Chapter 156: Boyfriend and Girlfriend?
Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Why not just take the girl if you want her?" Ygritte said even though she had seen enough of his people's culture by now to know that such an action would not go well with either the girl or her family.
He supposed that traditions do have deep roots in people's hearts.
"You people in the South make everything so complicated," she added.
He smiled at her and kissed her knuckles.
"You're saying that as if you don't like this place." He said as he trailed kisses up her hands, making her shiver. She let out a snort, trying to hide the pleasure she was feeling even as she looked away, her cheeks a little red.
"I… You're making everything complicated again. Just tell me what we are right now." She asked, and he nodded.
"First things first." He said, "We're not husband and wife. And we won't be husband and wife until we're married to each other in a marriage ceremony in front of the Heart Tree. With the marriage being witnessed by a lot of people."
Ygritte scoffed, "Why would we care about other people?"
"To give legitimacy to our marriage." He told her, "Such things are essential down here, South of the Wall. If people think that you're not my wife but just a lover I took on the side, then our children will be considered bastards and will have more problems when inheriting my lands and legacy."
Ygritte scoffed, but he could see that his argument made sense to her, even though she was not willing to accept it.
"As for what we are… I suppose that after all the time we spent around each other over the years since you came here, we could be considered boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Boyfriend? Don't I have a lot of them? And girlfriends?"
"No. They're your friends who are boys and girls. However, girlfriends and boyfriends are people with whom you have a romantic relationship. You must remain loyal to your boy or girlfriend, as it is the next step of courting. In this step, we can be intimate with each other and spend more time with one another."
"How's it different from being married?"
"Because if you don't like the boy after spending some time with him. You can break off your relationship without any repercussions aside from a broken heart."
"But… that's what we do in the North if we don't like the woman or man. If you don't like the man you're with and he's become weaker or lost a hand in a battle, you leave."
"Well… I suppose that's another way in which marriage is different down here in the South." He said, "Here, marriages are permanent. For as long as we live, until one of us dies. That is why we must be in a relationship for some time and see if we're compatible or not before we decide to marry."
Ygritte frowned at him, "How come I never heard of girlfriends and boyfriends before this?"
He chuckled at her words, making her frown even harder at him. "Sorry. I was not laughing at you. You never heard of those terms because I made them."
"Are you making fun of me, Domeric Bolton?" she asked, and he quickly shook his head.
"No. I've been serious since the start of this conversation, if a little aroused." He told her, his hands reaching forward to cup her jaw with his thumb, softly tracing her lower lip.
Noticing that she was not responding, he stopped his administration and looked her in the eye and spoke, "I apologize. The concept of boyfriend and girlfriend is a system I'm considering implementing in my realm. I want people who want to start a relationship and get to know each other for a while before making that decision. But I think it's too early to implement that. I suppose you could call us fiancée. Or betrothed. Until a wedding ceremony."
Ygritte's frown worsened at that.
"Isn't that girl… that Sansa who was here with her stick-up-her-butt mother, your betrothed?"
"My betrothal with her is a facade." He told her, "You see. Ever since I became a Lord, my lands have prospered and have accumulated greater wealth and strength. Because of this, the Starks who rule the North have become afraid of me. A war between us would be extremely costly and might break the North. So, the Starks wanted me to marry their daughter so that a war between us would never happen. And I had to agree because if I didn't, then that would be a huge insult to the Starks and cause a needless war."
"So… you're going to marry her to stop the war?" she asked.
"No. By this point, my army numbers about 13,000 men, most of whom are trained and are head and shoulder above any levy army that the Northern lords could muster up. If I raise my levies, then that number goes up by another 10,000-20,000. I also have 60 giants capable of fighting. 40 direwolves. 16 wargs. And me. There is also you. An archer who could shoot the enemy lords from across battlefields," He said. "At this point, I could easily fight against the Starks and come out as the winner."
"So why have you not done that already?" she asked.
"Many reasons. The first being that I have no interest in ruling the North. Because if I do that, then I would have to share my limited time, wealth, and other resources with the whole North. Something that I'm not willing to do. There are also other factors in play. The Starks are the best overlords that a person could ever ask for. Honorable and duty-bound. Truthfully, I don't really want to fight them. Then there's the fact that King Robert is Lord Ned Stark's best friend. Aside from that, you know what we all saw in the True North. It doesn't make much sense to wage war among ourselves when the enemy is closing in on our doorstep."
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.157: Husband and Wife
Ch.158: Dragonlord Ritual