“Skor, I have had it. How many times do I have to tell you that I will not support you in marrying a commoner? Even one who is known by the Royal Family? The House of Aljansen has standards, and you know that. Marry Aud? You should cut ties with her immediately. No offense, Audara.”

Aud Bjalki shook her head at Luviisa Aljansen’s rudeness. The Hersvru of Naesavarna was, as always, barely tolerant of her and her commoner blood.

The Dronung has a daughter who ruts with a human, grandchildren who are half-breed freaks, and you worry about proud Jotnar blood? But while this thought crossed Aud’s mind, she was here with Skor to win Luviisa over, using the one trump card Aud had. Antagonizing her would do no good.

“Mother…there is nothing wrong with commoners,” Skor said. “We could do with more commoners in our gene pool. If not for gene therapy my blood wouldn’t clot. And it’s just luck that none of my kids picked that up.”

“You insult your own children? She must be incredible in bed.”

“Mother, enough!” Skor shouted. “I’ll not have you insult a Princess Royal for one moment more!”

Skor and Aud had planned this meticulously. They knew how Luviisa would react. This was not the first time Skor had tried to convince his mother to let him marry her. They had known there would be a moment where Luviisa would pass from insults to outright cruelty. And they knew that was the moment to drop the secret Aud had been hiding for decades, a secret that she was not supposed to share, even now.

Were she doing so for herself alone, she would not have done so. But she had chosen a path that led to a battle with the Dronung. There was no purpose to keeping the secret, not anymore.

“What did you say?” Luviisa asked. But she did not look at her son when she asked it.

“I am Audara Gutti Bjalki. My mother is Vikdasa Bjalki, of no house. My father…is Kullervo Antero Aahchi Throden, Prince of Savarna, brother to High Dronung and Queen the Sixteenth Rajenlif, Queen of Jutuneim, of the House of Throden. I am the third-oldest grandchild of High Dronung and Queen the Ninth Hirera, of the House of Throden. Her second-oldest living grandchild. And the eldest living grandchild who has not disclaimed the throne.”

Luviisa blinked. “You are illegitimate.”

“Yes, but I have the genetic proof. It was kept quiet because my mother and father agreed to it, and Dronung Rajenlif required it. But as you know, Hersvru Aljansen, illegitimacy has had no force of law under Jotnar statute in over three centuries. I have not claimed the title of Princess, but it is mine nevertheless.”

Skor handed his mother a pad. “This is her genetic data. Proof of parentage. We did not tell you before because we did not wish to run afoul of the Dronung.”

Luviisa looked over the report carefully. “You give this to me now. So I assume that you do wish to run afoul of the Dronung?”

Skor smiled. “Mother, no noble family has been absent from the Royal line longer than the House of Aljansen. I know you attempted to pair me with Rhionne, and then Vallero, in hopes that this could be rectified. I know that what you want, more than anything, is a grandchild in the Palace of the Three Shaars.”

“As nice as that would be, Aud is the eldest daughter of Kullervo. Vallero is heir to the throne, Tiernan announced it.”

“Vallero is heir to the Imperial Throne, this is true,” Aud said. “But Rhionne, the eldest living grandchild, has chosen not to assert her right to the Carba Throne. And as this has been formally announced by the Emperor, and as Prince Antero is deceased…the next-eldest living grandchild must be granted the option of taking the crown.”

Luviisa looked at Aud as if seeing her for the first time. “The Dronung has said that Vallero shall succeed her. You know that asserting a claim will be difficult. The Jotnardiggi will have a say. As will the noble families. And she has many strong connections there.”

“Hersvru Aljansen, that is to be certain. Even with my true bloodline and the history of our people on my side, it is very likely that were I to try to assert my claim, the noble families and the Jotnardiggi would side with Rajenlif and the House of ColVanos. But if I were the wife of Sen. Aljansen, the daughter-in-law of the Hersvru of Naesavarna…and if I were to remind the noble families and the Jotnardiggi that Vallero will be crowned first in Tuaut, and only later in Naesavarna, whereas I would take the title of Dronung first, and simply allow Vallero to rule the Empire….”

“What you’re suggesting could plunge Jotnarherath into open war with the Empire,” Luviisa said, though she was smiling as she said it.

“Yes, it could, if it was not managed well. But you, Luviisa,” she said, “you would manage this very well, wouldn’t you?”

Luviisa looked at Aud, her son’s fiancée. “I assume you would hurry to produce an heir.”

“I am already pregnant,” Aud said with a smile. “And my child will by fully Jotnar, and fully Titan.”

Luviisa’s smile grew wider. “Well then. It is Skor’s third marriage, so let us not waste time. I am a registrar, and so it is done, and you are husband and wife. Welcome to the family, Audara Aljansen…or should I say, it is an honor for my son to join the House of Throden, Well-Born Audara.”

“The honor is ours,” Aud said. “The honor is ours.”

* * *

Siru tried very hard to be a good daughter. She really did. And so, when she received the call from her father and…and…and Aud, she had done her very best to feign…well…she got to cordiality, which was about as good as she was going to do with her father and the woman who’d broken up both her mother’s and stepmother’s marriages with him.

Still, she thought, as her father told her that her grandmother had finally, finally accepted it, and while he knew that it hadn’t always been easy, he hoped she could learn to love Aud the way he did (which made Siru immediately realize the awkward double entendre in that statement, which made Siru somewhat nauseous), still, at least he’s unlikely to cheat on Aud with Aud.

It was only toward the end of the conversation that Siru was surprised, and that was when Aud asked if she could talk to Siru directly, without Skor listening in. Siru was rather expecting Aud to rattle off the wicked stepmother lines from a grim mystery novel, and so she was quite surprised at Aud’s tone.

“Siru, I know you are…probably not thrilled with this. You know me as your dad’s girlfriend, which given when I was his girlfriend…well, you’re a woman. You know – and I know – that my relationship with your father through the years has not been harmless. And I want you to know that I’m sorry for that. I really do love your father; when I was younger, though, I did not always realize that my love for him would cause him….”

Aud paused, and said, “My father was absent for most of my life. I only found out who he was when I was fifteen. And he is…well, his relationship with my mother would have been awkward for his family, and so he asked me, politely, not to talk about my relationship with him. And that has been hard. I know what it’s like not to have your dad even feign interest in your life, Siru. And I don’t want you to feel about your father the way I feel about mine.”

Siru had been taking this in; she was 20, she wasn’t supposed to have to be the adult. But she tried to be a good daughter, she really did.

“I…won’t promise to love you, Aud. Or call you mom. But I don’t hate my dad. I…just wish he loved me a bit more.” And loved you a bit less, she thought, but did not add.

“He loves you more than you know. I hope that when your school is next on break, you can come home and celebrate with us.”

“How can I say no?” Siru said.

“That’s the spirit. And Siru?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t expect you to love me, or call me mom. But I hope we can be friends.”

“Sure, that’d be…great,” Siru said, before terminating the call.

She sighed heavily, and set down the pad, trying hard not to wake her boyfriend. It was too late for that, alas, but he was taking it well.

“So do you want to bring me with to meet your dad’s wife?”

Siru snorted. “This is going to be the most awkward family dinner I’ve ever had, you want to kick that into most awkward dinner in history?”

“Oh, I’m sure there have been worse dinner parties. Rutger Massacre, that couldn’t have ended well – ‘Well, few dozen humans dead, lots of roe eaten, and oh yeah this girl was killed by the person she was eating – anyhow, see you all next month!’”

“Aleks Olesu, you have a very odd sense of humor.”

“Well you’ve gotta. So you don’t think your grandma would take it well that you were dating a non-Jotnar?”

“She would disown me for dating a Jotnar commoner,” Siru said, walking over to the bed and kneeling down. “I can’t even imagine what her reaction would be to me dating you.”

She slid her hand under the man on the bed, and picked him up, bringing him to her waiting lips. She pressed them against him carefully, and said, “Akku Luviisa is just the worst. I don’t want you to have to endure her; you’ll dump me.”

“Nah, I won’t dump you,” Aleks said, peering over the edge of Siru’s hand at her breasts, which were barely-concealed under her nightshirt. “Though if I went it would be tempting to propose to you….”

Siru began giggling uncontrollably, to the point where she had to set Aleks down – choosing the warm skin of her breasts as a suitable landing place, so that her laughter would shake him up a bit, he deserved that. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“I mean, not if it’s gonna get that reaction I won’t!” Aleks said. “And I thought you loved me.”

“Oh, Al, I do love you, you know that. You’re also the one who said we’re both young and if we worry about whether we’ll fit forever, we’ll never know if we fit right now.”

“And you said you didn’t know if I’d fit well, but I did!”

“Yes, yes, very impressive. Seriously, though…I do love you, but I don’t want to end up like my dad and Aud – if I get married off, I mean….”

“If you get ‘married off,’ you get to decide what happens. You know what I think; there’s a reason that arranged marriages don’t happen on Avalon.”

“Yeah, there are. But I’m first primate for the Aljansen family. We’re the oldest noble family in Jotnarherath, the oldest noble family in the Empire. I know my dad can be annoying, but even when he was coming once every couple of months…my mom still made sure I knew that when I grew up, I would have to take over for him, someday. And that I would be continuing a line that stretched back almost fifteen hundred years. I just….”

“You remind me of my brother. You know your duty, and you carry it out.”

“How is Nik?”

“Well, he’s still alive, so that’s good. Still, he did admit that when Major Desroches came back to the Bass to serve as Deputy JCO…well, the guy got burned pretty good, and I guess that he’s okay, but all four limbs are artificial. That made an impression. Not that my brother would want to stop being a gunner, mind you….”

“Well, like you, he’s pretty brave.”

Aleks shook his head. “I mean, I try. Speaking of which, do you have any challenges for me to attempt?”

Siru beamed. “I was thinking of one. It involves a bit of climbing, a bit of squeezing into tight places, and if it’s done right, a good shower for you afterward.”

“Now that,” Aleks said, “sounds like the kind of challenge I’m up for.”

Siru looked him over, and said, simply, “Obviously.”