Arrangements (Aldir, Silvamoon)

[Aldir]

Lyon strode through the rather large and elaborately made home with some minor annoyance creasing his brow, though it was more directed towards himself than the architects. The dark haired man had not bothered to get acquainted with the place when he had first arrived, though he had been offered the chance. He supposed that it wasn’t going to matter for after the wedding tomorrow, he’d be back at the family castle. Even still he disliked being caught off of his guard so easily in this place, not knowing his way around was a disadvantage. Perhaps there were no assassins waiting around the corner, but a decent layout was useful.

The man made his way near the stable yard and sighed, sitting himself down on a nearby bench and crossing his arms over his chest. Lyon was a man of average height and a wiry build, his dark hair cut short and a slight stubble allowed to grow out to darken his chin. The heir to the Isav line was a moderately handsome specimen, though the slight dark circles around his eyes indicated some degree of exhaustion. His clothing was however very well-tailored, a simple white tunic, a set of trousers, and riding boots. The trip here had been long and he was not even permitted to look upon the woman he was to wed tomorrow. Lyon respected tradition of course, but he disliked outcomes he could not properly influence. He had no idea what he was walking into, though his parents had assured her of the woman’s good breeding.

Lyon peered up at the sky, noting with some mild distaste that it was cloudy and obscuring his view of the moon tonight. Supposedly it was to be a full moon; though it was unlikely he’d get to look upon it tonight before turning in. It was a pity really, the poet in him wondered if this was perhaps a metaphor for his own situation. Perhaps the woman obscured was a thing of beauty and grace; he supposed he could hope for such a thing. Personality meant very little to him at this stage, his only purpose for doing this was that it was required of him. Required and expected of a man of the age of nineteen.

He knew her name at the very least so that was a start, though a name with a face was certainly preferred. Lyon peered around the stable yard, noting that it was rather vacant so there was no one to assist him in exploring the home. He supposed the best thing at this point was to then just return to his room and just give up on trying to get a good layout of the house. With a heavy sigh the man stood and brushed himself off, moving to return to the home and depart the stable yard empty handed.

 

[Silvamoon]

It was a well known fact that all girls of marriageable age that were part of wealthy families would be betrothed to a man with wealth and a title of his own, to further the position of the girl’s family in society. Love was something that was not a factor in the equation, much to Victoria’s chagrin. As the only daughter in the family she had grown up under the tutelage of tutors and governesses, learning such delicate arts as dancing and painting in order to one day satisfy her future husband. Her father and mother cared for the family, but were often away on business and left her to explore her own natural curiosity. As she grew older Victoria grew more headstrong, often failing to appear for lessons because she was off reading in a hidden nook or off riding one of the family’s horses.

She was a precocious child, stubborn and sharp tongued at times. As she aged and her parents began to spend more time at the manor leaving the running of the merchant business to other associates, the girl had to learn to curb some of her wilder tendencies but they still lurked beneath the surface. Victoria simply wasn’t made of the same mold as some of the girls that she knew, content to sit and sew all day and waste their lives away. Instead she longed for freedom, her head filled with romantic tales she had read as a child. Her parents were always upfront with their plans, telling her that they were negotiating with this or that prominent family to arrange a marriage for her. Whenever those plans inevitably fell through the young woman would relax, and eventually she came to believe that she would have time to meet a man and fall in love on her own terms. The thought thrilled her.

All too soon the time came when her parents again informed her of another betrothal, and this time as the assigned date of the wedding drew nearer Victoria’s fears grew that this time the arrangement would not be broken. Not wanting to take the chance that she would be forced to wed this new stranger, the young woman began making arrangements to disappear for a little while until the disappointed groom eventually left their home without her hand in marriage. On the eve of her wedding Victoria made sure that her maids were overly plied with alcohol to celebrate the upcoming nuptials, and once she was sure they were asleep she pulled a dark cloak over her thin sleeping chemise and petticoats and crept out the door with a bag of clothes and food to sustain her for a while.

It was a very late hour in the manor house and most of the servants were sleeping, but she took no chances creeping stealthily along the back staircases and corridors until reaching the main level. Ensuring that no one was around to observe her she silently opened a door and slipped through it, breathing a sigh of relief as she approached the stables. Victoria was so absorbed in the jubilant notion that she had nearly reached her destination that she failed to notice the man sitting upon a nearby bench until he stood suddenly and startled her. Inhaling sharply at the shock of seeing another out so late, Victoria then raised her hand to shield her mouth as if she could take back the sound and not reveal her presence.

The moon was obscured, but it peeked behind the clouds briefly enough to illuminate her features briefly. She had pale coloring, her skin unblemished except for the blush spreading across her cheeks. Most of her honey blonde hair was pulled back under the hood, but a few tendrils escaped and swept across her forehead. “I’m sorry, you startled me sir.” His presence was a surprise, evident by how wide her hazel eyes went. In her haste to escape the house Victoria didn’t pay much attention to his garb and mistook him for a servant. “I’ll let you get back to your duties, but could you perchance open the western gate for me? I would surely appreciate it.”

 

[Aldir]

Twas upon that most irritating of nights that Lyon found that his paths were crossed with another person in the vacant dead of night. The pale light of the moon had peaked through the clouds finally and revealed a pale and rather graceful looking face, half obscured by her own hand as though wishing not to have made the sound that had revealed her. The man’s brows rose ever so, not having expected someone else to be out and about this late at night. He smiled at the seemingly innocent stumbling upon each other, no doubt just two similar souls attempting to enjoy the moon though the celestial body was not attempting to return to its shroud.

The heir was somewhat surprised to hear that this woman desired him to open the western gate, the surprise showing clearly upon his face. Judging from her choice of words Lyon could only assume that she had mistaken him for a servant of sorts, indicating she was either a member of the family or at least a higher ranked vassal. The noble allowed indignation to fade from his mind, the kneejerk reaction to such a thing created from years of tuition. Instead curiosity took its place, rather an odd idea for a midnight ride in the man’s earnest opinion.

Lyon opted to move to the western gate wordlessly, his mind a storm of scenarios and speculation. It was such for really there was nothing else to occupy his mind at this hour, nothing overly interesting was about to occur as far as he knew. The hour was very late for a ride out in the country, far too late for even him to consider riding out of the house. The man arrived at the western gate, placing his hands upon the wooden bar that kept the gate closed. It was a rather heavy thing really, though he could likely move it himself with the proper leverage. Before doing any of that though, he’d wait for the woman to finish setting up her horse.

“Rather a late hour for a ride, miss. Mind if I inquire as to the purpose?” The man inquired, half turning his head to peer over his shoulder.

 

[Silvamoon]

It had taken all of her energy and concentration to escape from the manor house unscathed, and so being discovered by someone in the stable yard had come as a shock to the young woman. Victoria stood silently for a moment as the pair regarded each other, and as she scrambled to come up with a course of action that would ensure her midnight flight was still successful. The appearance of this unknown man startled her, and with her mind racing in a thousand different directions she didn’t have the luxury of time to really study him and realize that his garb and demeanor were vastly different from that of a servant. Despite the fact that she had never seen him before, Victoria took a chance that he would be amendable to helping her out and was elated when he moved in the direction of the gate without question.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief at this potential problem that had been overcome, she hurried into stables and quickly saddled her horse. Thankfully in her youth she had learned how to saddle a horse from necessity, and this skill allowed her to be self-sufficient in her quest to disappear for a little while. The less people she involved, the better. Momentarily she frowned when she thought back to the mysterious man she had just met, but his involvement couldn’t be helped. Victoria tried to think of it as a boon, for she would have had a tough time opening the gate by herself and it would have slowed her down tremendously. Finished with her task in her stables, she had just led her chestnut colored mare outside when she heard the man addressing her.

Pausing to secure the bundle she carried with her to the saddle, Victoria thought furiously to come up with a believable answer. “Indeed, it is quite late.” She stalled as she led the horse closer to the gate, almost able to taste her victory. “I..ah…often have trouble sleeping.” It wasn’t a complete lie, for the closer they came to the date of the wedding the more stressed out she had become. “I find that going for a ride can help.” She didn’t want to give away too many details, just in case he ended up being questioned about her disappearance. “If you could open the gate…?” Victoria let her voice trail off expectantly. She often treated the servants with courtesy but the longer they stood and spoke the more uneasy she grew.