**Janus**
Just a few more hours and we would finally be back in Rosedorn. Somehow, it feels like years since I last saw its oppressive towers, even though it’s only been about three months.
So much has happened.
Joel and I, for the lack of a better term, “awakened” according to our father. Joel could still vividly recall how it happened, but wasn’t so sure why. Our father assured us that there must have been some change in Joel’s “mindset,” whatever that means. Though I do admit that we stopped bickering as much as usual. If that is because his “mindset” is changing or because we simply had no breath left for arguments, I have no idea.
As for my “awakening”, I can guess why it happened, just not how. It still feels a bit weird when I try to remember, and just that monster comes to mind whenever I do. I doubt a nightmare monster is responsible for my awakening. Still, the only other thing I remember is that, for just a moment in all that chaos, I felt an absolute sense of control. Everything afterwards is just a blur. I still haven’t entered that state again since Father forbade Joel and me from overdoing it again. Saying something about “you will lose it if you overdo it” while refusing to actually tell us why. Though he did allow us to train when we are back at our leisure.
Gertrude left with her father, though not without trying to slip away at every turn. At the end, her father had to lock her up in her own carriage and threaten her with a new handmaid if she kept going. It also didn’t help that my father wasn’t even trying to help me. Sometimes it even felt like he was pushing me onto her.
Now that I think about it, wasn’t she also one of the marriage candidates that my father had picked out? I couldn’t really remember because so much had happened, and the binder with all the documents was still sitting in Rosedorn, haphazardly scattered in one of the lower drawers.
In the end, she thankfully calmed down. They went back to their home, the River City Ville Fluviale, a city at the northern border, where three northern rivers merge into the Rohne, where it continues southeast until it reaches the capital, where it flows directly into the Lunabay. So this would thankfully be the last time I have to deal with her until next year’s social season.
The first few days of our journey back, I had been mulling the idea of asking my father whether it had to be a woman on his list, or if maybe… I could even marry Ruby. It sounds a bit fast to ask for marriage right away, yet I fear that someone else might snatch her away. So I steeled myself, rode up next to my father, far away from anyone else, and asked.
“Father, could I ask you something?”
My father turns towards me without stopping his ride, signalling me to continue.
“I wanted to ask if… maybe… you could…”
As my sentence turned into a mumble, my father impatiently commanded,
“Now spit it out, son, it doesn’t suit you to squirm around?”
I straighten my back. He is right. What am I even scared of? I pull myself together and tell him the question that weighs my heart,
“Can I marry Ruby?”
However, what I witnessed wasn’t the expression of surprise on my father’s face. Instead, was it understanding?
“You knew?”
I stared at my father in utter disbelief as he broke out laughing so loudly I feared the others must have heard him.
“Pfft Hahaha of course I knew, heck I bet everyone knew.”
Everyone knew that… that couldn’t be right? Right?
“But how?”
“I have four wives and eight children, as well as one grandchild. So believe me when I tell you it was obvious to all. But I must say, since when were you two together? Was it from the very beginning when you knew you first saw her… or was it…”
Embarrassed by him bringing up my and Ruby’s first meeting, I deny his claims a bit louder than necessary,
“We aren’t together!”
My sudden outburst earns us a few curious glances while my father begins to frown,
“Really? Well, I guess this must be my fault. I must have simply assumed that all this would be a bit easier for you since you are my son. Or perhaps it is better this way… Anyway I, I mean you better fix this as soon as possible when you are back.”
“Wait, so you aren’t against it?”
“No im not. In the letters Jack has sent me, it became irrefutably clear that Ruby couldn’t possibly be an Ibasan spy. And by how she took care of your mother, as well as her magical expertise, I wouldn’t just be happy; I would be thrilled to welcome her into the family. So if you manage to win her over, you have my blessing.”
That is wonderful, even though I still haven’t even gotten close to getting Ruby’s approval. I already felt halfway there.
This conversation took place ten days ago, and today I would finally be in my own bed again. And as we passed the last hill, I could finally see the gates of Rosedorn welcoming us in.
