I think a Widoking arranged marriage au would be so fun. Yes I did in fact get this idea from a song
Oo I so so love this. I wonder what that would look likeâMatt says at the end of Darktow that Kingsleyâs given, "a crown, symbolic as it is." Kingsley being engaged to Caleb...would that be a world in which he's actual royalty? Where he's expected to marry to secure an alliance and ensure Darktow prospers?
Kingsley frees Darktow from a cruel tyrant, ascending the throne in the wake of a bloody battle. He was supposed to be deadâpeople saw his body swallowed by the sea, and yetânow he reigns as king.
But he does not have the Concordâs blood money in his pockets, nor the Plank Kingâs powerful allies; no intricate network of contacts to back his claim to the throne. The Empire can scent blood on the water; they know the isle is compromised, vulnerable. And Kingsley canât afford to fight another battle.
So the Empire offers him a deal. Swear allegiance to them willingly, succumb to their reign. Spare his people further bloodshed. Refuse, and countless innocents will suffer.
Itâs not even a choice, really. Gustav and Yasha plead with him to just give in, to save himself. (Even if heâs not Molly, can never be the family they lost, they still canât bear to let him go, to lose him againâ)
But itâs not his own life King bargains for. In the end, the Empire permits him to retain his crownâso long as he agrees to marry a Dwendalian noble of their choosing. Kingsley has no allusions about the fact that heâll be anything more than a puppet, disposed of as soon as he proves too much of an inconvenience.
But this is Tealeaf; he wonât let himself just bow before the Empire, leave the fate of Darktow in their hands. But as much as heâs a fighter and a romanticâŚI think he also gets anxious at the thought of being bound to any one place or role. Itâs the same reason why I struggle to imagine Kingsley maintaining his position as Plank King--I can't picture him ever sitting idle on the throne. Especially given that the Plank King usually doesn't ever leave, I imagine that would make Tealeaf feel trapped, after a bit. He's always craved freedom, adventure, flitted from one dream to another--
Deposing a corrupt ruler and parading around in their crown are one thingâcontinuing to rule and watch over the island is another. I imagine he takes to it well at first; the glory, the praise, being hailed as royalty. The charming, swashbuckling rogue who bested the infamous Plank King. I donât think it would be very different at all from Mollymauk masquerading as the Duke, and I can see Kingsley being just as generous and protective of his subjects.
But stay in one place too long, and I think he just starts to feel caged. Especially when the nightmares begin to return. Otherworldly, primal screams, echoing in the far reaches of a starry sea. Black chains breaking, shattering, his own shackles finally torn asunder. Nine red eyes opening wide, gazing into his hollow soul.
And where would a betrothal to the fearsome Plank King leave Caleb? Is he a powerful archmage at court? Is he still Bren, still a Volstrucker, and thus granted enough standing and influence from the Cerberus Assembly to be betrothed to royalty? I can see him readily agreeing to any engagement if it he saw it as doing his duty to protect and serve the Empire.
And I can imagine him volunteering to be another's suitor if it meant Astrid and Wulf could still be happy, could still be together...I think he would accept a potentially loveless marriage, for the Empire's sake, and theirs.
Or, maybe Bren is told to marry Kingsley with the understanding that he is to ensure the king falls back into his grave, and take sole control of the throne. He's been dabbling in old, forgotten magic, the Cerberus Assembly claims--reached out willingly into the dark abyss of the Astral Sea, until something else reached back. (And Mollymauk's goddess would also brand him a heretic in the Empire--)
Bren taking great pains to carry himself as a prominent member of nobility and an astute diplomat. No one would ever suspect he was once the wide-eyed boy who tended his father's farmlands, someone who'd never even been within the city walls.
He's Volstrucker, he's mingled with wealthy patrons of the Empire and sworn enemies alike, effortlessly seduced and eliminated his share of targets. He knows how to charm a man into total surrender, what words to whisper in their ear, when to slit the knife across their throat--
And yet, Bren being completely thrown by this dashing rogueâhis sharp-toothed grin and Devilâs tongue, his burning hatred for everything the Cerberus Assembly stands for and fierce loyalty to his people. Heâs a conman, a scoundrel; theyâre nothing like the mages and nobles who danced around each other at court, all quietly plotting one anotherâs downfall.
For every lie on his lips and all the masks he wears, there is still something in Kingsley that feels achingly raw and genuine. A glaring weakness Bren canât quite bear to exploitâ
(I think Kingsley would grit his teeth and endure the arranged marriage, the loss of autonomy. Try and bide his time until he can gather more allies and ensure his people are safe. But, if he were more inclined to escape and just run awayâŚjust. Imagine Bren catches his bride-or-groom-to-be scaling down the precarious cliffs to steal a pirate ship and run off to sea. Bren unfortunately realizing that, for all his Volstrucker training, he is woefully unprepared for Kingsley Tealeafâ)
