"Magnar, honestly, I can't stand another moment of this. Do you not see the sun today? It's a gorgeous day out and I've been stuck inside this castle for the past week!"
Magnar watched as Senea stood from her chair, pointing in an exaggerated motion towards the window. She was right in that the sun had been blasting the warm rays down on Orriel throughout the morning. "Senea, you really need to focus on the Valland Treaty."
She let out a groan and fell back into the chair. "How many times are we going to go over it?" she whined.
Magnar placed the large parchment onto the table and tapped it. "This treaty grants us access to Valland's resources."
"Yes, I know, and in exchange King Brigoi had granted them entry into the council."
"And what happened after that?" He picked up the parchment again, turning away from her.
She let out another groan followed by a high pitched whine as she grasped the sides of her head tightly in her hands. "They got entry and," she began to trail off, her eyes watching the birds soaring through the sky. "Magnar!" she whined again.
"By Ral, have you always been this whiny?"
"I don't do well with these kinds of things!" She slumped into the chair, extending her legs as she began to sink. "They got entry and began hounding King Brigoi to learn their stupid history?"
"Senea!" He was exhausted and grasped his own head.
"Magnar! You expect me to remember this when I can't even remember to when to parry or when to dodge!"
He groaned and tossed the parchment back onto the table. "Come on, Senea. How can I expect you to go to Yasdenia with me if you can't even remember one simple treaty?"
She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to let her free of this torture. "They got entry and," she closed her eyes, racking her thoughts. "And they began demanding access to The Tear."
"Yes! There you go!"
"Now can we go outside?" she questioned. She sounded like a child begging to play.
"No."
"Magnar!" she whined again, louder this time, hoping to arouse suspicion of the guards outside.
Magnar walked over to her side of the table, leaning against it as he watched her. "Senea, this is vital information. Why did they want access to The Tear?"
She sighed and sat up, readjusting the bottom of her dress. "Because their resources, their farmland, were becoming flooded with swamp water and they feared that King Brigoi, in all his eccentricities, would take their resources from them and kick them out from the council." Magnar nodded, encouraging her to go on. "So if they had access to The Tear, which was housed in Yasdenia, they could have clean water. But Yasdenia didn't want that."
"Come on, Senea, just a bit more to go. Why didn't Yasdenia want that?"
She groaned and let loose a sob and tossed her head back. "Why can't I just hire someone to remember all this for me?"
"It would look bad, not only against you but also against me."
She mumbled gibberish and sat up, glaring at him. "They didn't want that because they received nothing from this treaty. So in addition to having to give resources to Itod, Valland would have to give resources to Yasdenia."
"Alright, last question." He stood up and stared her down. "What happened next?"
She grumbled out and crossed her arms. "King Brigoi gave up his portion of resources to Yasdenia, Yasdenia granted a piece of The Tear to Valland, and Valland become an important alliance to King Brigoi since he gained the center farmlands."
Magnar grinned and threw up his hands, the parchment dropping from his grip. "There you go!"
"I still don't see what is so important about that stupid treaty!"
Magnar dropped his arms and groaned, louder than Senea had the entire time they were in the library. "Senea! It was the first thing I said!" She rolled her eyes and shrugged slowly.
She stood and walked over to the table and leaned next to him. "Since Yasdenia is a desert and doesn't have access to farmlands, we can break this treaty if they don't agree to our demands?"
He released a heavy sigh and smiled at her. "See, you got it. The treaty doesn't mention anything about us having to give anything to Yasdenia. It only states that Valland was to give resources to King Brigoi and his descendants in exchange of them getting a place on the council. Yasdenia believes that the treaty states that since they gave a piece of The Tear they get access to Valland's resources." He took a deep breath. "As King Brigoi's descendent, you can tell Lord Atemo that those resources will be cut off."
"This sounds like a terrible idea, Magnar. It's deceitful. Won't Lord Atemo just agree to the terms upon seeing me?"
Magnar had voiced his plan to Lord Commander Snowthorne who was quick to agree. Magnar, Senea, and Zephir, along with the promised one hundred knights, would make the trip to Yasdenia. If seeing that the rightful heir had been found wasn't enough to sway the terms, Senea would inform him of breaking the Valland Treaty. She had to learn it first, though, and Magnar felt it would have been easier for his father to just invade Yasdenia. "We don't know, Senea. It's a big risk just taking you down there, but it's safer than assuming he will keep his end of the bargain."
She sighed and stared down at the ground. "You're right and I am very sorry for being so troublesome. I'm just so tired and stressed from all this information."
Magnar opened his mouth to speak but stopped once he felt her hand on top of his. He gave her a small smile and opened his fingers so hers fit right in between. "I know. Once this is all done, my father has set up a schedule for you so it's not so intense. He feels as if my mother teaching you etiquette every day is just an excuse."
Senea turned her head to look up at Magnar. "An excuse for what?"
"Your mother and my mother were very close. My mother treated her like a doll sometimes, and then a younger sister. They were each forced to move from their families and friends and that made them find comfort in each other."
Senea let out a small laugh. "How do you know about that?"
"My mother never shut up about her. She used to tell my sister and me stories about growing up in Itod together."
Senea realized that he was speaking of the city before she spoke. "So your mother and father," Senea began before trying to rack her thoughts on how to word it correctly.
"They had an arranged marriage. My mother is from Bord and the agreement was that a hierarchy member would be wedded into a worthy role, typically to a lord of one of the cities." Senea raised her brow and nodded, sucking in her lips. She still disapproved of the arranged marriage, but refused to speak about it to Magnar again. Noticing her discomfort, Magnar let out a chuckle and tightened his fingers around hers. "She chose him. That's another part of the agreement."
Senea released her lips and a sigh, smiling up at him. There was a thick silence that loomed between them and Senea was determined to break it. "So when did they get married?"
"She attended a harvest festival and proposed to my father then. She had to have been close to twelve."
"That young?" Senea nearly yelled before catching her tone.
"She's a very determined woman. About a year or two after that, my father was going to be sworn to be your father's protector. They moved to Itod, and she met your mother a year later. They were apparently inseparable."
Senea let out a sigh and tossed her head back. Magnar noticed that her hair had changed greatly from the first day he had met her. It was washed every day and neatly put up in a braid, but today she had worn it loose, the strands falling back against the papers. He swallowed and turned his head away from her only to prevent himself from tangling her hair in his fingers. "Who do you think I'll be forced to marry?" she whispered out. She felt his fingers tightly grasp hers which caused her to look up at him.
"I don't know." He was being honest with her and felt his heart quicken. "They may handle this differently than what I'm sure history states. You wanted to go outside, right?"
"Kiss me."
He was hasty to comply and pressed his lips tight against hers. Her mouth took in his lower lip with a slight pull as his tongue gently brushed against her top lip. She moved her lips in motion with his and let out a small gasp as she felt him lift her up and place her down onto the table, the papers crumpling under her. His hands supported him as he deepened the kiss, knocking a pile of books out of his way. Senea grasped his hair in one hand while the other lightly caressed his neck and shoulder. He quivered under her touch and immediately released his tongue to brush against her lips again. She opened her mouth and accepted the intrusion, her own tongue playfully rubbing against his.
Every day they were in the library together, they would kiss like this. It was always deep and passionate and each passing day they would move further into the kiss. Senea was surprised that Magnar was so ready to kiss her, but she respected his need to teach her. She would always wait until close to the end of the lesson before asking or demanding that he kiss her.
Magnar pulled from the kiss, breathing deeply, his hands balled into fists now. Senea let out a small moan of protest as he moved, pushing his head against her own. "Senea, if we keep this up I honestly don't know how I will control myself around you."
She let loose a grin and nipped at his nose with her lips. "Maybe that's my plan all along."
He shot her a look of disbelief. "Senea," he said with a voice filled with warning.
She began to gaze deep into his eyes as she brushed down his hair. "What?"
He moved his head to her shoulder, breathing in her scent. "Your plan is to make me lose control?"
"I think you could stand to lose some control. I always have to ask you to kiss me."
He sighed and gave her a small smile as he pressed his lips against her neck. She shook under that small kiss, fire rising into her cheeks. He had never kissed her anywhere except her face, but his lips felt amazing on that sensitive skin. "Senea, I don't think you understand what I mean by 'lose control', do you?"
She turned her head so she could kiss his cheek, her face furrowed in confusion. "Apparently, I don't."
He pulled away from her neck, brushing back loose strands of her hair, the small smile faded into a frown. "It's," he began before seeing her confused face and reading it as innocence, "nothing. Come on." He pulled away from her and extended a hand out. She took it and steadied herself as she stood. "You wanted to go outside, so let's go. Most of the decorations for the harvest festival should be up now."