A Marriage Plot: Marrying Men, #2

By Hollis Shiloh

Prince Jeremy must marry within the month or lose the throne.  He would much rather not be king, but if he must, then he will go about it in the least convenient way possible for the council: holding an open call for a man to marry.  Not everything is as it seems, and there are plans within plans.  But sometimes even princes get caught in their own clever little plots.

15,000 words

A "Marrying Men" story. These pseudo-historical tales feature men marrying one another in various worlds and ways. Happy ending are to be expected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spare Words Press
• Release date: Aug 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386706724

Book preview

About the story:

Prince Jeremy must marry within the month or lose the throne.  He would much rather not be king, but if he must, then he will go about it in the least convenient way possible for the council: holding an open call for a man to marry.  Not everything is as it seems, and there are plans within plans.  But sometimes even princes get caught in their own clever little plots.

A Marriage Plot

by Hollis Shiloh

Jeremy, if you aren't married by next month, you realize the crown will pass to your cousin.

The councilor spoke in an even tone, but the look in his eyes was frightened—as well it might be.  He was only too aware of the dangers that lay ahead.

The provision of marriage hadn't been a big deal a month ago, when Jeremy was the carefree second son of the king, with a responsible older brother who was married and had a child with his wife, and another on the way—as well as several suspiciously similar unclaimed brats rampaging around the castle, belonging to beautiful young women whom the king had been known to admire quite a lot.

Jeremy was another story.  He was a fribble, everyone said so: a real playboy, uninterested in women, far more taken with cards, games, and the occasional male lover.  He'd never expressed admiration for a woman in his life—at least not in that manner.

He would likely never prove his virility in that manner, either. 

Still wearing a black arm band in grief for the loss of his brother, his sister-in-law, their legitimate child and the next still unborn, he was in no frame of mind to face the marriage question.

But the fact remained that the crown of this small, inconsequential but happy kingdom would move to another person altogether if he didn't get his act together and find someone he trusted enough to marry.

There was always Cousin Beatrice, whom he trusted and liked—but alas, cousin marriages had recently been made illegal.  Even though they would surely never have cemented the marriage bond, he'd have trusted her with half the kingdom.  A knowledgeable, scholarly sort who wore thick glasses and sensible skirts, she'd always taken the kingdom's business more seriously than Jeremy had to. 

But his cousin, dreadful, avaricious Lucien, was a man of no principle and great debt, a man who had proven himself willing to put his own needs in front of those who depended on his lands for a living, bankrupting his land and selling it off willy-nilly to cover his debts and pay for nice clothing.

While the poor dead Colbert had been known to father a child or two on the side, he had at least provided for them and their mothers.  He might be the cause of tsking and reprimands from the council, but he had never been so dreadful as to force a woman against her will and then toss her out into the cold for having his child.

Lucien was a terrible man, and the fates had not caught up with him thus far.  No one was powerful enough in the small, rural kingdom—including the king—to put him in jail.  Even bankrupting his lands to add to his misdeeds had not been enough to diminish his family's power and wealth enough to see him punished for his wrongdoings.

There were only a few things people dared exclude him from—certainly not the council, or the best of the parties of the season—and those who tried often ended up paying for it in one way or another.  He had a serpent's tongue when it came to poisonous gossip, and some said he even had an actual poisoner in his employ.  That would certainly explain why some who tried to oppose him had ended up with shorter lives than they might have been supposed to have.

All in all, Jeremy noted with anxiety the words of his counselor, and they worried him a great deal.

Lucien had also pointedly just married his first legal wife, days after the death of the royal family.  While it was a crass and bold move, it was also to the point.

Jeremy, the rightful ruler (though he had never wanted the position, and didn't think he ever would), could only take the crown and move into his brother's shoes—shoes he could never even hope to fill—if he chose a spouse and tied the knot legally before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Lucien

Reviews for A Marriage Plot

[L'eau · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute story, but some editing faux pas are not forgiving (e.g. switching characters' names).