A Joining of Houses - TelgarxBenden Wedding

[stolenhart]

"You did well boy", Hybrian clapped his son on the shoulder. The two men from Telgar had cleared away to Hybrian's quarters for a brief respite from gathered crowd in the lower belly of the Hold. A deep gravelly chirp sounded and Hybrian turned from his son to the gold wher that travelled with Lord Telgar wherever he went. "It's fine Hysk", he assured her, rubbing his hand over the gold hide.

"I did as instructed", Tidgin replied. While both men were large, turns spent working with large animals had given them muscle, there was an unfinished look to Tidgin that only time would give. Both men had burnished blonde hair, worn short, though Hybrian's was liberally sprinkled with grey and white. They had deep blue eyes that missed very little and apart from Hybrian's grey mustache and goatee and Tidgin's smooth face it was easy to see they were father and son. Tidgin smoothed the newly gained Master's knots on his shoulder as he drained a glass of wine.

"More so. Hysk will have a clutch soon, you will have to come to Telgar and finally get one. A young sturdy bronze?", Hybrian replied. Hysk, intelligent and ever obediant, moved to a darkened corner and settled herself to wait. "I would like that, I will see what is in the Hold here. They might need to improve their own line", Tidgin replied, the smallest hint of a sneer on his handsome face. "Good lad", he approved, "let's go eat".

Moments later they rejoined the assembled Gather below as Lady Gidae of Telgar joined her husband. "All is well?", she asked, dark blue eyes wary. She was Hybrian's third wife and she well knew he had married her for looks alone. When she was worn out from child-bearing she would be set aside for a younger wife, if she didn't die first. Despite that Hybrian treated her halfway decently, like a prized canine. "Yes dear", he smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist, "Hysk was agitated so I went to calm her". Gidae had longed ago learned that you did not ceom between Hybrian and his whers. That would get you killed. "You will dance with Lord Miler of Bitra tonight", he whispered in her ear, feigning a seductive conversation. Miler was a lecher and he would no doubt attempt to put Gidae in his bed. Helpless she nodded. With two young sisters at home needing good marriages Gidae had to suffer through her's.

"Where is my new daughter? I would like to dance with her", Hybrian suddenly exclaimed, causing applause to spring forth from the Harpers. Hybrian was well-liked, no one but his close family knew his darker yearnings.

[shouriko]

In truth, Ysabel was a brilliant woman and she was very unsatisfied with her arrangements. She had smiled and giggled and played the part of a pure and naive young woman who was pure and gentle, but deep down she was greatly displeased. Ysabel was only doing her duty as a woman in this marriage and there was another reason, one she preferred to remain tight-lipped on.

She was entertaining guests with a fake smile that easily deceived everyone around her. Her curly tresses of warm mahogany brown were half pulled up, but there were those that were purposefully allowed to hang free, dangling past her neck, resting on her shoulders, collarbone, and back. They bounced when she moved about and she was certain that men wanted to toy with them, wrap their hands in it and breathe in the aroma of clean, perfumed hair. Men were predictable in that matter, but at least it was effective flattery. She would allow them that in the least.

Music was struck up and hazel eyes swiftly swept away from the Holder couple before her to the surrounding room. There had been a voice that had carried out across the room just prior. Ysabel had a very strong suspicion that she knew to whom it belonged. She was partly right. It was really Hybrian whose voice had brought on the dancing music and she could feel his hungry eyes upon her in her scarlet Gather dress. Her eyes looked beyond him to her newly made husband Tidgin, the Holder's son and now a Master of the beastcraft.

Ugh, beasts. To think that a learned woman like herself had been brought to such ends by a man like him. In the least he was attractive. She almost wished she had not been caught in such an awkward position and such a terrible situation with the man. Her parents were so disappointed, but it was a necessary maneuver and she understood completely. She curtseyed to those she had entertained in intelligent conversation and with a gaze intent on Tidgin, approached in the general direction of Hybrian, hoping to get past him.

Ysabel was a proud woman, but she did not like the man. That and she had her own little secret, one she did not wish to share with anyone if she could help it at all.

[stolenhart]

"Lady Ysabel", Hybrian gave her a respectful bow, before taking her hand in his and leading her towards the quickly filling up dance floor. Among the Lords, Hybrian's character was never in question. If you asked any Telgar holder they would say Hybrian was a good leader who took care of his people. While he treated his whers better than his wives, at least he did not have relationships outside of marriage and his wives were often beautiful and well dressed. He tithed heavily to the college as all his children, well his sons, attended in one profession or another and his daughters were the very epitome of femininity.

"You look beautiful today my dear", he smiled at Ysabel warmly. He had briefly considered her for his third wife but had decided her will was just to strong for him to spend the time in breaking it. Tidgin was better suited and it meant Tidgin, a third son, would be a Lord Holder himself one day. Lord Benden would never put aside his barren wife nor had the man so much as a bastard outside of his marriage. One man's bad luck was another's good luck, Hybrian had told his son. "Utterly divine, though I understand you are not entirely happy with Tidg, he is a good lad and he will endeavor to make you happy", he lead her gently in the steps of the somewhat slow dance.

[shouriko]

Oh shard it all, what wherry luck I have. Ysabel's hazel eyes were on Tidgin, but her hand had been caught by Hybrian. She tore her eyes away and again she flawlessly put on a fake smile for the man who was now by the book her father as well. Apparently she had little choice but to dance with the man.

"Thank you milord." Ysabel replied politely, though she kept the eye contact at a minimum. She felt very suspicious about him and always wondered if what rumors she heard of him from some of the Telgan students at college were true or not. "I am but a flower admired for her petals, when next the wind blows my petals shall change, but my stem shall not." Her reply was artistic and it was said that he ability to speak was great and very admirable, even for a woman. Ysabel liked that very much.

Ysabel could not help but look up at Lord Hybrian. No, she was not content about the marriage, but that did not mean she unhappy with Tidgen himself. He was a good man, but she felt as if he were not as good a man as she deserved. Even her father had admitted such sentiments. They both knew that had the circumstances been different, than this marriage would not have occurred at all. Things were not like that at all.

"You must be mistaken milord, I am very pleased with Tidgen, he will take good care of me and I shall support him well." Ysabel replied, her gaze strong, but still just as gentle as a woman's should be. She danced with the man, but she felt more as if she danced with a tunnelsnake. She could not read Hybrian as well as Tidgen and she felt more comfortable if she had someone else included in the conversation. Until then, she could not escape without making a scene and she could not falter now. SHe had done her duty so well up to this point. "I should like to dance with him many times tonight if he will oblige my wishes." At least that way she'd not be with Hybrian.

[stolenhart]

Hybrian did not like Ysabel, he needed her so he had Tidgin seduce her, but he did not like her. She was too smart for her own good and she made no sense to him. That whole speech about a flower who's petals will change but not her stem? Why not just say she'd bend like a tree but not break? He attributed her flowery speech to just being a woman, you couldn't understand them and they were only good for a few things.

"I am glad Tidg married you. You will be a good Lady here at Benden with him beside you", he turned her in the last steps of the dance, "I hope, soon, you will be able to come to Telgar for a visit. I will have your wedding gift ready by then", he smiled at her. Tidg's wher would be close to Hatching by then and he would have to find something suitable for her. He had given her a runner, a suitable engagement gift, but his wedding gift was taking some planning. Perhaps he could get a hold of a flitt egg? The creatures were rare and none would stay in Telgar but Benden was of a different climate.

"And here is Tidgin to take you away", Tidgin stepped up and smoothly took his father's place. Tidgin was too young to be his father yet but it was only a matter of time before he became Hybrian's shadow. Ysabel was a worthy first wife and his first son would assure Tidgin a place at Benden for many turns. And if he could get the MasterHarper on his side, the steps for Hybrian's takeover were slowly falling into place.

[shouriko]

"Gift?" Ysabel had let all his other words slide by. She could tell that what he really wanted was Benden Hold and the college. Tidgen was his way in. All he would need to do was have her produce an heir or two, as duty required of her of course, and then do away with her. It was an unsettling feeling knowing that it could well be his plan, but no one truly knew. He was always praised as a Holder, but there was a gleam in his eye that made smart men wary, even women. She smiled as she guessed with great certainty. "A wher I am sure. He will be so very happy."

They were useful beasts, but ugly, tempermental, and very dangerous. A good excuse for deaths. It was only protecting it's bonded human from a perceived threat. It did not like her holding him so tightly. Anything at all. That would be how he would end her, wasn't it? Not unless she could truly get Tidgen to love her dearly like how her father loved her mother.

When the dance ended, she was passed like a cup to the next holder. This one was one she was more accepting of though. He had seduced her, brought her into a bed of furs, but at least she had been much more willing with him than in dancing with Hybrian. Ysabel looked up at the man with gracious eyes and some degree of care. If she could acquire his heart and found him different than his father, then perhaps she could look at him with more honestly loving gazes. For now her bittersweet affection would simply have to do. It was all out of her duty as a Lord Holder's daughter and now a wife.

"My dear husband, will you dance with me most the night? Lest it be with my father?" Ysabel looked at those blue eyes and hoped to see some kind of truth in them, some emotion for her. Even if it was just as a possession, one he would not share willingly or even knowingly with another. "I should not like to be without you all this night."

[stolenhart]

Tidgin did like Ysabel, she was pretty and it had been no hardship to seduce her. Alot of it was her position, the heir to Benden was no small thing to pass up, but some of it was for the woman herself. Being married to her would be no hardship. Having spent over ten turns at the college, Tidgin was not as opposed to women in the professional fields so Ysabel could go on as she wished. But he would not share her, like his father he jealously guarded his possessions and for all Ysabel was human she was still belonged to him.

"As you wish dear wife. And I wish the same. Were it not unseemly we would leave now", he winked at her. At just twenty-seven turns he was still boy enough to tease and flirt but man enough to be considered a man. "I fear though our fathers would disown us for another unseemly behavior", he added. Contrary to popular belief he had not wanted to be caught in bed with her, he did not enjoy being embarassed. He had merely wanted to get her pregnant so she would have to marry him. Still it had worked out and that was all that mattered.

[shouriko]

Well, he was better than Hybrian, but mostly the lesser of two evils. Tidgen was more of a man in the sense that he liked to display himself among the womenfolk. Ysabel couldn't deny that most men were like that and some secretly so. Tidgen could be worse, he could be a lecherous man. At least she told herself so. At first she would have found it disgraceful that he suggest such a thing, but they were married now and it was not so. It was acceptable that do such actions together and at least in this manner it would not go against her honor whether she was pregnant or not.

In this way, Ysabel knew how to react perfectly. She giggled a little and did in earnest blush a bit as she replied, "Oh Tidgen, but patience is a virtue and all good things come to those who wait." Though she was raised a Lady, she had learned a good many things while at college. She knew how to flatter a man and stroke his ego. She also knew how to flirt and though she thought it below herself, she was happier to stay on Tidgen's arm than Hybrian's. "And such good things they shall be for my dear husband."

This meant that even if she was not agreeable to it, there were obligations she must hold to. Ysabel and Tidgen had the marriage bed to return to and its christening. At least she would accept his advances and had said as much. Ah well, so much for marrying some genius of a young man, at least Tidgen was well endowed in other areas. He was not the shiniest of glows, yet he chased off the dark and he was a warm man.

"No, our father's would be quite displeased with such rebellious chiLdren." Ysabel agreed aloud.

[stolenhart]

"Did I not know you", he chuckled, "I would consider you conceited and a bit stuck on your self but", and here he shrugged, "I know you and as far as I am concerned your words are only the truth". He was fully aware that Ysabel did not consider him up to her intelligent standards and he was fine with that, he had brothers who were smarter than he was. He was intelligent within his circles of expertise, he had always liked animals and they tended to like him. He had at one time been Searched but Hybrian asked him not to go. Loyal to his father Tidgin had agreed and went to Benden instead. He fully intended to help his father breed whers but where Hybrian bred for attitude and useability, Tidgin wanted to breed for personality. Hysk was one of the gentlest whers he'd ever met and if her offspring could have that disposition, think of what they would be worth, basically they would be canines.

"They are grown men, I think they shall suffice", he answered, "Tidg, brother dance with my wife while I trade you for your's", it was his oldest brother Hygin who clapped him on the shoulder. They shared looks, enough to reveal they were brothers, but Hygin had a look of weakness about him. It was said he had a fondness for life's luxuries but outside of a little drunkeness no one had been able to prove anything. Still it was strange that Hygin was rarely allowed outside of Telgar's borders and dark rumors whispered that Hygin might be passed over in favor of a younger sibling. "As you wish", Tidg handed Ysabel to his brother and took his sister's hand, "Come Dalari, show me how you Istans dance", he coaxed the woman to dance with him.

"Ysabel were I not married to Dalari I would surely have tried for your hand myself", Hygin complimented her.

[shouriko]

Ysabel did not respond, there was not much to respond to. It seemed like he was making an accusation of her that he did not fully believe himself. If that was the case, then there was nothing to listen to and most definitely nothing to concern herself with. On the other hand, she knew very well that many of her words and actions were able to reveal how she truly felt and what she really felt. Perhaps Tidgin was speaking in reference to that. Very well, she would just have to accept that they were both settling and doing well enough for each other.

There was little time for her to say anything and protesting was out of the question to begin with. Once again she was traded over from the hands of one man to another. At least it was not Hybrian, but he was little better. Hygin was a man few people knew of but there were a hoarde of rumors and suspicions about him. Ysabel kept her face as unreadable as she could and just gave him very good, fake smile, the one that hardly anyone could ever see through. It was a good thing, too.

"Ah, but you are not the first to have said so to me." Ysabel replied. What she really wanted to say was that there were many older man including his father who oggled her especially today. She was very grateful her newly made husband was not one to share. If that were the case, she'd be most aggrieved by her situation and would have run away if able. "Yet I thank you for your kind words."

[stolenhart]

He shrugged, "Probably not. Beautiful women seem to attract compliments like closed storerooms attract tunnelsnakes". Hygin might be a little weak but he knew what went on in Telgar, it wasn't not hard to bribe men to tell him afterall. And while Tidgin was no longer a competitor for Telgar's Lord Holder position, a child of his might be, and he had no doubt that Tidgin had been sent to seduce Ysabel so that children might come a little earlier. Hybrian was getting older everyday.

"Ladies should recieve kind words like they recieve flowers, often and not just when they are in season", he replied, moving her skillfully through the steps of the dance. "There is only one more of us to dance with today, the younger brothers having been left at home, so you will not have to stay too much longer", he told her, feigning understanding of newlywed ways. He and Dalari had a quite ceremony in Telgar, the reception had been very short but then Hygin knew most did not trust him.

[shouriko]

Hygin seemed to have a secretly intelligent mind. His analogy was quite good and Ysabel decided to pay a little more attention to the man. If his words could sound as well as those, then perhaps dancing with him would not be a total waste. At least she would be entertained both in mind and body with pretty words and a fancy dance.

"I suppose they do." Ysabel replied quietly. In her head, she also thought that they attracted trouble, terrible men, and a good deal of ill intentions. Being a pretty girl was a dangerous proposition if one could decide.

Oh, so he was a real romantic gentleman was he? Not only could he speak well, but he seemed to appreciate a good woman better than most. In a small way Ysabel wished she had come across him sooner, but alas, it mattered very little. Hygin might be the eldest, but he was treated as the low man on the totem pole. What a shame. He seemed to be the kind of level-headed man who might do Telgar a great deal of good that was needed and in low stock from Hybrian, the tunnelsnake you weren't sure was really there or not.

"Why thank you, such sentiments should be directed to my husband so that he may benefit from such good advice." Ysabel's smile became a little more genuine then. She wouldn't mind flowers every now and again. "Perhaps, but I have yet to dance with my own father and he expects me too as a good daughter should oblige her doting father."

[stolenhart]

"Ah well then two more dances because it seems the middle brother has come to claim his dance", he gave her a warm smile and turned her over to Tyberon. He was the second oldest, and unmarried, with the scars of a seasoned wherhandler and a mind sharper than the MasterHarper's. It was said he would have been Hybrian's favorite except Tyberon did not like women in his bed. His wife, accounted one of the most beautiful women in the North, had never produced a child in their six turns of marriage and would probably not either. Wicked rumor said she was just as fond of women as her husband was of men. Still one did mess with Tyberon, for he had instincts much like the Whers he handled on a daily basis.

"My lady", he gave her a deep bow, more formal than any in his family. "I suppose I must tender my compliments as well?", he asked, gravelly voice deep and harsh as he took up her hands in his calloused ones. When he was younger, and attending Benden himself, some Harper twit of a girl had written love songs about him. Too bad he'd never fulfill them, they had always portayed him as the dashing hero saving a desperate heroine. Despite his scars it was easy to see where she had gotten that idea from.

[shouriko]

"Yes, two indeed." Ysabel agreed. No sooner had he said such a thing then the aforementioned brother appeared for his chance to dance with the newly made wife. She didn't quite understand the concept of the wife dancing with every man in her now extended family. She was just another cup passed along once more and she was tired of it and looked forward to the time she could dance with her own father and be free of the others. "And it is the end of this song and dance, thus time for the next."

The hardened hands, the scars, the deep voice that sounded like rocks rubbing against rocks made for a roguish man. Tyberon was just that, but the big secret behind him was that he did not fancy women. It meant that this dance was out of necessity and function and not for pleasure. Ysabel could see that clearly enough by the dull shine in his eyes.

"If you find them tedious, you need not bother, I have received enough compliments to last me for a lifetime." Ysabel replied. Not all men were men of words and perhaps Tyberon was such a man. In any case, her ears might listen to the words but it did not mean she would actually hear them. They were hardly true and those that were often came from frightening lecherous beings. "Otherwise you need only fulfill your quota of one dance with the bride and depart without a single word of praise."

[stolenhart]

He frowned, "That's a little harsh there darlin", his brows dipped until they touched. Darling was not a term of endearment for Tyberon, he addressed all women as darling, usually after their title. It had began as a way to hide his proclivities from his family and friends but eventually that had leaked out, still it had become a habit over the Turns. "Maybe I want to dance with you?", his brows now lifted in good humor as his eyes twinkled. Tyberon did not smile, his face was not made for smiling, but he had very expressive eyes to counter that.

"Just because I don't want to seduce you into my bed doesn't mean I hate you", he added, eyes searching out his older brother and his father. "If I were you, I'd have two boys as soon as possible", he murmured her way, "Tidg was always da's favorite and with the younger boys being near to useless cause of their mother's spoilage, well could by your sons will both be Lord Holders. Your youngest married to one of Hygin's daughters, da would make him a Lord Holder in a heartbeat", he explained, "If Hygin becomes Lord Holder things will change for the worst".

[shouriko]

"Then you may dance, I shall not deny you." Ysabel was finding that Tyberon was a man of word battles. He looked dangerous, but he was as adept with the use of words as any learned man. That was not a given, but a pleasant surprise. Though Ysabel knew full well, that he was a man who was not to be judged by appearances. He might look the part of a rough and tumble man, but he desired a different kind of flesh for his pleasure.

"Ah, but I did not say anything of the sort to either imply or state that you hate me, just that your interest in me cannot be very high." Indeed, he would not seduce her even if his father asked for him too. It not be any fun for him and he'd be unhappy with it. Besides, he was already wed and she'd not fall for him anyway. Not after having fallen over another man from Telgar, she'd learned her lesson already.

"Is that a suggestion or a warning?" Ysabel averted her gaze a moment, she knew full well that yielding heirs was a duty of a wife. If anything she'd be quite happy to foil the plots by giving daughters rather than sons. Now she looked back at Tyberon and said, "It would seem a very great many things are expected of me. Does that put me in danger or make me very valuable?"

There was something that not many knew, in fact, only she and one other knew about it. If she was pregnant many would assume that it would be by Tidgin. Yet could they be so sure? No. There was a chance, just as good as it being Tidgin's, that it was another man's. This marriage was due to her poor choices and the resulting consequences. At least she had a humorous little secret of her own.