Thread: Sold to an Arrangement (Rania Lark x Wander)

Right after the ceremony and the happy couple made their exit from the Basilica, Princess Susanna was whisked out of the presence of her new husband to prepare her for their consummation. Her previous life was officially over and gone as now she was to serve her new husband in the aspect of bearing him a strong heir as well as a second son to ascend should the first not survive his father. She was to be a brood mare for the throne and her wishes for freedom were lost to her forever. Like a caged bird, her wings were to be clipped and her life would confine her to the castle. Her ladies-in-waiting shuffled her off to a second dressing chamber, this one much larger as the future queen would wont to have. It was opulent, filled with gowns and jewels fit for one of her new title but nothing in the room appealed to the Princess. She had no desire for any of the riches, nor the fine fabrics of the clothes if it had meant her freedom would be the payment. But she was not to protest anymore. She was married to the Crown Prince and her title would prevent her from any disobedience, lest she be cast out. The ladies went to work removing the layers of fabric wrapped and tied about their Princess body. The large skirts were removed, the corset, the bodice, and her shoes. Her hair was released from its tie of curls as the tiara and veil were untangled from her tresses. She was dressed in the finest linen dressing gown with fur lined slippers placed over her feet. Her hair was left to hang down over her shoulders, framing her beauty with a brunette wave of hair. After a last glance to ensure her beauty was not hidden by any means, the maids escorted her out of the dressing room once again, this time to the marriage chamber. She was escorted quickly, her steps silent as the maids shuffled silently as well. Once inside the room, they sat her upon the large feather bed with a solid wood canopy in the center of the room. With another flourish and check of their Princess beauty and readiness for her first night as a married woman, the maids departed and left Susanna to her fate. The Princess didnt have to wait long before the large, heavy door was pushed open and her new husband entered, his expression the same as her own as he stalked across the room, stopping before her seated form before he spoke. His words did not cut her as he seemed to be offering, but echoed her own sentiments of the entire situation. She wanted him no more than he desired her. Both of them were forced into this union without consent nor love and neither seemed to want to please their parents. But Susanna was not one to speak without thinking and she listened politely to his statements, his lamentations of their relationship, or lack thereof, and what he commanded her to do in order to placate any curiosities of anyone within the kingdom. When he offered his hand, Susanna remained silent for a moment before she spoke, her words calculated and full of an intelligence rarely found from such a high born woman. You lament your lack of choice within this marriage yet you fail to realize that you are not the only one within this room, Susanna replied, standing up from the bed, her linen shift falling around her ankles, I would implore you to consider the individuals circumstances standing before you. You claim that you had to endure circumstances no other should have to endure, yet you have no knowledge of the forcible removal and travel here from my own Kingdom at the order of my own father. My travels to a foreign land to marry a stranger who very well could treat me as your Kingdoms reputation preceded. I did not come here with some romantic story in my mind of a romance for the ages, Susanna continued, In fact, I would have much rather married a shepherd working out in an isolated field. At least then there could be love. Though you have repeatedly asserted that you will never love me and that we both must feign our escapades in the bedroom, I would implore you to reconsider your assertion of never even getting to know me. I propose a counter offer, Highness. I will do as you request and feign a relationship for any curious eyes but I will do so without payment of riches. What I propose is that you at least attempt a friendship with me. I have no friends and no family within this land and though I will pursue my own interests, being the Princess will restrict any friendships with anyone other than those I will be deceiving. With her final words, she held out her own hand, fingers held together for him to shake her hand.