"General Jalinus, please prepare an unit of pushtigban to escort me on my journey. I will depart the day after tomorrow, so please, be ready. I will then ask of you to, once again, to take care of the palace in my absence."
Yazdegerd, being busy preparing for the long journey to Constantinople had to take care of many things, bodyguards being one of them.
"Of course, my Shahanshah, they shall be ready for you whenever you wish," answered Jalinus with a bow, loyal as ever.
"Jalinus, that reminds me, I have gotten several requests from nobles across the Empire to offer you their daughters' hand. Might I introduce you to one of those?" asked Yazdegerd. He felt a sense of superiority while saying this, considering he was much younger than Jalinus yet was already engaged. Jalinus smiled awkwardly.
"I guess it must come one day, huh? It is hard being unmarried in such an esteemed position," said Jalinus. "Are there any offers from Christian nobles, perhaps?"
"I am not sure. I didn't read them, but I'll have them sent to you, so you can take a look personally."
"Thank you, my Shahanshah."
Yazdegerd then promptly left the room, leaving Jalinus alone. But Jalinus stayed. What Yazdegerd told him weighed on his mind. He has dedicated his whole life to serving either his nation, or his Empire. He has gotten few offers here and there, him being of noble descent, but only when he overtook the hazarbed office did the offers ramp up in numbers and intensity. He was refusing them at first, but soon he began to ignore them altogether. His mind wasn't in a state to get married – he was getting used to his new role and had to give his all during the Arab war. But now, that the dust has settled, he realized that getting married might be beneficial for him now. After all, his Shahanshah got engaged, all while bearing his responsibilities and being on edge during the war. And he was much younger than Jalinus.
It must come one day. Jalinus was in his early thirties. It was high time for him to search for a wife. It didn't take long for the letters be brought to Jalinus. He was hesitant at first, but soon he began to open each letter. Each and every one of them was full of sweet talk, how it would be a great honour for them to be bound with Jalinus' family and lineage. How the girls being offered were both clever and beautiful, but mainly young. Sometimes as young as fifteen. Jalinus read every letter to the last… letter. His mind was in a state he wasn't familiar with. That strange yet good feeling, of seeing hundreds of nobles, merchants and other notables to fight for the right to marry their daughters to him. It was arrogance. And Jalinus realized it way too quickly.
Jalinus was a religious man, not a one to be overtaken by such basic emotions. He studied each offer meticulously and sorted them into two piles. One, very small, contained offers from houses that were Christian, mostly Armenian and Georgian nobles. The second pile, which contained the majority of letters, were the rest.
As pious as he was, he ordered to have the letters from non-christian families discarded. While devoting himself to serve an Empire encompassing several religions, he wasn't prepared nor willing to devote his personal life the same way. He still was a firm believer and one of the requirements for his wife was for her to be from a Christian family. One offer in particular came across as interesting. An offer from the noble house Bagrationi.
He was surprised. The House of Bagrationi was an almost legendary Georgian and Armenian house with its roots going back hundreds of years, some legends claiming their direct descendancy to King David of Judea. The sender was Mushegh II. Bagrationi, ruler of a small county in Sassanid Armenia called Nakhichevan. His would-be wife is apparently called Artaxia, after the ancient Armenian capital Artaxat. Jalinus found that fact lovely. Apparently, she only recently reached her twentieth year of life, meaning she was over ten years younger than Jalinus. But considering other options were marrying girls as young as fifteen, he didn't mind. To wed a girl that young simply rubbed him the wrong way. Most nobles wouldn't mind having an extremely young wife – they saw marriage as a tool of politics, and having their bride either from a prominent family, or young and healthy was their main priority - to consolidate and strengthen their standing on the domestic ladder. And there wasn't anything wrong with that. But Jalinus had the privilege of not caring about such things.
He already was on the top. After years of hard work and commitment on his duties, he was the one who helped to lead the Empire from the crisis, he contributed to the defeat of Arabs and to the prosperity the Empire was enjoying right now. It was no small feat and he was proud about it, and rightfully. But he never let his pride evolve into a boast.
He took a quill and began writing. He wanted to show his respect, but at the same time to now fall into veneration. After all, on the social ladder, he was much higher than some count in Armenia. The words flew elegantly onto the papyrus and Jalinus felt as if he knew exactly what to write. Devotion was the main priority for him, and as such he included this condition in his letter, albeit in a more esteemed way. More as a request than an order. When he finished, he was satisfied. Comfortable. Confident. Many a time has he doubted himself, especially on a field of battle, or the first weeks in his newly acquired position, but that was gone. In the past years he has proven to himself that he is very much capable, and his self-esteem was never higher. Of course, he still kept his humility, as a good Christian should. Then he called for a servant.
With Jalinus' response on the way, he could once again devote himself to his duties. And to his Shahanshah.
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Hello there, dear reader. The university has taken its toll on me, together with my creativity and desire to write leaving, I took a long, long pause. Some may call it being burnt out, I call it laziness. And I am sorry. I will try to write more during the summer, since I have the time now, and I want to make it once again into a routine of sorts. So hopefully I will go back to writing chapters regularly. If you are still here, reading this, then know that I am grateful for your support. Have a nice summer, my friends.