Despite his surprise at the situation confronting him in the privy council room, King Guitard quickly reached a decision regarding how he was to marry. Following his choice on October 8th 1123, messages were sent to the Aquitanian ambassadors stationed at the Capetian court in Paris to formalize the union between the young King and Eve Capet. Knowing that the future of the realm might well depend on the execution of this duty, the envoys threw themselves into their work.
Their efforts soon bore fruit, for Guitard and his councilors were not the only ones to sense that reconciliation between the two kingdoms would be served by the marriage. Eager in his own way to be done with the costly and wearisome shadow war between Aquitania and France, King Louis graciously accepted the proposals of the Aquitanian dignitaries with minimal addendums. Age had tempered the bellicose nature that defined his youth and the troubles within the borders of his country’s old ally Germany necessitated a shift in foreign policy, perhaps one closely tied with his neighbor to the south. Eve herself would depart with an entourage of baggage and retainers for her new home in Bordeaux within a month’s time.
While they would not be united in any formal alliance, trade barriers that had stood between the two lands since Aquitanian independence fifteen years previous would be slowly dissolved to allow for increased commerce and economic cooperation between the states. Threat of war between the cousin cultures, which had hung over both lands for a decade and a half, was generally forgotten overnight as rumor gave way to fact regarding the union between the ruling houses.
Within Aquitania itself, King Guitard waited anxiously as the days for his bride’s arrival slowly passed. Numerous gifts of state from great personages and city councils across the realm flooded into Bordeaux castle in anticipation of the event, their givers usually attaching some note addressed to the King. A somewhat powerful Spanish baron’s well wishes and gift of a set of gilded plates attached to a request to have the King’s support in a feud over property with a monastery was an unexceptional example. Responding to his mother’s advice that a sign of generosity would endear the young King to the great nobles, Guitard actually returned most of the items sent, claiming that the support and loyalty of all his subjects would be more valuable than any gift he could ever hope to receive.
As Eve’s date of arrival drew closer, preparations for a great feast in celebration of the event were proceeding apace. Faced with the large bill that the event demanded, Guitard’s chief steward, Flora of Bordeaux, recommended the implementation of a special one time tax on the peasant communities around the capital to help finance it. Guitard acquiesced to the advice and many peasant families were surprised to find that an extra five percent of their newly harvested crops would be taken in order to show their devotion and thankfulness to the de Toulouse line. Luckily, violence did not erupt in the local municipalities, most peasants took the arbitrary tax in stride and only a few more starved in the winter than was normal.
Marc Kerne, King of Brittany, took the opportunity of the upcoming wedding to show his support and friendship to the Aquitanian throne. His ambassadors at Bordeaux quickly offered to renew the alliance between the two states as Guitard held court in the days before his wedding. Taking into consideration the growing power of the Breton throne in the south of Iberia and the help that such a position would offer in the event of another war with the Muslim powers there, Guitard replied that the alliance would be acceptable.
The initial meeting between Guitard and Eve was cool, neither spoke the other’s language well and Eve’s accent made most of her sentences indecipherable to Guitard. It little mattered for the ceremony itself and the couple quickly settled into married life in their own way. Each kept mostly to their own, having little contact beyond state functions or the bedroom and it seemed likely to remain that way, since Guitard’s wife showed no interest in taking a more active role in the running of her new home. Good news arrived as 1124 dawned, for it was clear that Eve was carrying a child.
The prospect of an heir so early in his reign set Guitard’s spirits to the highest they had been since his ascension. Events within the realm remained as stable as could be expected; no major crisis had emerged after the first harrowing months of his rule. While there were still several vassals, namely the Bishop of Zaragoza and Lleida, that remained seemingly halfhearted in their devotion to the new King, none was in danger of rebelling against the ruling authority. With these circumstances in mind and no longer troubled by the nightmares and day dreams of his father’s last minutes, King Guitard engaged in a series of policies that would indelibly leave their mark on the entirety of his reign.
In order to further ensure his stature in the eyes of his vassals, the Aquitanian monarch took the crown of the Kingdom of Navarre in addition to his other titles. Indeed, little but humility had stopped Zavie from adding the moniker to his name, but Guitard was easily persuaded by his mother and other councilors that the move would increase his prestige immensely. Setting aside a substantial sum for the ceremony itself, Guitard was crowned King of Navarre and the Basques within the Pamplona cathedral in the spring of 1124.
News also arrived regarding Guitard’s brother, who he could recall only shadowy memories of before the second child was sent to the monastery. The monks congratulated Guitard on the recent events in his Kingdom and reported that Guiges was continuing his education at a prodigious rate. The youth had reapplied himself to the study of scripture and was now quite an authority on many fine points of ecclesiastical law. King Guitard was pleased with the news that his sibling was successful in his chosen field, but could not think within himself what to do with his estranged brother once the education was complete.
Serving at court was currently out of the question, the Pope had recently sent a churchman of vast experience to the court of Bordeaux to finally replace Agostino da Romano, years after the former diocese bishop was appointed to the titles of Zaragoza and Lleida. Joccelin de Caumont was not exactly what Guitard had supposed a Bishop to be, a sense of unease over the man’s seemingly lightheartedness over several points of canon was troubling to the religious youth. But none could doubt the man’s experience and suitability to life at court; Guiges would not be assuming the man’s position anytime soon unless accident or age put an end to Joccelin.
The months ticked by with Eve’s pregnancy growing nearer to term. Guitard continued to have limited contact with the French princess, most of his information coming from the physicians that oversaw the progression of her condition. Considering her state, it was forbidden to Guitard to lay with his wife and the restriction was driving the humours of his teenage body wild. While not an overly lustful person by nature and normally quite devout, he reacted on impulse when he caught sight of an attractive maid in his wife’s service. Weeks passed filled with the maid’s late night visits to his chambers, but cautious maneuvering seemed to limit the chances for Guitard’s wife to discover the adultery.
It was not long before the King ended the affair and the maid set back to her regular duties in service to his wife, who remained seemingly unaware of any dalliance. After a difficult delivery, July of 1124 saw the arrival of Guitard’s first child, a daughter that he christened Margarida. Eve survived any danger of after birth fever and remained in high spirits, promising her husband a son the next time. The gender of the child was a disappointment, but Guitard was still young and his wife had proven herself fertile, time would certainly deliver him an heir.
Within the Queen’s service, a maid began to show the first signs of pregnancy.