[center][h3]Somewhere along the Ignis/Heartlands Border...[/h3]
	[i]Gold/Aristo[/i] Collab[/center]

	The carriage bobbed as the wheel descended a cave in the road, sending Edgar up and back down to his seat with a thud. He grunted, rubbing the small of his back as a muffled "Sorry, milord!" shouted from the outside. 

	“You’d think the Empire has the manpower to fix all these divots three times over,” he muttered. He turned to Sophsi beside him, who was, remarkably, not asleep. “Not even [i]you[/i] can sleep through them.” 

	“It’s okay, I’m sure the bodies of people fighting over the throne will fill them soon enough,” Sophsi crossed her arms, clearly grumpy and with red sleepless rings around her eyes. With a grunt she nestled her shoulders against her chair, attempting to get comfortable for the thousandth time. 

	“I wouldn’t put it past you if it was your doing,” Edgar snorted. “Speaking of which… I wanted to ask you something. You [i]are[/i] technically a claimant, after all...”

	Sophsi looked over at her husband, her eyes glaring for a soft moment before a pink curl came to her lips, “if you’re asking my hand in marriage, I’m sorry to report, but I’m already taken.”
	
	“As I understand it, your right hand is accounted for, but your left looks free,” Edgar replied, twirling the gold band on her finger.

	“Free!” Sophsi interjected, “it’s at least two crowns value.”

	“One for each of us,” the Duvard said, holding up his hand in an O shape over their heads. “But I digress - I’ve been thinking, why don’t [i]you[/i] aim for the throne? Nothing against Jak or Ana, but your cousin only knows how to command and fight. Raltene is a shrewd businessman, but has slim leadership experience, and well… I needn’t say anything of Allianna to you, of all people.” Edgar paused, taking Sophi’s hand in his own.

	“You, however; I don’t think many hold a candle to your ferocity in the courts, or can boast the same performance in the academics, or politics, or rhetoric… and I’m not saying that just because I’m your husband.” 

	“But you [i]are[/i] my husband, and you are saying it,” Sophsi retorted gently, gripping her husband’s hand. She made a face of thought before shrugging, “the throne only brings trouble, it is an oxymoron of chaotic order, but more chaos than order when deciding who sits on it.”

	“I am, coincidentally,” Edgar replied with a shrug, “But imagine how much [i]more[/i] trouble the Empire would find itself in if it were occupied by one of your cousins instead? I mean, you and I can sit around and talk about what’s wrong with Ethica all day. And maybe whoever sits on the throne is only a small facet of the Empire at large. But who’s to say your cousins have the same perspective? Jak’s spent all his life in the North with a sword in his hand, Raltene knows numbers and coin, and Allianna cares only for land, with seldom regard for those on it.”

	“And together they make the entire brain of a drooling Emperor!” Sophsi beamed sarcastically, softly clapping her hands in mock triumph. 

	“I’d like to say I doubt that they could mess things up worse than they already are, Edgar,” Sophsi leaned back, “besides, it would be considered… sly for me to suddenly stick my foot in the door and announce myself. I’d end up on the pointy end of an angry power grabber’s lacky’s kill-stick.”

	“Not if you had a shield to protect you,” Edgar replied, wrapping an arm around Sophsi’s shoulder. “I know it wouldn’t be the most graceful entrance one could make. But there’s no doubt in my mind that you’d make a better Phoenix Queen than any of them.” 

	“I don’t know, Jakinius would make a great Queen, but I’m sure Rally has worn a dress before, so he’d be more used to it,” Sophsi teased lightly.

Edgar shook with a laugh. “I can see it!” When the chuckles subsided, he turned back to his wife, eyes suddenly intent with conviction.

	“If it makes you feel any more assured… my father agrees,” Edgar breathed. “Rather than support the first-runner Jakinius, he’d sleep better at night with you in Lalria. It’s not just me, Sophsi.” The heir held his wife’s hand firmer, not enough to hurt, but enough to prove his sincerity. “I won’t ask what you’re unwilling to do. But if you ascend to the throne, know that you won’t climb those steps alone.”

	“D’awwwww!” Sophsi almost patronized Edgar’s words, but a soft blush on her cheek hinted at her sincerity, “I’ll scope out the courts when I get there for you and Papa in Law, how about that? I don’t go in blind, Edgar.” 

	“Just don’t go in sleepy, is all I ask,” was Edgar’s response. 

	“If we hold the court in a carriage like this, I don’t think my exhaustion will be a problem,” Sophsi smiled.

	“Maybe I can pay you back for all those nights of work,” Edgar teased. “I don’t expect competing with the others will be easy. But neither was getting me to swallow that vinegar the first time.”

	“Yes it was,” Sophsi laughed, “it was way too easy!”

	“Then this ought to be more on your level,” Edgar sneered, driving his nose to her cheek in a playful nuzzle. 

	“We’ll see,” Sophsi poked Edgar’s nose, “we’ll see.”