Summer Strategy: round 4, episode 1

Within days of her marriage to Spirel, Duchess Raederle had to bid him farewell. It was hard for the young bride to see her beloved go, knowing the dangers he would face in the South and the risks he must take in order to carry tidings and plans to their allies.

She found herself moody and depressed, wandering purposelessly through the lonely halls, not even bothering to dress some days.

Only confiding her misery and sense of injustice to her faithful friend and housekeeper gave her some consolation.

Lying alone in the big bed at night, Raederle sometimes wondered if her happiness had been nothing more than a dream. Would Lord Spirel return safely, to hear the news she longed to share with him?

As the summer wore on, it was time for yet another wedding. Lady Auber of Meremont attained her majority and her wedding to Baron Heureu was celebrated in the gardens of Ymris Manor. Although Auber and Heureu didn’t share the blissful passion that their brother and sister had found, they were united in their goals and plans for the future, and felt that they would be happy together.

Prince Tirunedeth traveled back from the College of Riddles in Caithnard to attend Baron Heureu’s wedding, taking the opportunity to meet his own intended bride, Lady Eriel of Ymris, for the first time since their childhoods. Even during this festive event, the Prince and the Baron found time to share the information that each had been gathering, and to lay plans for the next steps in the war.

A few days after the wedding, Baron Heureu met with his brother, Lord Astrin, to tell him what he and the Prince had planned. Intelligence brought by Lord Spirel in the spring had indicated that the Sea Folk were making use of a network of disaffected humans in the South, smugglers and thieves for the most part; for what purpose, none knew.

To Astrin’s horror, his brother and the Prince had decided that he should try to join this network, to ferret out what was being planned. Lord Astrin was appalled at being asked to masquerade as a common thief and smuggler.

Much to his surprise, however, his wife seemed amused by his new role and costume, kissing him goodbye in the evenings with their newborn son in her arms, and welcoming him back warmly each morning upon his return.

Although Astrin couldn’t help savoring the enthusiasm with which his wife responded to “My Lord Thief” in their bed, he did wonder what he would tell their son when the boy was old enough to question his nightly absences.

Perhaps, he hoped, all this would be over by the time the boy left his toddler years; the best explanation, he felt, would be no explanation at all!

Next post: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/05/round-4-episode-2-woman-of-wisdom.html