Dylen would havebeen terribly offended by the indirect slur to his gentle father.Shunting aside his irritation, he returned his attention to theproblem at hand.Longcenturies past, House Kardova ruled Anju, a sovereign duchy before itwas absorbed by Ylandre. The Kardovas had kept their ancient laws ofsuccession and governance save where they came into direct conflictwith royal legislation. This set the fief apart from the others inthat the Anjuin Herun had greater latitude than his peers in themanner of his rule. That and the fact that no member of their Houseever took a spouses surname. Not even if that surname be Essendri.Becauseof Anjus small size and relative unimportance in the regularaffairs of Ylandre, Rohyrs forebears had seldom interfered in theKardovas rule of the fief or compelled them to break with theirtraditions. But now Anju had suddenly risen in significance thanks tothe confluence of the Cattanian regents desire to regain territoryand Imcaels ambitions for his remaining unwed son.Youdidnt travel here just to inform me of Tyrdes maritalprospects, Rohyr said. Else you would have simply wed him toLyam and related the details to me afterward.Imcaelnodded. Youre right. I didnt come here to gossip but tonegotiate for a better situation for my son.Whatis there to negotiate?Imnot eager for a Cattanian marriage either. Their continued aggressionagainst Ylandre does not sit well with me anymore than it does withyou. But even you have to admit that a binding between one of ourprinces and theirs will go a long way to securing some peace at oureastern border.Oropen the door to more incursions in the future, Yovan sniped.Imcaelglared at him. Weve already discussed that, Yovan. Have thecourtesy to let me offer Rohyr an alternative.Rohyrheaved an impatient sigh. Speak plainly, Uncle. What alternative?Imcael folded his arms defensively. Only this. That whilst I ampleased to haveTyrdemarry a fellow prince, I would much prefer that he be from HouseEssendri. Your sire wed a cousin after all.Thereference to his parents marriage shocked Rohyr into briefspeechlessness. Forcing down his anger, he stared hard at Imcael.Mysire loved my father, he retorted. He wouldnt have wed himotherwise.Imnot suggesting that Keldon didnt love Dyrael, Imcael clarified.But Dyrael also being the son of our AbaJorens brother Raval contributed to the attraction. Else why thinkyou did Keldon bide his time while Dyrael matured further when therewere others of our House who were already of age and would have donejust as well? Mayhap even better considering their greater years.Adangerous gleam lit Rohyrs eyes. Are you implying Addadid not discharge his duties satisfactorily?Nay,only that he had to learn so much that others of our cousins alreadyknew. But that is neither here nor there. My point is Keldon chose towait for a child to grow up because he believed in keeping ourbloodline as pure and noble as possible. And we all know that thesurest way to achieve this is to kin-bind or wed with those of equalnobility to ours. You would serve Ylandre best by following yoursires example.Notto mention your familys interests, eh, Imcael? Yovan snidelycommented. While Imcael glared daggers at Yovan, mild-mannered Yovanlooked ready to doImcaelbodily harm. Rohyr moved to preempt a bout