"
"Oh, of course," you whispered in the library.
You truly had no idea how you were going to handle this. What were you meant to do? You did not want to marry a commoner. You also did not want to marry a High King man. You wanted someone… well, someone in between. You wanted someone like you. Someone who was a noble or lordship, or someone younger than you, but not a child. Someone who you could talk to with equal footing, someone who could…
You did not know what you wanted, but you knew that you wanted to marry someone like you.
"That's right! I am the one that is going to have it all! I am the one that is going to have everything she wants. I just have to figure out what I want and make sure I get it. All I need to do is find someone like me. That is what is asking for! This is a piece of cake!
You started laughing.
You saw that you had over thought the entire matter. There was a certain quality that you sought in a man that could only be met through folly or folly and stupidity.
"I will see you in the morning," you heard your father say. "Be ready. We are going to the church."
You closed the library door and sighed. You knew that it was all that you could do and you sighed as you turned your head to the closed library doors and closed them.
It was going to be a long day.
