“He is the heir. All heirs are curmudgeons once they reach a certain age and realize the importance of their station.”
“Yet, he has not married.”
“No, which has my mother concerned. In his opinion, he simply hasn’t found the right witch.”
“Witch?” Nina questioned.
“As you know, only females of the Drakos bloodline are witches but no male ever inherits magical abilities,” he answered. “It is a rather strange phenomenon. I know families with witches, male and female. I know families with only a few witches, and where everyone is a witch, and I know families where it skips a generation. However, I know of no other family where they are only female.”
“Do you know why?”
“My aunts once explained that the Drakos line was very old and that their magic was tied to the earth, which pleased the Goddess Gaia. It is assumed that the gifts were bestowed on the women alone and it would remain as such for as long as someone with Drakos blood walked the earth. My father is a Drakos, and my mother was a Kotas, yet not even her sons could inherit her magical powers because she married a Drakos.”
“Is that why Pierce wants to marry a witch? So that those with Drakos blood continue to walk the earth?” Nina asked.
Orion chuckled. “It’s not a want but required,” he answered. “The decree is that a Drakos male must marry a witch. It is not only to ensure that the bloodline continues, but to offer protection, and provide a home where a witch could be herself without hiding her special gifts, and more importantly, could live without fear.”
“Then you are expected to marry a witch as well.”
He wished she wouldn’t have been so matter of fact and at least a little disappointed.
What was he thinking? They had just met and were coming to know one another. Romance and courtship should not even be a consideration.
“It is expected of me, but I make no such requirement for myself.”
“What of your sister? Can she marry just anyone?”
“Yes, but a witch must also be careful of who they wed, and so far, Petra has no interest in gentlemen who would accept who she is. Only one female cousin has wed and that is Thalia, which I am certain you already knew.”
“Yes, Cassian has told me that she married a diplomat and is traveling to Ceylon, correct?”
“Yes,” Orion answered.
“But why?” Nina asked. “That was not explained, even though I asked.”
Orion couldn’t imagine why the information would be withheld.
“Her husband was joined with a group of men to negotiate with the Kandyan Kingdom for British Rule over all Ceylon.”
Nina frowned. “Why must the British wish to rule everywhere?”
“I cannot answer that, other than trade and control and to possess a large empire.”
“At least in France, they only wished to bring an end to their rulers, not take over other countries.”
Orion stared at her. “France is trying to take over other countries.”
“How so?”
“Do you not know of Napoleon?”
Nina nodded. “Yes, he was chosen to rule France some ten years ago.”
For all the reading Nina had done, none of it had apparently been more recent histories, and Orion set out to explain Napoleon and the war on the Continent.
“Could he come here?” she asked with apprehension.
“It is doubtful. He may have a desire to do so, but our navy will stop him.”
