The Gauntlet

Into the Pale

Marq was in line with his family, waiting for the arrival of his wife to be. His father, tall with broad shoulders and a large dark beard, stood dressed in his finest with a large cape. Marq was forced to wear his best as well. He wore a dark green top, collar high and silver buttons down the front. His cuffs were tight against his wrists and clasped with intricate silver links. His own cape was thick and laid from his shoulders and down his back. He didn't think that the girl deserved his best.

"Son, quit your fidgeting. She will be here soon enough." His mother said with a smile that meant she had no idea what her son truly thought of the girl who would be arriving in moments. Before Marq could try to tell her why he was actually fidgeting the braying of horses was heard.

Four large black horses came with a medium sized carriage being towed behind them. Riding on four more large horses were men and women dressed in odd clothing and armor. Their saddles were ornate and two of the apparent guard had on them a bow and quiver stocked with arrows. The other two had curved swords on either hip. Curved swords! Marq had never seen such a thing.

Their horses were huge and their swords were curved, Marq wondered what strange and backwards land Korva was. His wondering was cut short when a swordsman and a woman with a bow got off their horses and went to the door of the carriage.

She couldn't breathe. It wasn't of nervousness, her clothes were too tight. Did no one in the nine like air? The collar was high and pressed against her throat like her dress wanted to strangle her. Luckily the skirt flared nicely and didn't keep her thighs pinned together. The dress was hard to sit in, but not much better to stand in. She was hitting another growth spurt, her dress wouldn't fit her at all soon.

The door to her carriage was opened and she moved stiffly out to be greeted by her new family. Fort Furess was a dreary stone building. Farlane itself was a dreary land where everything seemed to be painted with a muted palate. The Furess family were pale people with hair as dark as Nara's own. The mother was a slender woman, dressed in a pale blue dress that clung to her body well. She had the western high collar and long sleeves but she looked much more comfortable in the clothing than Nara would ever feel. Lady Furess had her dark hair braided with many beautiful ribbons and beads. Nara wore her hair high, in the traditional Korvan style.

Next to Lady Furess was her husband, a thick man with a dark beard and very pale eyes. His hair was long as well, with a braid that started at his left temple that was wrapped with a leather cord. He wore a thick cape, that hung not far from the muddy ground. He had a very serous look in his eyes and his face seemed to be set in a permanent look of disappointed fury.

Finally Nara Boros saw her husband to be. He was gangly, though his clothing attempted to make him appear broader, more like his father. He had dark hair and his eyes somewhere between light and dark. His face was all sharp angles, much like a bird and his lips were pressed in a thin line.

He was nothing like Gat was. Gat had a full face and silvery hair. His nosed pushed up just a bit at the end and he had a small gap between his front teeth that Nara loved to see when he smiled. Unlike the young lord, Gat had dark skin that covered well developed muscles. Marq was nothing like Gat, and Nara was relieved. She wouldn't be able to bear it if Farlane was a pale ghost of her life, she would have been left reminded every day of what she could not have.

She looked to the swordsman at her side, his face was blank but there was grief in his eyes. To her people, her leaving would be as if she died. He offered his arm and she took it. She was lead to her future in laws, feeling as though she were instead being lead to the headsman. "Sìlerán, hello. I am so glad to have finally arrived. Your home is very beautiful. Kéro ánoán." She ended with a common phrase in her tongue that roughly translated into well wishing. Though she basically was lying through her teeth. Their home was ugly and boring, and she was not at all happy she had to see it.

"Oh my, isn't your accent just precious. We are so happy to have you here! Welcome to the family!" Lady Furess greeted, her speaking pace slowed as she went and her volume rose. The "accent" she referred to was way Nara tapped her Rs and the way her As sounded. The language of the nine lands was the language of snakes, they hissed almost.

Nara caught how the woman's eyes raked over her form. She tried to keep from scowling back at the lady. Nara much preferred the loose and flowing attire of Korvan court, and the simple animal skins and hides of the Teitr. A strange feeling between anger and sadness formed itself with her gut. She kept her pleasant smile, using all the political training she had received up until this point.

The lady didn't like her, her husband was unreadable and Marq shared the same sentiments as his mother. Nara had no allies here.

Marq wanted to smile. He knew his mother would see it his way. Nara reminded him of dough wrapped in twine, practically spilling out of her own clothes. She looked like a sad imitation of the woman of nine lands. She was so dark, her nose was broad and squished a bit, which made her look like monkeys from Asudane. Her eyes were pointed at the ends, not round like his and his family's were.

The rumors of her size were true, she was just as tall as he was and nearly twice his width. Nara seemed more beast than woman. Marq had been right all along, and his mother now knew of the girl's wrongness as he did. It wouldn't stop the wedding, as having a Korvan woman (no matter how repulsive) was an elevation of stature. Like getting an exotic pet.

Perhaps he would get a mistress. He deserved to be happy with someone. Why should he suffer the cruelty of laying with a she beast? Even if she was his wife.

"Welcome to our home, Princess Nara. Though it may be different from Korva, I hope you will begin to see Farlane as your home too." Came Lord Furess's gravelly voice. Marq nearly made a face. His father sounded genuinely glad she was here. Nara bowed her head and said something else in that strange language of hers. Hearing it made Marq half want to demand she shut up and half demand she tell him what her words meant. If she was going to live in the Land of the Nine, then she should at least speak commons. It was only proper, thought Marq as he looked away from the girl.

She and her strange guards were eventually led away by some servants to her new quarters. In about two months or so her family would arrive for the wedding, Marq did not want to deal with more like her.

"That horrible little brat!" Nara hissed once she was left alone. Her guards stood on the opposite side of the door but she knew they could hear her. Marq Furess had to be the most spoiled haughty brat she had ever encountered and that includes the heir of the Lakir line. The Lakir's were the last royal line before the Boros and they were leading a campaign against they Teitr. Jei Lakir was insufferable but he had to at least talk before making Nara want to rip his face off and put it back upside down. Marq had the amazing talent of being able to earn her ire while completely silent.

He stood there, judging her as if he were some prize and she was what was dumped in the gutters. He looked like a plucked and uncooked kara bird. His hobbies probably consisted of leering at maids and swinging a hunk of metal around bragging of imaginary battle prowess. Nara was tempted to simply sit in her new room until she died, but her stomach rumbled and she decided instead to dress for the feast in her honor.

The maids had no idea how to dress her in Korvan attire so she had to lead them through it. Once she had something loose and regal on she began to feel a bit more normal. She only hoped that something wouldn't go wrong at dinner.