The proposal letter was delivered the morning after the king’s death. The envelope was small and square, with a purple seal denoting the royal house Lancaster. After passing it around the solar, the letter wound up resting in the center of a round end-table. No one wanted to go near it, giving the parchment and wax seal an outsized presence.    

“Throw it in the fire,” Cormick said, taking a step toward the end-table, then retreating.

“Uncle Godwin cannot find out about this,” Bradshaw said, eyeing the letter. No one dared to call it by its name, despite all three of them knowing the envelope’s contents.  “Ethan’s nameday tourney is less than two weeks away now, she will crown him king soon thereafter.”

Arienne had been quiet since the letter’s arrival. She was holding her elbows and staring into the crackling fireplace, not saying anything.

“This family has suffered enough.” Cormick charged forward and snatched the letter up from the end table, heading for the fire. 

“Wait!” Arienne caught his arm before Cormick could reach the fireplace. Both of them stood before the hearth, the letter held between them. Cormick tried to yank his arm away, but Arienne held tightly on.

“You’re- you’re not seriously considering this, are you?” Bradshaw felt bad for Cormick, he still didn’t know that Arienne was supposed to leave for Bellmuth in less than a week.

Arienne plucked the letter from Cormick’s fingers, returning with it to the center of the solar. “The proposal is for me. Therefore, it is my duty to respond, be it in the negative or the affirmative.”

“And you intend to respond in the negative, correct?” Cormick was desperate for something to hold on to, some anchor to prevent his life from unraveling. Bradshaw knew the feeling but tried to keep himself more composed.

“I- I intend to make the decision that is best for this family, and for myself.”

This answer wasn’t good enough for Cormick. “The Lancasters are not to be trusted. The best decision for this family is for us to stick together. We have never been in a more vulnerable position. Everything we love and everyone we care about is in jeopardy!”

“Father told Bradshaw it was time for us to forgive the Lancasters! You were so worried last night about losing our place on the royal council, don’t you think this might solve all our current predicaments, if I became the queen of Monarch’s Keep?!” Arienne looked from a stunned and hurt Cormick to Bradshaw, who observed their exchange tepidly from one of the solar’s darker corners. “If I accept, I betray myself, my family, and my love.”

In one ungraceful motion, Cormick sat down on the hearth of the fireplace, long arms draped over his knees.

“If I deny the proposal,” Arienne continued, “our family will lose the queen’s favor. At best, this means we lose our place on the royal council and are evicted from Monarch’s Hold. At worst, well, the queen is already on the war path...”

“Arienne, there has to be another way.” Cormick’s voice wavered. “The Turtle Prince? He is deformed, pale like a fish with inhuman eyes-”

“None of us have met Prince Ethan, Cormick! None of us have met him! Should I not, at the very least, meet with our future king?”

“I have.” Bradshaw stepped closer into the light of the fireplace. “Met him, I mean. I have met Prince Ethan.”

Cormick barely regarded Bradshaw, who now held Arienne’s full attention. “What was he like?”

Bradshaw paused, reflecting. Could it have just been yesterday morning?  “He was kind. He seemed shy, but not too shy. His eyes were… arresting... I could sense a longing in him, a longing for freedom, or for something else which he could not have. Above all, however, he was kind.”

Arienne nodded, turning around and making her way back towards the fireplace. She sat down next to Cormick and took his hand. “Leave us for a moment, Shaw. I must speak with Cormick alone.”

Bradshaw nodded to her and made his way out of the solar and into the hall. He could hear Arienne begin to break the news to Cormick…

“My love, I have wonderful news, I have been accepted…” 

Bradshaw thought about how dire the situation was for his family, but also about Ethan. In one night, to lose two brothers and a father… He wanted to see the sole surviving prince again. This was impossible, though, as patrols around Monarch’s Keep had been doubled with no one allowed in or out…

However, Bradshaw had never had trouble sneaking into Monarch’s Keep before…