Riven’s Dilemma
Riven has always had the intention of marrying one fine day but he wants it in his own time and on his own terms. But here is the decree direct from his father, the King of Planet Daingneach written in his father’s own hand and sealed not only with the Great Planetary Seal but also with his father’s personal cachet. In the terse expression of his home world it states: “Find yourself married to a woman who can give you an heir within the year or you shall forfeit your right to ascend to the throne of Daingneach to your brother Aldo.” Now, Riven does not begrudge his brother Aldo’s right to inherit and govern his fair share of the planet but there is no way that his brother is going to take from him his right to be the next King of Daingneach simply because his fat wife has produced six offspring for him in as many years of marriage.
Riven places the decree in front of him on his writing desk and, after fetching some calming tea, sits to contemplate the choices open to him.
First, there is Musa whom he knows loves him with all her hearts. She is a bright and intelligent Faerie from the Harmonic Nebula with a quick wit and a way with music that always calms the savage beast within him. He has only to ask and he knows that she would marry him and produce for him an heir in short time. But Musa’s bubbly-bouncy personality? No, that stands against her. Not only would it meet with his dour and hoary-headed father’s disapproval but also that of the whole Court of Daingneach. They, he knows, would try to suppress her in a manner that would be like depriving a flower of sunlight. She would never survive there and he could not bare the thought of watching her spirit, fade, wither and die under the depression of Daingneach. Although marrying Musa would be his easy way out, he could not find it within his hearts to do that to her.
There is Darcy, a Witch and a member of the Trix of Cloud Tower, who professes to love him with all her heart and who appeals to his darker nature. She could survive and most likely thrive in the gloomy atmosphere that prevails at the Court of Daingneach. But could she produce for him an heir? Doubtful. There is also the problem of her two sisters who are the other elements of the notorious Trix. Stormy, whom he secretly thinks of as cute, is nonetheless a tempestuous child in a woman’s body. Her powers are that of wind, lightning and storm that are attached to the short fuse of her temper and kept in check only through the iron will of her sister Icy. Icy, the heartbreakingly beautiful Mistress of Ice and Snow whose heart is as cold, callous and cruel as her name, he fears to the very depths of his soul. If he marries Darcy, Icy would use her position of sister to the Queen of Daingneach to grab still more power and even to seize the Throne of Daingneach for herself.
There is a third woman who calls herself Alessandra and who recently achieved her Enchantix status. She is tall and slender but not overly so with raven hair and large butterfly type wings the blue-black colour of the midnight skies with silver scrolling. But everything about her is a series of contradictions. She has the face of a Witch but yet it is refined with the comeliness of a Faerie. Some say she used to be ugly but Bloom used her power of the Dragon’s Fire and her new training as a healer to remodel her face to the image of beauty it is today. Her Charmix is also a bazaar mixture of a Witch’s silver, spiked mace but encrusted with brilliant Faerie jewels. Overall, she looks like a Faerie but her mind has the dark sombreness of a Witch but she is intelligent and straight forward in a way that Riven finds appealing and refreshing. He had met Alessandra during an Alfea Faeries’ mixer with the Heroes of Red Fountain. She was standing alone in the half light of the room like a wallflower. He went up to her and offered to dance the next dance with her. It took some persistence but finally she accepted and once on the dance floor she became like a graceful black swan who finds herself in her element. She looks up at Riven while dancing with a shy, half smile on her lips and he feels a tugging on his hearts. Alessandra, he knows, would also agree to marry him if not for love then because of her desire and need to belong, to feel protected, and to feel wanted. Could she produce for him an heir? Again, that is doubtful. And if he married her, there would be constant trouble from the other women in his life. Musa would go out of her way to make life miserable for the both of them and Darcy … , Darcy, if she knew who Alessandra once was and from whence she came, would kill her outright without hesitation and then she would kill him just for spite.
