Brigitta, now Soliel previously Stallworth, had spent her entire life trying to ensure a better future for herself. The world was a hard place, and she had become a hard woman in order to survive. She admired other women strong enough to survive, but she never trusted them.
You can't trust anyone that wants the same thing you do, her mother always said. Even family.
Brigitta's older sister, Maria, had struggled to find a husband, had been approaching an unmarriageable age when Brigitta had her first suitor. Somewhere between tea in the garden and a walk on the promenade, Brigitta's suitor became her sister's fiancée and then husband and Brigitta had lost before she'd realized there was a competition.
She'd furious as her sister's betrayal and their parent's support of the marriage.
Maria had married up, into a sprawling estate and a family with a history much longer than the Stallworth's.
And a much bigger vault.
Brigitta hadn't spoken to her sister for almost a year after the marriage, terrified that now she was the one who would end up unmarried and alone. She'd spent two more terrible years attempting to marry before she'd met Her Grace, the Princess Eirian Soliel, who didn't seem to care about marriage or any of that and went through bedmates at a frankly alarming rate.
The first few times they'd met, Brigitta had liked her, though she'd been more interested in one of Eirian's regular companions, Philip, Baron of Water. Who'd been on and off with Eirian without a real prospect of marriage for long enough that the other young women in society were growing bold enough to approach him even when he was with Eirian.
Brigitta had thought she had his interest a couple of times, but he'd always turned back to Eirian.
Although that hadn't worked out either. Which had surprised everyone but had worked out for Brigitta and Francis' plans.
Brigitta had never considered marrying someone so much older, she hadn't even taken him seriously the first few times he'd invited her out. It hadn't been until her mother had snapped at her to grow up that she started seriously considering him.
She'd been half convinced it was a joke, or just some passing fancy in one of his daughter's friends but then Brigitta had gone another season without a proposal and Philip was back looking at Eirian and Brigitta had realized her mother's threats of sending her out of the capital were real.
It hadn't taken much to gain the widower's true affection. Francis hated being overshadowed and Jacques had been doing that his entire life.
And now Eirian was too. The beautiful, brilliant only Princess of the Land of Sorrow. Daughter of the legendary Erin Soliel. Who spent half her time acting like a lady and the other half running around bloody with a sword like a heathen.
She was as unsettled as a woman could be and refused to listen to anyone who told her to calm down and think of her future. Jacques wouldn't be King forever and there was no guarantee Eirian would be as favored by the next. She was really only close to Jacque's youngest son and Brigitta had never thought that Eric would be the next king. Even when his siblings started dying one by one.
She hadn't realized the quiet boy was that ambitious.
Or that sneaky.
Francis was the one who had warned her to be careful of him, back when he'd first asked if she would be comfortable as Lady Soliel. She'd been so enamored with the title that she hadn't paid attention to his warnings at first.
Not until they'd been married and neither the King, his heir, or Eirian had attended the wedding. They hadn't even been able to hold it at the palace or the Bell Tower or the Bridge of Unification because those sites required the King's permission.
They'd had to stuff the half of high society that came to their wedding into the tiny back garden.
The rest hadn't dared to show up.
And Eirian hadn't made any attempt to congratulate them after.
She'd actually spoken out against them. Snide remarks and brush-offs when Brigitta tried to talk to her in public. Even Francis' orders had fallen on deaf ears, since his own daughter thought so little of him and so highly of herself.
Brigitta had pushed Francis to try and reign her in, but as things had devolved with Philip and then he'd shown up married at the end of the season, Eirian had become completely uncontrollable. Francis and Brigitta had had no choice to look for a solution that had come in the form of a distant lord looking for a wife.
Marriage had suited Brigitta, a house to run, a husband to manage, and a child to raise. It would do the same for Eirian they figured, and the Camelia was far enough away that removing her from society would remove any temptations that could ruin her marriage.
Brigitta had been hoping that Eirian would leave before her pregnancy, but Lord Ye had been cautious, and Francis had been determined to ensure Eirian earned what she was worth in a bride price after he'd had to pay Brigitta's parents hers.
Brigitta had known from the moment the baby caught in her womb that she was carrying a son and the last of her fears had been assuaged a few months later when the pregnancy progressed normally.
Given how unstable Eirian was and that as a woman she would marry out of the family, it made sense that Brigitta's child should be the Soliel heir instead.
Francis had agreed, excited to finally have the son he'd always wanted. A child he could mold and train and since his brother's own children were dying off, it was obvious that Francis and Brigitta's son should be the next heir.
When she'd delivered a healthy baby boy there should have been a city wide celebration, but only Francis and her parents had been present.
~ tbc