Thread: "I thee wed, in sickness and in health, in curses and...what?!" (w/ ƒeral)

The times were changing, and even the monarchs were not immune. To be sure, the seeming endless stretches of farm lands remained, peasant mulling away over the dredge of daily life, slaving away to provide the drinks and roasted lamb of their lords. But in the city center, in the bustle and hustle of merchant square, the health of a city was not measured by how many acres of land it possessed, but by how many galleons. Gold was the lifeblood of a city, and those who controlled it had a hand directly on the pulse of its heartbeat. Cross a thug, or even a woman, the saying went, but do not cross a merchant-prince. Of course, the nobility could not distinguish between the merchants even if they tried, the title only an honorary one bestowed by the humble people upon other humble people. Or not so humble, as it turned out, for this one dared to imbue his line with royal blood. The dowry was more than handsome, and the promise of new trade routes more than the king could resist. With aggression at Vyllam's northern borders, gold equaled arms equaled ration equaled safety. And the only price he had to pay was a single daughter. A sensible deal. A wise decision. But fathers were ever so poor at accounting for the free will of their children. It was nearly ten minutes after the dinner began that the merchant finally scrambled to the royal palace, child and wife in tow. But if the beads of sweat steadily rolling down his portly face wasn't any indication, but one look at his child, his daughter , was enough to communicate that something was wrong. My sincerest apologies, my lord, Erik van Buren was quick to bow, embroidered cloth of rich purple silk trembling and shifting from the unnecessary flourishing. He was richly dressed, adorned with all the attestments of his wealth. Already balding at fifty, he wasn't much to look at beyond the intelligent, calculating gleam in his eyes. His daughter, on the other hand, looked nothing like him. She did not wear his subservient, pup-ish smile, her sharp silver-gray eyes polite enough, but with boredom barely contained. Loose waves of dark hair, nearly black in the absence of light, tumbled down her shoulders in inky tendrils, framing a lightly tanned complexion, features almost too regal and proud for mere merchants. Her outfit was enough to raise brows as well. It was...sort of a dress, but only sort of. The thin leather pauldrons served no purposes a proper lady could think of, and the criss-cross of leather bustier just barely kept her not ungenerous bosom modest. Then there was the belt, adorned with burnished silver buckles, the strip of diagonal leather hanging from it what could have easily been the holster of a weapon. It was a compromise. She wanted to wear pants and she wanted to not be here. But Erik could be quite the persuasive man, so here she was, all feigned affable smile and disinterested eyes. My daughter and heir, Raelyn, the merchant-prince gestured, portly face contorting with a too-wide grin, attempting to make up for his obvious problems with exaggerated saccharine cordiality. Raelyn paused as the attention was directed to her, and a flicker of annoyance swept across her features, gone in a heartbeat as if it was never there. Pleased to make your acquaintances, your lordships and your ladyships, she bowed. Bowed, not curtsied, in a surprisingly well practiced sweep, before directing her gaze at the king. And my liege, your royal highness. It pained her to say the words, but she didn't show it on her face. All the while she kept shooting curious glances at the princess in question, gazes of half-dread and half-inquiry, certainly not the worshipful, lustful stares she was probably used to being directed at her comely face. There would be questions, of course, but her father would be the one to answer those. God knows she's done more than her part already. Raelyn sighed on the inside. Her idiot brother. Whatever and wherever was that damn bastard now to leave her this mess.