Late Night Studying

The packages holding his belated birthday presents arrived a few days into term. His parents liked to make a show of their "love" for their only son. A new broom had been the main part of the present, with new clothes that fitted him better came a close second. The letter mixed between the paper that had covered the presents had almost been chucked on the pile. As he read his father'a words in the library he wished he had burnt it.

Thomas,

It is past time you started taking your role as heir to the Clement title more serious. Your mother and I have decided its time you start looking for a suitable wife. We will give you six months in which to make your decision. If you fail to do so your mother and I will make a decision for you. Below is a list of girls from which you can pick, or chose another of equal status.

Thomas sighed as he ran down the list. Selyse and Flora headed the paper, his mother's work no doubt.

Loras always said her knack for inviting trouble would be her undoing and he was right. He had learned from an early age that being a big brother was no easy task but he had learned that being Lissette's big brother was harder still. The glass was born with a sense of curiosity that would not be calmed, tames or satiated until she had thoroughly inspected the object of it. The West tower had been just that since her very first day at school. She had never understood why the tower was forbidden to students but that hadn't stopped her from hanging around it. Nothing about the perfectly normal building suggested it was sheltering something dangerous or powerful.

Whenever the brunette found herself at a loss on what to do, she made her way towards the tower, sometimes lounging on a tree branch, sometimes looking for a way in and sometimes just gazing at the building from which no one left. Today however, she did see someone.

"Thomas, is everything alright." A token question, since it didn't look like everything was.

Thomas looked up from the letter, hastily stuffing it into his pocket. He looked up at the girl shyly from his seat against the west tower. How was it she found him when he didn't want to be found, yet he could never find her.

"It's nothing, madamoiselle." He said with a forced smile. "Merely more work from my father which I see no reason to do."

And something he won't like my answer to, he finished in his head.

"More work?" the girl asked, dark eyebrows raised. She was sure she was on top of all their readings and calculations for Lord Clement. And if there was more work, surely Lissette would have received a copy of the task too. But Dom the kitchen boy had been in and out of the dormitories all day and nothing had arrived for her. "I'm sure I can help with whatever it is," she said encouraging, taking a seat beside the boy. "Lets have a look at it, shall we? After all, we're supposed to do his assigned tasks together."

Thomas sighed, wishing she could help him, but in truth, this was something he had to do alone.

"This is for me to do, Lis." He said as she sat next to him. "My father asks for me to step up to the mark. Being his only heir, I have failed him enough already, and I believe I am on the verge of doing so again "

He hesitated momentarily before pulling the letter back put of his pocket and holding it between them. "I'm sure you'll find it to your amusement." He added dejected.

Even before he handed her the letter, she could guess the gist of what Lord Clement might have told his son. Matters that involved words like "heir" and "responsibility" usually ran along the same lines at such an age. Sure enough as she took the piece of parchment from him and read it, her suspicion was confirmed. She glanced down at the list, Flora topped it. The girl couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. It had been Loras dancing with the blonde that night, and at her insistence too.

In a away, it made sense. Lord Clement was once again counting Thomas out, hoping to simply secure his family line through the boy in hopes that the next heir would prove more productive. But Lissette knew there was probably a lot more to it then that. Times were difficult, a right blow tot eh head would ensure the Clement line was wiped out forever. Most people attributed the Noirs success to their wealth which was true in part but it also helped that there were so many of them. No matter how many were "accidentally" dead like unfortunate Patrice, there would always be someone to take their place.

The Clements had no such security. Thomas was the only heir.

She sighed, her head drooping. "What are we going to do about this, Thomas?"

"We?" He asked softly, looking out at the grounds. This was his problem, yet she was willing to help. "The name I wish to give my father is not on that list."

The heat rose in his cheeks as he realised what he said. He kept his eyes away from her, uncertainty coursing through his body.

She doubted it would be. He had made it clear to her that he was in love. But what the brunette couldn't wrap her head around was why he was refusing to marry a girl of his parent's choice. She would be there anyway, and marriage was duty after all. Idly, the girl looked at the list again, noting Gabriella Peverell near the bottom of the list. She could guess that name had been suggested hesitantly by Maester Cressen. The old man was right in his thinking though, the best way to stop a feud was a marriage.

""But there's nothing wrong with any of the girls... accept that one," she tried to laugh, running her finger down the list until it reached an Ermasande Malfoy.

He sighed, turning to face the girl. "I believe I never stated any problem with any of the girls on the list, madamoiselle. But they are perfect suitors in my fathers eyes, not mine."

The boy was floundering with everything going on in his life. His idiocy with the goat had proved as much. He was merely a child, stuck between his own dreams and his fathers expectations.

"What kind of Minister would I make if I can't find my own free will and treat everyone as equals. I don't want to marry for the dowry, or power... you know what I would like. And I wait for your answer humbly."

The girl had expressed the need to explain something, but the happy plant had made details fuzzy.

"You wh..?" The girl unconsciously drew back, her arms in front of her chest in a defensive stance though he hadn't done anything threatening. "You said..." Words failed as as she tried to make sense of it in her head. He had said he loved her, a euphemism for, well, for some of the things her mother said. Nowhere was there marriage in all his words. And rightly so, someone like her marrying someone like him would be beyond ridiculous. And impossible besides. Lissette had assumed he would do what all lordlings did, keep her in the House service, make a farce of her marriage to a Clement loyal and keep her for himself. it wouldn't be the first time such an arrangement was made to keep an aristocrat happy.

The witch finally found her voice. "You couldn't possibly want to marry me," it came out as shocked as she felt at the realization. Sure even Thomas knew that was impossible.

"It seems I am making a fool of myself." He said, closing his eyes to mask his pain. "I will not deny it. But I mean it, but then why would? I am merely a lordling trying to keep you for my own benefit."

His anger was unjust, he knew. But he had had enough of being treated like this all the time. He stood up, trying to decide what to do.

"But..." Surely not. The idea of a marriage seemed preposterous. Well, of a marriage between the two of them. It was not just a matter of his parents but of an entire way of life. And of him trying to go against it. The life of a the kind of women her mother always talked of was shameful and unacceptable to her on most levels but at least it made sense. This did not...

Another truth sunk in with just as much clarity.

She would have agreed. She would have said yes to any sort of arrangement that kept her family safe from harm. But she could be ashamed of that later. There was too much going on through her head.

"I didn't even consider... because its impossible..."

He let out a slow breath before turning and kneeling in front of her. He took one of her hands in his own, looking at it briefly before his eyes went to hers.

"I do not claim to be perfect, Lissette, I never have. And I do not you to make a decision out of fear. I know you may think it impossible, everyone will." He paused, collating his thoughts. "But I am telling you right now, that I will give up everything I have a claim to for you. I will willingly tell my father that I love you. And I will tell my mother that you are better than any girl on that list she has compiled."

His jaw clenched as he swallowed and allowed her a minute. "Though I will not have you tell me I am lying about my feelings or that I do not mean what I say. I would never take you as my mistress because I am too scared to break the normal idealogy of my class. And I will never hold your decision against you, or your family. If you say no now, I will never speak of it again, and no one else need know."

He willed her to understand, the torment was getting too much for him now, months of silence was unbearable.

The girl smiled, hesitant at first until it spread all over her face. That was the big difference wasn't it. They would always be different that way. And she could live with that, if she lived at all.

Oh well, you only live once, she thought as she bent slightly to place a light kiss on his forehead.

"Dear Thomas, you cannot believe how glad your words have made me. But I need to tie up a few lose ends first." The girl straightened up and turned to her heels, heading to the her room to pen the quickest letter she had ever written in her life.

"And by the way, the answer is yes."

"Yes." He repeated the word as a smile spread across his face and he relaxed noticably. After all this time he finally had his answer, and his father's letter no longer mattered. The girl scooted off, leaving him to bask in his own happiness.

"Dear Thomas, you cannot believe how glad your words have made me. But I need to tie up a few lose ends first."

The words sounded amusing in his head as he replayed the scene in his head, stretching out on the floor, enjoying the warm evening outside.