Aisha held the gauntlet tight to her breast, stuttering and slurring her words through her tears. “Ohh… Your Majesty… Th-Thank you sho much!”
…I’m glad to see she’s happy and all, but isn’t that a bit of an overreaction?
Everyone watched her with wry smiles.
“Weist,” I said. “You served me well in distracting the Amidonians. Please, continue to maintain stability in your lands as Lord of Altomura. Furthermore, when the city of Venetinova is complete, I am sure I will place you in charge of managing her.”
“Yes, sir,” he said. “Inadequate as I may be, I will serve you to my utmost.”
After Glaive, I finished presenting Weist with his reward. It was decided that Weist would take on the additional post of Lord of Venetinova, the coastal city that was currently under construction. While his original fief had been in the countryside, because it was in a crop-growing region with fertile land, he had quickly gained influence. In the recent operation, he had played the important role of portraying himself as a coward in front of Gaius and Julius. This was his reward.
Now, it was time to reward Wodan Udgard, Aisha’s father who had sent reinforcements to aid us in the battle outside Randel.
These were reinforcements neither Hakuya or I had anticipated. We had known how powerful the dark elves were, but we’d assumed they were busy with reconstruction after the landslide, and they weren’t interested in affairs outside their forest to begin with, so we had thought it would be pointless to send a request. However, contrary to our expectations, Wodan and his people had dispatched troops to aid us.
Apparently, when Aisha had been staying in the God-Protected Forest, she had independently made the request on my behalf. From what Hal had told me of the battle outside Randel, the corrupt nobles had brought out cannons and launched a reckless attack. Without those reinforcements, our losses would have been much greater. It was truly a happy miscalculation.
I walked over to Wodan, taking his hand as I thanked him. “You have my gratitude. I thank you for sending reinforcement when you yourselves face such difficult times.”
“Think nothing of it,” said Wodan. “We have only repaid our debt of gratitude. When the disaster struck, the relief force that Your Majesty led reminded us that we have ties to the outside world.”
“I am glad to hear it,” I said. “It shows me anew that this country was built with many different races coming together. If you have a wish, you need only name it.”
Wodan shook his head. “We already owe you more than we can ever repay. With the steady supply of relief supplies you send, our warriors have already been amply rewarded. I seek nothing further from you.”
“Please, don’t be so modest,” I said. “Those reinforcements wouldn’t have come without you making the decision. If you’d like, we can plant trees around the God-Protected Forest to expand your territory.”
“I am grateful for the offer, but the forest is fine as it is,” he said.
Hmm… That leaves me in a conundrum, I thought. I wanted to show my gratitude to Wodan somehow. However, no matter what I offered as a reward, Wodan stubbornly refused to accept it.
“You truly have nothing you want?” I questioned.
When I asked him that, Wodan took on a pensive look. “…In that case, I have one request for you, sire.”
“Name it. If it is within my power, it will be yours.”
“Then… would you take my daughter?”
“Father?!” Aisha yelped. She had been standing behind the throne, and she sounded surprised.
His daughter… He means Aisha, right?
Wodan continued, smiling, “I see my little girl who never used to show an interest in anything but fighting and food has grown into a fine woman. That change came from her feelings for you, sire. Could I ask you to take her as your wife?”
“Sir Wodan is called Chief in the village in the God-Protected Forest, but he is actually nobility with the God-Protected Forest as his domain,” my chamberlain, Marx, hastened to add. “You would be able to take his daughter Aisha as your second primary queen.”
Marx was handling things here today on behalf of Prime Minister Hakuya, who was indisposed.
I have mentioned this in past, but in this kingdom queens were broadly categorized into primaries and secondaries, and it was possible to have multiple of each.
Originally, there had only been one primary queen and the rest had been either secondary queens or concubines (mistresses) with no power, but one king a number of generations ago had said, “I don’t want to call these women I love concubines.”
…He must have been a passionate man.
As a result, all of his secondary queens had been made primary queens. (The original primary queen had been made First Queen, with the others called Second Primary, Third Primary, and so on, to distinguish them.) And his concubines had been promoted to secondary queens, a convention that continued to this day.
While I’m at it, let me explain the difference between a primary and secondary queen.
To become a primary queen, the lady in question had to be of the knightly class, the nobility, or higher. To make a woman of lower status a primary queen, she would first have to be adopted into such a family. That process wasn’t necessary for a secondary queen.
The children born to a primary queen had the right of succession. The line of succession was determined not by order of birth, but the children born to the First Queen, the Second, and so on. In cases where there was a large gap in age, the numbering of queens could be changed.
Conversely, while a woman of any class (even a slave or a prostitute) could become a secondary queen, their children had no right of succession. However, they were still royalty, and noble and knightly houses that wanted to form a blood connection with the crown would try to marry their sons and daughters off to the king’s children from those queens. It was definitely one way of marrying into money.
While the position didn’t come with any power, it also took less responsibility than being a primary queen, and they were allowed to act freely, within limits. For women of common birth who had no interest in power, this was often the position they dreamed of.
But… making Aisha my second primary wife…
“Would you consider that a reward?” I asked.
“As a father, my feelings are complicated… but she seems to be hoping for it, and a father always wants to grant his little girl’s wishes,” said Wodan. “Besides which, with the people of the God-Protected Forest beginning to look to the outside world, I think it would be valuable for them to see their chief’s daughter marry into the royal house. It wouldn’t just create a bond between the royal house and the God-Protected Forest, it would become symbolic of the bond between humans and dark elves, as well.”
Then it wasn’t just for his daughter’s sake. There were political considerations, too.
Looking at it from my position, if I strengthened my ties with the God-Protected Forest, I would probably have the elite archers who showed their might in the battle outside Randel at my disposal.
No, even if I set that sort of pragmatic gain aside… Aisha was cute. If I had to ask myself whether I’d want her as a wife or not… I did.
She might be a little too loyal to me, but it let her affection for me come across all the more directly. Though it did feel a bit like I’d tamed her with food.
I couldn’t expect much from her as a political operator, but Aisha had more than sufficient martial prowess to compensate for that. She was the sort of woman who would be reassuring to have at my side.