Arranged Marriages (second try...) ~Restarted~

Prince Rhay of Draconia - The Ballroom

I seated myself in the corner, like a coward. I didn’t want to be a coward, I just couldn’t help it. Most of the other princes and princesses were dancing or chatting quietly, making small talk. I was nearly invisible from the corner I cowered in, but I could see poor Cecily standing like a pale dove near her father, looking visibly distraught. She was scanning the crowd, searching for something, someone. Me. Gulping, our eyes met and her face lit up. After whispering in her father`s ear, she confidently strode across the room towards me. I panicked and franticly scouted the room for a nearby exit. There were none.
“Hello Rhay.”
“Ummm… He...Hello prin…princess Cecily.” She looked expectantly at me as if I needed to say something more. “Yo…you lo…look great…?” Still, she glared at me warily. “Ummm…” My eyes flashed around the ballroom in a frenzied search for something to say. “Love…lovely we…weather we’re hav…having today.” I stumbled over my words as if my tongue were tied in a knot.
“Yes, I would like to dance.” Cecily quietly announced as If I had just asked. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me into a standing position. There was no way to argue, to disagree. Cecily’s mind was made up and as I can see, there is no changing her mind.
She turned to face me on the dance floor. I wrapped my arm around her waist and began dancing. Twirling her out, she asked, “What’s it like to ride on a dragon?”
I was surprised by her question and took a few seconds to formulate an answer. “It’s like you’re on top of the world.” All of my nervousness melted away and I spoke in a steady voice as we spun around the dance floor. “Nothing can hurt you when you’re soaring a thousand feet in the air. One day soon, I’ll take you flying with me.” Little did she realize that she would receive her own dragon at our wedding. At the thought of the wedding, my throat dropped into my stomach once more, but at her delighted gasp and tinkling laughter, I regained my composure.
“Wow! I look forward to when we go flying then.” The song ended and we paused, mid-step, both saddened that it had come to an end.
Clearing my throat, I stepped back and bowed low. “May I have this dance with you, my lady?”
Laughing, Cecily agreed. “Of course!”

Briac/Ballroom:

"I'm serious, my brother would lock me in a tower if he found out! You're Brynian! We've hated each other for years, even before my brother was killed. Jackson would go completely mad. Did you not feel him staring at us just a moment ago? Seriously, how can-"

I spun Rosemary away from me and back with my one arm- she was focusing on the bad, this was a tender subject for us both and I didn't want this to ruin what little ground we had made since the morning. I knew what I was, I knew what she was and the blood feud that was between our houses- even more bitter then the wars with the other kingdoms was the one between her house and mine. While I twirled her I schooled my features- trying to push the dark thoughts away.

"Who is the nervous mess now, hmm princess?" I said trying to keep my tone light- trying to change the subject. She rolled her eyes and danced with me for a moment.

“I'm not nervous. It's just my brother....” I glanced at the prince- he looked familiar. He was dancing with the red headed princess and seemed to be enjoying himself. I kept my eyes trained on him for a long moment- and suddenly found our eyes locked. He stared back at me hard, and I at him... it seemed we both were trying to recognize the other- but I'm sure I had never met him.

“....Briac?” Rosemary's voice brought me back with a start, my cheeks flushed.

“I'm sorry.” I smiled best I could without thinking.... smiling made my face look even more disfigured and I grimaced. Rosemary laughed at me, her laugh was light and airy- like music.... or the wind through the wheat in the late summer.

“It's fine, just watch your feet- you almost stepped on mine.” I redoubled my efforts in my dancing and we were silent for a long moment.



Saja/Ballroom:

"Saja?”

I started and looked up- and into the most dreamy pair of sea gray eyes I had ever seen. It was like looking into a stormy lake or a deep well of still water and I blinked. This incredibly handsome man offered me a rough work-worn hand

“ Hi, I'm August....would you care to dance with me?"

August? August!? My mouth went dry and my mind numbed to only one thins- This, this Adonis was August- the prince my father picked for me to marry. My eyes wandered over him, I didn't mean to but I did and I felt a blush rising- he was so incredibly handsome and strong and.... and everything a prince should be. He smiled and I thought I might die- his smile was so beautiful- lighitng up his whole face and making those gray eyes dance.

"Come on, I won't bite, I swear." a laugh was in his voice and I almost squealed. Standing quickly I took his hand and nodded, trembling with excitement. He led me to the dance floor and gently places a hand on my waist- I gasped at the touch, and took my hand with his other.

“Ready?” He asked, I nodded- wishing I could speak, wishing I could talk to him. He stepped off- leading me about the floor with the grace of a dragon in flight, twirling, swirling and dipping me like I weighed no more then a feather.



Cecily/ Ballroom:

“May I have this Dance Milady?” Rhay asked- shyly smiling, Laughing I nodded and held onto his hand with my own.

“Of course!” I leaned in as we started dancing, “I want to know more about dragons.” He smiled, I guess he was pleased at my curiosity.

“What about them?” He dipped me slightly then moved quickly out of the way of another couple- his quick thinking impressed me- he never broke time in the dance.

“Everything, I want to know all about them. My Father told me dragons use to live here in Bryni- but they all died out, or were hunted. There is a complete skeleton of a ancient Dragon in the treasure hall. My Grandpa supposedly found the bones when he was a boy in a cave by the river. Along with some whole eggs- those are in the vault too.” Rhays eyes darkened and he seemed to grow serious as I talked- I worried I had offended him and I bit my tongue- dancing in silence, waiting for his reply.

August

Saja and I danced beautifully together, so perfectly it was as if we were siblings who had been dancing together our entire lives - yet I had barely said a thing to her. I was completely nervous. My hands, the one she held and the one on her waist, were too worked and calloused. I stood about two inches taller than the girl and was able to keep my eyes locked with hers the entire time - her sweet, doe like, innocent eyes that belonged to a girl of fifteen. A girl of fifteen who hadn't even grown up enough to see what I have - war, fighting, death. I had gone to war once, just once, when Yililia was attacked, a small village on the outskirts raided, men torn from wives and children from mothers. Sweet Saja couldn't even imagine.

It wasn't until I felt a gentle hand on my cheek that I realized I had drifted off. I turned my gaze back to Saja and stopped dancing, giving her a sheepish smile.

"My apologies, princess. My mind got the best of me." She bit down on her lip and squinted up at me, but then gave a bright smile that lit up her eyes.

I returned the smile, but for God knows what reason instead of continuing to dance I loosened my grip on her hand, letting her arm fall to her side, and reached up to her face. Gauging her reaction, I trained my eyes on hers and reached up to her cheek. I rest a hand on it for a moment, watching her eyes for reaction, for anything telling me to stop. Herffair skin was soft to the touch, and I felt as if I should barely touch it.

We stood there for a moment, my hand on her cheek and hers still on mine, and my eyes trailed down to the ribbon around her neck.

"When I was a boy one of my father's knights told me a story," I said, moving my hand carefully to the ribbon and tracing its outline with my finger, still watching her reaction, "of a princess who had her throat taken out. 'Sir Richard,' I said to him, 'how can a girl live without a throat? How does she eat, how does she talk? Can she still play?' 'Little prince,' he said to me, 'they didn't take her whole throat. Just a little bit, to keep her from getting sick - you see, she was dying. But she can still eat, she can still play. She just can't talk.'"

I took the ribbon between two fingers and moved it slightly, revealing a scar and continued, "Then Sir Richard said, 'But most importantly she can still laugh.'" With that last detail I gave her a smile, put the ribbon back in its place, and lightly tickled my fingers under her chin, winning a brilliant smile that flowered on her face a charming giggle that filled the room.


Rosemary

Briac and I danced silently for a long moment, my arms around Briac and his arm wrapped around my waist, and the song ended. Another quickly began, but I still took my arms from around Briac's neck. He loosened his arm from around my waist, stood straight, and shot me a questioning look.

Biting down on my bottom lip I looked up at him and grabbed his hand, "I'm thirsty, come get a drink with me?"

He nodded and we weaved our way out of the dancing couples. Briac got a pint of ale and I simply requested water. Once I held the cup in my hands and we sat I stared at it for a moment, then turned to look up at Briac.

"Briac, do you think you could love me?" I asked, and in response he nearly choked on his drink.

Setting it down carefully, he questioned, "What? Rosemary, I've only just me-"

Shaking my head I cut him off, "I'm not asking if you love me right now, what kind of question would that be? It's just....I'm sixteen years old. Even if it weren't for the arranged marriages I would still be marrying within a few years. The only difference would be that he probably would love me before we got married. I just want to know if you think you maybe could, maybe some time after we're married?"

He opened his mouth a few times to say something, but finally settled on, "It's been a day."

I placed my cup down and swallowed a lump in my throat. Laying my arms on the table I rest my chin ontop of my hands, closed my eyes, and whispered, "I think I could fall in love with you."

What I didn't say, however, was that I thought I already was.

Prince Rhay of Draconia - The Ballroom

I spoke quietly about dragons with Cecily. “Dragons are free spirits, and we never force them to do our will. We ask politely for help and if it pleases them, they help us. Dragons are very secretive, but if you go to them, they always offer you a hot meal and bits of advice. Many Draconian people have befriended specific dragons and are close companions. I myself have a dragon friend, Mee-on-thulth. I traveled with him this morning to the ocean coast of Bryni.”

“Really?” she gasped.

“Yes,” I replied, “I can still feel my eyes stinging from the salt water.”

“I don’t ever remember being there myself. All I've ever seen is the endless grassy plains and the outlines of distant mountains.”

“One day soon, I’ll take you to a different place; a place where all you see is magnificent mountain peaks jutting into the sky.”

“It sounds beautiful,” Cecily gushed.

“It is beautiful.”

We danced in silence for a few minutes more, soaking in the atmosphere. Eventually, the song faded and we decided sit for a while and talk. We moved to a quiet corner, near a window overlooking fields of moon-bathed wheat.

“Tell me Rhay, what goes on inside that head of yours?”

Gulping, I grasped at what to say. “Inside my head,” I began, “are words that form phrases, lines, and poems.”

“So you write poetry?”

“Yes, I do.” My thoughts raced, desperately over-turning every nook and cranny inside my mind to find something else to say. My nervousness set back in. I couldn't tell her that the only thing inside me is sadness.

“Would you recite one of your poems for me?”

Sweat beaded on my forehead. The only poem I had written recently was about how afraid I was of this girl and the future. My mind found a tiny slip of poetry nestled in an alcove. Clearing my throat, all the words came back to me.

“All the elements
rolled into one
my friend
Mee-on-thulth.
Fire for the glowing embers
risen from his belly
Wind for his wings
pumping air like bellows
Earth for his spirit,
loveable and down-to-earth
Water for the way he moves
Twisting and contorting
his spiny feline structure.
All the elements
rolled into one
my friend
Mee-on-thulth.”

I waited patiently for a reaction as Cecily chewed on the words I had just spoken.

*where is everyone?*

*Makes a decision* I'm putting this on pause for one week. On the 25th of July, This will open back up. Let's brainstorm ideas until then.

D':

*Is restarting on the 1st of September*

*claps*

*cheers* is everyone coming back?

I hope so! I'm messaging all the participants today!

Ladies and Gents I am SO sorry about my sudden dropping of this SB, Please belive me when it wasn't out of enjoyment or interest- I had a lot, and I mean a LOT of Grown up stress to deal with and I literally had no time between two jobs, family obligations and things to write.

I would Love it if I could please reinstate my old characters

Briac and Saja. I miss them terribly!

I'm sorry as well I've been busy beyond all heck all this summer and haven't had time to get to a computer. I helped my aunt and friend move as well as trying to find a job pretty much all this summer. I'm sorry and hope I'm allowed to reinstate my character as well. Please forgive me

Well that's all of us! I'll post on the first of September, and after that, just continue with the story line and with your characters!

So should I wait till the first of September because as far as I know Katrina is no longer paired up. I did read the posts by the way that's why I'm asking.