He was shown beautiful young women from every branch, all guaranteed to be fertile, and all promising to love, honour and obey him, but none appealed.
His choice of a commoner, with no trace of royal blood, displeased the Family. They could never allow it. He would not back down, and neither would they.
The Chronicler and his assistants leafed back through centuries of archives to find protocols or precedents to prevent such a marriage. At last they found one, from seven hundred years before.
In due course the king’s unexpected and tragic death was announced. His amenable younger brother would inherit the crown, and the Family looked forward to a state funeral, a coronation and heirs to continue the line, the Family line.