Chapter 403: Fighting Back (Part Two)
"Then you had best hope that Owain convinces me he can be a worthy heir," Bors said bluntly. "Not everyone gets a happy ending, Lady Jocelynn. If you cannot love Loman and he is a better heir, then I will look elsewhere for a suitable bride for him and you can return to Blackwell County to find a future of your own. One that will not involve marriage to a son of the Lothian house."
"But, if that happens, then your alliance with my family..." Jocelynn started.
"This was an alliance that benefitted your family more than ours," Bors interrupted. "And we’ve already all but secured the cooperation of the merchant guilds from Blackwell County. That Isabell woman is cunning, but she’ll be arriving along with Owain in a few days. Once she’s verified and accepted the lands and titles we’re offering to her and her fellow guild masters, our need for an alliance with the Blackwells will diminish greatly."
"You used us as a wedge," Jocelynn muttered. "You just needed to get your foot in the door and now that you have, you’re ready to cast us aside," she said, her voice growing stronger as she realized how badly they’d been out-maneuvered.
If her sister was still alive, then the Blackwells would also have gotten what they needed by now, an alliance secured by marriage. But since they’d gone ahead in their negotiations with the guild masters, it had left a window open for the Lothians to cast them aside.
"Don’t say it like it’s a foul or dirty thing," Bors chided her. "Your father used me, and I used him. This is the way that men barter power and favors. Your father is an honorable man and he never once backed away from our bargain, even after my son murdered your sister," he said pointedly.
"You should think of the kind of man that makes your father," the middle aged Marquis added. "His daughter’s body was barely cold when he agreed to the charade and to allow you to take Lady Ashlynn’s place. He might look soft with his comfortable life by the sea, but your father is as ruthless as a demon when he needs to be."
"Don’t say that about him," Jocelynn said, glaring at her future father-in-law. "Don’t you ever compare him to a demon. If my sister wasn’t a witch then my father is no demon and I won’t hear that word used on him," she insisted.
"I meant it as a compliment," Bors said with a slow shake of his head. "But I suppose it’s inappropriate. But you see now, the position you’re really in? You need to show me that you still have value. Convince me that you and Owain should inherit the march and I won’t hesitate to abdicate in his favor at the end of the war. But fail in that," he said, allowing his voice to trail off.
"You’re too much like my sons," Bors said with a heavy sigh. "You have potential, but you’ve squandered too many of your opportunities and you’re not making the best of what you have. You’re more thoughtful than Owain and more ruthless than Loman. You could compliment either of them as a Marchioness, but just like they are lacking, you are also far too deficient in your understanding of real power."