Arrangements and negotiations

"That much...? I knew it was expensive, but..." Aleyn's face fell as he considered all the things someone could do with 5000 gold. "As much as I would love it, maybe it's too selfish to spend that much..."

"I don't think you need to think of it like that, Aleyn. I mean, even if it were selfish, which I am in no way saying it is, certainly the work we're doing right now affords us some leeway on that scale," Ardith said with an encouraging smile. "Which, maybe that's its own slippery slope of morality, but we're talking about bringing a child into the world, not something horrible. Also, that money goes to a temple. Ostensibly, and specifically if we choose well, it will also go to helping people."

Vedran nodded to what Ardith was saying, reaching out to Aleyn with his free hand. "It's not so bad - we can work towards it, like I said. I know it sounds like a lot but, well, my armour alone costs almost that much. It's not outside our grasp, and I don't believe it's wrong for us to want it."

Aleyn stretched his arm out to take Vedran's hand. "Okay. I'm not used to being able to want or expect something like that for myself, but you're right - we use other things almost as expensive as that every day, and... well, at least with this particular ritual, it's not like it's just used up as a one-time thing - we would wind up with a child, after all, which is a fairly permanent item," he said, smiling.

His smiled faded as he continued, however. "Legally speaking, what would that child's status be? Would it be... part of House Callais, or not, or... how would that work?"

"That may be one of the more delicate things we decide, actually," Ardith said, frowning. "Part of it would come down to how public we want our arrangement to be as things progress. Its legal, if frowned upon, though offhand I can't think of any nobles with multiple spouses, so I'm not sure about inheritance that way. Legally, however, Vedran and I could always claim the child, in which case they'd be an Aethelin. I'm really sorry, but, ah, I don't think a human child of Vedran's could be in House Callais."

"I don't think that is specifically a problem - would your house accept them, though? Would we want to, or be able to do that? I mean... Aleyn's family has a pretty distinctive look... I suppose you're right about how public we want to make things."

"I'd be fine if the child couldn't be a part of either House, for what it's worth," Aleyn added. "If they were 'just' a Harrowden, maybe they'd be..." He paused a moment, choosing his words carefully. "...shielded in some ways from... politics and stuff? Although I guess that depends too on if they inherited a dragonmark... But chances are that wouldn't be known for a while, Macen's case aside. A human child could theoretically be born to you two, right, even if the odds are low? We could just hope he or she inherits Vedran's nose," he added with a smirk.

Ardith smiled at that.

"The odds aren't terrible we'd have a human child, so it wouldn't be a problem. Though, Aleyn, would you prefer the child not be involved in noble life? I'm not really sure how to do it, but it might be possible."

Aleyn frowned a little, thinking. "I know that at least some of them are going to be welcomed into that world, no matter what we do or don't do. I don't know if it's harder for others of them to be outside of it - for them to be aware, especially when they're older, of that difference between them. No matter how much we try to treat them all the same, the rest of the world isn't going to... I want our children to be happy and safe and to have... choices in their lives. However we can best try to give them that, I'm willing to try it."

"I'm not sure either, other than, as you said, to treat them the same as much as we can, to make sure they all know they are loved no matter how they came, or come to us. But there are going to be differences we can't erase and things we can't control. I mean... Macen isn't going to be living with us all the time. When he's older, he'll be able to have more say in things, but... He's always going to have...his mother, or even a whole other family. I don't really know how that will affect him, or the others, or if it will - some of this we are going to have to figure out as we go, I guess."

"I'm sure there will be a lot of details we have to figure out as we go," Aleyn said, nodding. "We'll have kids of different backgrounds, different races, with different issues and things they need and different personalities... and somehow we'll have to show them that they're all part of the same family and we love them all equally. And make sure that if anything happens to any of us, they're still going to be protected. Which I guess is where the lawyers and the contracts come in. Have either of you had any chance to look into finding someone to be our counsel in this? Because I wouldn't know where to start."

"Oh, I actually did have a lead on that: Jaelanna Aleth," Ardith replied. "She's an old friend. My family has used her family as our solicitors for ages, but they work with lots of noble Houses. Because of their position, they have to remain pretty neutral, and they all have a good reputation for discretion, and I definitely trust Jaelanna."

"That sounds fine to me - I don't have a lot of contacts that aren't family-related contacts, unfortunately, and while I managed to get a few other names to check out, they weren't of anyone I knew much about. I'd much rather use someone we know is trustworthy, and it is probably easier to deal with someone connected to your family than mine if we are trying to be discrete."

"I'm happy to trust your judgment in this, then," Aleyn said to both of them. "Will your father try to find out the terms of the contract?" he asked Vedran. "And if so, can we - or, rather, Jaelanna I suppose - keep him from doing that if we don't want him to? I mean, I know you're going to have to explain things to him somewhat, but there's a difference between that and him knowing every detail, right?"

Vedran nodded. "I should be able to handle him, but I will probably need to consult with him on some aspects, and even show him parts of the contract for review."

Aleyn nodded, but looked reluctant nevertheless. "All right... if you feel you can handle him, then I guess that'll be all right. He's probably not going to like it, though, I imagine?"

"He said he cared about my happiness. I think that he'll be...satisfied. He's been very supportive of everything else, so far...."

"Let us know how it goes, then," Aleyn said, giving his hand a squeeze. "And I guess Ardith, if you can set up a meeting with Jaelanna so we can start working on the details of the contract, that would be great. And I'll have the challenge of planning a trip to the zoo for the six of us sometime in the near future," he added with a smile. "I think I got the best job, honestly."