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So, if Edarial wasn't sure that his wife hated him before, he's really, really sure of it now. It's pretty usual that if they're in the same room, he feels nothing but silent, seething hostility from her. Usually, his reaction to this is a poker face followed by running. He doesn't like having someone hostile just - there at the dinner table, glaring at him with her hissing familiar.
Zevros doesn't hate him, Edarial's certain of it, but he's not helping. He's literally never seen his twin this angry before. This is coming from someone who has seen his twin be angry loads of times. At meals, he just - sits there. Stabbing his food and glaring at Edarial while he does it. He gets why, he knows that Zevros is furious with him for the whole 'cold political marriage' thing. It still hurts, though, to have his immediate family just be so openly hostile.
He gets more withdrawn. Meals get delivered to his room rather than him eating with Iobel and Zevros right there, being near-openly hostile. He stops sparring with Zevros nearly entirely, spends an unhealthy amount of time in either his office or his room, and Berathyme spends all her time coiled around his shoulders, offering what little comfort she can.
She's pretty terrible at advice, but at least he has someone that doesn't actively hate him nearby.
He throws himself into being a king, gets lots of things done, and is generally considered by the public to be good at it. A good king. It's sort of tainted by bitterness, now. But the country does not fall apart, it does not break down into civil war - he handles it. The education system gets a shove in the right direction, the canals get cleaned up, various unemployed people get jobs. He wonders what on earth he's done wrong when he's doing good in the world, but he supposes it doesn't matter.
He knew what he was getting himself into, when he made this choice. He knew that Zevros would be upset with him. Maybe to the point where their camaraderie will just never recover. He doesn't know. From the beginning, he knew that he'd be shackled to someone he doesn't love. Edarial hadn't been expecting the random hatred from his new wife, but he certainly wasn't expecting to be happy.
Just, well. He wasn't expecting to be so miserable, either.
It shows, the misery. Dark circles under his eyes, the withdrawn, blank expression, unkempt hair. He loses some weight due to skipping meals just to avoid his close family. Or, other times, he just forgets, burying himself in work so he doesn't have to think 'What did I do?' over and over again.
But he's a good king. So that's something.
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royal_obligation
royal_pain
How very useful! Once all names are called and there is a bit of training, Zevros pops over to ask for the names.
He has plans.
He has plans.
come_midnight
Iobel produces them. "Although it's possible there are some we didn't see, who were on duty outside the closet at times when I wasn't there and Cricket couldn't see them."
royal_pain
"Sure, this'll work."
Zevros takes the list of names, then heads back over to his trainees. He clears his throat. Then he starts reading them, in a loud commanding voice. The first few are confused. Then, they start noting whose names are being called, and that's when they get very nervous. He makes it to the end of the list, rolls up the paper, and then looks at them all, calmly.
"Ladies. Gentlemen. If your name has been called, congratulations. You are now under arrest. For kidnapping, poisoning, extortion, obstruction of an emergency healing thingymadoodle, assault, and best of all treason. Against her majesty. Ladies and gentlemen whose names have not been called - I will buy you a drink for every one of the named people that you arrest. Or stab, honestly I'm not picky. But try not to take too long at it."
Zevros draws his sword, grinning. "Because I'm competing, too."
It turns out that the number of guards that are not traitors outnumbers the ones that are by a large amount. It's hilariously one sided, and soon enough - there are all named parties that Iobel and Cricket know of that were involved, out of commission in one way or another. None are dead, and they are all escorted (or carried off to) the prison, to join their fellows.
"And remember!" calls Zevros, after the remaining guards, "The most important lesson of all! Traitors get to go to jail, people that are loyal get to party after asswhooping! Know where you stand on that, be on the right side!"
Then he looks at Iobel. "I realized that Ari is probably still sulking in his room. So I just handled it."
Zevros takes the list of names, then heads back over to his trainees. He clears his throat. Then he starts reading them, in a loud commanding voice. The first few are confused. Then, they start noting whose names are being called, and that's when they get very nervous. He makes it to the end of the list, rolls up the paper, and then looks at them all, calmly.
"Ladies. Gentlemen. If your name has been called, congratulations. You are now under arrest. For kidnapping, poisoning, extortion, obstruction of an emergency healing thingymadoodle, assault, and best of all treason. Against her majesty. Ladies and gentlemen whose names have not been called - I will buy you a drink for every one of the named people that you arrest. Or stab, honestly I'm not picky. But try not to take too long at it."
Zevros draws his sword, grinning. "Because I'm competing, too."
It turns out that the number of guards that are not traitors outnumbers the ones that are by a large amount. It's hilariously one sided, and soon enough - there are all named parties that Iobel and Cricket know of that were involved, out of commission in one way or another. None are dead, and they are all escorted (or carried off to) the prison, to join their fellows.
"And remember!" calls Zevros, after the remaining guards, "The most important lesson of all! Traitors get to go to jail, people that are loyal get to party after asswhooping! Know where you stand on that, be on the right side!"
Then he looks at Iobel. "I realized that Ari is probably still sulking in his room. So I just handled it."
come_midnight
"How long do you estimate he'll sulk? I'd like to plan my schedule around when he'll want to talk to me about - whatever's next."
royal_pain
Zevros shrugs. "I've got no idea. Honestly though, it will probably take a while. If you want to get anything done in the next week or so on the front of talking about where your... creepy double nonconsensual relationship political thing is going, I would recommend talking to him."
come_midnight
"Is he much use at discussing that sort of difficult topic while in the process of sulking?"
royal_pain
"Eeeeeeh. Kinda? Why, want me to be nearby and translate Edarial-speak to Marlese?"
come_midnight
"Maybe. I don't know. I suppose it's not urgent on the scale of a week, anyway."
royal_pain
"Okay. But you should probably actually talk to him about something, because he thinks of you as 'wife who hates him.' That not being a factor anymore might affect what the end result of his sulking is."
come_midnight
"I can go tell him I don't hate him right now if it's likely to help."
royal_pain
"It might. But then again, he's never quite been like this before, so maybe it's a special case and he'll end up freaking out and agreeing to flee the country and drink fruity drinks on an island with me."
come_midnight
"If you flee the country to drink fruity beverages please first arrange for me to sit regent for and legitimize any children I manage to have or I'll have a mess on my hands."
royal_pain
"... Oooo! Oooo that might persuade him, let's go tell him that right now!"
royal_pain
Off they go, to do that. Zevros knows where Edarial's room is.
Knock, knock! Excited knock, knock!
Knock, knock! Excited knock, knock!
royal_obligation
It takes a bit, but he opens the door.
"Yes?" he says, in a monotone.
"Yes?" he says, in a monotone.
royal_pain
Zevros pauses a bit to survey his brother's appearance, and loses his train of thought doing it.
"You look like shit," he says, instead.
"You look like shit," he says, instead.
royal_obligation
It's true, he does. He really, really does. His hair's a tangly mess, and he looks like he's been crying for hours.
"Thank you for the obvious," says Edarial, in a deadpan. "Will you tell me the sky is blue next?"
"Thank you for the obvious," says Edarial, in a deadpan. "Will you tell me the sky is blue next?"
royal_pain
"Okay, get off of your period for like, five minutes, Iobel had an idea and it might mean we can just flee the country!"
come_midnight
"The suggestion is that if you make the right arrangements I can sit regent, work out how to have a child some way or other, and legitimize him or her."
royal_obligation
"Unfortunately," says Edarial in a tired voice, "Marlatia is very delicate right now and if I made a - sorry for the wording, but - random woman regent, however smart or competent she is, and fled the country with my brother, someone would take issue with it. And that would spark a civil war."
Pause.
"I do not want a civil war."
Pause.
"I do not want a civil war."
come_midnight
"I assure you I am not attempting to start one. Since no one has troubled to give me queen lessons, perhaps things are indeed that delicate, but I have been queen for several months now, so I don't think I'm quite that random."