[center][h2][color=E9967A]Bree [/color][/h2][/center]
[center][sub] "Wife/SisterBride" of [@NarcissisticPotato]Atallia,[@RomanAria]Liana and [@Saltwater Thief] Dorian Fimbulvetr[/sub][/center] 
If only they had come well trained, then perhaps none of this would have occurred. It was incredibly frustrating at the utter lack of professionalism that occurred during her selection. Clearly, her district got the untrained amateurs, for how else could they have passed up the village jewel in their crass assessment of the woman of the village? 


And the trip that followed.


Disgraceful.


It was delay, after delay, after delay.  By her calculations, the trip itself should have taken no more than four days, five if they ran into delays. But no, due to her escort utter…incompetence, the trip took nearly a week and a day. 


First the wheel broke, then the horses escaped, mistake after mistake.


And, because of their mistakes, she was late.


What made the slowness of it slightly more enjoyable was that it gave Bree an opportunity She will give her captors a little credit. As foolish as it was to try and drive the winding roads to the castle in the bitch dark, they did try to make it on time.  But as it was, the arrived well past midnight and after a few quick words, her captors took her to an unused room,  and finally parted. She was less than sad to see them go.


Her orders were to sleep and someone would be around to get her again in the morning.


She woke with the dawn, not exactly rested, but rested enough. She spent the rest of the time in front of the mirror, painstaking curling her hair by repeatedly heating the coals inside a metal tube and wrapping each section around into perfect auburn spirals.  It was mind numbing, unfortunately and gave her too much time to reflect on how poorly things were working out. Which would lead to her getting angry, which would cause the tube to get far to warm and burn her fingers. 


It was perhaps….an hour or so pass noon by the time she was allowed out of her room and into the hall.  Despite the unmistakable scent of blood in the air, the whole palace gave off a lazy vibe, the type of vibe that came with brunches and gabbing ladies.


Taking a deep breath Bree adjusted her body language. The last thing she wanted to come across as was afraid.  From her understanding, the meekest brides tended to attract the predators. Like a fox to a rabbit. The ones who would select the flighty and nervous one in the hope  that she would eventually run so that they could chase.  She wouldn’t ever run and didn’t want a creature who would try various methods to encourage her flight.  


Nor did she want to come out with an aura of confidence. That attracted the monsters.  The ones who sought the gems who were made of steel and attempted to break them. It would do to avoid those like the plague.  For obvious reasons.
pulled open the door that lead to the much smaller hall than what she might have entered yesterday.


It took her a few moments to register the few males left in the room.  Most of them were…for lack of a better phrase…beta scavengers at best.  Well…that certainly wasn’t going to happen.  They would be angry and always wanting to prove that they were the ones  in charge. Not ideal in the least.  There were a few weaker even than those, ones who would never have the political pull to get done what she would need them to do.  She scanned the room a final time, her heart sinking at the pathetic prospects before her. 


“You,” rang a deep voice from somewhere toward the group’s back, clearly directed at her. The Drakken at the front parted slightly to reveal the source as he stepped forward. He was tall, as most Drakken were, but he seemed to stand higher in posture than those around him on purpose, as though trying to distance himself from them. He had a layer of stubble across his face and long, thick, black hair atop his head. And his eyes- which had locked onto Bree’s- were a deep crimson. “You will do, as a start. Come here.”


It was about control here, although the booming voice that  echoed the room  was more than flinch worthy, she had practiced for this, and instead, counter to three in her head before acknowledging the sound and turned slowly to face the speaker.  He looked very like a drakken should have looked. No noticeable injuries that would have weakened him. He wasn’t  a runt, or...as far as she could tell, had anything wrong with him at all.   Although  she was sure that something must have been something, otherwise he wouldn’t have been here. 
With a fine scan, she plastered a friendlier neutral face, crafting just the right amount of fear in her eyes, a face she practiced a thousand times in the mirror. [color=E9967A]“If it pleases m’lord,”[/color]  she said, bowing her head slightly, before closing the distance between them with even, purposeful strides. She stopped close enough to have followed order, but no so close that she would be unable to slip away should another prospect become more appealing. [color=E9967A] “Would it be too forward of me to ask sir’s name?” [/color] she said, keeping her head tilted forward in vague submission, but eyes glued to his. 


“You will know my name,” he replied with ice in his breath, “But only after you have informed me of your own.” 
“It’s Bree, or Aubree if you would rather,”  It took every ounce of practice to not start shaking. No amount of practice could ever have prepared her for this moment.  She stood there a moment longer, not willing to ask her question twice, but choosing to stare expectantly at him instead. 
 “Aubree…” he echoed as one of his hands rose and swept aside a lock of her reddish hair that had fallen in front of her face during her head bow, “A fine name. I am Dorian Fimbulvetr. Henceforth, you shall be one of my wives, and I shall have you address me as ‘Husband,’ ‘Sir,’ or ‘My lord.’ Is that clear?”


Aubree’s heart leapt into her throat as his heads brushed her hair away, he was close...way way too close right now. Her first instinct was to bolt, to pull away. But her logic overruled her before she did anything...stupid. She wasn’t getting a huge read on this man, nothing unexpected or ….anything! At most, she sensed her would be displeased with her actions, possible corporal punishment for her actions. It was still unclear if gruff and orderly was his default state or if he was setting parameters and expectations. [i]...as opposed to everything else I’ve called you so far…[/i] she thought, somewhat amused at his orders. [color=E9967A]”Of course M’Lord,”[/color] She answered. [color=E9967A] “ Is there anything else I should know...sir?[/color] adding the last bit to show the slightly delay, trying to give the illusion that his orders meant something to her. 


“That will do for now,” he said dismissively, “Come stand near me. Once I have finished making my… choices, we will depart, and I will tell you all that you will need to know. Now.” he finished imperiously.


[color=E9967A]“Of course M’lord,”[/color] She gave him another smile, falling in slightly behind him. That M’lord thing was becoming annoying and would be the first expectation to go. 

[hider=tldr] Bree isn't happy and she got a husband [/hider]