An Awkward Meeting (2/2)

Writers: AL, Anaria
Date Posted: 2nd June 2011

Characters: Rignaer, Zarene
Description: Rignaer meets his bride-to-be.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 2, day 15 of Turn 6

Rignaer was beginning to catch on to the fact that it wasn't
necessarily that Zarene was nervous, but that she seemed to have a bit
of a stutter. "Well, is there anything that you wanted to do at the
Hold? Foster children, perhaps?" He said, suggesting a very
"appropriate" occupation for a woman. "My father left me a good number
of marks when he passed, so you don't really need to work if you don't
wish to..."

"Oh...I d...don't...I don't know." Zarene hadn't thought she would
do anything _but_ keep quarters for her husband. "I c...could foster
children I g...g...guess." She wished they would go back to the
subject of plants and flowers - that had been a lot more relaxing.

"I have access to the nursery, and gardening is a suitable hobby for a
woman. I could teach you what you need to know to get started, perhaps
Lady Benani wouldn't be opposed to you having a corner of the Lady's
garden, if not I could likely acquire us some land. It wouldn't be
hard for me to get some clippings from existing plants, or some seeds.
Would you like that?" He asked, deciding to stick with something that
he knew she'd be fond of.

Zarene was a little surprised that he was offering something. She
wasn't sure what she expected with him, but the guy seemed decent
enough. "S...sure." She wouldn't mind having a little garden of her
own. She'd helped her mother, but this would be _hers_.

Rignaer was a bit relieved that he had found something that she would
like that would be so easy for him to arrange. He'd heard horror
stories about men who's wives always wanted what they couldn't have,
or worse, a passel of children. "Well it's settled then," Rignaer
said. He gestured to Zarene to turn about, as they had reached their
destination. "Aren't the garden's lovely?"

The girl couldn't help but admit they were, though she did so with a nod
rather than actually speaking. There was so much green interspersed
with so much colour! She wondered if she could have a garden with half
so much in it. She wondered if she could find some purple and yellow
flowers. She always thought those colours complimented each other so
well and loved them together. One hand ran up and down her arm and a
small smile flickered over her lips as her gaze skipped from flower to
flower to flower. She had a feeling she'd be coming there again and
very soon.

"Well, I'm glad that you enjoy it," Rignaer sat out a blanket, and
then began taking food stuffs from the basket. He had meat rolls,
pastries, redfruit, cheese, and redfruit juice. "Well, that's lunch!"
He said somewhat lamely. He wondered how long it would take for him to
feel comfortable around the woman.

Zarene nodded, her thoughts similar to Rignaer's. Comfortable wasn't
exactly what she would call her situation. Shards, it wasn't anywhere
near that. She lowered herself down onto the blanket, tucking her legs
beneath her. Though he had set everything out, she didn't reach to take
anything, but waited for him to start first.

Rignaer made a plate for himself, and took a quick bite of meatroll
before speaking. "So... I live in the Hold proper, unlike most
Farmcrafters. I work in the Nursery, so I don't have to be in the
Fields much, save harvest time. I got a rather nice room from the
Headwoman. Two bedrooms, a bath, a living area, and a small kitchen.
I... uh.... I opted for two beds for now, I didn't want you to feel
uncomfortable."

"T...t...two b..beds?" Zarene hadn't expected that - after all, she
was supposed to be his wife. She had expected what her mother had
talked to her about, though it had been a very...cold conversation. It
was her duty and she'd better let him do whatever he wanted. "Is that
w...what you w..w...want?"

"I... I don't know what I want, to be honest. While I don't like the
idea of marrying a stranger, I don't like the idea of living alone. It
would be nice to have a companion, and I hope that after some time has
passed that we might actually start becoming interested in one another
romantically," Rignaer said.

Zarene shifted where she sat. That was not at _all_ what she had
expected. She had expected a man who would tell her what to do, take
her to get food, then take her to get married, then take her to his
bed. This man...he wanted romance? She'd never heard of such a thing
outside of stories! "Oh."

"I mean, what do you want? And I don't mean what you're told to want.
I spent enough time at the Weyr to know that women are capable of
living their own lives. Do you want me to mistreat you and have my way
with you?" Rignaer asked. Perhaps it had been beaten into her that she
was meant to be a possession, and it hadn't occurred to her that
things could be different.

Zarene winced. She didn't like the way he said that. "N...no!" She
stated as quickly as her mouth would allow, then looked down at her
hands which continued to play at one another. "I j...j...just
thought..." She didn't complete her sentence, wasn't quite sure she
_could_.

"Do you feel like I don't want you because I'm not forcing you to
sleep with me?" Rignaer asked, suddenly realizing that could possibly
be true. He felt stupid. He shouldn't have said anything. He should
have just taken her to bed. She was his - or would be soon enough. No
one would fault him if he had his way with her.

"Oh, n...no. I j...j...just...am surp...prised." Zarene had never
heard of a man who wanted to wait until someone was romantically
interested. Maybe at the Weyr, but they didn't seem to have much
trouble falling into bed with one another there, romantic feelings or
no.

"Oh, well don't be. We're going to be spending the rest of our lives
together, and I think that if we try to be agreeable to one another,
we'll end up far better off than if we start off resenting one
another. I mean, like the garden. I love plants, so if I help you
start that up, we have something that we can talk about. It's in my
best interest to do it for you," Rignaer explained.

"Oh....Okay." Zarene thought that made sense and he was at least
being nice, even if it was for his best interest. "I l...l...like
f...flowers." It was such a weak response, but she honestly wasn't
sure what to say. "Y...you should eat."

Rignaer dug hungrily into his meal, for he'd been to nervous before
Zarene's arrival to do so. The quiet seemed deafening to his ears, and
he pondered over things that he should say, but all of it sounded
stupid in his head. He didn't know why he felt so compelled to talk,
when ordinarily, he was a man of few words. He looked over at Zarene,
curious if she'd begun eating yet. Perhaps she was nervous too.

She had, waiting for Rignaer to begin and then reached for some fruit,
nibbling at it slowly. After lunch, the contract would be signed and
they would be married. **At least he seems nice.** Zarene thought as
she worked slowly on her meal. After all, things could have been much,
much worse!

Last updated on the June 10th 2011

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An Awkward Meeting (2/2)