FANPORT OVERFLOW LOG

[maskormods]

WHO: ImPorts!
WHERE: Heropa's Convention Centre.
WHEN: April 14-16, from 9 AM - 12 AM every day.
WHAT: Registration is in motion alongside FanPort, the most popular imPort convention around! Come on in and see imPort-led panels, the artist's alley, cosplayers, and more! If you have any questions, or wish to amend the way we have written up your characters' panels, let us know here! The original log can be found HERE.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; please let us know if this should be changed.

Comments

[protects_the_small]

Oh, the marriage that was arranged between Crown Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami.

Yamani noblewomen are all trained in weapons as a matter of course, and Shinko-the princess's training practices with her ladies has become quite popular with some of the younger noblewomen.

[vorbarra]

[ A soft laugh. ]

That's one way for me to speed things along. They keep urging me to do something meaningful politically with my marriage-- [ There's an almost dangerous spark in his eyes. ] Maybe I will.

[protects_the_small]

[Kel glances over as she considers this soft-spoken man she's come to respect very much. She doesn't often think of Gregor as an emperor, certainly not as much as she recalls that Lucy is a Queen... But forgetting he's royalty at least doesn't last long. She thinks back to the start of Roald and Shinko's betrothal, and how they had come to see each other as partners. Certainly Roald had much to live up to after his famous parents.

That brings up another memory, one of a meeting where the king and queen had glanced at another and decided to change a law because she'd told them it was bad.

Kel's silence lasts almost long enough to be awkward before she says very slowly]

I think if your marriage is something you can arrange yourself, you should, before anyone forces the issue. That nearly happened with our king, and I suspect that the conservatives would have been much happier for it. [Or possibly dead]

...And you ought to look for someone who's just as willing to put up a fight as you.

[vorbarra]

[ It's often remarked upon by Gregor's close friends that when you catch him alone, without the trappings of his station, he seems incredibly average. It's extremely easy to forget how much he lives under most of the time.

This question of marriage, though-- he laughs again, but this time darker, a quiet sound that quickly fades. ]

It's kind of you to worry about me, but you shouldn't. I have no intention of marrying anyone but who I please, when I please. [ There's something of an immovable object behind his eyes with this. ] I've given everything to the Imperium already; I'm the only Emperor they can agree on, and I have no heir.

But I'll be damned if I give them that, too. If they want me so badly, they can have me, on my terms.

[ And then there's how Miles fits into all this. Someone who's just as willing to put up a fight as he is, eh... He certainly fits that. Miles has been fighting far harder and longer than Gregor, really. But he isn't quite ready to approach that as a serious option, him marrying Miles. He still shies away from it mentally, whether he's technically given him a ring or not. ]

[protects_the_small]

[Kel nods firmly]

Then I wish you all the luck, and pray you won't need it.

[And perhaps light a stick of incense to the Goddess in thanks that it isn't her job]

[vorbarra]

Thank you. ... I. Well. It might be moot, anyway.

[ Is talking about his love life appropriate with her? Gregor is always slow and reluctant to bring anyone into his 'inner circle', which is absolutely what you qualify as if he's speaking with you about his personal life. He temporizes with: ] It's been very different here.

[protects_the_small]

[The idea of a marriage and love life being the same is still a radical notion over here]

That's an understatement in many areas.

[vorbarra]

[ It's not totally radical on Barrayar, but it's fairly radical for the Emperor in particular. Gregor just doesn't care. ]

Yes-- absolutely. But among other things... [ A flicker of hesitation, before he skirts into this topic sideways, testing her receptiveness. ] My personal life is not a matter of public interest.

[protects_the_small]

[Kel grimaces]

Goddess no, it's bad enough when the palace gossips go at it.

[whooooshhhhhh]

[vorbarra]

[ Oh, Kel. But Gregor can't help but find her obliviousness sort of endearing. He so rarely gets exposed to it, and it's comforting, in a way, this proof that she's so unlikely to have ulterior motives.

With some curiosity: ] Is that something you've had to deal with yourself? I notice you're on first name basis with the royal family. Both of them.

[protects_the_small]

[Kel ducks her head]

Only by some luck in timing. Roald was two years ahead of me in page training, and Shinko...was a childhood friend. I didn't know she was part of the Emperor's family until she arrived in Tortall.

[Sliding past that question about gossip]

[vorbarra]

[ Definitely gossiped about. Perhaps not necessarily her love life, though Gregor can imagine what sort of rumors would circulate about one of the first accepted female knights.

But she's successful in diverting his attention with this hint at another tale, and he finds himself smiling. ] That must have been wonderful for her. To have a friend totally apart from that.

[protects_the_small]

[Kel nods, smiling fondly]

She only kept two of her ladies, wanting to assimilate herself better...but I know it was very hard for her at first.

[vorbarra]

It's a little fascinating to hear about, [ he confesses. ] I'm the only remotely royal family left in the Nexus, apart from the Cetagandans, who might not count as human.

[protects_the_small]

I suppose that would make it harder to marry into another ruling family.