A Fairy-Tail Marriage

*****

Mariah healed his wounds quickly and deftly, her healer’s magic powerful. She’d had a bath drawn for her husband, and he was now relaxed in it, reveling in the warmth of the water and the good wine they had brought with them. Althea had gone to her own room, so Mariah chose this point to speak to her husband about the plan she thought my end this feud.

“Tristan, I have a thought,” Mariah began as she ran a cloth over his chest, the sprinkling of hair there gray with age, though the muscles were still hard.

“You have many thoughts, Mariah. I imagine this thought is about the controversy we find ourselves dealing with,” Tristan replied, his eyes closed.

Mariah smiled; he knew her well. “Yes. I believe I have a solution.”

Tristan’s eyes opened and his brows rose. “Oh really?”

“Yes. Although it would require agreement from parties we do not have control over,” Mariah warned him.
Tristan frowned. He sat up, sloshing water on the floor. “I don’t understand.”

“A marriage between Althea and Braxton,” she explained quietly.

His eyes widened. “What? Are you out of your mind?”

“Lower your voice, please. These walls are thin,” Mariah reminded him.

“Marriage? Althea will balk at the idea. And from my understanding, Braxton isn’t too keen on the idea of marriage either. And especially to each other.”

Mariah nodded. “I agree. However, with the union, the fairies and werewolves would be united.”

“United?” Tristan blustered, but as he allowed the idea to bang around inside his head, he saw the intelligence behind the suggestion.

“I know our daughter will fight us, but she understands how the world works. An arranged marriage has always been in her future. She assumes she’ll have some say in it, I’m sure, and though I hate to take that away from her, this truly is our best option to end this feud,” Mariah concluded.

“An agreement would have to be made about his treatment of her,” Tristan said, capitulating to his wife’s plan with no further argument.

“Of course! But I think we need be more concerned about her treatment of him, if we’re being honest,” Mariah grinned.

“That poor man,” Tristan agreed. “We’ll have to discuss the land issues. Our people really are too crowded.”

“We can add that as part of the agreement.” Mariah frowned. “We’ll be trading our daughter for some land. . .maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Althea will see it that way, you’re right.” Tristan’s brows furrowed. “But our daughter is nothing if not a champion for the people. She’ll see the good in this plan.”

“Eventually,” Mariah mused.

“Yes. Eventually,” Tristan agreed. He stood in the bathtub and reached for a towel. As he dried his body, he said, “Let’s work out the details tonight so we can make the proposal to him tomorrow. Send a messenger to his camp asking him to join us for breakfast here at the inn.”

“So we’re going to ask Braxton first, I suppose,” Mariah asked as she stood and headed for the door.

“I think that’s best, don’t you?”

Mariah thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. If the king agrees with the proposal, Althea will fall in line. Even if she hates us for a while,” she finished sadly.

Wrapped in the towel, Tristan put his arms around his wife. “She won’t hate us, Mariah. She’ll be angry, but eventually, she’ll see it’s the only way to end this.”

“Yes. Eventually.” Mariah kissed her husband on the lips and left in search of a servant.

*****

The next morning, Mariah oversaw the breakfast preparations, chatting merrily with the cook, who owned the inn with her husband. With a touch of magic and a lot of elbow grease, the two women created a breakfast fit for kings: pancakes with two different types of syrup, three different types of eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, and some fruit and milk to balance out the meal.

Althea had come down while they were cooking. “Good morning, Mother. What’s with all the food?”

“Braxton and his advisor are coming here for breakfast so this can be sorted out,” Mariah had answered. “And you have been invited by some of my relatives to visit their home for the day.”

Althea lifted an eyebrow. “Are you getting rid of me?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t hide that very well,” Mariah answered with a sly grin.

The cook chuckled, and Althea looked at her, then back at her mother. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, dear. Your nosy nose doesn’t need to be poking into the meeting today, so I’ve arranged for you to spend time with people your own age. You’ve never been to this part of the kingdom. It’s quite lovely,” Mariah told her.

Althea stared at her mother, irritation bubbling up in her and trying to force its way out of her mouth. She swallowed it and said, “Fine. I’ll spend time with relatives. Are you going to tell me what happens?”

“Of course. I always fill you in.”

“Then why can’t I be here during the meeting if you’re just going to tell me,” Althea asked, her voice a little whiny. She hated being left out.

“Because.” Mariah looked at her daughter. “Have fun with your cousins.”

Althea accepted the dismissal with little grace. “Mother, this is just ridiculous! I’m an adult. You and Father have been telling me kingdom business since I was fifteen. I thought you were grooming me to become queen.”

Mariah laughed and tapped her daughter’s cheek gently with her palm. “And as a future queen, you must learn to accept certain things you can’t control.”

Althea rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll see you this afternoon.” She turned and walked out of the kitchen without saying good bye. Mariah sighed.

“She’s a fireball,” the cook said to her.

“Yes, she is. She’ll make a fine queen. Sooner than she thinks.”

*****

Braxton and Blake arrived just as Althea stomped out of the inn followed by two other fairies. She lifted into the air, her lovely blonde hair flying behind her. He watched her longer than he should have, considering the comely fairy was so small. But her loveliness had captured his attention. Were she his size, she would be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Do you know who she is?” Braxton asked Blake, who knew everyone, it seemed.