Everyone looked at Jei.
“You are asking a lot. To maintain your guardianship and allowing her to visit you not only off planet but outside the Empire. My only heir,” he took a sip of wine and tried to not let his heart hurt anymore from the accusation that he kept her prisoner. “I’ll allow her to visit you on two occasions for one week each before her 22nd birthday on the condition that you visit her once a year for one week here in the Main House of House Rega until the birth of your first child and then afterwards we will renegotiate the terms. Don’t even try to bargain with me on this. This is my absolute final offer.”
Ellie nodded, knowing that Jei would budge later. He always did when he said, ‘this is my absolute final offer.’ “I accept,” she said despite Valentin shaking his head at her. She ignored him and then said, “I’d like my mother and you to come to my marriage ceremony on Reima Two. As well.”
“I am not watching you and Valentin be intimate,” Jane said stricken.
“It’s not like that at all,” Valentin assured her. “Elloisa wants a more human style wedding like Chef Jade had. Of course it will be mixed in with some Reima Two rituals, but no public sex.”
“Your mother is beholden to none but the gods, she can go where she likes,” Jei answered.
“Will you come Mom?” Ellie asked hopefully.
“Of course, I will as long as it’s not an Imperial style wedding and Jei doesn’t threaten to kill anyone in a duel,” Jane replied. “Now, what else do we need to discuss?”
Ellie looked uncomfortable but then said to Jei, “UCs.”
Jei was pleased that Ellie was asking. He wasn’t going to make it too easy, but she was no longer the naïve human young woman who was afraid to ask anything for herself. “I’m already allowing you to remain in this House which will be very dishonorable. Why should I give you more?”
Ellie straightened up and held eye contact with Jei, “You should give me an adequate amount of UCs to maintain my lifestyle as a member of House Rega. Valentin has offered me a job, however the salary is quite low, and I know how much UCs I spend and will spend setting up for a new life for myself.”
“I will give you a one-time sum of 5,000 UCs.”
“That’s not enough. I want 2,000 UCs per year.”
“No,” Jei replied. “What could you possibly need all of that for? Commander Val is one of the wealthiest men in the galaxy.”
“Even more of a reason to come with my own UCs from my House,” Ellie countered. “If I were marrying a man from a different House on Alliance Planet Two, House Rega would guarantee me UCs. And I would say that my position is even more important now if I am going to maintain a connection with this prominent Imperial House. I need a steady flow of UCs to be able to continue to buy Imperial dresses, which I will continue to wear sometimes and…”
Jei interrupted her, “If you wear Imperial dresses at least twice a week in public with your House Rega ID necklace daily, and you leave one of your cats here for Magnolia, I will grant you 1,000 UCs annually, your secured place as a member of this House, although you’ll never be allowed to hold a High Council position or any other high ranking position that would require security clearances and you will continue to be Magnolia’s guardian. However, your children will not be members of House Rega nor Imperial citizens. And you must build a temple to your mother, the goddess of humanity, on Reima Two and pray there daily. This is my final offer.”
“I will take it,” Ellie replied a little too enthusiastically because she knew this was a good deal.
“You must pay for the temple,” Valentin said. “I have no religious affiliations.”
“By choice or law?” Jei asked.
“Choice,” Valentin answered. “I don’t believe those beings you worship are truly gods.”
“But you don’t mind your wife building a temple?”
“To her mother for her beliefs? No. But I’ll not pay for it. Is this clear, Elloisa?” Valentin asked.
“Her name is ‘Ellie’ and your name is ‘Val’. What is wrong with you young people?” Jei asked annoyed.
“I will pay for the temple,” Jane stated firmly.
Everyone was quiet then.
While Jei drew up the contract on his IC, Jane looked at Ellie. Her blonde hair was short, and she was thinner than she ever remembered seeing her, but overall, she looked good and happy. It was apparent that she and Val were in love with one another. “What’s the plan now?” Jane asked Ellie.
“I’ll stay here for the next two weeks and settle my affairs, say ‘goodbye’ to Alliance Planet Two and then go to Reima Two to marry Valentin,” Ellie explained to her mother happily as she looked over at Valentin. “And just as Valentin mentioned we are going to have a human ceremony like Jade’s.”
“With a few Reima Two customs as well,” Valentin added.
Jane looked at the young man, “Are there any strange customs, except for not having sex, I should know about in a Reima Two marriage ceremony?”
Valentin looked at Ellie and then her mother, they looked strikingly similar but different ages and colorings, but the rest was the same. “I don’t think there’s anything barbaric in our marriage ceremonies, if that is what you are asking?”
Jei looked at Val as he handed his IC over to Ellie for her to check, “Are you implying we are barbaric? We are thorough, which Reima Two citizens, clearly are not. As Ellie is still a member of this House, I’ll be sure to personally look over her marriage contract with you to make sure everything is in order.”
Val answered, “I would expect nothing less.”
“And don’t think this changes anything. You’re still an Outcast and your children will be Outcasts,” Jei continued. “And if you step one step out of line and dishonor Ellie or this House, you can expect a duel.”
“I never doubted that either,” Valentin replied.
Ellie looked over the contract with Jei, “A more formal arrangement will be drawn up later with our middling class members, I assume?”
Jei nodded, “And as you will remain a member of House Rega, they will look over any arrangements you make with One and Commander Val.”
“Valentin,” Ellie corrected him as she put her fingerprint to the IC.
Valentin stood then and held out his hand to Ellie. When she stood, they all stood. “Elloisa, we must remove our Marriage Pause bracelets now. Jei and Jane if you will be our witnesses?”
Jei and Jane both agreed.
Valentin took Ellie’s wrist in both his hands and said to her, “We must take them off together at the same time, saying the words, ‘Now we must come to a decision. I release you.’”
Ellie followed Valentin’s instruction and they removed the bracelets simultaneously. She almost fell backwards from the force of it. Thankfully, Valentin anticipating this grabbed her other arm quickly to steady her. “Thanks, I hadn’t expected that.”
“Imagine if we had worn them longer than two weeks? This is why the removal of a marriage bracelet with bindings or reneging on a strong binding tattoo can kill people,” Valentin explained.
Ellie unnecessarily rubbed her wrist where the bracelet had been, “Now what? I’m sure there is a saying, but I forgot to look it up.”