Capítulo 18: Marriage committee

**Genuine and true love is so rare that when you encounter it in any form, it's a wonderful thing, to be utterly cherished in whatever form it takes. by Gwendoline Christi**

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The building that served as the Marriage Committee's premises stood in a conspicuous part of the township, almost at the centre of it. This was considered a vantage point as it was visible from almost all parts of the township. It had a unique architecture that was admired by all and displayed the status of the organisation. It was a place that many looked up to, but most could never be or enter in their entire lives. It was a five-storey building with unique one-way windows that were from floor to ceiling.

Generally, once every six moons, a major meeting was held where all the first ten elders were present and the pairings of individuals who had submitted their profiles were made. This day was marked with major celebrations that rolled over into the following week. Usually, after this meeting, a 'paired-list' will be put up in the Townsquare and all paired maidens were expected to move to the homes of their partners within the span of a week at most. Almost every household looked forward to this meeting of the elders.

The elders trooped into the premises in extravagant outfits and carriages that showed their ranks and they arrived in no particular order. People liked to crowd the streets to watch them as they came in one after the other.

The room the meeting was held was a smaller one compared to the other rooms in the building because this would hold the ten main elders and occasionally a few others who would be invited. There was a large quadrangular table in the middle of the room, and they sat around it according to their ranks. There were scrolls that held the information that was to be discussed at the head of the table. The meeting could span a few hours to the whole day depending on how fast and easy the matches were made. The people of the land usually waited patiently at the Townsquare to receive the news amidst merrymaking.

As usual, the third elder, Conrad was the most overly dressed person in the room. He had so much gold on his person that one would wonder if he had put on all the gold he owned. This was far from the point because he just like to show off.

After the tenth elder sat down at the tail end of the table, the fourth elder, Mathieu who was also the scroll reader of the day stood up and commenced the meeting. They talked about previous matters before starting on the current list.

"We have a list of candidates to pair up for this moon session once again," he stated and commenced to tick off names of eligible individuals who had been registered since the last time they had met as a committee.

Conrad was getting impatient as the pairing meeting had gone on for quite some time and he wanted to bring up the pairing of the king.

"Who is the next candidate?" he asked the scroll reader,

"A Miss Blossom from the house of Moe" he replied,

"What are her advantages and who matches them from our list?"

Well, the scroll reader, elder Mathieu replied, "I think we may have to consider this one for an in-land match only."

"They presented two bars of gold and…"

"Two bars of gold only!" Conrad interrupted.

"Why only two? Does she have multiple siblings?"

Mathieu read the profile and replied, "She is an only child. There seemed to have been an adopted child, but she was sold to the palace years ago."

"I wonder what they aim to get by presenting such a poor profile", another elder in the room said,

A different elder added, "If she is an only child, they could have done more."

Mathieu also added, "If they sold one child to the palace, the gold they received from that would have been huge so they could have added more…"

He was silenced by a look from the second Elder and then turned his attention back to the scroll.

But Conrad inquired yet again, "What of her physical appearance? Maybe she is that great-looking". This drew chuckles from around the room and they turned to look at Mathieu.

Hmmm, Mathieu glanced back on the scroll and said, "She is just plain with no outstanding features."

"This is ridiculous!" Conrad shouted once again.

Marron, the ever-observant second elder asked quietly,

"Do you mean that we should not pair up this girl because she is plain-looking, and her family does not have much?"

The room quieted out as they knew that the words said were right. Conrad did not respond as was typical of him when put on the spot but kept quiet from then onwards. Fiesty, the first elder, sat at the head of the table and observed all this without a word.

After all the applicants had been paired up, Conrad spoke once again,

"I think we should talk about King Indicy's match candidates. We have delayed on this for too long,"

These words once again drew acknowledgements from around the room and Fiesty responded,

"This is indeed correct. I had it in mind to bring this up but suitable candidates from inside the kingdom seem to be lacking" he added thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.

In order not to appear desperate, Conrad watched as numerous candidates were brought out by the different elders and discarded when they were found unsuitable for one reason or the other. He knew that no candidate presented will overshadow his, so he patiently waited. When it seemed like they had to reconvene again on it, he finally spoke again,

"I have a suitable candidate whom I think checks all the points. Even Queen May approves of her."

Conrad cursed himself quietly as he realised that he shouldn't have added the last part. It looked like his enthusiasm got the best of him. True to his thoughts, both Fiesty and Morran looked at him sharply and Morran asked,

"You already discussed this candidate with the queen before bringing her to us for scrutiny?"

Before he could retort, Fiesty added with a smirk,

"Looks like you have all the groundwork covered. Tell us about 'this proposed' candidate."

They all knew that Conrad never did anything that did not bring him direct benefits, so they had always been sceptical about proposals from him, but they still gave him the chance and were ready to blow him off but…

"It's Princess Asada of Fireland," Conrad said and made a mental note to guard his mouth against unwanted statements because he needed this to go through!

"Fireland heh?" Fiesty said in reply.

"That can be a great alliance", Morran added.

They pondered for some time and then one elder asked the key question,

"How and why did you choose her?"

All eyes turned to Conrad, but he had already prepared his answer, so he replied,

"We are due to renew our treaty this year. Wouldn't a marriage alliance be better than a signed treaty? You know the demands put forth each time are enormous. Also, we can have their elite warriors at any time because I heard the princess is the first maiden in the family after about four generations, so they indeed cherish her. And our king does not pale in their faces at all. They are small and powerful, but we are advantageous in the fact that we are large as well as formidable. They would see that as a good match for their precious princess."

This drew nods once again from the elders as one also added,

"If this is the case, they would spare no expense to protect and make her happy. This is a splendid choice!"

Mathieu asked, "I don't mean to be superficial but what of her looks? We want royal heirs who look good as well."

The entire room erupted in laughter, but they did not pay much heed to it as they knew he was just making a joke. Conrad took it seriously and added,

"She is rumoured to be a 'beauty beyond words but no man has lived to tell the tale yet."

Entirely ignoring the last statement, Fiesty said, "At a glance, an alliance like this could be beneficial to us, but we must make sure that there are no issues with one like this, because one failed move will gain us enemies instead of allies."

He paused and pondered for a bit and then added, "We will meet King Indicy next week and obtain his consent on this as well,"

In all this, Morran had an unreadable look on his face and kept quiet as he observed from the sidelines the subtle enthusiasm of Conrad which he had failed to curb.

"Let's vote on this, all in favour, please raise your hands high," Mathieu said.

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