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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3135406" data-attributes="member: 3448">After the Duke of Brightspan left, Dame Brionna, Kit, and Alistair retired to one of the comfortable sitting rooms that functioned as the Archducal Council chambers.  As they arrived, Alistair turned to Dame Brionna.  “Do you have any guard matters that need attending to?  This might be a good time.”Dame Brionna sighed inwardly.  She had grown use to Alistair and Kit periodically arranging private time together, even in the middle of the afternoon.  “Of course, your grace.  I should expect that it will take about two hours, leaving time for any matters that must be dealt with before the dinner.”“That will be fine.”  Alistair waited until she had left and sat in a chair near to and facing the couch Kit had sat on.  He looked trouble as he looked at her but just sat in silence.After a few moments, Kit blurted out, “I’m sorry about reading the Duke’s mind.  I shouldn’t have created that problem.”Alistair startled.  “What?  No, don’t worry about it.  You were doing exactly what I knew you were doing.  We needed to know what he was thinking.”“I still shouldn’t have gotten caught.”“There was nothing you could do about that.  I’m just sorry I had to leave the blame on you for diplomatic reasons.  He probably knew I was lying, but you have to deny those sorts of things.  But I’m sorry that it meant I had to blame you.”“You did what you had to do.  We need to protect you, and I should have been more careful.”“You did all you could, and I don’t have to like having to blame you for that, even though I had to.  But don’t worry about that.  That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about.”“Well?”  asked Kit after a few more moments of silence.Alistair paused a little longer.  “Sorry…”  He began again, “Kit, you know that I have to have dinner tonight with King Erich’s daughter, to begin thinking about possible political marriages.”Kit swallowed hard.  “I know.  I’m not happy about it, and I wish that it didn’t have to be so soon, but I know.”“You’ve seen how many assassination attempts there have been.  As long as I’m unmarried and have no heir-apparent, the Archduchy is only a single assassin away from chaos, maybe even civil war.  And it’s worse than that, because if Canberry fell, there would be no power to stabilize any of southern Drucien.”Kit stared at him more intently.  “So it’s not just about an eventual political marriage.  You’re talking about marrying and having children as soon as you can.”“I have to.  The Archduchy needs a stable succession line.  But I don’t want to make this harder for you than it has to be.”  He paused.  “You don’t have to be at the dinner tonight.”“Do you not want me to be there?”“No!  I really want your help.  And your support.  But I don’t want to make you be there if it will be too painful.”“It will be painful, but I think I need to watch.  I still have to do my best to make sure she’s good for the Archduchy.”“Thank you.”“And even though I don’t want you to get married… I won’t create problems for someone who would be good for Canberry, and good for you.  I’ll only raise objections if I think there’s a danger, not because of us.”“I know, and I’ll trust you.”  Alistair closed his eyes briefly.  “I just wish I didn’t have to.”“But you do.  I need to watch and to serve as the Mouth.  And you need… to marry someone who will help the Archduchy, regardless of what that means for us.”“It doesn’t have to mean much for us.”Kit looked away.  “I’ve seen enough of court to understand that state marriages don’t always have to do with love.  But I’ve also seen enough to know that they sometimes do, either initially or eventually.”Alistair nodded.  “But I don’t want to lose you.  I have to marry, but I don’t have to fall in love.  I never wanted any of this-- you know that.”Kit nodded.“And I’m willing to go through with it, because Canberry needs me to.  But if I lose you as well as everything else… I need your support.”“I’ll do the best I can, but we’ll have to see.  And you’ll always have my support, even if we can’t stay together.  Even if you need me to go away at some point.”“That’s not what I meant, and I’ll never want you to go away.  I,” Alistair paused, “I need you too much.”Kit noted that he didn’t quite say that he loved her, but also saw how close he’d come.  “I’ll try.  We’ll have to see.”  She smiled ruefully.  “At least as just a knight I won’t have to make a political marriage for a long time.”“I hope you won’t ever.  I can’t offer you a marriage, but I can offer you everything else.  If you want to have a family, we can, just not until after the succession is secure.”“You mean until you and whoever you marry have an heir.”“And a spare, preferably.”Kit thought about it.  “But that will be years.”“Yes, but not too many.  And we can be happy together, both before we can have a family and after.”“Maybe…”  Kit said.  “But we don’t need to worry about that yet.  I’ll be here while you do what you need to do for Canberry.  And that means I’ll have to be at dinner, even though I don’t want to.  But I won’t leave you over it.”  At least, she thought, not yet.  We’ll see how things go once he’s actually married someone.“And you know that I’ll need to use whatever tools I can to aid Canberry.  If she needs to be charmed, I’ll charm her, but I won’t mean it.”“I know.  And I won’t want to watch you flirting with other women… but I’ll do my part, and I know that you need to do yours.”  Kit set her jaw determinedly.</blockquote>

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