Topic: A Frank Discussion

Brynhilde

Date: 2016-06-08 10:42 EST
November 11th, 1615

"Damn it, Anne, do you have any idea of the damage you've done?"

Queen Anne of Edessa drew herself up as best she could in the face of her elder brother's fury. Philippe had kept himself together while they were in Sigmund's company, but the moment her husband had excused himself to rest, the High King had exploded in his younger sister's direction.

"I have done no damage that I can see -"

"Then you need to open your eyes!" Philippe slammed a hand down onto the table between them, uncaring that she jumped in shock. "Three hundred years of peace, three hundred, and then you come along with your notions of change, and suddenly we have an impending civil war!"

She tossed her blonde head imperiously. "Stupid laws need to be changed -"

"Not this one! Sit down!"

Without conscious thought, she found herself sitting abruptly at her brother's order, paling as she realized she wasn't actually talking to her brother. She was talking to the High King, and she had crossed a line. They both knew it.

Philippe glared at her from where he stood on the other side of the table, leaning on the roughened wood as he tried to control his temper.

"I don't want to be here," he informed his sister coldly. "I want to be at home, to enjoy my new grandchildren, to help our nephew and niece settle into life at a rank they are unaccustomed to. Instead, I am forced to come here in person to resolve a situation that should never have come about."

"There was no need for you to come," Anne pointed out. "You could have sent an envoy."

"An envoy whom you could quite easily say did not carry my words exactly as they were given to him," Philippe snapped angrily. "I know you, Anne. You have not changed one iota since you were married. Always eager for power, always grasping for something you have no concept of how to control. This petty scheming of yours has brought the most stable nation in Meringia to its knees, and for what? So you can stay queen and pretend to power through your son."

Anne was silent. She was wise enough not to interrupt the flow when Philippe was speaking and, in truth, he had not said one word that was untrue. She knew herself as well as her brother knew her.

"You have plotted and schemed until there is only one choice anyone could possibly make to avoid civil war in Edessa," her brother went on, exasperated with her. "A choice that casts down their ancient laws and will lead to the death of a young woman whose only crime has been to be alive at all, in your eyes. Well, that death will not happen, I have already seen to that. Sigmund agreed to the proposal I sent him, and we have set things in motion. If one hair on that girl's head is put out of place by you or your sycophants, you will answer to me, is that quite clear?"

"What do you mean, your proposal?" she demanded. "You didn't speak of anything while he was here!"

Philippe's brows rose. "Oh, so Sigmund did manage to stop you from reading the official dispatches in the end," he said, inwardly delighted with the way his sister squirmed under his gaze. "You'll find out soon enough. Yes, Sigfried will be the next king of Edessa. But I warn you now, Anne ....if I hear any hint of your meddling in future, I will recall you to Pomerania and have you shut in a nunnery for the rest of your life. Do you understand me?"

"You wouldn't dare -"

"Oh, wouldn't I" Need I remind you that I am head of our house" Not only that, but I am High King of Pomerania and all her dominions, which includes you. If I ordered it, there are a thousand men and women out there who would happily take you over their knee and spank you for all to see, and don't you dare think I wouldn't."

Anne flinched back, her eyes wide. She had not expected Sigmund to contact her brother for his help, or that Philippe would come himself to Edessa to resolve the situation. She had expected to have her son named as heir, and to have the girl done away with quietly the same day. But then, she had never considered the consequences outside the borders.

"I will remain Queen?" she asked.

Philippe sighed wearily. "Is that truly all you care about, you silly girl?" he asked in turn, straightening his back as he rubbed at his brow. "Yes, you will remain Queen until Sigfried takes a wife. When he does, I will recall you to Pomerania, and if you can behave yourself in the company of Catherine and Marianne, you will be permitted to remain at our court. If not, you will dedicate yourself to the Goddess, and be a bother to the Dalai instead."

He watched her absorb this, hoping that somewhere in that ambitious, arrogant mind of hers she understood that he meant every word he said.

"And now, if you will excuse me, I have had a long journey and I wish to rest. Don't bother to rise, I know my way out."