Page 84 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
They head towards me, and I rise slowly once I get a nod from Emilia, who promptly slips away.
"Your Highness," Lord Fallmartin says, bowing to me.
I freeze, somewhat confused by the greeting even though I know it's how he's supposed to address me when we're in public.
"Father," I respond, surprising myself more that this is the first time I've called him that outside of my thoughts.
A small smile lifts at the corner of his lips, leaving no doubt that he noticed. "Do you think it might be possible for us to speak in private?"
I nod, and gesture for him to follow me through to the sitting room I share with Linc. It might not be the right place for a conversation with my father, but I'm not really sure where else to take him. That's something I'll have to discuss with Linc when we get a chance to actually talk about what we want our home to be like.
"I brought you this," Lord Fallmartin says, holding out a black velvet pouch.
"What is it?" I ask as I take it and pull open the strings to look inside.
"It's a tea to stop you from getting pregnant," Lord Fallmartin says as he takes a seat.
I clear my throat, feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation. He might not have raised me, but it's odd to discuss something so intimate with a man who is my father. "I would have thought you'd want me to have a child with Prince Lincoln." I sit down and place the pouch on the table between us, not really knowing what else I'm supposed to do with it.
"When the time is right, I do believe that would be best for House Rothorne, yes. Though considering how recent the birth of Prince Marcus still is, I think it would be unlikely for the two of you to have a child any time soon. It would truly be a miracle were it to happen."
"And yet you want to stop it."
"Gaining power is the easy part, Beatrice. Once you've got it, you need to keep it. And I don't think I need to point it out that you don't have it yet."
I nod in agreement. There's no point pretending I have any just because I've married into the royal family. Linc has stayed out of politics up until now, and even if he were interested, Marcus is ahead of him in the line of succession. Power is something we don't have, but need if we want to make any actual changes.
"A child will complicate things. You'll want to protect them."
"Surely you would too." I don't even phrase it as a question.
"A Rothorne in the line of succession would be useful to the House in the long run. But that would be too many heirs to House Soveguine, it would cause more problems than we are ready to face. If not an outright war."
"You think it would come to that?" My head is already swimming from the events of the past day, it's too much to add a potential war on top of that, which I suppose is the point that Lord Fallmartin is trying to make.
"I don't know what it would come to. But it would be dangerous. Even those in our House could be split between Marcus and your child, which would make it difficult for our allies to choose who they would be supporting. It would come down to who they liked better. Lincoln or Marcus. And that's without taking their sister into account."
"Princess Agnes isn't even at court," I point out.
"True. And she's married to a vampire of no standing, and no House. But that in itself could be dangerous. Anyone could claim her husband as their scion. Meaning that our greatest enemies could choose to have an heir of their own to campaign for."
"I don't think Linc's sister would do anything to hurt him."
"It wouldn't be up to her," Lord Fallmartin points out. "It would be a matter of who wins, and who can then put their Soveguine on the throne. The other heirs would have to die. If the faction supporting Prince Marcus won, then Prince Lincoln would have to die, and any child of his too. You might stand a chance of surviving, but they would pressure me to marry you off to someone beneath us for safety. Princess Agnes' life would be forfeit too, and likely that of her husband. If her faction were to win, the same would happen to you."
"And you married me into this."
"Because if we play the game right, we can avoid losing and gain power. It is not a guaranteed outcome. Far from it."
"So, you think we should wait for a child?" Neither Linc nor I want to have one at this stage in our lives anyway, but I want to know what Lord Fallmartin is thinking while keeping my own cards close to my chest. He needs to think that I rely on him for my decisions. It isn't even entirely untrue. Without his knowledge of court, or his connections, we wouldn't know as much as we do now. But just like with everyone else, we have to keep in mind that his motivations may not match ours.
"I think you should wait. Amass allies, learn how things work, get the ear of the King, and be patient."
I nod.
"Most importantly, keep Prince Lincoln's attention on you. All of this will be completely moot if he brings a child of his own to court in eighteen years."
"That won't happen."
