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Today was a very big day for Dalia, she had turned seventeen, which was a milestone for any young woman. At sixteen, her father had "announced" her, effectively making it clear to every eligible bachelor in the land that her hand in marriage was now available. For the last year, several families had vied for the approval of her father, and hers to a lesser extent. After all it was really her father who would decide who she married, her own opinion only carried so much weight, but it did carry some. Not enough though, as if Dalia really had it her way, she wouldn't marry any of them. She knew better than to tell her parents that, only one other person knew who she really loved and wanted to be with, if anyone else ever found out, it would be a scandal and she knew it wouldn't be her that was punished.
So she kept quiet and played along. All day she'd been smiling and laughing as her family celebrated her birthday. A cake had been baked for her, which was a big deal as right now with a war going on, sugar was hard to come by, she'd received a good many wonderful gifts, and everyone was just so happy and excited for her. By the end of the day though, Dalia really just wanted to be left alone, she wanted to scream and cry, but she just smiled. So she was relieved when the celebration finally wound down, ending with a dinner with her family. Afterwards, she managed to slip away, but didn't go far, she knew her brother would want to talk to her.
Even though their family was influential, the province they lived in was rather isolated, so except for the visits they made to the capital at the summer or winter solstices, there really weren't any other noble families around. Her brother had always been her best friend as a result, oh both of them had made friends with other people their age around the town their family's manor was near, but none of them were noble, and it just wasn't the same. The closest there had been was the mayor's family but his children were all brats, Dalia would rather do needlepoint all day than spend any time with the mayor's daughter, who was vain and selfish and spoiled.
No, she'd much rather spend time with her brother...or with him. But those moments were few and far between, much of the time she saw him only in passing, when there were too many many people around to do anything but nod and smile to one another politely. So it was her brother she spent much of her time with, and now even that would change. She would be wed soon, everyone knew it, Baron Vincent Dracks of Halmore had been at her celebration today with his son, Raulf, and she knew almost for a fact that he was the one her father had agreed to marry her to. Rumor was that Raulf was suppose to be proposing to her tomorrow, his father having agreed to let Dalia have her birthday to herself.
she paused out on the balcony off from the dining room, leaning against the railing. Dalia was a beautiful young women, with large green eyes, long honey blonde hair, and a lithe, curving body. She was on the cusp of becoming a women, in more than one way.
A sigh passed her lips, running her hands over the familiar stone as she thought about the changes she was going to face soon, feeling restless.