Edarial giggles into her hair.
"Bet it would beat the soul birds."
"Well. Yes. But I can have dreams. Maybe the hex would give us a time machine."
"That'd be really something." She turns her face against his shoulder. "We're managing without, I think? Some?"
"We're managing just fine," assures Edarial. "I'm mostly just stuck on the idea out of solidarity now."
"Well, you, I'd thought. But also with the idea of not letting my father win. In any form."
"He does still meaningfully have something he wanted. You and me, king and queen."
"Mm. True. But I - like you being my queen. So. I'm not petty enough to make myself lose because I don't want him to win."
He smiles at her. "Realistically, if I wanted to properly win, I'd need a time machine and go back to before he thought you were a good queen candidate, then send past-me to your shop to romance you while keeping you as far away from him as possible until the wedding."
"Yes. That. In all of my kingly finery and with everyone watching."
"And I'd say, 'Edarial, if you don't like that man, why did you invite him to our wedding in the first place?'"
"I would of course reply, 'Because I wanted to rub his loss in his face, I picked someone excellent as a queen on my own and he has no power over me.'"
"And probably since in this timeline we were conducting enough of a relationship to get married deliberately I would want to know why I was not informed of this apparent feud."
"And then I would explain everything and say how he was a terrible person and such. Along with the time machine, of course. Communication's important for a healthy relationship."
"It is. I might be miffed with you for not mentioning the time machine first thing."
"I - probably would have mentioned that within fifteen minutes of meeting you, really. Because I don't see myself good at seduction."
"If you were good at seduction you think you'd keep me in the dark?"