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Bobby had the worst headache ever. He was eager to know exactly who had thought it was a genius idea to decide that the noble families required matchmakers to determine alliances. He understood the theory – a matchmaker would do what was best for everyone, not allow factions to develop that encouraged inbreeding – but in practice, the matchmakers before Bobby had been so easily bribed that it didn’t work out that way.
Which, of course, did not make it any easier on Bobby when he had to be the one to tell the nobles that things were going to be working a little differently now. He would make decisions in the best interests of the whole kingdom. That was what Chuck had appointed him for, after all – he trusted that Bobby was tough and grumpy enough not to care about his unpopularity, as long as Chuck had his back. Which Chuck did, even when Bobby refused Chuck’s own son’s attempt at a bribe to marry him to Sam Winchester.
Which was why Bobby was rather surprised when Chuck showed up in full formal dress. That usually meant trouble, from a king. “Your Majesty. What brings you here?”
“My youngest son. Castiel. He wants to marry. You’ve already arranged a match for him, but he’s got someone else in mind.” Chuck’s tail twitched, betraying his agitation. “Castiel’s a stubborn fish. I wanted to see what we could do.”
Bobby scowled. He’d arranged the match between Castiel and Sam, making him wonder if Lucifer had found a way to put Castiel up to this. “Who’s he wanting to marry?”
“Her name’s Kelly Kline.” Bobby made a face. Not royal, not noble, and a woman at that. He’d gone for a man for Castiel because with five older brothers, children were unlikely to be a concern, and there was good reason to get one of John Winchester’s sons married into the royal family. Bobby had wanted to marry Dean to the only girl in the family, Anna, but Anna swam off with a princess from their rival’s kingdom before he could do it. “Castiel wants to marry her because when her baby was born, it was obvious that she’d been telling the truth that he was a royal bastard. It’s not Castiel’s, but he wants to step up for his nephew.”
“Is it Lucifer’s?” Bobby asked before his brain could stop the question. Chuck’s reaction gave it away. “Send Castiel here. I want to talk to him. If you came here to ask me to stop it or approve it, you should know better, I’ll do what I think is best for the kingdom.”
“I know you will. That’s why I brought this to you.” Chuck started out, and then turned back. “What about the girl? Do you want to talk to her, too?”
“Yes,” Bobby decided after barely a second’s thought. Probably just as well to get her side of the story.
Kelly made it to Bobby first, giving a proper bow of respect. “My lord. How may I be of service?”
“You know who I am, I trust.”
“Yes, my lord.” Kelly met his eyes, a slight smirk poking out from under her respectful mask. “You’re the royal matchmaker, the man I need to convince if Prince Castiel and I wish to be allowed to marry. No amount of talking will defend or explain away my humble origins or birthing a bastard, so I admit, I’m curious what your concern is.”
“Who’s the father?”
“With all due respect, sir, that will remain my secret.” Bobby’s eyebrows shot up, and Kelly explained herself, “If you know, you might try to force me to marry him. After what he did to me, I would rather the king order me put to death than marry him.”
Well. Either Kelly was a very good actress, or Bobby had no reason to fear that she was a pawn of Lucifer seeking to free up Sam. “You have my word. You marry Castiel or no one in the royal family.”
“I don’t need your word. If you don’t know who to marry me to, you have no reason to.”
“It’s Lucifer, then. Were you aware that Lucifer wanted to marry Castiel’s current fiancé, but I refused to allow it?” Kelly shook her head. “So you can understand my concern here, that Lucifer was using you to exploit the situation. After all, if we were to consider allowing him to marry you despite his marriage to Lilith, he could try to convince me to reopen marrying Sam, too.”
“Oh. That’s not the case.” Kelly dropped her eyes. “I wasn’t looking to take Castiel from Sam. I fully expected that if you allowed the marriage, I would be in the role of the secondary spouse. I don’t think Castiel is looking to get out of marrying Sam, either. If it would help, I would gladly marry Sam as well. If you think Lucifer might pull such shenanigans to get to him, then he could probably use the protection too.”
With that in mind, Bobby’s meeting with Castiel was likely to be short. “Your highness. Thank you for coming.” Why he’d brought the baby along, Bobby had no idea, unless it was some kind of mind game.
“You have concerns about Kelly. Bobby, she and Jack need protection, and I can give it to her. That’s all there is to this marriage.” Castiel swam to the desk, leaning his hands on it. “This is Jack. I may not be his father, but I want to be, and he deserves that.”
Bobby snorted. He may not be the father yet, but there was no denying the boy was his son. “You know it’s not just that simple for a prince.”
Castiel squinted. “I fail to see how it affects the kingdom. As she is of low birth, the marriage would be morganatic, and any children we end up having would be ineligible for royal status unless a catastrophe strikes. If we have children.”
“I’m not thinking of children. You’re right. It’s Sam.”
“Polygamy is unusual but not unheard of. Sam will be my primary mate, with Kelly as a secondary. Sam’s aware of the situation and is the one who suggested the arrangement. I would never have thought of it.” Castiel tilted his head, and then his eyes widened. “You thought Lucifer was manipulating the situation.”
“Yep. Not worried anymore. Just one more question. Would you or Sam object to him marrying her too, so that if something happens to you she’s got that extra protection instead of being a widow?”
“I have no objection, and I don’t think Sam would. What about Kelly?”
“She agreed to it already.” Bobby reached for a piece of seaweed parchment and wrote out the official amendment to Castiel’s marriage arrangement. “Take this to your father, and tell Sam thank you.”