Roddacember (Belated) Day 11: Food
A small AU based on three things. One: Endon died a few days after a (genuine; Prandine had zero involvement) horse riding accident. Two: in the days before his death, Sharn was the one to shoot the golden arrow and team up with Jarred. Three: Since this all happened slightly earlier than the canon Shadow Lord invasion, Jarred was able to successfully steal the Belt with Sharn's help.
***
So many things have changed, Jarred thought, staring at the feast of corn cakes, beef stew, and cheese before him. We never would have managed this much when Crian was alive.
Nor even in the first couple of years after Crian's passing. Jarred had to admit; none of this would be possible without Sharn. So far, she had been a shockingly effective queen, both in the relative prosperity she'd managed for Deltora and in what she'd had to accomplish to create it. Jarred had not set foot inside the palace in years, but with the way Sharn-and many members of the nobility-regularly rode into Del, he knew the Rule had to be in shambles.
Rides which in and of themselves were very profitable for the city of Del, thanks to Sharn's noble companions being such spendthrifts. Jarred hated to even think, never mind say it-but he didn't know what he and Anna would do if Endon had remained king.
Looking around at each of his children, Jarred couldn't help but wonder: if it weren't for Sharn, would he be able to provide for them all? Most likely not; the real question was, if Sharn hadn't taken power, how many of them would even exist? Would Mat, born only two years after Lief and Jasmine, have spent the day helping Jarred in the forge, peppering him with questions? Would Mat's twin, Lisbeth, be sitting here right now, joking with Lief? Would six-year-old Serena be wearing a wreath of white flowers in her hair, despite Anna's demands for her to do otherwise? And would Faith, dear little Faith, who was only three years old and still clung to Anna's skirts-would Jarred have even afforded the notion of her, his fifth and youngest child?
But we'd have been able to keep Jasmine, Jarred thought darkly.
But would Jasmine go to bed at night hungry, if she'd been allowed to grow up with her true parents? Would that have been the price for Jarred and Anna to pay, in exchange for keeping her? That question had haunted Jarred many a night, before Mat and Lisbeth had come along. A good reason to let Sharn take her; the palace would always have enough food for a princess to eat. But despite himself, Jarred had worried, in those early days if agreeing to the switch had been the right decision.
But now that Mat, Lisbeth, Serena, and Faith were here, Jarred knew it was. His life would be infinitely poorer if he didn't have the four of them, or Lief, in it.
Jarred just wished Jasmine could be here; that there could be six children feasting on corn cakes and beef stew, instead of five.
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