An Arranged Marriage

The following archive is a historical piece taking place around 970AE.

Even before the quadan arrived at the House Corren estate in their gravrail liner, Lela Palienne could hear the swell of the music. Younger and more excitable than her cousin and companion in the liner's cabin, Lela shuffled across, enthusiastically ushering her favourite handmaid Pheobia out of the way so she could look through the window.

The vast estate stretched out a hundred metres below them, the grandiose mansion a centrepiece for a brilliantly coloured square kilometre of festivity illuminated like a beacon in the dark evening. Lela sighed in awe as she saw the bright parades of Corren models circling the grounds far below.

"Come on Lela, you've seen a fashion show on TV before." Teased Devina from the opposite seat.

Lela shot her a look. "You know it's not the same." She said.

Devina answered the deflection with a playful smile. She enjoyed teasing her little cousin at the best of times, but now it seemed a little flat. She was presently using the cheeky humour to keep her mind off the nerve-wracking deal they had come to make with the representatives from House Malbern, but she was still trying and failing to stave off her own stage fright.

"Touching down now, mistress." Called the heavily tattooed lowbown commandeering the liner from the forecabin.

Devina stood a little too quickly and checked her gown for dust and fluff nervously.

Lela stood too, more out of deference to Devina's superiority than of duty, and the two women readied themselves for disembarkation.

The moment they landed, their pilot Ciledro rushed from his seat and held the door for the three women: the illustrious Palienne women and their lowborn handmaid Phoebia. The two highborn were dressed in long, flowing green gowns of subtly different shades, thin straps and deep necklines exposing their clear and uninked shoulders and chests. Their feet were clad in delicate and intricate flat shoes, visible beneath their semitransparent dresses as was the fashion. Outlines of perfectly formed legs were visible beneath their gowns from the foot to above the knee before the fabric became opaque and covered their form. Pheobe was dressed more simply: a skirt and semitransparent loose shirt over a floral brassiere, thickly inked skin visible both on her exposed legs and beneath the sheer fabric.

Ciledro joined them as their attendant in his long trousers and open sleeveless vest as they walked through the great doors to the entrance hall, his House Palienne tattoos visible for all to see.

Lela gazed around the room in awe, eyes drinking the rich colours and ogling the numerous scantily and fashionably dressed lowborn parading about the space. They represented the immense wealth of House Corren, and every single one was tattooed with its unmistakable crest as well as the phrase "Together through life and death", the motto of their house.

The moment the group entered the space, a lowborn attendant in a traditional fitted suit approached and said "Ladies Palienne, master Malbern has permitted your company in the Eastern garden."

Devina narrowed her eyes for a near imperceptible fraction of a second. The Eastern garden was not his to gatekeep, nor was their company to be 'permitted'.

She regained her composure immediately, and waved a hand for the attendant to take them to the House Malbern representative. The attendant spun on a heel and began to weave through the crowds, guiding the party to an archway on the Eastern side of the great space. The arch's edges were woven with vines and delicate white flowers, further gesticulating on the perfection of House Corrin's taste. As they walked, the attendant side-stepped and ducked around the people both performing and viewing in the hall. Lowborns parted for the Pelienne cousins, going about their business in such a way that allowed for effortless passage of the highborn.

Arriving at the arch, Lela placed a hand softly against the vines and peered around the corner. The garden was just as impressive as the hall, but with a very different mood. Here, warm fairy lights provided dull illumination and the colours of the lowborn models' clothing were shown in an entirely different way, with previously unseen highlights and shapes shifting and appearing in the cool evening air.

She saw him immediately amongst the fields of twinkling lights, surrounded by House Corren lowborn and lowborn of his own house: House Malbern. Lela had to stop herself from spinning and gripping her cousin, for the representitive of House Malbern was the head of the family himself: Hertio Malbern.

He was easy to pick out: Tall and muscular, shirtless and reclining on an extravagant sofa, he struck a very regal figure. His waist length black hair was styled with intricate braids woven with gold ribbon and he wore loose trousers made for someone who did not do his own dirty work. An exemplary example of a firaxi highborn.

Hertio Malbern spotted Lela Palienne at the same time as she saw him, and he waved his posse away, never letting his eyes stray from Lela's. He beckoned, and she went to him, sitting on a settee facing the highborn nobleman. Her sister joined her, and their lowborn attendants flanked them, reclining comfortably on the arms of the narrow seat.

"Ladies," he said warmly. "How are you enjoying your evening?"

His eyes were naturally narrow, and it gave him a rakish, uncaring sort of look. But the man was intelligent; the Paliennes could tell by looking that he had a very sound mind and would likely drive a hard bargain.

"It's an honour to meet with you." Devina said. "The show is wonderful."

Lela could already tell that there was tension in the air. Deferring to her sister, she stayed quiet and allowed the small talk to continue. Hopefully the ordinary speech would warm them to each other and the difficult deal brokering could be made more smooth.

Hertio sat back and splayed his hands. "Absolutely! House Corren has the most wonderful ideas, and of course the perfect models to show off their brilliant skill." He smiled knowingly. "A product of clever breeding and selection I'm sure."

Devina nodded. "They certainly have a special something." She cleared her throat. "How are your family's fortunes?"

"No worse than usual." He said absently, watching a passing model twirl, loose fabric billowing out around her curvaceous body. "Little Anguer has been talking about women." He said amusedly. "Can you believe it? He's fifteen now."

Putting on a nearly genuine smile, Devina said "He's almost ready to work with his father."

She was already growing frustrated with the verbal ritual she had been forced to undertake; Hertio knew why they were there, and he had been dancing around the point as if he knew something they did not.

"Well, he's known how to fire a gun for years now. Useful in our business." Hertio said, locking eyes with Devina. He sighed. "I suppose we have business to discuss."

Lela opened her mouth to contribute to the discussion, but Hertio sat upright and extended a hand, palm up, towards her shoulder, a questioning look on his face as if he were asking permission for something. She closed her mouth and looked at him quizically, before quickly realising that her handmaid Phoebia was lounging there behind her. A lightning fast flush of anger passed through her. Of all the lowborn on this estate, he wanted to consort with her? A power play. He knew exactly what he was doing, and she didn't like it at all. But she had been forced into a corner; refusal of this request would have been seen as unreasonable and untrusting, so she waved a hand in offering and Phoebia obediently moved to his side. She sat down, and he placed a large hand on her thigh, just above her knee.

"Now, I understand that there is a young lady of House Pelienne?" He asked, leaning back once again, now with Phoebia lounging against him.

"You understand correctly." Devina said coolly. "Kiela is twelve now, and in demand. We thought that since our houses share common interests, it would be beneficial for us both if the two were married."

Hertio pouted and looked up in thought. The bright stars were a perfect mirror of the fairy lights below; great fires millions of kilometres across reflected pathetically with simple electronics. But in a way, they were both beautiful in their simultaneous complexity and simplicity.

"Of course, there are benefits in such a marriage." He said elusively. "House Palienne gains a powerful ally in blood: A military connection. But for House Malbern..." He trailed off and appeared to think further. "Well, we would marry into a farming family. Food would be plentiful, I am sure." A smirk tweaked his lips.

"House Palienne is heavily involved with agricultural management." Lela said, taking the baton from her cousin. "We manage farms just as House Corren manages tailors, and nothing needs to be said about their success, I'm sure."

Hertio nodded and appeared to take Lela's point on board for a moment. His hand trailed slightly higher on Pheobia's leg, tracing the lines of a bird tattoo around her inner thigh. He lifted the hem of her skirt ever so slightly to reach its wingtip, still directly facing the highborn with whom he was talking. Pheobia subtly adjusted her shirt with a free hand.

"House Corren is an impressive family, I do not disagree." He mused. "They have an impressive history, too." He paused for a moment. "And a young daughter, do they not?"

He let the implication hang in the air for a moment, narrow eyes closely analysing the ladies' faces for any hint of a reaction.

Devina, not letting her face display her thoughts over which the Malbern would no doubt gloat, said "Yes, a lovely six year-old. A sweet child, but of course nowhere near the age to be considering marriage." She knew that marriages had been arranged with far greater age gaps, but she knew also that House Malbern were purists in that regard, and did not like to draw attention to themselves. An arranged marriage with such an age difference would likely gain some criticism.

Hertio nodded, smiling. He clearly enjoyed the banter, and thrilled in the chance to talk with someone who would give as much verbiage as she took.

"A point worth taking into consideration nonetheless." He said casually. "Now as far as I see it, House Palienne stands to gain more from a marital union between our families than House Malbern." He stared at Devina and Lela passively, apparently having finished his thought; it was their turn to respond. He absent-mindedly trailed a circling finger lazily on Peobia's thigh, lightly brushing the hem of her skirt at the apoapsis of each rotation.

"Does not the husband's family more commonly provide the dowry?" Devina quipped.

Hertio's hand stopped moving and he drew in a breath, holding it in thought for a moment, taking his time to plan his words. His eyes roamed the space, taking in the twinkle of the fairy lights and the sway of the petals of the vines in the gentle wind. Finally, they rested on the stomach of the lowborn woman next to him.

"Let me tell you," he began, shifting his position and turning towards Pheobia. "Of a little planet called Earth." He looked into Pheobia's eyes, and her lips parted a little in shock at the direct attention. Catching on to his words, she lightly lifted the hem of her shirt, exposing her stomach and ribs, as well as several elegant tattoos of planets thereon. He placed a finger on the soft skin on her ribs where existed a small blue orb and continued.

"Earth is now commonly known as Port Elizabeth, but my point is about way back when it was just a little self-contained planet with individual nations called Earth." He circled his finger around the little blue planet on Pheobia's skin as he spoke, and Lela did her best not to interrupt. Pheobia was her handmaid, and this action was a significant statement of power and Hertio's assumption that he held the cards in this discussion.

"Earth, thousands of years ago, had a tradition of arranged marriage. I'm sure many parts still do, but it was much more prevalent back then." He lifted Pheobia's shirt yet more, exposing her ribs to just below the underwire of her decorated brasserre. The lowborn girl took in a sharp nervous breath. Here, two tiny ink people held each others' hands and ran through a field full of miniscule yellow flowers.

"The husband's family," he stroked the male figure. "Gifted the wife's family," he moved across to the female. "A dowry. Now these people were savages. They gave the wife to the husband. But not us, no." He lowered the shirt back into place and leaned in close to the lowborn's cheek. "We are not savages." He whispered conspirationally, loud enough for the highborn women to hear, tracing a light finger around the outside curve of her breast. "We do not own people." He whispered, as he delicately slid the bra strap from her shoulder. "We do not pay for lives." He whispered, a finger running along her collarbone. "We make deals, and we expect not to be insulted." His hand rested betwen the lowborn's collarbones now, and it began to slide slowly downwards as he stared into Devina's eyes.

Devina stood. "Well then, it is unfortunate that you do not believe our marriage proposal to be beneficial. We wish you the best of luck with your proposal to House Corren."

Pheobia paused for a moment, slightly unsure and a little giddy. Returning to the moment, she stood and hastened back to her post beside Lela, efficiently fixing her clothing. Lela stood with her protectively, staring Hertio down.

Hertio shrugged his hands. "Unfortunate. I'm sure a marriage would have been beneficial."

The party from house Palienne departed, and Hertio Malbern watched them go amusedly, snapping his fingers for a drink.

"Ah, that was fun." He chuckled as his personal assistant moved in, drink in his hands.

"Master, if I may, would not their marriage proposal have been beneficial to House Malbern?" He said quietly.

"Mm." Hertio said, drinking. "Not to worry. They are feuding with House Quintien; they will need us in the coming years. There is nowhere else for them to go." And today, he thought. I put them in their place. They will know I am in charge when they come crawling back.

Back in the gravrail liner, Lela fumed. "Damn it Pheobia!" She raged. "Never do that again! Do you understand?"

"Yes mistress." Replied the handmaid, fighting back tears of shame. "I'm sorry."

Devina simply stared out the window of the liner, looking down at the fairy lights of the garden as they took off, their pattern and the pattern of the stars high above overlaying each other in the reflection on the window. All she could think of was House Quintien and their ever growing market share. That Malbern bastard had been one step ahead of them the entire time.