[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/HDwS9l5.png[/img]
[h2][color=9e0039]Zeldria Miphras[/color][/h2]
Bride to Ineraz ([@SilverPaw]), Sister Bride to Sera ([@Pupperr])
Interacting with Ineraz[/center]

Time seemed to accelerate as Zel worked in the kitchen. The cooking was challenging, both due to her inexperience with the game and the incessant hissing behind her back as the servants made their disapproval known. The first few times she'd turned and asked if she'd done something wrong, but when her question was ignored repeatedly she determined that they simply didn't like her. Oh well, she thought, it was something she'd have to get used to around here. And so she continued working. She'd just about finished when one of the guards, different from the one who had brought her here, came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Initially his hand had closed like clasped irons and caused her to wince, but he quickly loosened his grip and simply held her.

[b]"Lord Ineraz wishes to see you,"[/b] he told her.

[color=9e0039][b]"Very well,"[/b][/color] she replied, [color=9e0039][b]"Your timing is fair, I just finished making these for him."[/b][/color]

A short time later she was sat down next to him at the table while the guard explained things to him. After dismissing his man, Ineraz looked at her and scowled, his eyes clearly traveling up and down her body in the ill-fitting clothes. Zel breathed in sharply as she realized what he was displeased by, but she maintained her composure. She would stop wilting in fear, she told herself. She would have to.

[color=00a99d][b]“After we eat, we will go shopping. You definitely need better clothes. Sera as well,"[/b][/color] he said, confirming her suspicions. [color=00a99d][b]"How come you haven’t brought any with you? I though the Drakken gave you time enough to get some things from home,”[/b][/color]

[color=9e0039][b]"That would have been the case,"[/b][/color] she replied hesitantly, [color=9e0039][b]"Had it been an ordinary Reaping."[/b][/color] 

She looked down at the table, not out of fear of him but from reliving that day. She shook her head quickly to clear it, and then looked up at Ineraz again. She looked him in the eye, as much as it terrified her, and told him what had happened. 

[color=9e0039][b]"My village... well, village is a strong word, we were more a small community in the countryside. So small, in fact, that the Reaping wouldn't come upon us for many years. But they came anyway. They said the village to the north which they were supposed to reap had somehow evaded them, though they never said how. So, they came to us instead, lest they return to Drakka empty-handed. The leaders of my settlement protested, of course, and were met with threats to burn everything we'd built to the ground. I was the only girl of a reaping age there at the time, and when they were shouting I was corralling the younger children. And when I looked down at them, as soon as they heard that we might lose everything..."[/b][/color]

She paused for a moment as the memory swam in her mind. She saw the children looking up at her, their eyes wet with tears as even at a young age they understood what was about to happen. [i]"Zel,"[/i] one of them had asked, her little voice trembling, [i]"Are we all going to die?"[/i]

[color=9e0039][i]"No,"[/i][/color] she'd said, a somber smile on her face, [color=9e0039][i]"None of [u]you[/u] will."[/i][/color]

[color=9e0039][b]"I made a choice,"[/b][/color] she continued, a small amount of determination now coming into her speech, [color=9e0039][b]"And after I'd made it I was seized before I had time to reconsider. Nothing save the clothes on my back, and I can't say I know what became of them."[/b][/color]

The two of them ate for a little while before Ineraz addressed her again. [color=00a99d][b]“I don’t mind if you like cooking, the servants here just have some pride, you know. Doing well what they do is what keeps them alive and healthy after all,”[/b][/color] he explained nonchalantly. [color=00a99d][b]“If you want to try again, just say so, and I’ll arrange the servants to leave you to it. They could even tutor you a bit if you wish, though I doubt they’ll be kind about it.”[/b][/color]

[color=9e0039][b]"I apologize. In my settlement, it's customary for the wi- the bride,"[/b][/color] she corrected herself hastily. That had been one of Shadow Worth's lessons; they were NOT wives. [color=9e0039][b]"to prepare breakfast for their husband in the mornings. I'm not accustomed to the presence of servants and so I did not consider it. But I may do so, if you'll allow it. I know almost nothing of an actual hunt, but I helped dress and carve the game in Gemmenia, as well as cook. If that is how I can be of use to the estate, it would help me feel at home."[/b][/color]  

[hider=Summary]
Zel recounts her Reaping in vivid detail, gains a little resolve, and responds to Ineraz's offer. Didn't respond to Sera's guard because I didn't want to jumble things; I'll let Silver bring him into the scene.
[/hider]