"I spent my whole life preparing for the war, and then it was over almost before it had started. It was a bit of a shock for the reclamation, going straight from preparing for war to administering the peace, with almost no war in between - It was a good surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. The county on its own would be manageable, I think, but the reclamation is still involved in efforts across Cheliax that I have been directing, and there's the convention on top of all that... I must admit, it's a bit much for one man." And here's the part where the duke of Fraga introduces his twenty-year-old daughter...

"At least we had staff to bring with us, ill-prepared as they might have been to their new tasks. I inherited much of the household of the pretender to Fraga, and when I interviewed them to see who should remain and who should be replaced, I at least had my company to consider as replacements, and my wife had her friends from Taldor and their recommendations. I think we only ended up with one of two appointments drawn from the pools of the Reclamation and others available to all of Cheliax. I feel for the resurrected nobility, who have a harder task and less to do it with."

Caterina is at the party, over with Isidonia, and is 18, not 20. But as much as he respects the man, there are two unmarried archdukes, and he wants to explore those options more carefully first.

"It was certainly the most difficult thing I have ever attempted. You need a few people whose reports you can be reasonably confident aren't patent nonsense to get anywhere on anything, and I ended up having to hire foreigners for almost every sensitive position - and then, of course, it's a bit much to expect the people of Chelam to trust them. We are on more stable footing at this time but a year ago I'd have traded my left arm for a dozen sensible people accustomed to working together who speak the language, follow the law, and think that I might be interested in knowing about things even if they haven't figured out yet how to pin the blame for them on someone else."

He nods. "I hope your footing continues to grow more stable. What are the serious problems facing Chelam, especially those we might be able to assist with?"

"Yields are terrible, though I hear that negotiations at the convention with the druids have gone surprisingly well." Seguer came to her for maps earlier. She hadn't even imagined they were at the stage of negotiations where maps might be helpful. "There are local lords I'd replace if I had anyone suitable to replace them with. At this time we are not more terribly troubled by monsters than any place is, but - I'm a third circle wizard, and not an inexperienced one, and have a particular knack for making very fast horses, and have been substituting for a force I trust unsupervised by just offering it lots of supervision. I do fret over whether we'll have more trouble in my absence."

"I too am heartened by progress with the druids. I worry they are less hierarchical than we are, and their delegates may not be able to treat for the whole of their forests. But even a few friendly druid citizens can do much for the country, much as a few friendly faces can do wonders for an administration."

He considers bringing up that he has already had worrying reports from Fraga, despite leaving most of his retinue there, and as Chelam is further away, her reports must be even more stale than his. But there's sympathy, and then there's being depressing. He's not getting a great opening, so he might as well make one.

"Have you met my eldest son? My grandfather swore that his line would bear his name until the duchy was restored, and so his name is Felip as well. My sorcerous blood runs strong in his veins, and I hope that he will one day surpass me."

He's within eyesight, watching the conversation and waiting to be gestured over. He is 16.

"As we are all commanded to hope, and often enough blessed to see realized." It is a perfectly sensible match and the man the Duke is gesturing at looks barely old enough to grow a beard. "But you must not judge the fulfillment of your hopes off the next ten years; I am told every man's courage is mostly rashness and his fervor mostly foolishness for his teens and half his twenties, and it grieves me to report that some women are also so afflicted."

At least he's not the only one being offered unsuitably young matches. Oh no, he's not the only one being offered unsuitably young matches. He will save the sympathetic look and comments until after the duke of Fraga has left.

"Indeed. I had it much easier than he does, I fear; I spent the first ten years of my adulthood gallivanting across Avistan, no responsibilities but making myself worthy of my name, and was not called to marry until my father was on his deathbed, by which point I could present myself quite adequately." He smiles at Isidonia from across the room.

"Cheliax's situation is quite different. If things were stable, I would give him the same opportunity I had, but as a people we seem perilously unbound to one other, and perhaps the youth must be taught courage and fervor by the experienced, instead of by the world."