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Post by Sam on Nov 28, 2009 21:28:09 GMT -5
"And that would be?"
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Post by Marie on Nov 29, 2009 9:15:19 GMT -5
She gave him a long hard look.
"Steffon, you must promise to tell no-one this because it is a close-guarded secret and I will be breaking our sister's confidence to tell you, yet it is plain that I must, if you are ever to understand why she could not marry Lord Oscar."
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Post by Sam on Nov 29, 2009 9:20:39 GMT -5
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
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Post by Marie on Nov 29, 2009 9:30:21 GMT -5
"I'll tell you once you give your word to speak of this to no-one," Joanna insisted. "Not Daemon, not Lord Wylde, not Mother. No-one."
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Post by Sam on Nov 29, 2009 9:57:24 GMT -5
"I am not one of your little girl bedfellows, Joanna, I don't have time for this shit. If you have something to say, say it, if not, I have preparations to make for my return home. Marianne's confidence means little to me, since our honor means nothing to her, and I honestly do not care what story she told you about why she could not marry Lord Wylde, since likely it is just another of her lies," Steffon said sharply.
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Post by Marie on Nov 29, 2009 10:17:10 GMT -5
His temper pushed her beyond the limits of polite behaviour.
"Now you're just being spiteful," Joanna snarled. "You don't like it when soemthing gets in the way of one of your little plans. Unfortunately, brother, life's not like that. Things happen and we must bend with them or be broken. I know you had visions of binding House Wylde to you through Marianne's children but I doubt Lord Oscar could have given her those children because he likes men! Men, not women! He might not even have been able to consummate the marriage!"
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Post by Sam on Nov 29, 2009 10:25:55 GMT -5
"Lord Wylde is a man who knows what duty and honor are and even if he had no interest in his wife he would do his duty until he begot a son by her for the sake of his House if nothing else," Steffon snapped back. Inwardly, he contemplated Joanna's words, which made the whole situation make a little bit more sense.
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Post by Marie on Nov 29, 2009 10:29:52 GMT -5
"How can you be so sure?" Joanna demanded. "Would you bed a man, even though you have no desire for one, if your duty demanded it?"
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Post by Sam on Nov 29, 2009 10:35:21 GMT -5
Steffon's face showed the repugnance at that thought as he turned it over in his head. "I would do whatever was required of me to ensure the survival and prosperity of my House," he said.
"It does not matter, though, and dealing in hypotheticals is a fool's quest."
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Post by Marie on Nov 29, 2009 10:47:56 GMT -5
Her expresion softened, just a little.
"I know it is, but I had to say it to make you understand what you would have - unknowingly, I admit - expected Lord Oscar to do. You are a man of honour, Steffon, I know it, but sometimes your honour blinds you to more personal matters. Consider Marianne's viewpoint too. Imagine being obliged to share a bed with someone knowing they did not want you there. It's not a pretty picture, is it?"
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Post by Sam on Nov 30, 2009 14:27:36 GMT -5
"Obligations and nobility go hand in hand, Joanna, mother taught us that from the day we were born. Of course it would be unpleasant to wed someone who was unwilling or distasteful, but our duty supersedes our desires, you know this as well as I."
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Post by Marie on Nov 30, 2009 18:41:35 GMT -5
"Marianne was almost willing to do that, because you asked it of her," Joanna pointed out. "Had Lord Oscar been a...normal man, she would have done it for sure. I think it was the fact that he could not give her children that was the clincher. In the long run, she spared them both the shame of not being able to conceive."
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Post by Sam on Nov 30, 2009 19:59:20 GMT -5
"Well it does not matter now. By your leave, sister, I would finish my preparations for my departure for Storm's End. There is much to do and I would very much like to be in the Stormlands as opposed to this dismal city, to tell it true," he said.
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Post by Marie on Nov 30, 2009 20:17:43 GMT -5
"I'll bid you good day then," Joanna answered coldly.
She walked away with her spine poker-straight and didn't look back.
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Hope you all are well and happy.
Feb 9, 2021 15:35:26 GMT -5
Hope you all are well and happy.
Feb 9, 2021 15:35:26 GMT -5