Finding A Middle Ground (Mika and Aymelek)
Aug 30, 2013 23:16:07 GMT -4
Post by Empress Aymelek on Aug 30, 2013 23:16:07 GMT -4
AYMELEK: She would never forget the sound of the camel's bells as she listened to her father speak. There was a special delivery for the palace and it arrived on a camel from one of the recent caravans that came into the city proper. She came to sit with him, he was feeling worse. She couldn't think about why he was feeling worse, she just wanted him to stay with her, not leave. She held his gnarled hand with her own younger one and stroked his fingers and talked of the spices she saw in the kitchens that Cook was sorting through. All the colors and smells. How exciting it was and what the lands must have looked like where those spices came from. There was cinnamon and sage, ginger and nutmeg. She described the color of each, tried to describe the smells but laughed when she realized old Adir knew. Then he took her hand in his and told her to quiet herself. From there it spilled from his mouth and each word felt like daggers into Aymelek's tender heart. He told her of her arrangement to marry Mika in two days time. He told her of the union of Dimmamark and Susa, of how it would bring peace and it had always been her destiny to be arranged to another. "But how could you? To him? To such a man! He knows nothing of our ways, nothing of what it is to sacrifice..."
ADIR: "Ahhh, but he does, Aymelek. He does. It is why he was chosen by all of Dimmamark. He knows more of suffering and sacrifice than you could even imagine, girl. Hush. This is what must happen. I am dying. Dying, Aymelek. This must be settled soon. If I had to choose anyone at all for you, I would have chosen Mika."
AYMELEK: She was devastated. She wilted against her fathers hand and cried desperately. Finally retreating to her rooms she spent the remainder of the day in a state of dejected despair. Finally it was time for dinner, she was summoned to attend with her husband to be. Her ladies dressed her, her eunuch escorted her, but Aymelek was like an automaton. She entered the dining room in a gown that was worthy of a Princess, a soon to be Empress, she took her seat and awaited for Mika's entrance.
MIKA: Mika was dressed in his northern clothes again: a dark blue tunic, belted, and dark brown trousers, along with his boots. It probably wasn't considered formal for the people of Susa, but it was comfortable, and it was clean. He wasn't sure how he felt about having dinner with his bride-to-be, but he supposed they were going to have to get to know each other eventually. His dark hair was clean and tied back with a leather strap. He arrived with Ghost at his side, the wolf following placidly. When he sat, so did the wolf - even sitting, it could still see over the table. It could easily rest its head on it, in fact, though he didn't. Aymelek looked lovely, though judging by the look on her face, she might not be interested in hearing so from him. "Princess," he said with a polite nod. He wasn't... sure how to do this.
AYMELEK: When he arrived, she kept her eyes downcast. The flare of her nostrils could mean many things. An effort not to cry, the smell of his wolf, or anger. What it meant was not quite clear at this juncture. She gave acknowledgement of his greeting with a quiet, "M'Lord.." with a very subtle incline of her dark head, but just kept her eyes down. The first course was served, the servants then leaving them alone. Aymelek was disinterested in eating. She felt the tears threatening and quickly took up her water to drink to distract her mind. There were moments of silence that seemed interminable. It was only now her mind began to plot. She cleared her throat delicately, and spoke quietly as her hand gripped the goblet of water like an anchor in a very violent storm. "What is his name?" she gave an uptilt of her head indicating his wolf. It was safer to talk on the wolf.
MIKA: He frowned a bit. "You can call me Mika," he offered. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to people calling him 'lord' or 'emminence' or whatever it was people called an emperor. He felt like he should say something, but Aymelek broke the tense silence before he could think of what to say. He looked at the wolf. "Oh. I call him Ghost," he said. He scritched along Ghost's thick ruff of on his neck and the wolf leaned into his side, against the arm of his chair. Mika smiled a bit, then he looked at the princess. "I know this probably isn't what you wanted for yourself... I-- It took me by surprise, as well." He wanted her to know that they were sort of in the same boat, at least.
AYMELEK: She watched the wolf, not with open curiosity, she was too devastated for that (drama) but she was curious. "Do all your people have a wolf?" Or was he unusual. She had a feeling he was. Her eyes drifted over his clothing, unusual, but she'd seen them before on those from the north. Her features changed when he addressed their predicatment. It was unseemly to do so. It was then she remembered how he was yesterday, as a guest, before she saw him as a future she did not wish. Her eyes graced him at last, her fingers curling around a white rose that lay at her place setting. (Aymelek always had a white rose at her place setting). "It is not what I wanted, and if it is not what you wanted, and we must do it for duty of land and people, then it can be in name only. Yes?" She was breathing harder, scared, desperate to find a way to make this better. "Appearances can be made for the people...."
MIKA: "No, most have dogs, if they have canine companions at all," he said with a shrug. He looked at her, realizing how much of a girl she was, and how frightened she was as she spoke to him like that. He kept petting Ghost while she clutched her rose. "They will eventually expect a child," he pointed out. "That is the point of this marriage, merging the two lands." And the result needed to be a child, who would be the next ruler, with the blood of the north and of the south, and with an understanding of the cultures within. Like Mika. He scruffed Ghost lightly, then sat back with a sigh. "We will do our respective duties, and we will make this work." He could see no other way, for now, and unfortunately for Aymelek that did, indeed, mean at some point having a child. Unless she wanted to just quietly adopt a bastard child that Mika could father on a more willing partner, but that sort of undermined the symbolic gesture of their union.
AYMELEK: Oooo, she suddenly wanted to stab him in the eye with the stem of her rose. Too bad the thorns were removed, she thought. He seemed calm, logical and petting his wolf as if this was just another normal night. It wasn't normal. It was horrid! She closed her eyes and turned her head to look down again. In a shaking voice, she asked quietly, "He is a lovely wolf, and unusual like you..." every word was laden with a shaking breath, ready to burst into tears but willing herself not to. 'We will make this work' he said. It was just such a fatalistic acceptance of their situation. "My father, he likes you very much. He said he was dying. He has no faith I can do this alone. Maybe he's right."
MIKA: "He is dying," he affirmed. "He is an old man and at the end of his time. If you ruled alone, without seeking peace with Dimmamark, there would be war." He was certain of it - he was so certain because he lived there, and he knew what the leaders spoke of, he knew what they whispered in their councils. "Perhaps you could have ruled Susa on your own. But you could not hope to keep the peoples in the Mark at bay if they chose to sweep south as one." It was a cold fact, and he spoke bluntly. "Your father knows what needed to be done to achieve peace, even if it is tentative."
AYMELEK: Yes, Aymelek decided, he needed a rose stem in his eye. The pain his blunt words caused was sharp and took her breath. The dark well defined brows drew together. She pulled herself out of her wallow in self pity because of his last words. "What do you mean tentative? If there is to be war regardless, then why are we trying?" But tentative could mean years, it could mean others gathering to war against the new united Susa. "Nothing is assured." She answered her own question. She was vexed, her eyes flashed fury as they raised, their deep dark red irises seem to go black, the gold star around her pupil appeared brighter. "I can see why he likes you." There came the nostril flaring again. "So you are here now. You and your wolf,and your ways, and you know nothing of me or how things are done, and you will expect me to change? To be like you? I cannot. I am Susain, I will always be Susain, it is part of me, just as Dimmamark is part of you. I can accept that, if you will accept me as I am. I will try and learn, for the sake of your people." She knew some things about the North but her education had consisted of mainly the provinces and lands of Susa itself.
MIKA: "Nothing is assured," he agreed, watching her closely. She was working through all the information being put before her, he could tell. And he was sure it wasn't easy for someone that had been so sheltered. "I am here now," he echoed her. "With my wolf and my ways. But I do know how things are done, princess. And no one has asked you to be anything but what you are," he pointed out. "Just as I have no intention of being anything but what I am. And I will honor Susain ways, to the extent that I can, for the sake of your people." Two could play that game. "You forget, or you were never told, I spent my boyhood in this land." He'd been raised here, though it was hard to remember that child anymore after all he'd been through since then. "My father is of your people, and my mother is, or was, of the Andvari." One of the northern peoples.
AYMELEK: Her eyes narrowed. She leaned forward, her hand on the table, her food untouched and her ire raising to an all time high. "And you must learn how to speak to me! I am not a child. I am not less than you." She stood suddenly, tears springing and her mouth working to try and speak without shaking. "I will have no one but you as family when he is gone! He has been my world since I can remember! And whatever God I offended for that, for taking him and leaving me with you, I will figure it out and make my penance, so I can have something more to cling to when my family is all dead, but you and your wolf! Sitting at my table!" She turned and rapidly swiped at the tear that streaked down her face. If the rose was not symbolic of her mother's presence she would have truly slapped him with it. Instead she picked up her water glass and flung it against the wall. The fine crystal shattered with a very satisfying sound and the water streamed down the stone wall. She studied it, lifted her gown and said "Fitting. Let the walls cry. Let all of Susa cry! Nothing lasts forever. Not even you." She stormed out then, and any in her way quickly retreated, the heat of her fury rolling off her like waves of brimstone.
MIKA: Mika watched her, calm in the face of her fury. He didn't flinch when the glass shattered on the wall behind him. "You are still young, even if you are not a child," he pointed out. "The gods are not punishing you, Aymelek." It was the first time he'd used her name since they'd met. "Any more than they are punishing me." He shook his head as she stormed out, though - there was no point in arguing with her now. He ate his meal and left the room, retiring to his own chambers for a while.
But, after some time had passed, he found his way through the palace again - with some help from a servant - to wherever it was Aymelek had retreated to. He had a bowl of sliced fruit with him, almost a peace offering. He wasn't sure if she had eaten yet - she hadn't before she fled dinner, so. He would at least offer this.
AYMELEK: Aymelek was on the terrace outside her chambers. There was a celebration in the city. A city that would be name Nerida on their wedding day. Her father told her that. She was too stubborn to tell Mika that, however, too stubborn to do much other than sit quietly and watch the lanterns from the city center as they danced and flickered with the jubilance. When the servant appeared on the terrace, Aymelek looked with question, then Mika appeared. Just seeing him brought about a mixture of regret and fury. He was very handsome, not even she could deny that, but that wasn't the point! It wasn't the point at all. She nodded to the servant with a weak smile their way, then rose as was proper to greet him. "Mika..." she said quietly, her first use of his name since she found out he was to be her husband.
MIKA: He held the bowl up, then set it down on an appropriate surface. "I wasn't sure if you'd eaten since you left dinner," he said. He looked around, out at the garden beyond the terrace. "We don't need to be enemies, princess. We are two sides of the same coin now, two parts that will have to at least make the appearance of being whole." He sighed and resisted the urge to fuss with his hair - it was tied back, he didn't want to redo it. "I am blunt, Aymelek. But you cannot forever take it as an attack on your purpose. These things are all true, I would not say them otherwise. This is our present circumstance, and neither of us can change it without doing harm for our personal preferences." He sighed and ended up pulling his hair loose. "I do not want to have to have an angry woman at my back while I face an uncertain future. We will not always get along. But I will at least try."
AYMELEK: Her eyes fell on the bowl of fruit. She felt her stomach rumble, despite not feeling the hunger mentally, her body was saying otherwise. Confusion filled her face when she looked at him again. She was young, it was true, she was inexperienced, also true. But Aymelek recognized sincerity when she heard it,and Mika spoke with it now. For the first time since finding out, the haze through which she saw him seemed to clear, if only momentarily. He was as at odds with this as she was, he was dealing with what fate had given him with a good deal more grace than she, and seemed to handle the worse of it with nothing more than a sigh here and there. He looked wild and untamed, but so strong and controlled, even when he pulled his hair loose and it framed his face. He spoke with a calm that eased the knot in her stomach. Incredibly. Her hands were hidden in her sleeves, clasping her arms, but she brought them out when he finished. She waved to a seat and lowered back to her own. She looked back over the city for a moment, then looked down, as she spoke. "Thank you for the fruit. I'm starved." She gave a tentative smile his way, then said, "I know this is hard for you as well. And please do not worry. You will not have an angry woman at your back. You will have a wife at your side. I will endeavor to do as is expected and that means trying to get along."
MIKA: He sat down with her invitation, sort of grateful for it. It was better than just standing there - he'd want to start pacing if he did. "I thought you might be... if you're anything like me, I figured you hadn't eaten." He did the same, sometimes. He would get frustrated and leave a meal, and he wouldn't seek out another or a snack due to that frustration. Even if he got hungry. He tended to dwell on things. He nodded when she promised to be a wife at his side rather than an enemy at his back. He met her gaze. "I will never hurt you, Aymelek. I will not force you into anything you are unwilling to do," he said. "I will not be your enemy here, either. I want this to work, for the sake of two countries that might otherwise be at war." Though it wasn't quite right to call Dimmamark a country. It was, to be certain, but it wasn't exactly united under one ruler... Well. He supposed it would be now.
AYMELEK: She lifted the first slice of fruit, a succulent melon, full of water. Water was the source of life for a desert dweller, and Aymelek was no different. She bit into the slice and chewed. Though it slowed as he continued speaking, his eyes met hers and seemed so expressive. She never noticed that before. She was glad she did not stab him in the eye with the stem of her rose. It was not high romance, but it was exactly what Aymelek needed to hear. She needed to know that the one person left to her as family, would not be her enemy, or her bully. "Then we have terms." she said as if they were negotiating a peace treaty, and perhaps, in a way, they were. "That is all I need to know to be able to carry this through." She studied him for a moment. He had lovely features. "If you have a need, if there is something you cannot find or understand, I am here to help." She inclined her head to him.
MIKA: Mika nodded. "And I... extend the same offer to you," he said. He was older, maybe a bit wiser, and if nothing else, more experienced. He would do his best to help her, as he was sure she would try to help him. "I hold no illusion that ours will be a completely... peaceful union. But I will at least try to make amends." Like he was now. He would do his best o keep peace between them. He sat back a bit, more relaxed than she'd probably seen him since he arrived. He looked out over the terrace and shook his head a bit. "I am still digesting this idea," he admitted to her, in case she thought he was completely adjusted to it. How could he be? He'd only heard about it a day before she had, and getting settled with the idea was no easier with a head start. "My mother, at least, will likely desire to meet you, before we wed. If not soon after." He looked over at Aymelek again. "You may lose your only family, but I assure you, you will be hard pressed to avoid being adopted by mine."
AYMELEK: Aymelek didn't choke on her fruit about the 'peaceful union' but it was full truth. The chances of him speaking blunt and causing her to blow were extremely high. "Your amends are very delicious. I hope mine will be..." she was eating the fruit like a starvation victim now. She nodded. "It is a lot to accept. As Emperor you will have much on your shoulders. It will be enough to shake even your rock solid calm." She took another bite and swallowed, then sat back, temporarily slaked for now. She smiled listening about his family. "They were those in the hall, yesterday? They live in Susa." She realized she knew very little about him. "We have plenty to learn of one another." The sound of her dress as she moved her legs beneath came, the beads softly clacking, the scent of her perfume spicy with an undertone of a subtle flower. "Perhaps I will extend an invitation to her for tomorrow?" Aymelek was not yet allowed out until after she was wed. Only then could she be seen in public.
MIKA: "We'll see about that," he said with a shrug. He was more apt to buckle down more, but they would see that when and if it happened. "Yes, those were my parents yesterday. And she would like that," he said with a nod. "I also have an older brother, and a little sister. Dameer and Rhiannon. I imagine you'll see them at the wedding." He did have family to share with her, at the very least. He was sure Rhiannon might delight in being sister-in-law to a princess. An empress, soon. Mika was sure Dameer would have comments aplenty once they saw each other again, and Mika would be hard pressed not to tussel with his older brother to shut him up. He thought it was strange that Aymelek was so sheltered, not even allowed out in public without being married. He'd known few women in Dimmamark that would stand for that.
AYMELEK: "It is more clear each time you speak why my father chose you, why your people chose you." Adir told her about Mika in as much as how it came to be. His stubborn resolve related to his being Emperor was just one more reason why Aymelek knew what she said was true. It was a good trait for what he had to face. Aymelek listened to him talk of his family with eagerness. "I cannot imagine having siblings, and I look forward to becoming familiar with them all." Aymelek was a lonely only child. She'd never left the palace grounds, not even once. She was, in essence, cloistered. She appeared on the terrace now and then for those who gathered for events, but even then she was veiled. "Dameer. Rhiannon. " she tried out their names. "He is older and she is younger." The fascination was clear on her features. "I will invite her then. I saw...how she was with you....to have such a mother, is a real blessing." She nodded, then looked down again, sneaking another peek at the city center. "They are ending the celebration. See the lanterns? They move and jiggle while it is in high swing, but as things slow, the lanterns start flickering out. It's a sad time. That means they are going home and having no more fun. I wonder what it's like to do that. Have you done that?" He didn't seem the type to revel in a city center.
MIKA: "I was not with mine for most of my life," he said with a shrug. "Rhiannon was young when I left, and Dameer was doing his own things." He shrugged - he still felt very close to them, he still felt love for them, but... it was different, having been away from them for so long. He nodded again when she spoke of her mother. "She is a good woman," he said. He did hope that Aymelek liked her - that his mother liked the princess. He looked at the lanterns when she pointed them out. "It isn't sad," he said with a shrug. "They're just going home." Celebrations had to end sometime, after all. "Done what? Been part of a celebration?" He shrugged. "Yes, many."
AYMELEK: "Hm.." she said thoughtfully, listening to his words and trying to imagine what it was like being Mika. Away from family, different somehow, and then to see him celebrating. Part of many celebrations. That made her grin, but her eyes returned to the lanterns that were going out. She took in a deep breath, as her smile faded. So she and Mika could deal with this arrangement. It wasn't ideal but they would make it work. She would have his family. That would help. But her father was still dying. Nothing would change that, and she knew, already she knew.....that if she said that to Mika, he would confirm it. She didn't really want it confirmed. She went quiet. At last.
ADIR: "Ahhh, but he does, Aymelek. He does. It is why he was chosen by all of Dimmamark. He knows more of suffering and sacrifice than you could even imagine, girl. Hush. This is what must happen. I am dying. Dying, Aymelek. This must be settled soon. If I had to choose anyone at all for you, I would have chosen Mika."
AYMELEK: She was devastated. She wilted against her fathers hand and cried desperately. Finally retreating to her rooms she spent the remainder of the day in a state of dejected despair. Finally it was time for dinner, she was summoned to attend with her husband to be. Her ladies dressed her, her eunuch escorted her, but Aymelek was like an automaton. She entered the dining room in a gown that was worthy of a Princess, a soon to be Empress, she took her seat and awaited for Mika's entrance.
MIKA: Mika was dressed in his northern clothes again: a dark blue tunic, belted, and dark brown trousers, along with his boots. It probably wasn't considered formal for the people of Susa, but it was comfortable, and it was clean. He wasn't sure how he felt about having dinner with his bride-to-be, but he supposed they were going to have to get to know each other eventually. His dark hair was clean and tied back with a leather strap. He arrived with Ghost at his side, the wolf following placidly. When he sat, so did the wolf - even sitting, it could still see over the table. It could easily rest its head on it, in fact, though he didn't. Aymelek looked lovely, though judging by the look on her face, she might not be interested in hearing so from him. "Princess," he said with a polite nod. He wasn't... sure how to do this.
AYMELEK: When he arrived, she kept her eyes downcast. The flare of her nostrils could mean many things. An effort not to cry, the smell of his wolf, or anger. What it meant was not quite clear at this juncture. She gave acknowledgement of his greeting with a quiet, "M'Lord.." with a very subtle incline of her dark head, but just kept her eyes down. The first course was served, the servants then leaving them alone. Aymelek was disinterested in eating. She felt the tears threatening and quickly took up her water to drink to distract her mind. There were moments of silence that seemed interminable. It was only now her mind began to plot. She cleared her throat delicately, and spoke quietly as her hand gripped the goblet of water like an anchor in a very violent storm. "What is his name?" she gave an uptilt of her head indicating his wolf. It was safer to talk on the wolf.
MIKA: He frowned a bit. "You can call me Mika," he offered. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to people calling him 'lord' or 'emminence' or whatever it was people called an emperor. He felt like he should say something, but Aymelek broke the tense silence before he could think of what to say. He looked at the wolf. "Oh. I call him Ghost," he said. He scritched along Ghost's thick ruff of on his neck and the wolf leaned into his side, against the arm of his chair. Mika smiled a bit, then he looked at the princess. "I know this probably isn't what you wanted for yourself... I-- It took me by surprise, as well." He wanted her to know that they were sort of in the same boat, at least.
AYMELEK: She watched the wolf, not with open curiosity, she was too devastated for that (drama) but she was curious. "Do all your people have a wolf?" Or was he unusual. She had a feeling he was. Her eyes drifted over his clothing, unusual, but she'd seen them before on those from the north. Her features changed when he addressed their predicatment. It was unseemly to do so. It was then she remembered how he was yesterday, as a guest, before she saw him as a future she did not wish. Her eyes graced him at last, her fingers curling around a white rose that lay at her place setting. (Aymelek always had a white rose at her place setting). "It is not what I wanted, and if it is not what you wanted, and we must do it for duty of land and people, then it can be in name only. Yes?" She was breathing harder, scared, desperate to find a way to make this better. "Appearances can be made for the people...."
MIKA: "No, most have dogs, if they have canine companions at all," he said with a shrug. He looked at her, realizing how much of a girl she was, and how frightened she was as she spoke to him like that. He kept petting Ghost while she clutched her rose. "They will eventually expect a child," he pointed out. "That is the point of this marriage, merging the two lands." And the result needed to be a child, who would be the next ruler, with the blood of the north and of the south, and with an understanding of the cultures within. Like Mika. He scruffed Ghost lightly, then sat back with a sigh. "We will do our respective duties, and we will make this work." He could see no other way, for now, and unfortunately for Aymelek that did, indeed, mean at some point having a child. Unless she wanted to just quietly adopt a bastard child that Mika could father on a more willing partner, but that sort of undermined the symbolic gesture of their union.
AYMELEK: Oooo, she suddenly wanted to stab him in the eye with the stem of her rose. Too bad the thorns were removed, she thought. He seemed calm, logical and petting his wolf as if this was just another normal night. It wasn't normal. It was horrid! She closed her eyes and turned her head to look down again. In a shaking voice, she asked quietly, "He is a lovely wolf, and unusual like you..." every word was laden with a shaking breath, ready to burst into tears but willing herself not to. 'We will make this work' he said. It was just such a fatalistic acceptance of their situation. "My father, he likes you very much. He said he was dying. He has no faith I can do this alone. Maybe he's right."
MIKA: "He is dying," he affirmed. "He is an old man and at the end of his time. If you ruled alone, without seeking peace with Dimmamark, there would be war." He was certain of it - he was so certain because he lived there, and he knew what the leaders spoke of, he knew what they whispered in their councils. "Perhaps you could have ruled Susa on your own. But you could not hope to keep the peoples in the Mark at bay if they chose to sweep south as one." It was a cold fact, and he spoke bluntly. "Your father knows what needed to be done to achieve peace, even if it is tentative."
AYMELEK: Yes, Aymelek decided, he needed a rose stem in his eye. The pain his blunt words caused was sharp and took her breath. The dark well defined brows drew together. She pulled herself out of her wallow in self pity because of his last words. "What do you mean tentative? If there is to be war regardless, then why are we trying?" But tentative could mean years, it could mean others gathering to war against the new united Susa. "Nothing is assured." She answered her own question. She was vexed, her eyes flashed fury as they raised, their deep dark red irises seem to go black, the gold star around her pupil appeared brighter. "I can see why he likes you." There came the nostril flaring again. "So you are here now. You and your wolf,and your ways, and you know nothing of me or how things are done, and you will expect me to change? To be like you? I cannot. I am Susain, I will always be Susain, it is part of me, just as Dimmamark is part of you. I can accept that, if you will accept me as I am. I will try and learn, for the sake of your people." She knew some things about the North but her education had consisted of mainly the provinces and lands of Susa itself.
MIKA: "Nothing is assured," he agreed, watching her closely. She was working through all the information being put before her, he could tell. And he was sure it wasn't easy for someone that had been so sheltered. "I am here now," he echoed her. "With my wolf and my ways. But I do know how things are done, princess. And no one has asked you to be anything but what you are," he pointed out. "Just as I have no intention of being anything but what I am. And I will honor Susain ways, to the extent that I can, for the sake of your people." Two could play that game. "You forget, or you were never told, I spent my boyhood in this land." He'd been raised here, though it was hard to remember that child anymore after all he'd been through since then. "My father is of your people, and my mother is, or was, of the Andvari." One of the northern peoples.
AYMELEK: Her eyes narrowed. She leaned forward, her hand on the table, her food untouched and her ire raising to an all time high. "And you must learn how to speak to me! I am not a child. I am not less than you." She stood suddenly, tears springing and her mouth working to try and speak without shaking. "I will have no one but you as family when he is gone! He has been my world since I can remember! And whatever God I offended for that, for taking him and leaving me with you, I will figure it out and make my penance, so I can have something more to cling to when my family is all dead, but you and your wolf! Sitting at my table!" She turned and rapidly swiped at the tear that streaked down her face. If the rose was not symbolic of her mother's presence she would have truly slapped him with it. Instead she picked up her water glass and flung it against the wall. The fine crystal shattered with a very satisfying sound and the water streamed down the stone wall. She studied it, lifted her gown and said "Fitting. Let the walls cry. Let all of Susa cry! Nothing lasts forever. Not even you." She stormed out then, and any in her way quickly retreated, the heat of her fury rolling off her like waves of brimstone.
MIKA: Mika watched her, calm in the face of her fury. He didn't flinch when the glass shattered on the wall behind him. "You are still young, even if you are not a child," he pointed out. "The gods are not punishing you, Aymelek." It was the first time he'd used her name since they'd met. "Any more than they are punishing me." He shook his head as she stormed out, though - there was no point in arguing with her now. He ate his meal and left the room, retiring to his own chambers for a while.
But, after some time had passed, he found his way through the palace again - with some help from a servant - to wherever it was Aymelek had retreated to. He had a bowl of sliced fruit with him, almost a peace offering. He wasn't sure if she had eaten yet - she hadn't before she fled dinner, so. He would at least offer this.
AYMELEK: Aymelek was on the terrace outside her chambers. There was a celebration in the city. A city that would be name Nerida on their wedding day. Her father told her that. She was too stubborn to tell Mika that, however, too stubborn to do much other than sit quietly and watch the lanterns from the city center as they danced and flickered with the jubilance. When the servant appeared on the terrace, Aymelek looked with question, then Mika appeared. Just seeing him brought about a mixture of regret and fury. He was very handsome, not even she could deny that, but that wasn't the point! It wasn't the point at all. She nodded to the servant with a weak smile their way, then rose as was proper to greet him. "Mika..." she said quietly, her first use of his name since she found out he was to be her husband.
MIKA: He held the bowl up, then set it down on an appropriate surface. "I wasn't sure if you'd eaten since you left dinner," he said. He looked around, out at the garden beyond the terrace. "We don't need to be enemies, princess. We are two sides of the same coin now, two parts that will have to at least make the appearance of being whole." He sighed and resisted the urge to fuss with his hair - it was tied back, he didn't want to redo it. "I am blunt, Aymelek. But you cannot forever take it as an attack on your purpose. These things are all true, I would not say them otherwise. This is our present circumstance, and neither of us can change it without doing harm for our personal preferences." He sighed and ended up pulling his hair loose. "I do not want to have to have an angry woman at my back while I face an uncertain future. We will not always get along. But I will at least try."
AYMELEK: Her eyes fell on the bowl of fruit. She felt her stomach rumble, despite not feeling the hunger mentally, her body was saying otherwise. Confusion filled her face when she looked at him again. She was young, it was true, she was inexperienced, also true. But Aymelek recognized sincerity when she heard it,and Mika spoke with it now. For the first time since finding out, the haze through which she saw him seemed to clear, if only momentarily. He was as at odds with this as she was, he was dealing with what fate had given him with a good deal more grace than she, and seemed to handle the worse of it with nothing more than a sigh here and there. He looked wild and untamed, but so strong and controlled, even when he pulled his hair loose and it framed his face. He spoke with a calm that eased the knot in her stomach. Incredibly. Her hands were hidden in her sleeves, clasping her arms, but she brought them out when he finished. She waved to a seat and lowered back to her own. She looked back over the city for a moment, then looked down, as she spoke. "Thank you for the fruit. I'm starved." She gave a tentative smile his way, then said, "I know this is hard for you as well. And please do not worry. You will not have an angry woman at your back. You will have a wife at your side. I will endeavor to do as is expected and that means trying to get along."
MIKA: He sat down with her invitation, sort of grateful for it. It was better than just standing there - he'd want to start pacing if he did. "I thought you might be... if you're anything like me, I figured you hadn't eaten." He did the same, sometimes. He would get frustrated and leave a meal, and he wouldn't seek out another or a snack due to that frustration. Even if he got hungry. He tended to dwell on things. He nodded when she promised to be a wife at his side rather than an enemy at his back. He met her gaze. "I will never hurt you, Aymelek. I will not force you into anything you are unwilling to do," he said. "I will not be your enemy here, either. I want this to work, for the sake of two countries that might otherwise be at war." Though it wasn't quite right to call Dimmamark a country. It was, to be certain, but it wasn't exactly united under one ruler... Well. He supposed it would be now.
AYMELEK: She lifted the first slice of fruit, a succulent melon, full of water. Water was the source of life for a desert dweller, and Aymelek was no different. She bit into the slice and chewed. Though it slowed as he continued speaking, his eyes met hers and seemed so expressive. She never noticed that before. She was glad she did not stab him in the eye with the stem of her rose. It was not high romance, but it was exactly what Aymelek needed to hear. She needed to know that the one person left to her as family, would not be her enemy, or her bully. "Then we have terms." she said as if they were negotiating a peace treaty, and perhaps, in a way, they were. "That is all I need to know to be able to carry this through." She studied him for a moment. He had lovely features. "If you have a need, if there is something you cannot find or understand, I am here to help." She inclined her head to him.
MIKA: Mika nodded. "And I... extend the same offer to you," he said. He was older, maybe a bit wiser, and if nothing else, more experienced. He would do his best to help her, as he was sure she would try to help him. "I hold no illusion that ours will be a completely... peaceful union. But I will at least try to make amends." Like he was now. He would do his best o keep peace between them. He sat back a bit, more relaxed than she'd probably seen him since he arrived. He looked out over the terrace and shook his head a bit. "I am still digesting this idea," he admitted to her, in case she thought he was completely adjusted to it. How could he be? He'd only heard about it a day before she had, and getting settled with the idea was no easier with a head start. "My mother, at least, will likely desire to meet you, before we wed. If not soon after." He looked over at Aymelek again. "You may lose your only family, but I assure you, you will be hard pressed to avoid being adopted by mine."
AYMELEK: Aymelek didn't choke on her fruit about the 'peaceful union' but it was full truth. The chances of him speaking blunt and causing her to blow were extremely high. "Your amends are very delicious. I hope mine will be..." she was eating the fruit like a starvation victim now. She nodded. "It is a lot to accept. As Emperor you will have much on your shoulders. It will be enough to shake even your rock solid calm." She took another bite and swallowed, then sat back, temporarily slaked for now. She smiled listening about his family. "They were those in the hall, yesterday? They live in Susa." She realized she knew very little about him. "We have plenty to learn of one another." The sound of her dress as she moved her legs beneath came, the beads softly clacking, the scent of her perfume spicy with an undertone of a subtle flower. "Perhaps I will extend an invitation to her for tomorrow?" Aymelek was not yet allowed out until after she was wed. Only then could she be seen in public.
MIKA: "We'll see about that," he said with a shrug. He was more apt to buckle down more, but they would see that when and if it happened. "Yes, those were my parents yesterday. And she would like that," he said with a nod. "I also have an older brother, and a little sister. Dameer and Rhiannon. I imagine you'll see them at the wedding." He did have family to share with her, at the very least. He was sure Rhiannon might delight in being sister-in-law to a princess. An empress, soon. Mika was sure Dameer would have comments aplenty once they saw each other again, and Mika would be hard pressed not to tussel with his older brother to shut him up. He thought it was strange that Aymelek was so sheltered, not even allowed out in public without being married. He'd known few women in Dimmamark that would stand for that.
AYMELEK: "It is more clear each time you speak why my father chose you, why your people chose you." Adir told her about Mika in as much as how it came to be. His stubborn resolve related to his being Emperor was just one more reason why Aymelek knew what she said was true. It was a good trait for what he had to face. Aymelek listened to him talk of his family with eagerness. "I cannot imagine having siblings, and I look forward to becoming familiar with them all." Aymelek was a lonely only child. She'd never left the palace grounds, not even once. She was, in essence, cloistered. She appeared on the terrace now and then for those who gathered for events, but even then she was veiled. "Dameer. Rhiannon. " she tried out their names. "He is older and she is younger." The fascination was clear on her features. "I will invite her then. I saw...how she was with you....to have such a mother, is a real blessing." She nodded, then looked down again, sneaking another peek at the city center. "They are ending the celebration. See the lanterns? They move and jiggle while it is in high swing, but as things slow, the lanterns start flickering out. It's a sad time. That means they are going home and having no more fun. I wonder what it's like to do that. Have you done that?" He didn't seem the type to revel in a city center.
MIKA: "I was not with mine for most of my life," he said with a shrug. "Rhiannon was young when I left, and Dameer was doing his own things." He shrugged - he still felt very close to them, he still felt love for them, but... it was different, having been away from them for so long. He nodded again when she spoke of her mother. "She is a good woman," he said. He did hope that Aymelek liked her - that his mother liked the princess. He looked at the lanterns when she pointed them out. "It isn't sad," he said with a shrug. "They're just going home." Celebrations had to end sometime, after all. "Done what? Been part of a celebration?" He shrugged. "Yes, many."
AYMELEK: "Hm.." she said thoughtfully, listening to his words and trying to imagine what it was like being Mika. Away from family, different somehow, and then to see him celebrating. Part of many celebrations. That made her grin, but her eyes returned to the lanterns that were going out. She took in a deep breath, as her smile faded. So she and Mika could deal with this arrangement. It wasn't ideal but they would make it work. She would have his family. That would help. But her father was still dying. Nothing would change that, and she knew, already she knew.....that if she said that to Mika, he would confirm it. She didn't really want it confirmed. She went quiet. At last.