COS: Royal Rune

"The first is the the Prince must pay a proper bride price for my daughter hand. I will be reasonable and say eight top tier offerings or their equivalents will do. On top of that, she will receive the same privileges as Semion in regards to the profits from planes. Additionally, the betrothal will be broken should he not meet mine or Beye's standards when the time comes; regardless of if the bride price has been paid or not. These are my conditions, are they reasonable?" the Duke said, his translucent eyes staring at his mother.

Their was a long pause as they digested the heavy price that the Duke was asking for. It was more than what any reasonable person would ask for. More than, as far as Nassir had learned any marriage in the Sacred Alliance had went for. Eight top-tier offerings were a very steep price, in fact the man might as well have just said no.

A top-tier offering was exceedingly rare, most families only had one or two at any one time and they were only to be used in the most extreme scenarios, only the really powerful families like the Orleans and Turing's would have a handful or more. Royal families like his or the Tumen family of the Millenial Empire likely had upwards of a dozen. Though he was sure with how old the Tuman family was they likely had far more than what his family held. 

Regardless to ask for eight of them was an insane request, and in truth, close to being insulting. But that was the position of power. Although they could be offended, there was nothing they could really do about it, they could only agree or say no. 

 His grandfather broke the silence by laughing heartily and for a long time, "You might as well have just said no Ironblood." he said when he finally finished. 

His mother let out a small, unfriendly chuckle and began to speak "It seems you did not come here with-"

"I accept" Nassir interrupted his mother before she could say no. 

All eyes immediately turned to him. He could feel his mothers and his Grandfathers gaze on him, but he ignored them, instead he focused on the Ironblood Duke who was looking at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Nassir, I do not think you understand-"

"I understand mother and I have made my decision mother. I will give the Duke Orleans eight top-tier offerings as a bride price. Only if the offerings are used on her and her alone." he said, cutting his mother off again. He felt bad for doing it twice and would likely apologize later, he just needed to ensure that this went through.

"It seems the boy has his father's arrogance at least" his grandfather commented with a snort, he did not even acknowledge it. His eyes were locked with the Duke Orleans's.

It was uncomfortable looking at the man. It was like trying to look directly at the sun, you could do it for a moment but it soon began to hurt. And his eyes were hurting bad. He knew he would loose this combat of wills however he would not go out without a fight. So he stared at the Duke until his eyes felt like they were getting stabbed by a thousand needles and then he finally blinked and looked away.

When he opened his eyes he could see the Duke nod in approval, "That is agreeable. Beye will use all of the offerings when they have been paid in full. I expect that the offerings will be paid before they are to wed?" he asked

"Yes" he nodded with a small grimace

"Good" the Duke smirked "Well, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave." the man said as he stood up. 

"Yes, please have a good day Duke Orleans" his mother said from her seat

The Duke did not reply, only giving her a small nod before leaving with Beye. He had only noticed until now that the girl had been staring at him the whole time during their conversation and had only stopped when she was forced to leave the room with her father. 

With the Duke gone the tension in the room eased significantly.

"That was stupid decision boy, you will come to regret it soon enough. Let us hope you do not make anymore like that anytime soon." the Duke Turing said, the warning in his tone was clear. If he did, their deal would be off. 

Simeon did not seem to hold the same opinion of his grandfather as he stared at Nassir with awe filled eyes. He did not know why though, it seemed that his reckless actions had endeared the boy even more to him. They had not even said a word to each other and it seemed he already had a loyal follower. He was not sure how long that feeling would last though, they still had many years before they went on their first plane war. 

"I thank you for the advice grandfather. I will do my best to follow it." Nassir said, giving his grandfather a small .

His grandfather only snorted, "You won't, you might speak better than him, but your head is about as dense as this boy here" he said as he wrapped his excitable grandson on the head. The boy whined at the pain and rubbed his head. "It is the curse that the talented must bear. Hopefully, it does not get you killed young like all the others."

Nassir did not know what to say to that and only nodded his head. His grandfather sighed and then stood from his seat. 

"We will be taking our leave. It was nice to see you again *Winter*." his grandfather said with a knowing smirk, causing to his mother "And insightful to meet you too, Prince Nassir. Come Simeon." his grandfather nodded at them as he rested a hand on Simeon's shoulders.

"Goodbye father, Goodbye nephew." his mother sweetly said form her seat, and Nassir returned his grandfathers nod. 

Simeon waved sadly at them as he was forced out of the room by his grandfather, it wasn't until he crossed the threshold and the door was closing did he finally speak "Bye Nassir, we are gonna explore so much when we get-" he didn't get to finish his sentence before the door closed on him.

Nassir chuckled at the antics and he felt a wave of relief wash over him when the room finally emptied. He sat back into his chair and let go of a deep sigh he had been holding in. The deal with the Duke had been brutal and it would take a lot for him to be able to accomplish it.

He planned to venture into his first plane when he was fifteen, meaning he had likely only five years to gain eight top tier offerings. It would be impossible for anyone else, but he felt it was doable for him. It would take a lot of effort and luck, but it was possible. 

He leaned back into the couch and enjoyed the comfort of the cushion. He closed his eyes to relax and think. He still had so much to do, the most important was to explore the abilities his rune had just unlocked. He knew that the things going on with his vision was just the first step, there was still so much more he needed to explore. 

He felt a shift on the couch and opened his eyes to see his mother standing about him. His body went tense at the expression she was giving him. He was in big trouble. 

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