"Do you really believe this to be an answer to our problem, Brother?"
Eric was not in the mood to argue with his Prince Sebastiano. He was tired from the travel and from taking Kayla out, and he was bothered greatly by the fact that he saw her just now with Alexander at the east balcony. He was not exactly jealous, but he did not like the fact that she was all of a sudden in great terms with her ex, enough to have midnight treats with him under the moon.
Sebastiano saw them, too. Which was why he came to Eric's room, questioning Eric's decision to take Kayla as his bride. After all, it was not to be an ordinary wedding. It would be a double, with Prince Sebastiano, in three months.
And it comes with a price.
"Why are you so against her?" Eric asked.
"Nothing personal. I am certain you have chosen her for a reason. The question is whether the reason proves to be sufficient." Sebastiano looked out the window and stared outside for a time, his hands folded on his chest.
"She is more than enough."
"But is she ready? Is she more than ready?"
Eric did not move, nor did he answer. He sat on his bedroom's couch and raised both his feet to the living room's center table, before placing one on top of the other. He was lost in thought for a moment, considering Sebastiano's issue in his personal business.
To be fair, yes, he had not thought about the matter until now. All he had prepared himself for was how to ask Kayla to marry him. How to make her agree. But up until Sebastiano had asked, he had not thought to prepare her for the role she would undertake once she did agree. Being an Ender's wife, a Duchess in this kingdom, was not an easy feat. The Queen Mother's life was proof of that.
"You are risking your best friend's happiness," Sebastiano continued. "Her whole life, for that matter."
Eric still did not answer. Sebastiano was right once more.
"She is a strong woman," Eric replied in almost a whisper after a while. He wondered if it was his brother that he was trying to convince or himself.
"I bet she is. And still, that is not the matter, is it?" Sebastiano turned to him and placed his hands inside his pockets, leaning against Eric's study table. "Is she ready? How would she react if she found out that you intend to feed her to the wolves after the wedding?"
"Oh, do not be so melodramatic." Eric dismissed the idea, rising from the couch and fixing two glasses of brandy. "I will not be feeding her to the wolves. She is simply going to have to deal with—"
"The rebellion?" Sebastiano took the glass from Eric.
"That is just a rumor," Eric replied, masking his worry by taking a sip of his brandy.
Sebastiano downed liquor to the last drop and went to pour himself some more. "It is not. Leonardo and Mother may be great at hiding the issues of this monarchy, but I will not be fooled." He paused. "And the people can not be fooled any more, as well."
Eric nodded, acknowledging Sebastiano's confidence. It was true that between the two of them, Sebastiano had been the more perceptive. "She is a performer. She can charm her way into our people's minds and fool them. Should that rebellion prove real and they act upon it, she would have charmed her way into their hearts then and she would just as easily disband them."
"And if she doesn't?"
"I believe in her."
"If she fails, my dear brother, WE fail our people. And you will bear the monarchy's downfall upon your shoulders," Sebastiano said, insistent.
Eric's patience in the matter is beginning to wane. "So what would you have me do? Choose a different bride and accept that I cannot be happy because of it?"
"It is what I did. For the sake of our people." Sebastiano downed his second glass in one go. He poured himself yet another. "Athena is perfect for her role, no matter my dismay that she does not even fit any of the qualities I search for in a woman to warm my heart and soul."
"Do not expect me to do the same, Brother. I find it difficult to share a bed with a woman I do not feel an inch of care for," Eric replied. "I will share my life, my bed and everything I have with Kayla. She will bear my princes and all the others that spring from them. That is it."
"Pray that she lives long enough to do so." Sebastiano downed his third round. When he was finished, he forcefully placed down the empty glass on the counter and began to leave. "Think about it again before sunrise."
It was Eric who downed his brandy now. And as he watched the door close, he wondered what it was that made Sebastiano too passionate about his reasoning.