To put it bluntly, Sire, we just cannot afford to continue on this course.”
“As I said, Aedan, you worry too much,” Michael had replied. “The empire is growing, and we are merely experiencing some growing pains.
These are all matters that can be sorted out. We need no more men for the sheriff’s guard when we can employ the
army to help police the city. A curfew can be instituted for soldiers on the town, and the city council can pass an ordinance decreeing that taverns, gaming houses, and other such establishments may not remain open past a certain hour. These are all matters that can be settled with a little thought and practical application. I leave them completely in your hands, as I have utmost confidence in you. Work with the city council to resolve them. I cannot be bothered with such trivial affairs.
“As for the rest of your concerns,” he added, “these things will all be settled in due course. New territories mean new wealth and opportunities and more security for the citizens of the empire. If this will tax our resources in the short run, the long term gains will compensate for short-term losses. We must look to the future. If that requires us to make some sacrifices in the present, so be it.”
Later that night, Aedan repeated the conversation to his wife as they prepared for bed. “It just seems hopeless,” he told her when he finished describing his discussion with the emperor. “He is wrong, and he is trying to move too fast, but I cannot convince him. It’s no different than when we were children.
He is just as stubborn and obstinate as ever. The trouble is, I have always been the sensible one, the voice of restraint, and he simply thinks I am being stodgy and overcautious. Of what use am I as his first minister if he won’t listen to my advice?”
“He needs a wife,” said Ariel as she got into bed.
Aedan stopped his pacing back and forth across the room. He looked at her, taken aback, then chuckled and shook his head. “You women always think that marriage will settle a man. Nothing short THE: IRON THNONE of another explosion like the one on Deismaar all those years ago will settle Michael, and even then, I’m not so sure.”
“Now who is thinking in overly simplistic terms?”
she asked. “Or has it not occurred to you that a wife may influence her husband in ways his friends and advisors cannot? Aside from which, have you considered asking the emperor what will become of all his efforts if he does not produce an heir? Right now, he has nothing else to occupy his attention save his plans for the future of the empire.
What about the future of his line? Has he stopped to consider that?
“And it wouldn’t do for him to marry just anyone,” she added. “The selection of a suitable bride for the emperor would take time and effort, much of which he would doubtless delegate to you, but his consultation would certainly be required, and that would give him something else to think about. Then there is the matter of reaching a decision. He would have to meet his potential bride and get to know her.
I could not see the emperor blindly accepting an arranged match. He would naturally insist on forming his own opinion and making his own choice.
“Then there would be the matter of the marriage itself, of course, with all the necessary arrangements,” she continued. “That, too, would take some time and effort. And following the marriage, there would be the customary period for consummation, after which a certain amount of his attention would be occupied by the production of an heir. If we could find the right sort of woman for him, one who is as intelligent as she is beautiful, one whom he could fall in love with and respect and not dominate completely, then it is doubtful he would spend every waking hour thinking about new campaigns. If a marriage would not settle him, as you say, then at the very least it would slow him down.”
Aedan rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “You know, you’re absolutely right,” he said. “It would be the perfect solution. I cannot imagine why I did not think of it myself.”
“I can,” Ariel said softly. “Considering the circumstances of our match, I would not expect you to think of marriage as a desirable solution to anything.”
Aedan compressed his lips into a tight grimace.
He sighed heavily. “Have I been so inconsiderate a husband?”
Ariel shook her head. “No,” she said. “You have been most considerate and kind and gentle. I could not ask for a more doting father for our daughter, nor a husband more attentive to my needs. I can complain of nothing. I know you have come to care for me over the past four years, but I also know that had you been able to choose freely, I would not have been the one you would have chosen for a wife.”
Aedan sat down on the bed and took her hand. “It is true that I loved Sylvanna, but I have no regrets for the way things turned out. A marriage with Sylvanna would have been impossible, for all the reasons you
