Tie You to My House

"You want what?" Six asked in astonishment, eyes wide in shock. Lady Snowpearl smiled.

"I want you to be my successor," she said again.

Six gaped at her. Captain Nightfire also looked at Lady Snowpearl in surprise. Eventually Six managed to get her thoughts together and said, "Lady Snowpearl, I am . . . I am not the right person to lead your house. I'm a peasant, I'm not very smart, and . . . I'm just not right."

"I think you are," the noblewoman replied, with another sip of her coffee.

"I don't know anything about running a house like this," Six protested. "And I'm hardly educated the way your heir should be. I barely got through primary school."

"You're willing to work, and that is more than can be said of many born to a noble house," answered Lady Snowpearl. "You DID get through primary school, and presumably did it without bribing anyone, which is also more than many nobles can claim. A fancy education is not required to fill this role."

"But . . ." Six protested again, but couldn't find the words to express why she knew it was a bad idea. And finally, she simply said, "No."

Lady Snowpearl actually smiled.

"This is my offer," she said. "Stay here for the next six months while you heal. During that time I will ask three things of you. First, get to know the people of this House, and decide if you would like to join it. Second, work with my advisors and the tutors assigned to you to learn what you need to know to be my successor. Third, decide if you wish your children to be a part of this house. At the end of the six months, if we agree that you are capable of leading this house, and if you are willing, you will be formally acknowledged as my successor and you will enter a Contract for Children with Oakbranch."

"And when you realize it would be a mistake for me to be the next Lady Llinn?" Six asked.

"Then you'll still need to decide if you wish to remain a member of the House of Llinn and whether you will enter a Contract for Children knowing that your daughters will be prospective heirs. Which, six months of practice, is a role you should at least be familiar enough with to determine if it is something you are willing to sentence your children to," answered Lady Snowpearl.

Six frowned.

"You are offering to put the House of Llinn at risk to protect me without any sure gain," she said.

Lady Snowpearl smirked. The expression was oddly reassuring. Her next words, while blunt, were also honest. "I'm gaining six months in which I fully intend to tie you to my house with bonds of affection and guilt, which are the two most difficult sort to break. I also remember very well the pull of a mate, and yours is just across the hall. If nothing else, I will gain a grandchild from this six month stay, even if you leave us at the end."

"I have more self-restraint than you think, Lady Snowpearl," said Six darkly, and the older woman laughed outright.

"Shall we make a wager of it?" she asked with a grin. Six glared at her.

"What terms? I marry Three if I lose?" Six demanded. Lady Snowpearl shook her head.

"No, I don't think that's a fair reflection of the odds," Lady Snowpearl said. She tapped her coffee cup thoughtfully. "If I win, then . . . I get to choose the name of my grandchild. If you win . . . hmm. What would you like?"

"A treecat," Six blurted out, and then blushed and clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. Lady Snowpearl laughed.

"No, think of something else. You can have a treecat merely because you want one and it furthers my plan," she said. She leaned back and called towards the bedroom, "Littlewing, did Chef's cat have her litter yet?"

One of the guardswomen appeared at the door. "Not yet, but it should be any time now."

"Hmm. Then I'll ask you to introduce Six to Chef later today, and we'll see if she is deemed worthy of one of Her Majesty's offspring," Lady Snowpearl said. She turned back to Six and said, "It took me four years to be considered acceptable. If Chef denies you one of Her Majesty's kittens, then we'll go to a shelter." She darted a glance over at Captain Nightfire and said pointedly, "And make that loud and showy display of power."

"WE," Captain Nightfire said, pointing between herself and Six, "Will go to a shelter. And full battalion from the house guard. YOU will stay here, where the rest of the Guard can protect you. Or you can just wander down the main branch with a sign saying, 'please assassinate me, my guard is busy'."

Lady Snowpearl shrugged, and turned back to Six. "Pick something else. You are going to avoid your mate for six months, that is no small feat. Your reward shouldn't be small either. A sky-cruise around the world, maybe, or your own estate. Or a ruby the size of your head shaped like a flower."

'Dowries for all of your brothers,' Sera suggested.

"I can't, they aren't my family any more," Six answered sadly.

'Bullshit,' Sera said. 'Family is about love, not blood and not laws. You still love your parents and siblings, so they are still your family, and they always will be. That's why Lady Snowpearl won't just choose someone from another house--anyone worth having will still have ties of love to their first family, and anyone without those ties won't understand what she wants for Llinn. And that's why she wants you to stay here for six months. She's banking on the probability that you will learn to love her family.'

'That's a big gamble. What if they hate me?'

'First of all, I was at the same dinner you were at last night. They already like you,' Sera replied. 'Second, you like people and are naturally inclined to make friends. If Lady Snowpearl paid any attention at all last night, she will have noticed that.'

'I didn't make friends at the temple,' Six said.

'Yes, well, not everyone one is meant for a life of contemplation and meditation,' Sera said. 'Also, since they were ready to boot you out just because you were injured, I'm not sure they were worth befriending.'

'But it's not like that. I was--'

"Should we go with the ruby the size of your head then?" Lady Snowpearl inquired, derailing Six's plans to defend her temple.

"Err, no. What would I do with something like that?" Six replied. She took a deep breath. "But since ridiculous amounts of money are on the table, then--dowries for all my brothers."

"How many brothers are we talking about?" Lady Snowpearl asked.

"Nine. At the moment. My parents are still young," answered Six.

"Done. If you aren't pregnant before the next six months are up, I will establish dowries for all of your current and future brothers," Lady Llinn said.

"I thought the bet was that she and Three would be sleeping together before the end of six months," said Captain Nightfire, eyebrows rising.

Lady Snowpearl chortled. "They're mates. If the one happens, so will the other." She turned her gaze on Six and said, "Of course, our requires that you agree to my initial request, and commit to staying for the next six months."

'Sera?' Six asked.

Sera took a moment to consider the offer. 'I think you need to decide now if you are willing to stay here permanently.'

'What? Why?'

'Because if you stay for six months, you will get attached to the people here. So the question in six months won't be whether you stay, but whether you stay as the heir, and if you can come to an understanding with Three. Three is the part I have reservations about. I know what is like to spend years with someone who has no respect for you, and I don't want you to find yourself facing that fate.'

'Maybe I'll prove myself to him,' Six suggested.

'You don't need to prove yourself worthy of Three,' answered Sera. 'He needs to prove that he's worthy of you.'

Six did not respond with words, but Sera could feel her resistance to that idea, and sighed to herself. She could only do so much to protect the younger woman. And she SHOULD only do so much. Six had the right to make her own choices, even if when Sera knew they would lead to pain.

Though Sera reserved the right not to like it.

'So you think I should stay?' asked Six. And then added, 'Or you would, if Three wasn't part of the deal?'

'Yes,' Sera confirmed. 'I think you would be happy here, whether you're Lady Snowpearl's protege or just one of the servants.'

"I'll stay, then," Six said out loud.

"Excellent!" Lady Snowpearl said, beaming. Captain Nightfire relaxed slightly, allowing herself a brief, faint smile. Sera hadn't realized how tense the other woman was until that moment. "And now the other important question--what are we going to do about Sera?"

"What do you mean 'do' about her?" Six asked warily. Lady Snowpearl held up a placating hand.

"It's been made clear to me that she is staying, I am not suggesting that will change," she said, and Six relaxed. "The question is, do we tell everyone--or more to the point, the Temples--that she is gone? Or do we announce she is remaining with you, and by extension with the House of Llinn? The former would be safer. But it would be advantageous to the House to have it know a Traveler has chosen one of our members as a host."

"We'll be swarmed by Temple delegates wanting to convince the Six and the Honored Traveler to come to their temple and by pilgrims wanting the Traveler's blessing, any or all of whom might be potential assassins, and Six is injured making it difficult to protect her," Captain Nightfire pointed out. "The prestige for the house might not be worth it."

Six sighed.

"You're right, Captain Nighfire. But we won't convince the Temples that Sera has left simply by telling them so. They'll demand proof. They'll demand that we be tested, and once we're tested they'll have proof that Sera is still here," Six said. "Lying to the Temples is a bad idea."

The three women nonetheless continued to debate the question for another half hour, with Six periodically asking for Sera's opinion. But Sera's only input was that she didn't know enough to make an informed choice, and trusted Six.

'That's not helping,' Six thought irritably at her, and Sera merely laughed