Bread Over Flowers

Jilt

Definition

: to cast off or reject (someone, such as a lover) capriciously or unfeelingly

Jilt traces back to the English dialect noun ("a flirtatious girl"), itself from Jill or (used both as a proper name and as a noun meaning "girl") plus the diminutive suffix -et. Jilt itself came into use in the second half of the 17th century as a noun meaning "an unchaste woman" (a sense that is now obsolete) or "a woman who capriciously casts a lover aside," and also as a verb used for the actions of such a woman. These days, the person doing the jilting can be either male or female, and though jilt usually implies the sudden ending of a romantic relationship, it can also be used beyond the context of a romantic relationship with the broader meaning "to sever close relations with."

Since I had time, whilst the engines were having the final maintenance checks completed, i was casually scrolling through my phone, checking the daily trends.

My co-pilot glanced over my shoulder and scoffed. "Are you still reading trashy shit like that? Shouldn't you be bored of it by now? After all, that couple has already broken up and 'reconciled' at least fifty times by now right?"

I laughed gently. "Come now, isn't that 'love' after all? Full of excitement and ups and downs, passion and romance and all that bothersome stuff?"

They shrugged. "Pft. Sounds more like a case of lust and a rebellious period if you ask me. And 'bothersome stuff'? I take it you're more of the bread over roses kind of person then?"

I nodded firmly. "Oh most definitely. I spent my youth devoted to love, foolish girl that i was. Now I've got much better things to spend my time on.'' I grinned.

"Wasted your youth being devoted to love - sounds like a story and a half."

I shook my hands in a negative gesture. "Oh no, just your typical teenage tale really. Not interesting in the slightest."

And it really wasn't.

I had been raised in a wealthy family. Merchants we were and successful at that. Nouveau riche to the core. Not that that had ever bothered me, but my parents had longed to be accepted into the higher ranks of the nobility. Although why they ever wanted to associate with those inbred, stuck up, snobs i could never understand.

Money, however 'new' it is, will buy you a lot of things and get you a lot of places. What it bought for my parents was a powerful association with one of the oldest families on the planet - descendants of the original space settlers and reknowned for their long legacy of outstanding spaceship captains and explorers. Due to many poor investments and money managing (adventurers not really being known for their financial capabilities) they had recently fallen on hard times and instead of sensibly cutting down on their current spending, downsizing, perhaps even choosing a new, more profitable carer or even hiring a damn accountant, they had instead come to an arrangement with my parents. They would introduce and circulate my parents in to the highest levels of society and all it would cost my parents is their first born daughter and the extensive dowry that came with her.

Before you all get on your high horses about my parents selling off their only daughter like a cow at a meat market, know this. My parents love me. They genuinely thought that this would provide the best possible life for me. There were certain things that were only available to those at the top, and they wanted me to have as many options as i could. Yes, they did not choose the best way to go about it, but i truly believe they simply loved me and wanted me to have the opportunity of living like a princess.

They just didn't check if i wanted to be a princess in the first place.

From a tender age I was brought into my fiance's house and given extensive bridal training, proper etiquette, dancing, embroidery, astronomy, basic medical training, lessons in spaceship engineering and communications, star chart mapping, navigation, biology of extra-planetary animals, deportment, cooking, table placement, household management.