Book 2 Season's Change Spring's Revenge

Part 5 Honesty

The letter that the carrier delivered bore the Kaplan sigil. The Kaplans were the ruling family of Westendorunn, the largest and westernmost nation in the vast north. Aaron, the king of Sentartabuul, took it directly from the hand of the carrier and inspected the seal. It was unbroken. He nodded his approval and dismissed the carrier and the guard that had escorted him to his sitting room. He sat in his high-backed chair and leaned against the sturdy wood as a sigh escaped him. The last letter he received from that great city arrived after winter had fallen. The news it delivered was distressing but not grave. It seemed the young Kaplan prince had not returned from his Sacred Quest before the snows had blocked the pass. There was no word nor sighting of him, but the letter assured that the prince would return home after the thaw allowed it. That time had already come! Perhaps this letter would bring good news.

He was full of hope as he carefully broke the seal. He wanted all to be well with the young prince, not because he was a benevolent man or that he particularly cared about the life of The Boy who would marry his daughter because King Aaron was not a kind man. He didn't care about people outside of his daughter. The previous letter broke her heart. She left the chamber in tears upon hearing the news that her betrothed was trapped on the other side of the mountains. She was not with the king as he pried open the letter and unfolded it. He expected it to be an invitation to visit the western nation to meet the prince. It was not. Despite not caring about the boy that was supposed to return a man and marry his daughter, his heart fell at the words penned with great care and skill.

The letter announced that the prince had not yet returned but hope was held that he would before winter closed the pass again. ArorahBeth would be devastated to hear that her prince had not returned and her wedding to him would be delayed yet again. There was nothing more distressing to the king than his only child upset. Perhaps that kingdom, like his, was somehow cursed; for he had no sons. Arorah's mother, the only woman he would ever love, died in childbirth. Though the Kaplans had been blessed with two sons and a daughter in between them, their first son was lost to his Sacred Journey and it seemed like the second was too. But the law was the law and his daughter was bound to the boy until he was either found dead or the window for his Sacred Journey had closed. Winter was only one season. If he did not return before the next spring ended, then his daughter would be released from the promise of marriage. He did not want that. He had no male heir and could not hand his seat as king over to his daughter. That was the law of his kingdom; a female could not sit upon the throne alone.

He doubted the prince's loyalty to his kingdom and feared what would become of it should it fall to the prince's rule as it would if the king were to never have a son. But, that was better than not having a choice in who would rule the kingdom once he was gone and the chance that his daughter would be thrown from their castle or worse. The people of Westendorunn were very different from his people. They believed strange and nonsensical things and practiced an even stranger way of living. Only the princess was familiar with the ways of their land. She was beautiful but she was very smart and strong. He was certain that the young prince would be easy for Arorah to control and she could rule the kingdom through him. Hopefully, she would bear him a strong son that could rule as she taught him to. If they wed the union would bind his kingdom with the much larger western nation and give him a strong ally in the north and a strategic advantage over his enemies. He needed that ally. But he had started to realize that maybe it would be better for the prince to never return and Arorah to marry another noble from a different city. As it was, with the crowned prince gone the young prince was to rule his nation when his father left the world. Aaron thought long and hard. If Arorah married the prince she would be bound to his kingdom and he would be groomed to lead his kingdom. That would be a powerful ally indeed, but that would leave his own home vacant and without a king. So, his nation would be absorbed and fall under the young prince's rule. He would have to choose a successor if his current wife did not bear him a son. But that successor would not rule the kingdom separately. His kingdom would be absorbed into the Kingdom of Westendorunn and Sentartabuul would just become a Dukedom or something like that. He knew just the warrior that he would make king if need be.