Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"You know I'd stick with you even without all that," Kell assured her with another kiss. "You're an adventure. That's all I need."

 

[heartofcourage]

"So...the day after my birthday, huh?" Kate asked with a chuckle as she kissed her wolf back. "Because I think I can wait that long for your proposal."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Only if you want me to," Kell shrugged with a chuckle of his own. "I might make you wait longer if it's entertaining."

 

[heartofcourage]

"My Ma and Da might think something is wrong if I don't have a ring on my finger by then." Kate said as she hugged him tightly, sighing as she thought about the lovely little future that they had in front of them.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll keep them in the loop. After all, your father's going to help me make your ring," Kell murmured with a grin, relaxing in her embrace.

 

[heartofcourage]

"He's helping you make it?" Kate asked, looking up at him curiously. "He does some smithing, but nothing that delicate."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We're going to have some help from the keep smith as well, but I have a little knowledge of jewelry-making that should help. And your father is capable of some beautiful metal-work. He's probably just never done anything so small."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I can't really imagine him fussing over a small ring for his petite daughter." Kate said, smiling at the image that came to her mind.

 

[KieranSoares]

"It was his idea. I asked him to help me find one, and he said we'd make one instead." Kell settled on the sofa in the front of the library. "It guarantees I have the perfect ring."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It'll be lovely to see." Kate said as she curled up against Kell's side with a long sigh. "I'm happy even though I'm nervous."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Why nervous? It won't change anything, love," Kell assured her, letting his fingers stroke through her hair.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm just afraid that I'll mess something up and this isn't something that you want to mess up." Kate said as she looked up at Kell. "It's silly, I know."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We've been through hell together, Kate. We've faced a power-hungry regent, and nearly got ourselves executed a week later. We'll be okay," he promised.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You're sure?" Kate asked as he mentioned all of the things that they had already done together. "Well, you might have to remind me of that when we get to the wedding. Just kiss me until I forget all of my fears and doubts."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Happily," Kell muttered before he kissed her again with a little more warmth. He was looking forward to the future more than ever before.

The months of training grew more intense as Kate's eighteenth birthday approached. She would be expected to ascend to the throne soon after she was of age, as Marianne was not a proper queen anymore, but a sort of dowager regent. The coronation was already being planned by Kate's future court, and Marianne was trying her best to make sure Kate would have plenty of time to pay attention to her family before she had to make the full move to Edinburgh. Warwick was keeping an iron grip on some of the more impatient lords and those that protested the ascension of not only a woman, but a Clan King's daughter. Some rumors had even gone around that this was the Ghis Clan's plot to take over Scotland, despite Brogan making it clear that Inverness would remain separate from the High Throne's holdings, but allied. This would essentially be the splitting of the Ghis Family, into Clan and High Royalty. Kell was receiving plenty of backlash as well, being a well-known​ assassin, the son and grandson of two famous assassins, and a werewolf. Some even dared to proclaim that Scotland's High Throne was no more if it was not held by a human man descended from Marianne's house. But such sentiment was ignored by those who supported Gale's will and looked up to the Ghis Clan.

It was two weeks prior to Kate's eighteenth birthday that she was visiting Edinburgh with Kell, without Brogan for the first time. Warwick was their guide, getting them familiar with how policy was created. The palace was finally familiar, and so we're many of the people both supportive and non. The couple were going to have their work cut out for them, winning their divided council of lords. The Dukes, Earls, Marquises, Barons, and other Lords were constantly fighting for position and several were still demanding for Marianne to override Gale's will as former queen, and give the throne to Brian's nephew the Duke of Dumfries, Giles Morgen. However, Giles was an friend to the Ghis and he quite liked Kate and found her progress encouraging. He'd stated publicly his support for her. This was versus the Duke of Argyll, Daniel Campbell, none other than Kate's Aunt Emma's brother who was demanding the throne be completed for by the upper ranks of nobility as there was no good living heir to the throne related to Gale. This, coming from a man who'd only been in line to become a Baron like his father, but had then been chosen by the county Duke to succeed him as the previous Duke had no male heirs.

Amid all the drama, Warwick remained quiet and calm but very commanding. He had no qualms about putting down a raving Lord, even though Warwick himself was of common blood and was often looked down upon for it. He handed out Marianne's will, and was carving a path for Kate with it.

As Warwick walked through the long entrance hall with Kate and Kell informing them of some renovations being made in the north wing, they were approached by a messenger. "Excuse me, milady," the messenger spoke up, bowing before Kate. "Your Aunt the Queen of Norway has sent a gift for you."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate missed her father horribly. In fact, she missed all of Inverness beyond reason. Nothing in Edinburgh reminded her of home. It was dreary there, the ancient stone of the buildings and the castles darkening her mood considerably. She missed the light airiness of Inverness and the keep that she had lived at since the day she was born.

However, seeing the resistance from many of the lords that made up Marianne's court made her want to prove them all wrong. She could be the queen that Gale thought that she could be. She could rule without interference from her father or from any of her uncles if that was a problem. She could even rule without Kell if that was what it took, although she wasn't willing to send her wolf away in the least.

As they were walking through a newer part of the castle, Kate was surprised to hear that her Aunt Kayla had sent her a gift. Her birthday was fast approaching and she kept hoping that they could leave for Inverness soon. Her mother would be sorely disappointed if they missed all of the plans and preparations that she had done for her birthday ball.

"Thank you." Kate murmured to the messenger as she took the package and started to open it.

 

[KieranSoares]

The package, a fairly heavy and dense object, turned out to be a rolled-up tapestry as Kate opened it up. It was practically a Ghis tradition at this point to claim new space with tapestries and such decorations. It would help to make Edinburgh a little more familiar. Kayla had commissioned a similar tapestry to the one that hung behind Brogan and Julia's seats in the great hall above the fireplace and above the old Claymore mounted above the mantle. Theirs was a history of Inverness, whereas Kate's was in the same style but the history of Edinburgh all the way back to the ancient Celts who eventually organized themselves into clans. It even documented the building of Hadrian's Wall and the Romans' short time in the isles. But most prominent were the creation of the High Throne and the wars ended by alliances between the Clan thrones and the High Throne. At the bottom was an image of Scotland and her smaller isles, and the Ghis crest modestly sewn just below it to mark the beginning of Kate's rule.

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's beautiful." Kate said as she looked over the whole tapestry once it was rolled out. "It looks like Telma's work. I wonder when Aunt Kayla had this commissioned."

Kate felt tears in her green eyes as she thought about her family. Not been able to see them every single day would be the hardest part of this entire transition.

"I'll have to send her something in return. Something to remind her of home." Kate said, looking up at Warwick and Kell.

 

[KieranSoares]

Warwick nodded to Kate with a small smile. "As your chief advisor at least until your coronation, I can help you do that. And we can have this hung up the day you are crowned, so it will be waiting for you when you take the throne for the first time."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I would like that." Kate said, rolling the tapestry up for safe keeping until her coronation. "However, I don't think that we should put up much to do with the Ghis. I'm afraid that it would cause some hard feelings between the different lords and kings. I think I shall have to forge my own path. The house of Aleister."

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell chuckled at that, helping Kate roll up the tapestry. "You're asking for even more trouble with that name, love."

Warwick smiled to himself as well. "I think this is a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' sort of situation, my friends. No matter what you do, there will always be some that have a problem with it. But thankfully you have as many supporters as nay-sayers, so you should be alright for now."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't feel it's weak to take your husband's name. Why wouldn't I be proud to be the first in the line of the house of Aleister?" Kate asked, looking at Kell with a raised eyebrow. "You aren't an assassin any longer. They will come to realize that soon."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Regardless of who I become, they will always remember who I was. And no, it's not weak to take a spouse's name. But they'll take any chance to get at you," Kell chuckled. "But you won't let that stop you, I know."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll never let something as silly as that stop me. We have far bigger issues to deal with on the throne." Kate commented, looking between Kell and Warwick. "And petty lords will not dictate how my rule will go."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We know that, love," Kell assured her. While he too was serious about their oncoming responsibility, he seemed to be taking it in stride.