Palace Ordosa
Ordosa, Izotza
Lady Evelyn, despite her better judgment, decided to bring up what was considered in the noble ranks of Ghant to be the great gossip topic. “…Is it typical for men like…General Hespernius to marry only once they have achieved such a high rank and station? Forgive me for asking…it is just that everyone talks about he and his…young bride, the Lady Olympia Domris. The subject has grown more pronounced with talk regarding young Alexander Domris and Lady Alazne Dain. Lord Bolvar doesn’t seem opposed to such an idea, if what I have heard is true. Do you know either the General or the young Count?”
“I wonder why such an interest?” said Uzzias, looking puzzled. He looked almost with regret at the end of his melon, yellowish pale fragments clining to the rind. “That was monstrous fine, I must say…well, General Hesperinus, I have met but really, he is quite exalted in rank and I do not know him personally. I know he comes from an old and aristocratic though untitled family close to the Royal House of Obed, I suppose you would call his family bannermen in the old days. Great heroes and favourites may ignore maxims, of course. He wanted to devote himself to his career. Also he was born with great wealth in land and investments, and his sister and brother devoted themselves to manging things rather well. His brother is an invalid but very clever, his sister, well women at that time devoted themselves mostly to running the family estate entirely, it’s a bit different now, so between them they kept the family very well off. He is known to be a bit abstemious in many respects—other than his polo and the odd…er, dalliance, quite modest as a soldier really. He is known to spread a good table for guest but himself is modest of means. It is an admired trait in our military, you see. And I think even in his polo he only keeps two ponies for that purpose. But I’m distracted. Anyway General Hesperinus knew that as a lieutenant-general he would have to be more settled, and have to focus on the possibility of retirement or sitting behind a desk a lot more, so he dcided to marry, I believe. The Domris family is ancient and is very close to the Dowager and the Heir in particular, so it was a very good match.
“Count Domris will probably have to decide if he wants to be a regular soldier after doing his time in the Cavalry Guards, but he has a good war record so far. I know him a little, mostly from polo. He’s a pretty good player. If he wants to stay in, he will have to earn his captaincy before it would be acceptable for him to marry. Of course he has excellent connections, so that may be accelerated.”
While Evethe context of the latter, causing her to place a hand before her face. “That…would be quite slyn didn’t necessarily relate to his first explanation, she certainly understood it within ad, to erode such traditions in the name of…consolidation for the sake of streamlining. We Ghantish prize our history and traditions so greatly, that such a thing would be seen as horrific. I shall hope that the King, Admiral that he is, sees the value of retaining separate regiments, and chooses to preserve them as such.” Evelyn drank some more of her tea, and subsequently continued with a calm expression on her face. “Most of the nobility in Ghant maintain their family estates, go into civil service or academia. Military service and the clergy are more often then not occupied by the common born. An interesting cultural contrast.”
Major Uzzias wiped his mouth free of the last of the melon juice. “Interesting. The common born also occupy positions as commissioned officers as well, that is more often than not?”
“He sounds like a brave man, good and true,” Evelyn commented with a smile. “Tis a shame then, what happened to Empress Tamara. Now the Emperor’s cousin of some higher degrees, Melissa, is Empress Consort to the Emperor at present. I would hope that the situation in the Delvian States has improved markedly since the days of Tamara, thanks to the efforts of the General.”
“it continues to improve, I believe. But he no longer has any responsibility over that area.”
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“I think you hope for a proper bedwarmer for the upcoming winter, seeing as how in this part of the country, nobody should go without one.” Smirking, she offered Shinhusar the glass of wine she just poured, and then poured one for herself. “As for me, well I value safety and security. For while I may be a Queen, I am still a woman who longs for a King.”
Izolde brought the glass to her lips and let the wine quench her thirst, before her eyes returned to Shinhusar. “Hopefully I was able to address your concerns, David. The are perilous times we find ourselves in at present…so it is good to keep close the people you can trust.”
General Shinhusar’s rough hands gently touched her softer ones as she handed him the glass of wine. “You are a wise woman, Izolde. Just as I have wanted to know what was in your heart and mind—and find it something of a mystery still, though an intriguing one—I find what lies beneath your beautiful gown of great interest, and I wish to thoroughly know it from top to bottom.”
When each had sipped from their wine glass, he took (unless she resisted him) her glass from her hands and replaced it with her own, and drank from the glass that her lips had touched, looking into her eyes.
“Your customs are different from mine. I would not in any way damage your honour—or my own for that matter as I am the King’s man through and through. Tell me then, O wise Queen, what your advice is when it comes to bed warming. For I would have you—but only if it please you and serve our cause. For there are grater things at stake than mere wine and the cup of womanhood or the tower of manhood, delicious though they be. But if I can have all—then I will.”
