5

"Is that not a fair price?" Ye Chenzhou looked honestly confused.

"You- Are you an idiot?" Eirian shrieked. "Queen Helia's marriage to King Leander didn't have a contract this big and it's the most expensive marriage contract in the history of the Land of Sorrow! She was a queen in her own right, their marriage literally created a kingdom."

Eirian wasn't self-conscious about her worth. In fact, she could readily admit she thought it was higher than most given that she could fight as well as she could dance as well as she could negotiate treaties.

But forty pounds of gold and thirty pounds of precious stones was an insane payment for any one's marriage. It equated to nearly two million penning. Queen Helia's had topped off at seven hundred and eighty thousand and included the Isles of Smoke and a lucrative trade agreement with the Hearthland, a powerful agricultural neighbor to the south of the Land of Sorrow.

She was going to marry a fool, Eirian realized. Forget killing him to protect herself, she'd have to kill him to protect the estate from going broke. 

"It seemed a fair price, given your education and skills." Ye Chenzhou defended. He hadn't flinched or backed away when she yelled, had stood his ground and any other time, in any other situation, Eirian would have been impressed.

"So you bankrupted your estate? How are you going to feed everyone?"

"I didn't bankrupt the Camelia!" Now he actually sounded offended.

"Who has two million penning laying around for a bride payment?!"

"I defeated the northern tribes two years ago. They just finished paying off their reparations."

"And you spent it all on me? Are you stupid?"

He bristled, "No, I am not. I, the Camelia needs a Lady." He shifted, fixing robes that weren't out of place. "This estate is one of the oldest in the kingdom, we have always been the first line of defense against the incursions from the borderlands. We have been at war since our inception. We know nothing else."

The miasma was dropped over him like an over-cloak. Hanging off his shoulders and falling to his feet where it mixed into the miasma puddled on the floor.

"But the wars are coming less often now."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Eirian pointed out. "The tribes are dying out."

"Not dying out. Growing, changing. Ten years ago, the Northern Tribes formed an alliance that lasted until I defeated. Almost ten years. No other alliance among the tribes of the borderlands has lasted anywhere near as long."

"Evolving," Eirian realized.

"Yes. And the Camelia must do the same, but I know nothing of life outside this place. Outside war. I realize you are accustomed to a different kind of life. One of higher quality. I need someone who can bring the Camelia back into the kingdom."

That was....more noble than she'd been expecting. At least he realized the position the Camelia was in and was taking steps to rectify it. 

Albeit extreme steps.

"How did you learn of me? No one from this estate has entered High Society in years."

"Who would we send? I am the only one left of my family and I could not leave the care of this place to another for long." He shifted; nervous she realized. "Besides, I am..."

Eirian recognized that nervous shuffle. She'd seen it more than once among her peers when they were suddenly facing marriages arranged by their families and had to come clean about things that could seriously affect the marriage. "Gay or in love?" 

Ye Chenzhou went still and just blinked at her as he processed. "Ah, in love. With a woman." He clarified and then flushed, "Not that I am opposed to the other. My- Ah, someone close to me shares that inclination. The Camelia embraces all."

"Because you believe in love for everyone?"

"Because an army needs soldiers, and it is foolish to discriminate over something that does not make a difference on the battlefield."

Eirian opened her mouth to respond and immediately shut it again. It wasn't the best reasoning, but it wasn't the worst she'd heard either. "Very well."

"I assume that is not an issue for you. Given that you are from the capital."

"Meaning what?" She was pretty sure she was being insulted.

"The capital is well known for its...appetites."

"Appe-" Oh. The capital did have a reputation for gluttony of many things. Wealth, food, fashion, pleasure in all its many, varied forms and there were very few limits to that gluttony. And what limits there were, were often easily swept away with the right application of gold.

Hell, Eirian indulged a few of her own without shame, but she hadn't realized the reputation that capital carried this far. Or that it was seen in quite that light. Ye Chenzhou wasn't outright disparaging, but he clearly didn't think much of it.

And that was probably because he'd been raised to remember his manners in public.

Everyone loved to gossip and judge, Eirian saw it in the capital all the time, she shouldn't be surprised it was the same at the edges of the kingdom.

"I was...told of your own tastes." Ye Chenzhou continued, and it took Eirian a moment to realize what he was saying.

"Wait, are you calling me a slut?"

~ tbc