Devoted (John Shelby)

Part 1

"Cynthia, sweetie, wake up," Cynthia's mother shook her daughter awake. Cynthia muttered and pulled her sheets over her head.

"Mother, go away, I'm tired," she mumbled.

"Sweetie, come on." She pulled the sheets off of her, Cynthia then huffed and sat up.

"Why am I being woken up at this ungodly hour?" Cynthia questioned shrilly as she stretched her limbs.

"We've got a lot to sort out today, we've got news for you" Cynthia's mother smiled widely.

"What's the news?" she asked curiously, getting out of bed and towards her wardrobe to get out some clothes.

"We've gotten you a husband-" her mum stated and Cynthia dropped the clothes she was holding.

"Mum, I've told you I don't want a husband. I'm fine with being single-"

"We need an alliance between us and the Shelby's-" her mother continued.

"The Shelby's!" Cynthia exclaimed, "mother, no! I can't stand them" she whined.

"You're the only one old enough to marry, who's not already married, plus you're pretty, maternal, strong-minded"

"Maternal? You expect me to have kids with a man I don't know"

"He already has kids."

"More than one? How many?"Cynthia said.

"Four, two boys, two girls"

"Four! No, mum, I refuse. Mum, I'm not marrying anyone, and I'm definitely not marrying a fucking Shelby!" Cynthia shouted.

"You fucking well are, if you don't the Shelby's and Lee's will be in a war and people will die and it'll be your fault!" Her mother shouted back.

The commotion caused her father to walk up the stairs and saw both Cynthia and his wife on the verge of punching each other. "Darling, go downstairs for a moment, Cynthia sit down"

Cynthia took a seat on her bed and watched as her mum left the room and her father sit next to her. "I know this situation isn't the best" he started and Cynthia scoffed, "but, it is essential. We need this alliance, I know we're not as involved with the Lee's like your mother is but they're all still family and neither your mother nor I, want you to be the cause of a war between us and the Shelby's"

"I don't want to marry a man I don't know, and mum says he already has four kids, I don't know how to look after kids" Cynthia leant her head against her father's shoulder.

"You can get to know him, besides, if he already has kids you don't need to have any more with him if you don't want," her father told her.

"Do you know anything about him?" She questioned.

"He's twenty-four, he's got three brothers and a sister."

"I know how many Shelby's there are, which one is it?"

"John, the third child"

"I don't think I know him, I know Tom, well I know of him" Cynthia pondered.

"Are you going to marry him?" Her father pried.

"Fine, but don't blame me if I come back home a lot since I won't be happy with it. I'm only marrying the man so I don't cause the death of anyone" Cynthia told him before shooing the man out of her room so she could change.

~:~:~:~:~

"Mum, I'm picking the dress. Honestly, you've picked the husband and someone's already picked the place, just allow me to choose this one thing for fuck's sake" Cynthia shouted at her mum in the dress shop, pushing her mum's hands,  which were full of dresses, away from her.