Magic of the Marriage Market

Midsummer had proven to be painfully exciting for the Briggs household, and Alaric had foolishly hoped that seeing his baby sister scarred would be the worst of it. Even if Hida seemed unbothered by her ruined hair and scalp, Alaric couldn't look at the short length without feeling terribly guilty. He'd failed to protect one of his siblings, a fact not at all mollified by the reality that one of his other siblings had been able to. Like Hida, Farran seemed almost unaffected by the Lazzarini boy's attack; she was still entirely focused on sending letters to her Cadorian pen pal.

But helping his brother Derbie Court Lady Ban, writing a formal Letter of Accusation, and dealing with the proper processes to have Fabrizio Lazzarini face consequences were only part of Alaric's endless headache. Without discussing the matter with him at all, or even giving him a heads up that it was going to occur, his sister Blair and his best friend, and now Earl, Clayton were now Courting.

All of a sudden, he had to chaperone two Courting siblings at once, though with Blair's reputation for flouting propriety Alaric was fairly certain it was going to be useless in her case. And there was also the odd case that currently Clayton outranked him; he was an Earl while Alaric was still interim Count while his parents were Exploring. Alaric sighed and scrubbed at his eyes, trying to erase the ever pervasive headache that plagued him.

"Don't tell me this Opera doesn't live up to your seemingly joyless expectations?" Aayina Ram's mockery pulled his agonized attention back to the moment.

He was at the Polumenta Opera Event, featuring a remarkable feat of acoustical engineering, and he should be paying attention. "My expectations are neither joyless nor unmet, not even with my current company, I am simply afflicted with the glorious burden of truly unique siblings."

It was a bad habit to say what he was actually thinking but Alaric had been simmering in stress and anxiety as if it were a healthful sauna since Hida was assaulted. His parents were on the Queen's Expedition North, so while they were absent, HE was expected to take care of both family and Countship, and his best and only real confidante had added himself to the list of problems Alaric had to deal with instead of helping him stay sane. But Alaric had, for some reason, never been able to be anything but almost rudely honest with Aayina, and after three Events where they ended up in not quite rivalrous encounters, he had no one else he felt could understand.

Adding to his discontent, despite the friendliness between Calvin and Danilo, and the Viscounts' aid with Hida, Anto Polumenta was clearly irritated with the Briggs' presence. Though with how nasty his glare was at Blair and Clayton presenting as a couple, it wasn't unimaginable as to why he was so dissatisfied.

"We are both having to chaperone a trio of younger siblings this Debut Season, and a fourth expected to be added the next, would it surprise you to hear that I understand your vexations?" Aayina's almost kind response made Alaric wonder if that was the secret to conversing with her; be rude and she'll return rudeness, be forthright and she'll do the same. "Though you have, apparently, taken the lead in terms of younger siblings Courting; even if Lady Blair Briggs' attendance is as much as surprise as her Courting."

Never mind.

"It's a smart match, is it not?" he was going to try to be polite today. Truly. "Though it lacked the immediacy of the Courting that occurred between Lord Borka and Lady Deepa, I hope it'll prove to be just as sincere."

"Are you implying my sister's Courtship is lesser somehow?" Aayina now glared at him as fiercely as Anto did.

"Aayina, I simply meant that Blair and Clayton didn't fall in love at first sight, do you have to try and needle me after the last week I've endured?" once again Alaric accidentally said what he meant, only this time he did himself the added disservice of being rudely blunt. Maybe if he could offend her enough, she'd leave him alone; as it was, she filled his thoughts far too often.

He could tell her shock only in the silence that followed, Aayina Ram too disciplined to look aghast in public. He'd not only spoken to her in the familiar sense, he'd abandoned any sense of propriety at all. Only his siblings generally got to hear Alaric's unfiltered thoughts like that, and even then, he'd been trying to be their guardian more than brother lately.

A job he'd spectacularly failed at.

"You should be careful about the company you keep, Lady Ram," the unwanted snideness of Biagio Lazzarini warned, "some families are full of vile serpents that are just waiting to strike."

"It might reflect poorly on your sisters if you were found to keep such vile company," Damaso Lazzarini added on.

"It's rather kind of you to introduce yourselves then, Lords Lazzarini," Alaric used formality as sarcasm this time. "Though considering your brother Fabrizio's distasteful habit of scaling into little girls' bedrooms, maybe it'd be more apt to describe yourselves as boogeymen instead of serpents.

Both Biagio and Damaso were older than Alaric, but he could tell by their visible bristling that they lacked the maturity to keep the fight verbal only. It was considered ungentlemanly to fight in public instead of using the Bouts and proper process but given the actions of their little brother Alaric had low expectation for their etiquette. They'd already proven themselves uncouth enough to try and provoke a confrontation, it was public knowledge that Alaric had written a formal Letter of Accusation already, so they should be keeping their distances as the Information Bureau conducted its investigation.

If they were intelligent men, they wouldn't have made such a stupendous mistake, but these were clearly not intelligent men despite a noble education.

As Biagio took a threatening step forwards, despite the Social Event sounding around them, when Aayina Ram surprised them all, "take another step forwards and I'll unleash a curse of such irritating prowess you'll long for death." Alaric didn't doubt her statement at all, even if he'd never witnessed her magic. "You will not make a scene anywhere near where I am, if you do, I will not need to use violence or even a Letter against you to ruin your life. I will simply curse you with my magic; imagine every forkful of food, mouth of wine, and even the comfort of your bed infested with swarms of angry, biting fire ants. They will so where you go, they will crawl and bite and pester from the moment I command them to until long after you beg me for mercy. Now take this foolishness you're planning and go," she slashed her finger out, as pointed a direction to follow as any command.

Alaric wasn't entirely certain if he was included in that or no, so while Biagio and Damaso Lazzarini turned on their heels to leave, he remained in place. And then opened his mouth as she turned to look at him, "I do believe I owe you a drink for that Aayina," and he was back to being unintentionally familiar.

She gave him a look he could naively call amusement, but was far more likely to be exasperation, "I said take your foolishness and go."

"My foolish self is going Aayina, but you're coming with me to get a drink. And then we can appropriately plot how to get the rest of your siblings Courted; just don't look at Calvin for that, he's..." Alaric hesitated.

"In love with his best friend and hasn't realized it yet? I noticed," she sounded amused. "To tell you the truth, I almost envy them."

"Neither Calvin nor Danilo are aware of how the other one feels, how is that something to envy?" Alaric didn't understand.

"They long for each other; have you ever yearned for someone, just to be in the same room with them while they do mundane tasks without even needing to talk to you?" her perspective of it surprised him.

"I don't think I have," he lied, not willing to admit it as they walked to the refreshments area. The Polumenta Viscount's Capital Estate had been built with music in mind, as the Southernmost Viscounty, their businesses were instrument and musician focused, so they'd staged choral singers to fill the entire Estate with an endless seeming song that rose and fell in waves. As one entered the Estate, the very marble seemed to hum with harmonized voices, and as Alaric considered Aayina's question it added an almost whimsical stain to his thinking. "I think yearning for someone you can't have would be rather exhausting though."

"Who do you miss?" she asked instead of directly responding.

"I miss my mother and father, and now that she's away I miss my sister Edwina," he could actually answer that question. Right now, he couldn't be missing Aayina's sharp wit because he was standing victim to it immediately.

"Would you go to them just to be able to stop missing them?" she selected a sour but refreshing alcoholic drink, so Alaric decided to try the same.

"Honestly, no," he shook his head in the negative.

"I have no desire to go to the university at this time of year unless I was compelled to, and family is actually prohibited from attending a selection gallery; don't want to give the implication of interference. And if I were to go to my parents for anything less than a life or death emergency, they would be disappointed in me." As if they wouldn't already be disappointed with him about letting Hida be attacked. "Who do you miss?" he turned it on her.

"I would go to Tashatia to be with my parents in a heartbeat, if it wouldn't leave my sisters unprotected," her admission didn't surprise him.

"You yearn for them, or for adventure?" he'd never had that need to go, but he knew Farran had it, and saw his own parents' excitement to be explorers again.

The smile she gave him was deliberate, polite but honest, "you are not one of my friends Alaric, to ask what I yearn for like that. Maybe if you ask me again nicely at the next Event, I'll tell you anyways," she lifted her glass to him and drank.

The next Social Event was the Sikali Ball, the Dukedom's Event the most formal of the Events this year. It wasn't even a week away at this point, "as your not friend, will it be safe to bring my foolish self or am I risking a curse of ants?"

"Yes," she didn't specify which part of his question that answered. "Now you mentioned plotting to help me get Bahni and Chanda Suitors worthy of them, so plot."

She may be a year his elder, but he'd had siblings on the Marriage Market for longer, "Holland and Dolivier," he answered freely. "Lord Alex Holland will be a Baron one day and needs a partner able to help the Western Barony grow. Aiden Dolivier is similar but not the same, he'll be Baron, but the more central Barony is facing the pestilence issue and needs someone unshakeable. Neither family had issued any Letters of Intent as an act of humility and are hoping for a Suitor to step in with Letters."

Aayina looked at him, as if surprised he offered all of that willingly, "I can afford an in-depth portfolio for each family every year one of my siblings Debuts," it was hard to be humble and rich, "So even though Derbie has never shown an interest in men, I even had their motivations figured out."

"How fiscally thorough of you," she didn't seem annoyed at him, but Alaric suddenly felt like he was walking on glass tiles, "what did your resources tell you about my sisters?"

"That if Derbie wasn't already in love with Lady Ban Ruma, he'd have found a marvellous wife with any of them," he was perpetually rude to Aayina, but could compliment her sisters without issue. "Lady Bahni has the keen intellect to be your Heir if you ever decided to abdicate your position," he tried not to emphasize, "Lady Chanda has a romantic streak if her novel purchases are any indication, and Lady Deep is spoken for, but seems to be a sweetheart through and through." Now if he could only stop talking, "but it was the report I received on you that surprised me the most; I never realized you're tone deaf." She danced beautifully but it was apparently entirely due to her hard efforts. He was an average dancer but could sing like Edwina and Derbie could.

"Lord Alaric Briggs," somehow her use of appropriately polite titles felt insulting, "you may have a fortune to your name, but you certainly lack good sense." She didn't run off, apparently more than willing to face any confrontation face on without flinching. "Do you not understand how offensive it is to listen to you say you paid to have me investigated?"

"Do you not understand how naïve you sound; all of us are investigated constantly. Privacy is an illusion," he argued. He had seven siblings; he hadn't known real privacy since the moment Blair was born. Despite her anti-socializing tendencies, she was also paradoxically a born busy body.

"I don't know if your arrogance is a product of your rank, family fortune, your appearance, or just a natural part of your rudeness," Aayina sounded like she was evaluating a hypothesis. "Maybe it's a partially due to all of those factors."

"I'm not arrogant, I'm pragmatic. If I was arrogant, I'd have thrown the first punch like Biagio and Damaso wanted," he pointed out specifically, and Aayina laughed at him.

"You arrogance is such that you actually think you're my entertainment today. We are surrounded by the lamentations of Cassandra and the downfall of all who couldn't believe her prophecies, and you date think you're more interesting?" her insults held no weight to them.

"Says the woman talking to me as if I owe her a response," he dared reply, wanting nothing more than to keep her in his company despite the words that sounded like they were chasing her away.

Before she could properly lambaste him in response, an unfortunate incident occurred; someone tripped and knocked into a server who dropped his finger foods all over Lady Chanda Ram. His company was abandoned as Aayina Ram fled it to help preserve her sister's dignity, chastising the person who carelessly tripped into the server in the first place.

"So, I hear you almost duelled the Lazzarini brothers already tonight," Calvin seemed to step out of nowhere to be at his side.

"That's a stretch," Alaric denied, "they tried to confront me but were rebuked and sent on their way," he didn't feel like telling his brother that it was Aayina who'd done the rebuking.

"Clearly," Calvin's smugness made Alaric look over to see where both Lazzarinis glared at him.

His brother's presence made sense, Aayina had kept them at bay, but her sister's need had compelled her absence. Calvin had left Danilo's side to come watch Alaric's back. "You see far more than any of us give you credit for," was the best compliment he could pay his brother.

"And that's just for the things you all know I see," Calvin looked like he was joking.

"Were you as surprised as I was to see Blair and Clayton in matching attire?" he shot back.

"No," Calvin laughed at him as easily as Aayina had, "I knew about it before the end of the day they agreed to it, which was only a week ago."

"That's long enough to warn me they were planning this," Alaric gestured at their adult sister, currently canoodled with Earl Clayton Wignell, listening to the Opera resonating throughout the Polumenta Estate.

He didn't mind that Blair had found someone to Court, he didn't care that it was his best friend; no Alaric's ire was at being left in the dark until he witnessed them enter today's Event arm in arm and dressed to match. Personally, once the surprise wore off, he thought it was a good match; Clayton was as forward pushing a noble as Taroton had, and Blair had already proven her ability to aid the Wignell Estate when she all but commandeered his Event. And given that the Wignell Earldom had a large border with the Briggs Countship, Alaric could be assured he'd still see his sibling often.

"She looks as good in Wignell blue as Danilo did," Calvin casually mentioned, not including himself or seeing how obvious it made his appreciation of Danilo's features.

"And damn him, but Clayton suits Briggs scarlet just as well," Alaric confirmed verbally. "What colour do you think will suit you?" he pushed, wanting to see where his brother's head was at.

Calvin was self deprecating, and Alaric knew he was going to defect any compliment before it could be completed, "I'm fine with Briggs scarlet, but you; is there any colour you want to admit has caught your eye?" he said it all too knowingly.

Alaric frowned, "I have no intention of abdicating my position, so I will always wear scarlet."

Calvin gave him a look, as if he'd missed the point of the question, but he didn't repeat it. "I'm happy for both Blair and Derbie," he changed the subject.

"You'll find that happiness soon too Calvin," he clapped his brother on the shoulder encouragingly, "I'm sure of it." His brother smiled and didn't argue, and Alaric watched his other two adult siblings as much as possible. And he couldn't help but see the distinct lack of Ram orange as Aayina had taken her sisters with her to depart after Chanda's unfortunate encounter.

It made for a long day, but at least this time he wasn't coming home to an assaulted sibling; he'd hired a brace of guards to patrol the Estate.