Chapter 36

"He wants to what?" Rossalyn demanded, flabbergasted at what Josiah had just said to her. How would that even happen? She wondered to herself as she waited for his answer.

"He wants to arrange a marriage in our families. He is off his rocker, I'm sure of it." Josiah said firmly but continued after a chuckle. "He wants to promise one of his grandchildren to our first born. He has several children, though none have reproduced yet, that I know of. He said if we get pregnant soon, he can make sure his oldest son and his wife get pregnant around the same time. So their child and our child grow up together and live happily ever after."

"He is absolutely insane!" Rossalyn said with more certainty than she'd ever felt in her life about anything else.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, but I can't just tell him he is crazy and turn him down. Arranged marriages have been the tradition in our families for decades. It is the main way alliances are made and kept." Josiah said, his tone much more serious.

"You'd promise our child to someone before it is even conceived?" Rossalyn was horrified at the thought.

"As I said it has been the tradition in our families for.....well.....as long as anyone can recall." Josiah shrugged.

"Were you promised to someone when you were a child?" Rossalyn asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes, I was. But unfortunately for the poor girl, she died when we were thirteen. She was involved in a car accident on the way to our boarding school. That obviously released our families from the agreement and since they didn't have any other children the agreement couldn't be transferred. By that time, my mother and father refused any other arrangements. But that isn't unusual in those situations." Josiah said, and he sounded genuinely sad remembering the girl he'd been originally supposed to marry.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Rossalyn's tone softened when she seen the grief in his eyes. "Did you know her well?" She asked gently.

"Yes, we were together all the time. Our families encouraged us to spend as much time together as we properly could. They arranged family vacations together every year, every holiday we spent together. They even moved so that we were only a few minutes from each other so we could have as much time together as we wanted. We knew about the arrangement, it wasn't something they hid from us. We knew what was expected. We were best friends and each other's shoulders when things were hard. It would have been a great partnership and marriage." Josiah said with a sad sigh. "People hear the words arranged marriage and they think of complete strangers being forced to marry each other through no will of either and end up hating each other. That isn't always untrue with our arrangements. But for the most part, our arrangements are happy ones. They grow up together and know each other better than people who meet and marry as adults."

"I see. So what you're saying is 'don't dismiss it because it isn't how you do things' then?" Rossalyn imitated his voice almost perfectly which made him grin at her.

"Yes, I'm not saying I will agree to the arrangement with George. I can very easily tell him that we already have an arrangement for our first born, though that would inevitably come out at some point as a lie, especially if you are so obviously against it. But that opens up for him suggesting our second, third, fourth born children. If I refuse the suggestion it could easily demolish the tentative peace we have with him at the moment. Because there is very little in our world that is a bigger insult than refusing to solidify a peace agreement in this way." Josiah told her regretfully.

"So, what you're saying is he has very neatly backed you into a corner." Rossalyn said, sounding very defeated at the thought.

"Oh, I'm not in a corner. I have the bargaining power here. He wants the marriage to take place, so I can make a list of demands to make sure we are in the power position in the alliance." Josiah said. "Unfortunately, I don't have an easy way of saying no. But I can make such demands that he backs out and suggests an alternate solution."

"Yes, do that. But I see what you're saying as far as all of this goes. Don't make any agreements on this without bringing me in on it as well. After all it isn't just your child that he is using as a bargaining chip." Rossalyn said with a long sigh.

"I wouldn't think about commiting our child to anything without your knowledge or permission. I'm not technically required to, but its the respectful thing to do for us to include the mother on any arrangement like this." Josiah said and took her hand in his.

"When are you supposed to meet with him?" Rossalyn asked giving his fingers a squeeze.

"We are going to talk about everything at the party. I will make sure to point out that we haven't even discussed a time frame on having children to see if that discourages him." Josiah said.

"Haven't we though? You don't want me using any methods to prevent children, which tells me you want a child sooner rather than later." Rossalyn pointed out.

"Yes, but he doesn't need to know that. The conversations I have with my wife are none of his business. Just as whatever you discuss with me, unless directly needed, will remain private. We are a team, and unlike those who work for us, we answer to no one." Josiah winked at her as he said the last which made her smile and reassured her.

"I really don't like the idea, but I know I'm going to have a long road of adjustment on what the norms are as far as all of this goes. I've never even considered the possibility of having my child promised in marriage to someone like some kind of royal offspring." Rossalyn said.

"Well, that certainly is a good way to look at it. I have built an empire that I oversee, much like a kingdom of sorts. As my wife, you're essentially their queen. Any one of my men would do some very bad things to protect you, even those that haven't met or bonded with you, just because you're my wife. Once we have children, that will intensify a lot since they will regard that child as our heir. It is a lot like us being the royal family. They would put themselves in a lot of danger to protect either of us, or make someone threatening us really regret their choices. If we treat them well, we will have their loyalty. It is the largest reason I reward my men richly for the things they do for me. If I make sure they are happy, they keep me in power. If I take advantage of them, don't give them the things they ask for that are reasonable, or otherwise mistreat them or their family they won't. It really comes all down to that." Josiah said with a shrug.

"Keep them happy so they don't overthrow you. Got it." Rossalyn summed up what he said with a sarcastic nod.

"A lot of leaders underestimate the fact that people need a reason to follow them. They get lost in the notion that just because it has always been, especially with inheritted positions, it must always be. That is not the case. I have a firm hand with my men, I punish severely any signs of disrespect or disloyalty. But I also forgive most things with proper recompanse. I occasionally have to remind them that I did not receive this position from my father, I fought for it. I had some help and a lot of luck along the way. But the fact remains I have earned everything I have, unlike a lot of the men I deal with that are in positions of power. I don't have a lot of unrest because of that. Most of them were right there with me, helping me. Witnessing the lengths I went to to achieve what I have. I won't lie and tell you that it was pretty, because it wasn't. But I have enjoyed the benefits of the ruthlessness at the beginning meaning I no longer have to do those things so often to keep what I have." Josiah said, his expression tight from remembering some of the things he had to do to people, how often he'd had to defend himself in the beginning.

"So your mother and father were not in this errr lifestyle?" Rossalyn asked, very surprised at those words.

"Yes, but not at the level I am. It seemed no matter how hard my father tried, he never gained much ground. He always held back. Most people do not have what it takes to do this. It ultimately killed him. I couldn't stop it, though I did try. His death fueled my fire and those responsible paid for it. Which set the path as it were. I didn't start out planning to be the Don. But it became clear to me, the further I went, that that was my destiny." Josiah said then sighed. "I don't regret anything. But I have much to atone for before I feel confident that my soul won't be condemned."

"I know the things you had to do were probably very horrific but one could look at it, in a certain light, that the path you set down was your choice but once started you had to see it through to survive. So in that sense, a lot of the things you did could be viewed as self-defense. Maybe preemptive on some occasions, but nonetheless." Rossalyn offered the salvation he craved though seemed to deny himself.

"That is a valid point, though I chose to place myself in the position to begin with. As I said, I have a lot to atone for. But that is between me and my master. All I can do now is be as good as I can be and only do the things I must to keep us safe." Josiah said.

Mary entered the dining room at that time, giving an apology for interrupting their lunch. There was a tall man standing behind her that neither of them seemed to recognize, but Mary didn't seem distressed.

"Who is this, Mary?" Josiah inquired politely as he stood from his seat.

"This is Jason, the contractor I told Mrs. Roja about. He is here to go over plans for the office." Mary said, gesturing for the man to step forward into the dining room.