Athanor stayed calm as their dance slowed. "...I assume there's a good deal more sitting behind that marriage proposal."
Hestia smiled. "Of course there is. Marriages between nobles are rarely built on affection alone."
"So the marriage itself is simply a name. What I'm actually after is a trade. I'm not offering you my love, and I'm certainly not demanding yours. I'm proposing a merger, one that pays out for the both of us."
"Explain," Athanor said.
"Lux Aeterna has been a disaster for ages, purely in the way it's governed." Her voice stayed pleasant, conversational.
"Father Zeus only enjoys sitting on the throne and doesn't enjoys the responsibilities that come with it. So those duties get carved up and parceled out among his children, and their children after them."
