[((___jade___))>]

In the ancient culture of the Elves, it was never uncommon for two to be promised into marriage, even at a young age, even so young as toddlers. Not all still go by this tradition, but some do, especially the wealthier families who wish to keep noble, untainted blood in their line. Often, the two promised individuals won’t even meet each other until the date set for their wedding, or perhaps a few weeks before during preparations. It causes for uncomfortable, formal relationships a lot of the time, though some get lucky and end up being happy in the end.

Thus it was with two certain young people. They were promised to each other from the time the younger of them drew their first breath. They met once as toddlers, though it was not expected that either would remember this event. All that mattered was how, in just a few decades, they would form a hard-to-break pact between the two families, whether or not this pulled them away from true happiness.

{{~*Haha that sounded sadder than I was trying to make it sound but oh well. That’s basic plot. Doesn’t need to be awesomely worded I guess.
Oh and I hate the title by the way, makes me think of Star Wars. If you have a better one, let me know. XD*~}}

[((___jade___))>]

Jade's Character

Name
Thayne Caeryll
Age
19
Race
Elven
Personality
Thayne has never really taken an interest in the opposite sex, preferring to keep his nose stuck in a book rather than socialize. He loves having the status that he does; the rich, nobleman's son. It has gone to his head in some ways, leaving him rather spoiled. Thayne dislikes it when things do not go his way, and the only person he takes orders from is his father (and even then sometimes not). He can be rather talkative, but since he likes being alone so much, he is a poor conversationalist. Although he often will throw a fit if he is told to do something that he does not want to, he is willing to do things as long as it is somehow to his or his family's profit.

((I didn't really come up with a bio for him. You can for yours if you want but it's up to you.
I wasn't originally planning on making him to spoiled but I didn't want to make him be Mr. Perfect either. xD
If I missed anything, don't hesitate to tell me and I can edit it in. ^ ^))

[Athilea Majiri]

Name
Atane Esatag
Age
18
Race
Elven
Personality
She has a kind heart, though she is distant and antisocial. Her preference is to spend her times sitting in an empty grove, or a garden and listening to nature. She does not mind socializing, per se, she just feels awkward around other elves, especially when they are of the opposite sex. She does as she is asked without question or hesitation unless there is some moral reason to be against it.

[((___jade___))>]

Curtains tightly sealed shut, the room was dark as night, and deathly silent. Through this silence, there was, however, a small noise breaking through the null; a soft snore. The owner of the noise was face-down on the bed, a small trail of drool accompanying the sound coming from his throat. The Elf was completely unaware of all of this of course, eyes closed softly in his peaceful slumber, back rising and falling slowly with his resting breaths.

The stillness was disturbed by the door swinging open, which revealed the fact that it was not night, as the black suggested. "Master Thayne...?" A thin Elf stood at the door, clothes tidy and neat though not too fancy, suggesting that he was a servant. The butler of the house, to be exact. "It's time to get up. Or past time to get up, rather..." Rayl, the family butler, was quite used to having to deal with the Caeryll family's spoiled brat of a son. He had been the main one in charge of the boy ever since Thayne had been born. It also did not surprise the older Elf that his young master was still asleep at one in the afternoon.

"You need to wake up..." Rayl goaded further, striding over to the bed and placing a cold, clammy hand on the younger male's bare shoulder and giving it a good, hard shake. The Elf moaned, swatting at the other as if he were an annoying fly. "Master Thayne." He said in a sharp, commanding voice. He shook his shoulders harder, which eventually worked.

"Wha?" Thayne asked as he pushed himself off of the bed, question cut off by a yawn. Turning himself over, he rubbed at his eyes for a moment before trying to tame his tangled hair with a few pets. This was unsuccessful, but he hardly noticed.

"It's past noontime. Our guests will be here shortly..." The butler said sharply.

"Guests?" Obviously Thayne was rather fuzzy-headed from sleep. The last thing he had discussed with anyone last night was exactly this.

"Does the name "Esatag" ring any bells?" Rayl was quite good at saying such things whilst remaining inferior to his master. "You are to meet your fiance today. They will be here in an hour or less." The butler had already left the side of the bed and was rummaging through the drawers. He soon returned with a pair of black pants, an off-white dress shirt, and a blue patterned vest.

Thayne let out an annoyed sigh as he dropped his feet over the side of the bed and accepted the clothes. He was not at all looking forward to being married, but it was coming up in a little over a week now. Of course, it would have helped if he had known about this sooner. Maybe he could have prepared better. It had only been a year ago that his father had decided to impart the knowledge of the promise to his son. As expected, the brat had thrown a fit at first, but know he accepted it a little better. Although he still disliked the idea of getting married, he did now realize the benefits. His father was making him do this anyway; he knew that he could not say no to him.

A few minutes later, Thayne had his clothes on, face washed, and hair combed. Taking one last look at himself in the mirror, he could not help but throw himself a mental insult for his fat lips before following the butler out the door. "You have a few minutes to eat some lunch. It's already waiting in the kitchen." Rayl informed him. Thayne nodded slightly, though he was off in a world of his own now. It was usual for him to zone out like that. His father hated it and tried to make him stop, though there were few people who could make him do it. Rayl had tried in the past, but had grown weary of having his head chewed off.

[Athilea Majiri]

((Just a note, her name is Esatag. Dunno if that was intentional or not.))

They arrived only a little early and the girl was helped from the elaborately gilded carriage by the driver. With her came a hand maiden and her parents. Her black hair was pulled back into a tasteful bun that was decorated with small, shimmering pearls. The gown she wore was a very pale blue that matched her eyes and trimmed in a white that would match the pearls.

She spoke quietly with her maiden while she waited for her parents to tell her that they should enter. They had allowed enough time for the carriage to be taken away before the family entered the house, the door pulled open wide by servants of the Caeryll manor. Atane was nervous, to say the least.

She had been shown a small portrait of the boy she was suppose to marry just a few weeks before, though she doubted that it really showed him as he was. Artists had a way of taking a lot of liberties with those sorts of paintings. Her mind was wandering though, and she needed to focus on this meeting. It was important.

Her parents entered first, obscuring her from the sight of anyone that might be waiting inside. They wanted to make the entrance theatric, which really just seemed tedious to her. She did as they wanted though. When they parted before her in the room that had been designated for the meeting her soon to be in-laws were sitting there, and seemingly annoyed. That did not bode well.

[((___jade___))>]

{{~*Oh, pff, sorry, I'm a moron. Dx
-edited-*~}}

About half an hour after Thayne had gotten out of bed, he was still sitting in the kitchen, working on a bowl of tomato soup, a roll of bread, and a chunk of cheese. The cooks and some other servants went about their work around him, none of them daring to interrupt his meal for any reason. Thayne loved having that kind of power over people. He hoped to have it for a very long time.

"Master Thayne..." This time the voice was rather scolding. "They have arrived and you are still eating?" Rayl had his arms akimbo as he stood next to the young man.

"What, do you want me to starve or something?!" Thayne growled back, stuffing more of the food into his mouth. "Just let me finish this for goodness' sake!"

"You are not going to starve. Your father requests that you be in the lounge. Now." The butler said sternly, giving him a sharp look. He had the mind to snatch the food right away from him, but he knew that would not help a thing.

Giving him a bit of a pouty look, Thayne obeyed finally, leaving half a bowl of soup but taking the last of the bread and cheese to stuff in his mouth on the way. "Fine..." He grumbled on his way out the door, fully aware that the butler was still staring him down. Once out of sight of the Elf, he slowed down a bit, though he still kept his pace somewhat brisk. Although he really did not care to do this silly meeting, he knew that his punishment would be swift should he not show.

Bread and cheese now gone, he pulled open the door to his destination, finding that he had gotten there just in time in his mind; the bride's family was just coming into the room. Striding confidently over to his parents with head held high and deep frown on his face, he could not help but sneak a few glances over to the other family. He could not help but notice that she was rather beautiful, though it hardly meant a thing to him. Though he may be able to recognize beauty in a female, he had yet to recognize the companionship he could have with such a creature.

As Thayne slid into a spot on the couch near his parents, his father shot him a scowl. Although he had made it on time, he got the feeling that he would be seeing the bad end of a punishment anyway.

"Welcome, welcome..." His father said in his smooth, booming voice, standing with a flourish of his hands and putting on a big, fake smile. "It has been long since we have had the pleasure of hosting the Esatag family under our roof..." The Elf gave a slight bow simply in greeting, another exaggerated hand movement telling the others to take a seat, should they desire it.

[Athilea Majiri]

The girl dropped a curtsy that was fit for the royal court and smile at him graciously before she took her seat on an opposing couch with her parents sitting to either side of her. She at with her hands folding on her lap and, though she stole one or two glances at her husband-to-be, her eye remained on her hands for the most part. At least until her mother whispered something in her ear that made her sit more confidently.

Her father bowed as well and took his seat, "Yes, far to long in my opinion. There is always far more work to be done then time though, wouldn't you agree?" He sat comfortably and smiled towards the boy, "The last time I saw you, you were little more then knee high."

The mans smile faded after a moment when he glanced at his far to shy daughter. She ducked her head a little bit before speaking, "Thank you for having us, sir." Atane glanced at Thayne again, though she did not let it linger over long.

((Heh, it's okay. Things happen. -hugs-))

[((___jade___))>]

Even if he still felt uninterested in girls, he knew that he had no choice with this one, so he tried to check her out. This he tried to do discreetly, however. Even if nobody was going to care, he felt like he had some sort of reputation to live up to. In his glances, he could see that she was doing similarly, though her reason for the slyness seemed to be exactly the opposite of his. Somehow, he found that rather attractive. Whether it was because he knew that he could manipulate and command her more or whether it was because he simply found it cute and gentle like some soft animal, he was not sure.

Noticing the posture going on, Thayne straightened up a bit, knowing that his father was probably trying to send him a glare that he was failing to catch. As the man of the other family spoke, Thayne put on a slight smile, almost as fake but not nearly as big as his father's. The comment about the last time he saw the young man just made him feel awkward. Eyes darting over to his father, he took the cue to laugh a little.

"And the last time we saw you, you were naught but a newborn!" Thayne's father came in with his own jolly laughter as he smiled at his future daughter-in-law. "And what a fine woman she has grown into, eh?" There were certainly no regret behind the decision for him. Not only was he preserving the bloodline and marrying his son into a similarly wealthy family, but his grandchildren would have wonderful genetics, no matter the insecurities that he knew Thayne had about his looks. Thayne looked very much like his father other than the colour of their hair, and he knew that he had good looks.

"Of course, darling!" The Elf laughed again, a sound which Thayne was starting to dislike. "We're very happy to have you, all of you. It's a pleasure." Thayne, despite his best efforts, could not stop the eye roll that followed the statement. It sounded so fake, and he knew it was to some degree. This was probably one of the few times when it was a small degree.

[Athilea Majiri]

She looked down at the floor again, feeling more then a little uncomfortable. Atane knew nothing of this family, at least nothing more then she had been told, and she knew less around the man she was suppose to marry. Apparently her mother had nudged her, though, because she raised her gaze again and looked at the other family.

Her mother spoke this time, "There will be many preparations in the days to come. Where should we hold the ceremony?" She looked pointedly at her daughter. Apparently there had been some debate that the girl finally assented to. She shifted under the gaze slightly.

After a moment she spoke, barely managing to keep a stutter out of her voice, "Do...do you think it would be unprecedented if I spent some time with...with my fiance." She seemed to stumble over the words a little, her gaze darting to Thayne before she looked quickly away. The girl smoother her skirts unnecessarily, and her cheeks were turning a light red.

[((___jade___))>]

Finally feeling slightly more comfortable in the situation, Thayne was able to hold his gaze on his wife-to-be. She seemed nervous, but he understood for the most part. He sort of wondered what her views on marriage were. Because of his reading, he had it in his head that marriage was more of something that two lovers shared, though he did understand doing it for reasons like this. It made little difference to him anyway. He had never felt the kind of love for someone like it was in the stories. Thayne actually did not think he would ever feel that way towards someone.

"Of course!" Thayne's mother finally spoke up. It was a rare occasion for the placid woman to speak, though she had been quite excited about this. Her marriage to Thayne's father had been arranged as well, so she was glad to have the chance to plan a wedding, especially for her eldest son. Thayne was his mother's favorite, despite the fact that his younger sibling was a girl. She was not yet promised to anyone, which was somewhat surprising considering the family, but she was only four years old so she had some time. If she made it past sixteen and still had no fiance, that was when people would start to wonder.

"Our home is always open for it, though we have done some searching." His father came in to help with the planning as much as his information allowed. "We understand that a place outside of either of our homes would likely be a better solution, as big and lovely as each of the houses are." Another bright smile. "There's a place a few miles from here just in the woods. A nice, big gazebo. Very pretty. Somewhat pricey, but I do not see how that will be a problem, especially if we're dividing costs."

The older Elf's smile was slightly more genuine at her words. "I think that would be a lovely idea, child." He chuckled a little, glancing over at his son. The young Elf's fake smile could no longer be maintained. Being around people was bad enough, having one-on-one conversations was the stuff of his nightmares. His lack of social skills was more obvious than ever in such situations. The obvious dread on his face was not missed by his father, who shot him a sharp look. Even that was not enough to get a reaction out of the boy, so a subtle nudge followed, covered up by the Elf's following words. "You two are going to be spending a lot of time together from now on, so getting to know each other a little would be quite fruitful."

At his father's nagging, Thayne finally rose from his seat. Approaching the girl hesitantly, he offered his hand awkwardly to her, managing to force out a smile. His thoughts strayed far enough to remember why he was doing this, and he suddenly realized that he should probably be putting his best foot forward at this point. This helped to ease the smile into a more natural one. He tried to come up with some romantic gestures, whatever he could remember from the books he had read. "Shall we take a walk...?" His mind was racing in panic as he tried to figure out what to do next. He could take her to the garden... there was one step, at least.

[Athilea Majiri]

Apparently both of their mothers were excited by the prospect of the wedding that was only a short time away. Atane looked between them as they talked trying to imagine the place where they would be wed. She imagined that the two woman would talk extensively about the ceremony.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, Atane." There was a look on her fathers eyes as though this was something that had been discussed before hand. Her parents had felt discussing the ceremony would be easier if there were not so many shy looks and unknowns between the couple.

When Thayne approached she placed her hand in his. It was trembling in her nervousness which would explain why she had been so careful to keep them in her lap. The girl stood and offered a smile as she looked down at their joined hands before she rose her gaze to him, "Of course." Her words were soft, though everyone in the room could hear them.

((Geh, my post is so whimpy compared to yours. Oh, and the title kinda makes me thing of star wars to.))

[((___jade___))>]

Now able to maintain the smile a little better, Thayne held her hand firmly, noticing hos much it was trembling. All he could hope was that it was not out of fear or something. If it was just nervousness, it would go away and it would be fine. It was actually his (irrational) fear that it was fear in her. He was probably just overreacting though, he assured himself.

Leading her out towards the courtyard, Thayne realized that he should probably be leading her different so far as their hands went. He was not entirely sure how to change it properly though, so he decided to leave it be. He suspected that this, among other things yet to come, would inspire some manners lessons sometime before the wedding.

The sounds of the ladies' voices talking about the colour of the napkins and the style of the dress and the choice of flowers were caught by Thayne's ears before they slipped out the door. Whenever he was in this garden, he felt more relaxed, so he hoped that it would have that effect on Atane as well. It would be more difficult since they were holding hands and everything, but he figured that he might let go once they were more fully out of sight of their parents. His romantic act was mostly for them.

After a short silence, Thayne decided to attempt a conversation. "So... A-Atane, right?" He gave her an apologetic look. Although he had known about this for a year, her name was not mentioned in the home enough for him to be confident in his knowing it. "Ah... how long have you known about this?" It was the first thing that came to mind, a question that would probably be deemed "inappropriate" by most. When in a conversation, Thayne tended to go into auto-pilot, not really thinking about what he was saying.

{{~*Nah, it's fine. ;P I just had a random spurt of creative juices there, Idk. xD
Huhuh yeah. Instead of force choke, FORCE LOVE! >:O*~}}

[Athilea Majiri]

She followed him, letting him hold her hand in whatever way suited him. The voices of their mothers drifted to her and a small smile played on her lips. It may not have been her choice, but she was certain that the ceremony would be beautiful.

Once they were in the garden she turned to look at him, but did not release his hand. Her eyes met his shyly and with her free hand she smoothed her skirts again, though they still did not need it. She seemed to consider her answer before she spoke.

Though she was soft spoken, there was a musical quality to her voice. "Y-yes." She paused and tried to calm herself, "Yes, my name is Atane. I only found out that was I to wed you 4 months ago." Her gaze dropped from his and then she finally looked around at the garden, "This is beautiful."

((Oh, that would be marvelous. XD))

[((___jade___))>]

Slowing his walk, Thayne decided that perhaps it would be better not to let go of her hand after all. Although he usually did not care about such things, there was a possibility that she would be offended by that. If he was going to be spending this much time with her, he probably wanted to stay on her good side. Even if she did not seem like the type to be angry or anything, he preferred not to have tension.

"Oh, I see..." He sighed, absently lowering his gaze to the ground. Apparently he had it better off than he had thought. A year was plenty of time, in his mind, to think about it and accept it.

Nodding slightly in answer to Atane's statement, Thayne smiled slightly. "Yes... I like to come out here to read sometimes when someone's using the library. There's plenty of hiding places too..." He could not even count the many times over his childhood that he had curled up under one of the bushes or trees in that garden with a book, remaining there undetected for hours on end. He had once hidden so well that he had fallen asleep and nobody found him until the next morning. The had almost caused the destruction of his favorite tree.

[Athilea Majiri]

She turned her head back towards him, "I see. This would be a wonderful place to read, I think." Anate had relaxed a little, though he could still feel her nervousness through the trembling of her hand. This is the only time she can ever remember being allowed to be alone with a man.

Of course, seeing the current situation she could certainly understand why that was not allowed. If she was promised to someone else, there could be no chance for her reputation to be marred. That would endanger the arrangement, and that was something that neither family would have.

The girl tried to think of something else to say, but clearly struggled with conversation topics. Instead she just fell silent and walked with him through the garden.

[((___jade___))>]

Nodding awkwardly, Thayne smiled somewhat uncomfortably. "Yes, it is..." He replied, shrugging slightly. Just talking about it made him want to drop everything, run and get that novel he had been working on, and find a good spot under a bush where nobody would find him.

Thayne knew that he could not do that though. This marriage thing really was quite important. It was not a big deal anyway; they could have been pulling him away from a previous lover. At least he would not have to worry about that.

Finding that they had come to another pause, Thayne racked his brain to come up with a new topic, preferably something that would spark an actual conversation. His previous thoughts about lovers planted the question in his head of if she had any loves already, but he decided to keep that one unspoken for a while. Maybe later when they knew each other better...

"So, what... are your hobbies?" It was certainly a lame question, one of Thayne's backups that he pulled out in uncomfortable social situations, actually, but it would buy him some time to come up with a better question, at least.