Inheritance. EMELAN.
Does she still want you to be king? We're not as friendly as we used to be.
PG
GEOFFREY
Does she still want you to be king?
RICHARD
We’re not as friendly as we used to be.
--The Lion in Winter, James Goldman
“Uncle,” said Sandry. She curtsied properly, and though she met his eyes, her expression gave nothing away.
“Sandrilene,” Duke Vedris said. He spoke quite warmly, but the smile withered on his face when he saw the coldness in hers. “I have missed you.”
Sandry stood quietly. “I apologize for any inconvenience I have caused.”
Another man would have been angry, looking at her. “Will you sit?”
Vedris knew her well.
“Thank you,” said Sandry. She sat, and her skirts fanned perfectly around her feet. He wondered if she used her magic to accomplish that.
There was no warmth in her.
“I have not long left to live,” said Vedris quietly.
“I know,” said Sandry. Vedris knew how to listen, and he heard the sadness. He thought some of it might even be for him.
“You will become the Duchess of Emelan.” She flinched, though it was nothing she had not known for years. She flinched, but she did not protest.
He approved of that. “You no longer object?”
“Of course I object!” Sandry said. “And I beg you to reconsider. Or I would,” she added bitterly, “if you had not already contracted a marriage for me and announced it and my future inheritance to the world.”
“You always were an intelligent girl,” said Vedris.
She lifted her chin and straightened her back, but not from pride and she said nothing.
“Sandry,” he said gently.
“I’m twenty-nine,” she said. “I haven’t been called Sandry since - ” She stopped, because it was a lie. She was still Sandry to her friends and always would be. “I’m twenty-nine,” she said again.
“I know,” said Vedris. “And I will not name another heir in your place. You are the best choice. Truly, you are the only choice.”
She said nothing until he dismissed her.
This is slightly changed from the original piece. It is still 300 words, not counting the quote.