"I accept Father. But a bride will have to wait."
The Bells are among the hundreds of families living in Castille Manor in an era when mankind is as close to Utopia as it can ever be. Calista Bell wanted to follow a different calling but a twist of...
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"Oh dear skies, Calista, how are you not ready yet?"
Calista Bell, or Cai, as she was known to family and friends, looked down at her grey long-sleeved cotton shirt and matching pants. She was wearing the exact same clothes as her petite mother, who apparently thought she is still underdressed. Judging by the use of her full name, Mrs. Bell isn't happy about it at all.
"I have no idea what you mean Mother. I have been out here for half an hour waiting for you and Father to be ready."
This only made Mrs. Bell more appalled. "Are you saying you are going to the Saturnalia like that? No one will even try to break your vial!"
"It's not as if the crowd will wear gowns and tuxedos. Only the Ducal family and his guests have that honor. Why they keep calling it Saturnalia is beyond me," Cai grumbles but trudges towards her mother, defeated. She knew what the latter meant.
They were Fisherfolk, one of the many families whose task in the Manor was to raise, breed and catch fish for the crowd and the Ducal family. Sure it was hard work, but everyone in the Manor had one to earn their keep, even the Duke himself. It could get smelly sometimes but she had made sure she washed well today so her mother should have nothing to complain about.
But her mother suffered one vice religiously, and that was hair. And so for the next quarter of an hour, Cai suffered her mother's attention on her dark auburn waves that reached her waist. Her mother was the only person she knew among the Fisherfolk who had the patience to comb her locks, let alone style it in a severe bun nestled in a braided coil on top of her head.
"My my Ameera, surely you've raised Cai's eyebrows high enough we need not worry about anybody trying their luck with her vial. She'll scare them away without even trying." Mr. Bell was a tall handsome man from whom their only daughter inherited her red hair and grey eyes, and many would say he aged quite well. He was an indulgent father and encouraged his daughter's stubborn ideas about relationships. In his mind, the later his daughter found the one her vial found worthy of her, the longer time he had to spend spoiling her.
The Bells were among the 300 plus families living in the Castille Manor, a huge structure so old and sturdy, nobody was certain anymore how long it has stood and what it was made of. It housed all the families required for a dukedom to run, from a family of seamstresses and tailors to one of doctors. The Manor was only one of countless in the City ruled by the Monarch. All inhabitants aside from the Ducal family were referred to as the crowd, and everyone served everyone by doing his assigned task.
The vial the Bells kept referring to is a pendant the inhabitants are given upon birth. Stories say that some inventor who lived in a time before the City and the Manors had unlocked the secrets of fate and love and decided to help everyone out by making it easier to find your true mate. One is expected to have his vial on his person at all times, ready for when he finds somebody he feels worthy to try and break it. If that person breaks the vial, he is a good match. However, the other person should also return the favor and break the other vial and only then is marital bliss forever guaranteed.
