Now he can breathe. If she's managed to go toe to toe with his Mother, take in their prospects he's just informed her of, and still hasn't run screaming for the hills? Aleron's now quite convinced that she means to stay. Having a partner in this madness his mother wishes to inflict on him makes the idea of it at least more tolerable. He'd still prefer a quiet life somewhere in the Free Marches with Bethany at his side, but perhaps rural Orlais rebuilding an impoverished title and estate won't be so bad.
There's a rueful smile in response to her lack of swordsman ship. "I'm not all that grand with a sword myself, dear one." It's true. He was never especially athletic as a boy, save for equestrian matters, and all progress he's made in a combatant role is from dogged study of technique then applied to exhaustion in training. And still he's mediocre at best. Strategy is his true gift. He'd have made a far better scholar than a soldier. "Not all that keen on the Game either. Mother lives for it, but I've no head for diplomacy."
Little does he realize that his method of thinking and analyzing all possible outcomes would make him a skilled player of the Game if politics did not grate on him so.
"I worry you'll find the life terribly dull, Bethany. Uncle Edouard's estates are in a remote area not far from the mountains, and I'm given to understand he managed to bankrupt the properties before his passing." Okay so most of Orlais is underwater on their holdings because this war keeps draining them all. The question remains, which ones will be salvageable. "Though... I think you underestimate yourself. You quite held your own just now. I am in awe of you, more than I already was."
no subject
There's a rueful smile in response to her lack of swordsman ship. "I'm not all that grand with a sword myself, dear one." It's true. He was never especially athletic as a boy, save for equestrian matters, and all progress he's made in a combatant role is from dogged study of technique then applied to exhaustion in training. And still he's mediocre at best. Strategy is his true gift. He'd have made a far better scholar than a soldier. "Not all that keen on the Game either. Mother lives for it, but I've no head for diplomacy."
Little does he realize that his method of thinking and analyzing all possible outcomes would make him a skilled player of the Game if politics did not grate on him so.
"I worry you'll find the life terribly dull, Bethany. Uncle Edouard's estates are in a remote area not far from the mountains, and I'm given to understand he managed to bankrupt the properties before his passing." Okay so most of Orlais is underwater on their holdings because this war keeps draining them all. The question remains, which ones will be salvageable. "Though... I think you underestimate yourself. You quite held your own just now. I am in awe of you, more than I already was."