Meeting With Mother

[Sky]

OOC: Occurs some time after the "Critical" and "Reunions" threads.

Sky tapped his foot anxiously as he sat uncomfortably before his mother, his eyes cast down toward his hands. He could feel her eyes penetrating his skin and it made him all the more nervous, though he wasn't sure why. Actually, that wasn't true. He did know why he was nervous. He hated not knowing why he was here. Back home. It wasn't even a vacation or anything; she had just randomly sent a note to Saladin saying that she wished him to come home for a "visit," whatever that meant.

Clearing his throat, Sky finally gathered up the courage to look his mother in the face. Mistake. The cold stare that met his gaze was enough to send a shiver down his spine. He had done something wrong. But what? Quickly Sky mentally ran through a list of family birthdays; perhaps he had forgotten one, which, to his mother, was one of the worst things he could possibly do. After a moment, Sky decided that that couldn't be the reason, which came partly as a relief and partly as a reason to cause his stomach to churn just a bit more. What had he done that would actually warrant his mother requesting that he come home? The only thing he knew was that whatever it was, it had to be bad. Really bad.

[Sky]

Queen Riannon stared coldly at her only child as she lifted her glass of red wine from the table and gently swirled it. Waiting a few moments more before beginning, Riannon watched with blatant disdain as her son squirmed in his seat. She had raised him to be more than that. He was supposed to be a man by now and yet he couldn't even face his mother without fear. Some man. If this was how he was going to act for the rest of his life, Eraklyon was doomed. A kingdom needed a firm ruler, not this weak, bumbling fool seated before her.

Without further ado, Riannon said flatly, "I suppose you are wondering why you are here, Sky. I do not blame you. If any other mother had called her son home for a visit, he would not be afraid because other mothers and sons have . . . a different type of relationship than you and I have. We both know that we are not one of those loving families; and we both know that I am not one of those mothers who thinks that whatever makes her son happy is what is best for him. I do, however, want what is best for you; the only problem is that our views on what is best may . . . differ. Do you see where I am going with this, Sky?"

[Sky]

Knowing that his mother would be irritated if he said 'no,' Sky sighed. He couldn't win with her. Whatever he said would be wrong. If he said 'no,' she would scoff and ask why he was such an imbecile. If he said 'yes,' she would pound her fist once on the table for dramatic effect and then would ask sharply why he would presume to think that he knew what was going on in her mind. His only choice was to remain silent, which his mother would still manage to find fault in.

Sky closed his eyes momentarily before he shook his head and waited quietly for his mother to speak, which she inevitably would.

[Sky]

Riannon frowned before she replied in a thinly veiled tone of disgust, "Well then, allow me to enlighten you, my son. The topic of today's discussion shall be a certain chit of a girl who is known by the name of Christine Strongheart. Now, perhaps you would prefer to avoid this topic as you think that I shall slander her name - and, of course, you would be right - but we must speak of her before things become too . . . out of control between the two of you. Do not think that I am stupid, darling. I know very well what is going on between you and her; you may wonder how I know, but that is my business. But I will say this much: it is not from the tabloids that I learn your doings; I do waste my time reading that garbage."

[Sky]

At the mention of Christine's name, Sky's attention was caught immediately. Feeling a certain dread begin to flow through his body, Sky said carefully, "I do not know what you think you know, mother, but there is nothing going on between myself and Christine. She and I are simply friends and teammates. Nothing more. You know that I am in a committed relationship with Bloom."

[Sky]

"Committed relationship, my derriere," Riannon snorted in a fashion that was quite out of character for the usually stately queen. With a sharp laugh, she continued, "Darling, you don't still fool yourself into believing that you love Bloom, do you? Poor child, you are more misguided than any person I have ever known. Where ever did your nurse go wrong with you? You certainly have not turned out to be the son I expected to have. I always had greater hope for you. I thought that you would certainly have taken the world by storm by now. Alas, that has not been the case. Instead of surrounding yourself with important matters, you've become bogged down with trivial things that won't matter ten years from now. I pity you; you've wasted so much time and energy on girls - and what has been your reward? You have a 'girlfriend' who you will never marry because I simply will not allow it to happen; she has such poor manners. She speaks when she has not been spoken to; she is impudent and disrespectful to your father and to myself and she is simply not fit to be a queen. Her only redeeming quality is that she is a royal by blood, if not by manners; nevertheless, I am afraid that the time has come for you to leave her behind. She is holding you back; you have so much more potential than what you credit yourself with and I think if you focus your time on other things than whether or not you wish to be with her, you will be quite astounded with what you can accomplish. But I digress, this is not what I really intended to speak of to you, although it is somewhat related."

[Sky]

Sky stared at his mother, feeling more than slightly overwhelmed with what she had said. He had always known that she disliked Bloom, but never to the extent to which she had just revealed. And he had never imagined that his mother had ever had expectations for him. He had always assumed that he had made her secretly proud - even if she criticized him openly. With a sinking heart, Sky realized that this was not the case. Though it was clear to him that his mother loved him very much, she wouldn't be saying such things if she didn't, it was also clear to him that she was disappointed. Feeling suddenly ashamed, Sky lowered his head. It was true. He had wasted time with his constant thoughts about whether he did or did not love Bloom; he could have been using that time to do something productive - to teach himself about the world. By the time his father had been nineteen, Sky realized, he had already taught himself six foreign languages, had had a thorough understanding of Eraklyon politics, and had made numerous trips as a prince to foreign realms for conferences with his father. Coloring, Sky realized that he hadn't even come close to achieving all that his father had. Standing next to his father, he was a nobody. His mother was right. He had fallen short of what he could have been by now.

Still, he didn't understand how this related to Christine.

[Sky]

As Riannon looked on as her son began to have his awakening, she felt her heart soften. At heart, Sky was a good boy; he was polite and respectful and he always listened to her and truly considered any advice she gave him. It was just that he somehow got the notion in his head that it was enough to be just a nice person. For the average person that may have been true - but Sky wasn't average. He was a prince and someday, probably by the time he was thirty-five, he would be king. Riannon sighed; he wasn't ready, though. He ought to be, but he wasn't. He would simply have to learn to toughen up and learn the reality of being a king - that kings weren't always liked. That kings couldn't always be nice. God forbid that something should happen to Aldrich - an illness, or worse, assassination - Sky would have to suddenly take control of the throne . . . and he would fail. But there was still time yet for him to learn that being a king was more than just making public appearances at parades and waving to crowds from a balcony.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Riannon finally said in a softer tone of voice, "I assume by now you are wondering what Christine could possibly have to do with this and I shall tell you presently."

[Sky]

Meeting his mother's gaze and finding it was gentle for once, Sky hesitated and then nodded. "Yes, although I have a feeling that I know what you are going to say and as much as I will hate to hear it, I know that you are right. In fact, you are right about many things, mother." With a thin smile, Sky admitted, "You were right; I do not love Bloom the way I once did. I thought she was the one for me, but I was wrong. She does have poor manners and she isn't the right person to be the future queen of Eraklyon. And you were right, I have wasted my time with her. With all the time I spent thinking about her and Christine, I could have been out taking the world by storm, as you said earlier. I could have at least learned a few languages like father or I could have enrolled in more practical classes at Red Fountain than just heroics and tactics and other fighting courses. I could have taken World Politics and International Relations, but did I? No." Feeling oddly close to his mother in that moment, Sky confessed as he slumped over the table, "And you were right, mother, I am not just friends with Christine. Well, at least emotionally. She's such a sweet girl and she's funny and she's temperamental at times and I think any guy could easily fall for her. But I can't. And we both know why."

[Sky]

Riannon nodded sadly as she reached across the table and gently patted her son's hand. "I know, darling; I know. It isn't fair to either you or Christine, but we must be realistic. You will be king as you are the only blood heir to the throne. Because of this fortunate or unfortunate fact, depending on how you look at it, you are obligated foremost to Eraklyon and its people - not to yourself. You will be someone people look to as a role model; and you cannot disappoint them. They are too important. They give us purpose and they make Eraklyon what it is; we owe it to them to be what they need us to be. Strong. Caring. We need to listen to their voice. It sounds easier than what it is, though. When you are king you will understand what I mean; you will understand what it means to make sacrifices for the good of your kingdom. You will not always like it, but you will make those sacrifices because at the end of the day, Eraklyon is your blood and you will love her in a way that you cannot love anything or anyone else. Your father is that way and I love him for it because I am that way too."

Looking down at her hands, Riannon idly fiddled with her gold wedding band. "As for Christine, she is a good woman - a better one than myself. However, she can never be your wife. Do not be mistaken, I like the girl well enough; she has good manners and she obviously cares a good deal about your well-being but she is not . . . oh, I hate to say this . . . pure. She is not like us. And we both know the way things are in Eraklyon in regards to who royalty can and can not wed. As a prince, you are only second to the king in rank and thus, you are subject to even closer scrutiny than a duke or a count. Where a count could get away with marrying Christine, you, my darling, can not. Eraklyon law is not as strict as other realms on many subjects - but on marriage and breeding, Eraklyon is not one to be toyed with. We have always prided ourselves on producing excellent heirs because of the fact that their blood is so pure, their lineage so impeccable. We have laws, you know, that say if you produce a child that is not purebred, it cannot be an heir to the throne. That's it. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. That's the final say on the matter. It is something that will never change and you must accept it and make your first sacrifice in the name of Eraklyon. You must give up Christine because she can never produce you a legitimate heir and without such an heir, your family's close to seven hundred year rule of Eraklyon will end with you. Technically, you can still marry Christine and you could still have children - they would simply not be recognized as legitimate. And when you finally die, a new ruling family will come to power and your children will be social outcasts. Could accept that? Would you truly want to bestow that fate on anyone? Could you live with yourself and know that because of one decision on your part, a seven hundred year dynasty would come to an end? Think about it, Sky; your life just isn't yours anymore."

[Sky]

Sky was a silent for a long while as he clearly struggled with conflicting emotions. Finally he said quietly, "I hate this; I really hate this, mother. It's just not fair that someone as good-hearted as Christine isn't good enough to be a queen . . . but you know me too well. You know that I could never turn my back on Eraklyon. Bloom, yes. Eraklyon . . . never." With a wry smile, Sky said, "Perhaps I am more like my father than I imagined; both of us love Eraklyon more than anything else . . . it's a lonely feeling, you know." At this, his mother nodded in understanding, her eyes indescribably sad. It was something Sky had never witnessed in his mother and it wasn't something he fully understood; all he knew was that it made his heart wrench. Determined to please her, Sky asked with his best attempt at a smile, "So what do I do now? How do I get over Christine when I've only just now allowed myself to admit that she could have been the one? It doesn't seem possible."

[Sky]

Riannon looked at Sky's torn expression as she said in shock, "You . . . you truly love her, don't you?" With a heavy sigh, Riannon shook her head. "Oh darling, I am so sorry that you have to go through this and I wish that I could somehow make this better but I can't. I have a great amount of power at my disposal . . . but I do not have the power to change that particular law. And neither does your father. Eraklyon does not support change when it comes to laws that have been enforced since the beginning of time. Parliament is overfilled with old fogies who are not very progressive-minded; it would take something close to supernatural to get them to agree to change that law. It simply wouldn't be realistic to expect that the legitimacy law could be changed with a snap of your fingers."

Pausing to let this fact sink in, Riannon said after a few moments, "You must move on, darling. If you dwell on what you could have had with Christine, you will drive yourself mad." With more emphasis, Riannon said again, "You must move on. You must move past Bloom and Christine. You must find someone else - someone . . . suitable to be queen. I am not saying that you must wed a princess, but whoever you do choose must be part of the aristocracy." Pursing her lips as she tried to come up with the best way to broach the subject that was lurking on the corners of her mind, Riannon finally said in a delicate tone of voice, "If you are interested, I already know of one girl who could perhaps suit you. In fact, you may already know her or at least have heard of her; she does in fact attend Alfea."

[Sky]

Sky shook his head as she said quietly, "I don't think I can do that yet, mother. I . . . I know that somehow I have to find a way to move past all of this but I don't think - no, I know that I'm not ready to see 'other people.' I mean, I haven't even ended things with Bloom; how will it look if I end our relationship and then the next day take someone else out? What would that say about me? And god, I can't do that to Christine. I haven't wanted to admit it, but I know I've led her on. I think that she thinks that we're going to be together and . . . and I wish we could be. I wish she could be the one but . . ." Sky groaned as he rested his head in the palms of his hands. "Why is this so complicated? Why does Parliament have to be filled with such idiots? And why doesn't anyone believe in true love anymore?"

[Sky]

"Love?" Riannon asked with an arched brow. "Darling, you may very well have experienced love with this Christine girl, but do you not think that there can be other forms of love? Is affection not love too?" Folding her hands, Riannon continued, "You're still young, Sky and if I am not mistaken, I imagine that you still hold the notion that love can only exist if you feel it right when you first meet someone. Now, I intend to challenge that belief of yours with some little tidbits of information that you may not have known. You see, your father and I had an arranged marriage. I barely knew him when I married him; we had only spoken a handful of times and when I walked down that aisle to wed him, I was convinced that there was absolutely no way that I could ever love him. Twenty-four years later, he is the love of my life and I wouldn't change that for the world. Now, what you do not know is that before our marriage, your father had . . . a lady friend. Supposedly, he was madly in love with her but her father, though he was a nobleman, was not very respectable. So, to make a long story short, your father was forced to marry me instead of her. If you ask him now if he wishes he had not had an arranged marriage, he would laugh and tell you that this was the best thing that could have happened to him."

Riannon paused for a few moments before she continued, "On the other side of things, we have your good friend Demetrius. Now your father and I love Demetrius almost as though he was a blood relative, but I must make an example out of him to show you what can happen when you 'follow your heart.' A long, long time ago Demetrius fell in love with a beautiful woman who was visiting Eraklyon with her family. They fell in love and she lit up his world. Shortly thereafter, she returned to her home realm, but that didn't stop Demetrius from pursuing her. He wrote her letter after letter and he went to visit her as often as he could. He thought she was 'the one.' Consequently, he asked her to marry him and she said yes. That was some sixteen years ago and though he and Philomena are still married today, they are no longer in love. Or if they are, Demetrius has a very funny way of showing it." Bluntly, Riannon finished, "I think you are old enough to know that Demetrius has kept many a mistress warm at night."

[Sky]

Sky averted his eyes from those of his mother as she not so delicately brought up the topic of Demetrius and the women whose company he kept. After a few moments of silence, Sky finally nodded as he rose to his feet. Walking around the table, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his mother's cheek before he pulled back and said, "Thank you, mother, for your words of advice. I assure you that I shall keep them in mind. As for right now, however, I should return to Red Fountain. I still have classes to attend today and I have a feeling that if I stay away much longer, Saladin is going to have my neck. Tell father I said hello, though and that I will be sure to pay him a visit soon."