Some time later, Tamsin found herself standing in front of Duchess Jordaine's desk, awkwardly attempting to maintain eye contact while the Duchess silently stared at her.

Tamsin only had a vague recollection of how she'd gotten there. After so many stressful nights sleeping on a hard bedroll in the woods, Tamsin had fallen into a very deep slumber the second she landed on a soft bed, and she was loath to wake up. She'd still been half lost in her dreams. even as Hugo (or she thought it was probably Hugo, since he was still standing at attention behind her) had woken her up, helped her fix her clothes, and shown her through more hallways (there were always more hallways) to the Duchess's private office.

Tamsin hadn't fully woken up until the moment she saw the Duchess's face, at which point she became immediately alert, her heart racing.

The office was, of course, dimly lit and had a lot of dark wood furniture, although a large window set into one wall made Tamsin wonder if this room might actually be brightly lit during the daytime. Tamsin wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been asleep or what time it was, but the dark sky beyond the window at least told her it was nighttime.

Standing next to the window, blending into the background so well that Tamsin almost didn't notice her, was a woman Tamsin didn't recognize. She wore a dark blue gown the same color as the curtains, with a simple green sash around her waist. Her dark hair was styled in two braids down her back, and her expression was neutral, but not unfriendly. When Tamsin caught her eye, she lowered her head respectfully.

"I'm sorry for calling you here so late," said the Duchess, pulling Tamsin's attention back to her. Duchess Jordaine was sitting in a leather-clad chair behind an imposing dark wood desk. "I would have let you sleep, but I thought it would be best for us to discuss... what to do next. Just between the two of us." Her mouth twitched into a sardonic smile. "Before the usual meddlers have had too much time to meddle."

"Of course, your grace," said Tamsin. She almost curtsied, but remembered herself at the last moment, and gave a shallow bow instead.

"Please, sit down." Duchess Jordaine gestured at Hugo, and Hugo brought a wooden chair over to where Tamsin was standing, placing it beneath her.

Tamsin sat down.

The Duchess spent a moment silently looking at her again. She seemed to have a habit of doing that. Tamsin squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She wasn't really used to being looked at. Back in Gwedric almost everyone had habitually ignored her.

"So, tell me," said Duchess Jordaine. "Did your parents put you up to this?"

"What?" asked Tamsin, thrown off by the unexpected question.

"Did the Earl of Gwedric and his wife pressure you into coming here? It's a simple question," repeated the Duchess. "And is that soldier you brought with you an agent sent by the Earl to keep you in line...?"

"Captain Frieg helped me run away... in the middle of the night, so no one would notice," said Tamsin, still baffled by the line of questioning. "I asked him to come with me since he knows the roads. And I trust him. But I was careful to make sure my parents didn't find out what I was planning. They probably still don't know where I am."

"Hmmm..."

The Duchess's brow knit together slightly, but Tamsin couldn't guess if it meant she was confused or possibly angry. Whatever the emotion was, the effect was intimidating, and Tamsin had to fight the urge to wait in silence until the Duchess asked another question. Tamsin couldn't allow herself to be intimidated. This was too important. More important even than her pitch to the council had been. This was do or die.

"Listen, this is the best solution for all of us," said Tamsin. "You want to take over Gwedric without bloodshed. I want to save my people from an unnecessary war. We would both benefit from this... legal fiction. I know it's not the ideal marriage. We wouldn't be able to produce an heir, but—"

"I don't want an heir," said the Duchess, calmly but firmly.

"Oh," said Tamsin, taken aback. Heirs were usually the most important consideration in an aristocratic marriage, and Tamsin was sure that one of the reasons her parents had set Roger up with the Duchess in the first place was to add the strength and prestige of Jordaine to the Gwedric bloodline.

Although now that she was thinking about it, it was a little difficult for Tamsin to imagine Duchess Jordaine pregnant. She just didn't seem the motherly type. Fatherly, perhaps, but...

"W-well, alright," Tamsin attempted to push past this distracting line of thought. "I suppose that doesn't matter so much then, and I suppose you could always adopt, or—"

Duchess Jordaine's lip twitched up slightly, like she was amused at something, and she sat back in her chair. "I apologize, I didn't mean to interrupt your carefully prepared statement. Forget about the question of heirs for now. What point were you trying to make?"

Tamsin took a deep breath and then finished her thought in a rush. "I was just trying to say that we'd only have to remain married for three years," she said. "Because imperial law states that if an aristocratic couple divorces before three years of marriage, then all property and titles will be divided amongst the couple as if they had never married. But if an aristocratic couple divorces after three years of marriage, then all property and titles will be divided as agreed upon by the couple in question or as decided by a qualified judge, as fairly as possible, but without taking into consideration premarital ownership."

The Duchess listened to her patiently, tapping her fingers on her desk while she spoke. When Tamsin was finished, the Duchess turned to look at the woman standing by the window.

"Judith, is what Lady Gwedric says true?"

The woman, Judith, nodded. Her eyes remained lowered, not making eye contact with anyone present. "Yes, Your Grace. Her wording is inexact, and there are many more detailed legal considerations to take into account when determining the correct division of property between a couple divorcing after the three year mark. But broadly, what she says is correct."

The Duchess sighed, and rubbed one of her temples. "I can see you put a lot of thought into the legal side of this," she said. "And I'll admit that I'm impressed by your skills as an orator. But have you put any thought into what it would actually mean to marry the Duchess of Jordaine?"

Now Tamsin was confused. Wasn't that all she had been thinking about for weeks now? "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Surely you've heard stories about me," said the Duchess.

"Yes, of course I have," said Tamsin.

"And...?"

"And what?"

"What is it that you've heard about me?"

That wasn't a question Tamsin had been prepared for. Was it... polite to relate gossip directly to the subject of said gossip? But the Duchess was looking at Tamsin expectantly, and she had to say something.

"I've heard that you're a bloodthirsty warmonger," said Tamsin. "And that you're a traitor and a coward."

Duchess Jordaine smiled slightly again. Somehow her smile never seemed to reach her eyes. "People rarely seem to notice the contradiction in that one," she said.

"If I may point out, Your Grace," said Hugo, adjusting his spectacles. "It is possible to kill people and even to monger wars in ways that could be considered cowardly."

"Well, yes, but—" The Duchess suddenly seemed exasperated. "You know what I mean. People paint a picture of me in their minds as if I'm some sort of laughing maniac standing in the middle of a sea of flame and corpses out on the battlefield, and then also convince themselves I'm a coward who flees at any sign of danger. Regardless, Lady Gwedric, how could you possibly want to marry—"

"I've also heard that you're fiercely loyal, and that you have a strong sense of duty," Tamsin interjected.

The Duchess raised an eyebrow at that and paused for a moment before speaking again. "That's a new one," she said. "Where did you hear that?"

"From Captain Frieg," said Tamsin.

"Your guard?"

Tamsin nodded. "He used to be a member of the imperial army," she explained. "He saw you, a long time ago, when you were in basic training. He saw you spar with your cousin, the Emperor. He said he could tell a lot about you from the way you fought."

Duchess Jordaine's expression had darkened at the mention of the Emperor. She shook her head slowly. "That sounds like something an old soldier would say. I wouldn't put much stock in it."

The Duchess stood up and stepped over to the window, peering out through the darkness. What it was she could possibly see out there, Tamsin had no idea, but her expression was far away.

The moment felt so oddly intimate and vulnerable, that Tamsin temporarily forgot to consider her audience or to think about how she might be able to explain her knowledge. Almost without thinking at all, Tamsin felt herself begin to speak—

"Regardless of what anyone else says, I know you don't enjoy killing. You only kill when it's absolutely necessary, and every time you're forced into that position you hate it more."

Duchess Jordaine turned back to meet Tamsin's gaze and Tamsin almost forgot to breathe. She could see a deep sorrow in those gray eyes, the same sorrow she'd seen the moment the Duchess's sword had run her through.

Hugo coughed politely and the tension broke like a popped soap bubble. "Should I have a marriage contract drawn up, then?" he asked.

There was another long pause, after which the Duchess shook her head. "No," she said. "Arrange for a carriage back to Gwedric to depart in the morning."

"What?" Tamsin leapt from her chair. "No! You can't send me back!"

"To be honest, I seriously considered accepting your proposal. It certainly would be a convenient solution to the problem. But it wouldn't be right." The Duchess's tone was casual and matter-of-fact, leaving little room for argument

But Tamsin had to try anyway. Arguing was the only thing she could do. "Why wouldn't it be right? Because I'm actually a woman?" asked Tamsin. "It wouldn't even be a real marriage anyway, so why should it matter?"

"It's not that," said the Duchess. Her expression wasn't unkind, but it hurt all the same. "It's because no matter how brave and clever you are, you're also young and sheltered, and not to mention stick-thin. You can't weigh more than, what, eight stone at most?"

The Duchess's words stung like nettles under Tamsin's skin, but she couldn't disagree.

The Duchess shook her head and continued. "The Empire at large is an unforgiving place and the Jordaine Duchy doubly so. I can't ask you to face that kind of danger. Go back to your mountains and your forests and your waterfalls. Meet a young man to love. Marry him. Have children. Live your life in peace, as you should."

Tamsin flinched at the words 'young man,' but she didn't back down. "How am I supposed to live in peace when your council is actively debating bringing war to my doorstep?"

"It won't come to that," said Duchess Jordaine, coldly. She walked around to the front side of her desk, close to where Tamsin stood, and leaned back against the desk, folding her arms. "Threat of force is just another political tool. Ultimately, the only person legally responsible for the broken engagement contract is your father, and when the time comes he will see reason enough to surrender and turn himself in. Earl Gwedric is an arrogant fool, but he's not so foolish that he would attempt to fight Jordaine's armies head-on."

"But it's not my father who's responsible for the contract, is it?" snapped Tamsin.

"What?" said the Duchess. "Of course it it is, it—"

"No," said Tamsin. "Legally, the person responsible for the contract is the current title-holder of the Gwedric Earldom."

The Duchess looked back at Judith, who nodded her head. Then the Duchess turned back to Tamsin. "Fine," she said. "But that's still your father, so I don't see—"

"Unless he abdicates his title," said Tamsin, her voice heavy with the sadness and resentment of a child abandoned and betrayed by the people who were supposed to love her most in the world.

It took a moment for everyone in the room to follow that statement to its natural conclusion.

"That motherfucker," said Duchess Jordaine, slamming her hand on the desk.

"No wonder you fled in the middle of the night," said Hugo, his brows furrowed tightly in anger.

"I'll return to the Earldom with you, then," said Duchess Jordaine. "And I'll kill that cowardly bastard before he has a chance to abdicate."

"Um..."

Everyone turned to look at Judith.

"There's actually no extended formal process necessary to abdicate the title of Earl," said Judith. She was fidgeting with her sash nervously. "All the current Earl would have to do would be to speak out loud his intent to abdicate in the presence of at least one witness of sufficient rank, and then the title would instantaneously transfer to his nearest heir, which would be the Lady Gwerdric here. Your Grace, I'm afraid you're more than of sufficient rank. All he would have to do was shout the words the moment he saw you coming."

"So I'll kill him before he has a chance to speak," growled the Duchess. "Or I'll pretend I didn't hear him."

"And if there's more than one witness around?" asked Hugo. He walked over to put a hand on the Duchess's shoulder. An oddly familiar gesture for a mere manservant. "Alesia," he said in a hushed tone. "You know we can't afford to push the boundaries of the law right now. This marriage is by far our best option. This actually saves us a lot of trouble, and you know it."

"Damn!" Duchess Jordaine punched the desk again. "There has to be another way..."

What Tamsin was proposing wasn't, on any level, a real marriage. And she knew that. But seeing just how badly the Duchess didn't want to marry her still hurt, in an odd way. She knew she wasn't the best candidate for a spouse, but she didn't think she was the worst, either... The adamant rejection felt slightly personal, somehow.

But still... if Tamsin couldn't convince the Duchess to accept this marriage, then Tamsin was as good as dead. She had to do something. But she only had one card left to play, and it was incredibly risky, in more ways than one.

But she didn't have any other choice, not really. She would just have to tread very carefully.

"Your Grace," said Tamsin, mustering every ounce of courage to keep her voice steady.

"What?" snapped the Duchess. "What is it?"

"There's one more thing I need to tell you which may help you make your final decision," said Tamsin. "But what I have to say is for your ears alone. I cannot say it in front of others."

The Duchess shot the others a look. Immediately, Judith curtsied, and Hugo bowed, and they both took their leave.

Then it was only Tamsin and Duchess Jordaine alone in the dimly lit office.

"Well?" said the Duchess, looking impatient.

Tamsin took a deep breath.

"I know what you're planning," Tamsin said. "Beyond just conquering Gwedric. I know your ultimate goal is to overthrow Emperor Heinrich himself. And I can help you."