41 Chapter 41: Cut Off One of your finger!?

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After another interval of uninterrupted silence, Maege stated, "Alright, my lord. You've convinced me that you have compelling reasons, excellent reasons, and legitimate reasons for wanting to marry my daughter. Now say I gave my consent for the marriage to happen. Let us speculate on what you would do to make the union last."

"Speculate how, Lady Maege?" Gregor enquired.

"Suppose that the costs of the wedding are quite high," Maege hypothesized, "Or suppose other circumstances prevented it from taking place. Perhaps you would have to sacrifice a great deal of money or power in the process. Just how much would you be willing to give up so that the wedding could take place?"

"I cannot imagine how a single wedding could cause such extreme difficulties," Gregor remarked, "But I will go along with your theory. If we were faced with such hardships… we would simply delay the wedding until we either found a way to recover those losses or compensate for them. But I plan to limit how much I invest into the wedding. After all, if I sacrificed too much of my wealth or power for my own wedding, I would risk losing my credibility, as well. My integrity means much more to me than money or influence. By utilizing so much of all three in a wedding, I would risk damaging my reputation, too. That would not bode well for me or any house I married into."

Maege seemed pleased by that argument. She proclaimed "Very good answer, my lord. In the North, weddings are casual affairs. Since you are not of the North, we could excuse a little extravagance for yours. But you would still do well to keep it simple."

"I plan to," Gregor told her.

"Good," Maege murmured, "Now, let us say the marriage comes with minimum expense, but afterwards, Dacey becomes deeply involved in managing your house's finances. She is generally responsible with money, but she may propose some questionable or seemingly selfish ventures. How much coin would you be willing to spend to make her happy?"

"You and I both know that marriages are not about keeping one's spouse content," Gregor cautiously responded, "Of course, I would want Dacey to be happy, but she does not strike me as the type of woman who relies greatly on material goods for pleasure. Besides, if I gave up too much for her, it would imply that Dacey is the true head of the house, and not everyone believes in gender equality as I do."

"Another prudent response, my lord," Maege stated approvingly, "After you are wed, will Dacey continue serving alongside you in the Legion? Or do you intend to have her stay in Moat Cailin for the rest of her life?"

"She will still be free to go where she likes," Gregor pronounced firmly, "Anytime she wishes to go riding, her horse will be available. I will never deny her the right to wield a sword, either. Except, perhaps, when she is heavily pregnant. I would be quite averse to her fighting if ever she is seven months with child or more. But even then, I would not demand of her to sheath her sword. I would simply suggest that she put it away until after the child's birth. Hopefully, she will not protest. Once she has regained her strength, I'll give her back her sword myself."

Maege was very satisfied with that response. It was just what she was hoping to hear, and Gregor meant every word of it.

After a moment, she gazed off to the side and muttered "It appears you have accounted for everything, Lord Gregor. Obviously you know what you are doing. Your feelings for my daughter are true, as are your reasons for wanting to wed her. This union would indeed be beneficial to both my house and yours. The two of you have the capacity to make the marriage a joyful and successful one. With all that in mind, I have every reason to give you my blessing."

At that, Gregor leaned forward expectantly.

A few seconds later, Maege continued with "However… before I do, there is one last factor that must be acknowledged."

"What is that?" Gregor inquired.

"I need to know just how far you would go for my daughter," Maege declared, "All this talk about sacrifices has not been mere conjecture. It is directly related to the issue at hand."

"How so?" Gregor asked.

"In a married couple, both partners often have to give some things up," Maege contended, "That's the way it is with every union. Even if their marriage is happy and without difficulties, they have to compromise at times. Whenever they compromise, they have to make sacrifices of their own."

"I… cannot dispute that," Gregor uttered, shrugging a bit, "But how is this relevant? Is there a sacrifice you would have me make?"

Maege sternly nodded her head. She then drew one of her daggers, gripped it by the blade, and held it out to Gregor. As he slowly took the weapon by the hilt, Maege instructed him "Take that dagger… and cut off one of your fingers."

Gregor felt himself overcome with shock and alarm. He gazed at her as though he was certain he had misheard her. He said uneasily "Come again?"

"The oldest bonds were formed with blood sacrifices," Maege enlightened him, "Typically, one would open up one's hand or face with a blade, and offer the spilt blood as a sign of one's compliance. But these days, you can hardly go three miles without someone else taking a slash at you. Cutting open yourself does not mean as much as it used to. As such, a more permanent sacrifice is often given instead."

Gregor was speechless. Up until now, he had spoken to and treated Lady Maege with nothing less than the utmost courtesy.

Now, he felt much less amenable. He looked to the Bear Island woman and grumbled irritatly, "What would this even prove?"

"It would prove how serious you are about this match," Maege uttered bluntly, "You wish to show me how much you wish to wed my daughter? Then do so. Give up a little piece of yourself so that you can have all of her."

"Dacey never mentioned anything like this," Gregor hastily pointed out.

"Probably because she was hoping to avoid it," Maege theorized, "Alas, I will not. This is a basic matter of principle, my lord. Now make your choice. Will you choose your hand or Dacey's?"

Gregor was already startled by the very concept of amputating his own finger. Now he was not even being allotted any time to think on this proposal. Maege was forcing him to make a choice right then.

The Mountain anxiously gazed at the dagger. It was very sharp, and it held a very fine edge. With one swift slash, it could slice clean through bone, skin, and muscle alike.

Furthermore, Gregor was very handy with a knife. He could make a very clean and precise cut.

Still, that did not make the idea of losing an appendage any easier to bear.

He desperately thought of ways around this predicament. Maybe he would not have to sever an entire finger.

Maybe Maege would be content with just one segment of his smallest digit. But he could not ask her that; it would be a sign of weakness.

He then recalled that there were such things as prosthetics in this world. Perhaps he could replace whichever finger he lost with a small rod of metal.

Then again, even if the prosthetic was shaped like an actual finger and moved like one, it would just be a substitute for the real thing.

He even considered asking Maege to use the dagger for him. But he swiftly banished that thought from his mind.

If he begged someone else to do a gruesome task that he himself was unwilling to do, it would be a huge blow to his honor and his decency.

From the look of things, there was no easy way around this dilemma. He only had two real options: sever one of his digits, or plead with Maege not to make him go through with the operation.

After a minute of tense silence, Gregor finally made his decision.

He slowly raised the dagger… and plunged its tip onto the surface of his desk. It landed nowhere near his other hand.

Gregor then looked up at Lady Maege Mormont and proclaimed unsteadily "I'm sorry, I…I can't do it. I can't… mutilate myself."

Maege seemed indifferent to that statement. She folded her arms and assumed "So you're refusing to make the sacrifice?"

"Yes, I'm refusing!" Gregor snapped heatedly, "But I'm not giving up on Dacey. I will do anything else – I mean, anything else – to appease you. I beg you to let me demonstrate the truth of that claim through some other means. Please do not doubt me when I say I love your daughter."

Maege did not respond to that proclamation straightaway. Over two minutes of unpleasant, intense silence elapsed before she finally opened her mouth. But when she did, speaking was not the first thing she did with it. Instead, she broke into a wide smile.

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