Bonding (Part One)
It should have been a beautiful and perfect day, Mariden reflected later, but it was not. It should have been the biggest day of her life, yet it was something she’d known was going to happen since she was old enough to understand speech. Somehow, the bonding ceremony had seemed a great deal more magical when she was little than it did now. It should have been so many things, but it was all and none of them at the same time. At any rate, it was done.
A rapid thudding on her door woke her, as if someone was very excited and wanted her to get up and share in the excitement. Mariden reluctantly pushed the covers off, sitting up in her bed and yawning. She ineffectively ran her fingers through her tousled brown hair, trying to at least look somewhat presentable.
“’M awake, come in,” she called sleepily. The door swung open and a small white shape hurtled into her room, bouncing up and landing on the bed next to her.
“Mari, do you know what today is?” Kai asked, staring up at her cousin with wide silver eyes. “Do you, do you?” Not content to merely sit still when she was this excited, the littlest dragon-shifter hopped to her feet and began turning somersaults on the bed.
Mariden reached out and grabbed the littler girl, pulling Kai into her lap and effectively stopping the bouncing. “Must be quite important,” she smiled, “if it has you this enthused.” Though Kai did get excited awfully easily.
“It’s your bonding ceremony, Mari! Aren’t you happy?” Ah, yes, the bonding ceremony. As Dragonborn, Mariden had known she was going to be bonded with someone she’d never even met, just to create a useful alliance. Mating for love had never even crossed her mind. Still, it was one thing to know this, and another to realise that today was the day it was happening. Happy? Not exactly.
Thankfully, she was saved from having to answer the question by a dark-haired boy slipping into her room through the still-open door. “Morning, Mari,” he greeted her, grinning his usual mocking grin. “Chai sent me up to get you. Said something about trying on the dress; boring, huh?”
Mariden yawned again, pushing Kai off her lap. The young ‘shifter squeaked and jumped down to the floor. “Sis already knows my measurements, Izaki,” she told her other cousin. “Don’t see why she needs me there.” It wouldn’t do to disobey her sister, though (Chai was scary when she got annoyed), so Mariden dragged herself from the warmth of her bed and yelped when her bare feet touched the cold stones of the floor.
“Hey, I’m just the messenger,” Izaki said. “You want details, take it up with Chai.” He held out an arm, bowing slightly. “Shall we, m’lady?”
“Don’t call me your lady, I’m your cousin. Also, I’m still in my nightgown!” Mariden protested. It wasn’t proper for one of the royalbloods to walk around in nightclothes.
Izaki simply shrugged. He’d never been much for formality, or properness, or really anything of that nature. “Not like you won’t be getting naked soon enough. Chai has several dresses for you.”
“And I want to see them,” Kai added, grabbing hold of Mariden’s hand and trying to drag her out the door. Mariden allowed herself to be pulled- there really was no arguing with Chai. “So c’mon!” Izaki dropped his arm, shaking his head and shutting the door behind them as the trio made their way down the labyrinthine halls.
Several minutes and turns later, they arrived at the entrance to the tower Chai had taken up residence (and dressmaking) in. “Oi! Sis!” Mariden called, banging on the locked door. “You wanted to see me?”
Footsteps pattered on the other side of the door. “Coming!” a voice yelled, just before the top half of the door swung in and a woman’s head was poked through. “Yes? Oh, Mariden! Izaki! Kai! I wondered when you’d get here,” she commented, brushing white-streaked hair out of her eyes. The other half-door was opened and Chai shooed them in.
“We brought her, just like you said,” Kai smiled, throwing herself down onto a pile of cushions someone had left in a corner of the room.
“I see that, and thank you,” Chai nodded. She turned to Izaki, frowning sternly as she said, “Ishmaru, if you’re going to stay here, you’re going to stay here. Kai can keep an eye on you.”
The eleven-year-old ‘shifter grinned proudly, happy to have been included. “You bet I will, Chai!” she promised.
Izaki shrugged, wandering over to where Kai sat and flopping down next to her. “Just as long as I get to see Mari in her bonding outfit before her mate does,” he replied, smirking up at the two sisters. It was a custom of Rialla that the male not be allowed to see his bondmate in her dress before the ceremony. Mariden wasn’t sure of the reasons behind this, but it was a custom. Customs didn’t have to make sense, or so Chai said.
“I said you could, didn’t I? Besides, you’re my escort, of course you would.” Mariden allowed her sister to lead her up the winding staircase and into Chai’s private rooms. When they reached the top, Chai turned to her, looking absolutely serious.
“Mari, you don’t… don’t mind having to bond with someone you don’t know, do you?” she asked, worry evident in her azure eyes. “Because if you do, I’ll understand, and tell Father I’ll do it in your stead.” For Chai, being the elder of the two, had originally been Dragonborn, but had abdicated; after their father fell ill, she had tried her hand at ruling, and wound up falling in love instead. “I’m just as much a princess as you are, after all.”
Mariden smiled ruefully. “Sis, I’ve been preparing myself for this day for about… oh, nineteen years now. It just always seemed somehow more romantic when I was little, you know? The beautiful princess meets the handsome prince, they fall in love at first sight, they get married and it’s a happily ever after. Now? I’m not so sure. But I’ll do it anyway, let you stay with Lei.” Her sister and her leopard mate, Lei, were just too happy together. Mariden wouldn’t take that away from them for the world.
“And I appreciate that, really I do,” Chai sighed. “It’s just… well, never mind. If you’re fine with it, so am I. Now, how about you go try on your dresses, hmm?”
Mariden groaned, but walked into the room nonetheless. “Do I really have to, sis? You already know I don’t like dresses, and-“ Words failed her as she looked around. Chai’s rooms were practically overflowing with dressmaking materials (not that this was anything new), silks and satins and gossamer-thin black lace. And in the middle of all the lacy chaos hung a beautifully embroidered gown. “Wow.”
“Do you like it?” a new voice asked. Mariden jumped as a tawny woman stood, for she hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room. “We worked rather hard.” Indeed, it looked it- the dress was a marvel of pale golden silk with hand-embroidered designs of tiny dragons gracing it. Little jewel droplets were their eyes, and tiny strings of coppery seed pearls decorated the wings. Aside from the embroidery, however, the gown was rather plain. Some of the lace she’d noticed hemmed it, but… it was just a golden dress, low enough to expose some cleavage, very low in the back, and the hem just above Mariden’s ankles. Thank Sehadine, she’d been expecting something so fancy she’d be too scared to move for fear of tearing it.
“It’s… beautiful, Lei,” Mariden replied honestly.
The woman grinned, amber eyes showing her amusement as she prowled over to drape herself on Chai. “Coming from this one, that’s high praise.”
“Isn’t it, though?” Chai smiled, wrapping an arm around her mate’s waist. “Go ahead and try it on, little sister. We want to see how it looks on you, and the two downstairs probably do as well.”
They fit so well together, Mariden thought, as she always did when she saw the pair. So beautiful, comfortable, right for each other. It showed in the little things- the little touches, little words, and little actions. Perhaps… perhaps one day she would love her bondmate enough for them to do the same. Although she was the Dragonborn, and that meant love was nothing… It would be nice if she loved her mate, but all that was required was that she produce an heir.
“Of course I’ll try it,” she said, giving away no hint of her sudden longing. Mariden slipped her nightgown’s straps of her shoulders, allowing it to pool on the floor in a heap of creamy satin. She stepped out of it neatly, heedless of the other two in the room (they were family, after all) as she moved over to the dress. It was even more beautiful up close; the silk seemed almost to shimmer in the light. Carefully, ever so carefully, Mariden slid it off the hanger, marvelling at the smooth texture and the way it hardly weighed anything at all.
“The strap in the back can be a little tricky,” Chai warned her. “Would you like me to help?”
“I can manage,” Mariden replied, pulling the gown over her head. She managed to get her arms in the sleeves well enough, and to get the dress properly situated, but Chai was right. The little strap in the back that held it shut was just ever so slightly out of her reach. “Okay, maybe I can’t. Help would be nice, sis.”
“Thought you might say that,” Chai laughed, detaching herself from Lei and walking over to her sister’s side. Her slender fingers made quick work of tying the strap into an elegant bow. “There, all done. Turn around and twirl, Mari.”
Mariden obligingly did as Chai had asked, stepping away from her sister to face Lei and then spinning around. The dress flared away from her legs in a cloud of dragon-laced silk.
“You look radiant, Mariden,” Lei said approvingly, her amber eyes flashing in pleasure to see how nicely her work looked. “Now go on, show your cousins. I don’t want Izaki up here pestering me again, do you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mariden teased. “I’ll make sure he comes up ‘specially for you.”
“Go on,” Chai scolded, “off with you. We’ll be down in a minute with the rest of your bonding outfit.”
“Yes ma’am,” Mariden repeated, closing the door behind her as she padded down the stairs.
Izaki looked up as she entered the sitting room, giving a low whistle of disbelief. “She sure cleans up nice,” he commented to Kai, who nodded.
“Did you ever doubt it?” Mariden smirked, twirling once more to let them get the ‘full effect’, as Chai would put it. “Really, now, what do you think?” One good thing about her cousins was that they would never lie to her (well, at least not about something important, and her bonding ceremony was definitely important). Actually, the whole not-lying thing could be a drawback sometimes, too…
“You look gorgeous, Mari, really you do!” Kai assured her enthusiastically, springing up from the pile of cushions she’d been sprawled in and running over to Mariden’s side.
Izaki stood as well, slowly surveying his cousin from head to toe. “She’s right,” he agreed at last, moving forward until he stood next to Kai. “You do look absolutely gorgeous, Mari. Your mate’ll love it.”
“As he had better!” Lei padded down the winding staircase, her arms full of pale golden silk.
“We worked hard on it,” Chai agreed, following her mate. She carried what looked to be an entire garden, though that was probably an overstatement. “Now, Lei, what sort of flower do you think would go best?”
“Something…” The leopard pondered for a moment. She deposited her bundle by Mariden’s feet, then grinned brightly as inspiration struck. “Green! Yes, definitely green, a soft green though… Chai, what do you think about, hmm, ivy? Maybe some bellbloom?” As she spoke, she pawed through the heap of silk until she found the one item she wanted- a tiny silver circlet with translucent gossamer-fine silk attached to it. “And this, of course.” Lei handed it to Mariden, still with that same bright smile.
Mariden placed it carefully atop her head, arranging the veil portion so that it cascaded down over her back. Lei nodded approvingly and began rifling through the assortment of flowers Chai still held. She soon pulled free several ivy vines and a few clusters of tiny blue flowers, then stepped back to Mariden’s side and began tangling the ivy in her brown hair, flipping the veil over Mariden’s head to cover the dragon-girl’s face.
“Hey!” Mariden sputtered, but did not try to brush the fabric aside. She trusted that there had been good reason for it (though Lei was quite playful, and had a twisted sense of humour), and it wasn’t stifling her or anything.
“Hold still,” Chai chided. “Lei, try tucking some bellbloom behind one ear, see how she looks then. The ivy’s looking good, maybe twist some around the circlet?” Lei followed her instructions dutifully, then (once she ran out of flowers to play with) stepped back to admire her work.
“It’ll do,” she announced.
“Yes,” Chai agreed, “it will.”
Izaki had remained silent this whole time (really quite an accomplishment for him), but not anymore. “Hey, now you really look good, cuz,” he grinned. “All green and blue and gold, you know? It suits you.” He poked Kai teasingly. “You got anything to make this little squirt cute, Lei-lei?”
“I told you not to call me that,” Lei growled, but did pull something free of the silken heap. She held a little sash out towards Kai, a pretty gold one tipped with crimson and embroidered with roses. “Here, squirt. You can pick out some flowers too, if you want. Goodness knows Chai and I have enough.”
Kai beamed as she eagerly took the sash and tied it around her waist. “Thank you so so much, Lei!” she squealed. “It’s beautiful!” She grabbed Izaki’s hand and tugged him over the chair where Chai had set down all the flowers in order to go fuss with Mariden’s gown. “Oooh, orchids, look, ‘Zaki!”
Kai really was easy to please, Mariden thought. Just give her a new toy and she’s happy for weeks on end. And she was still young enough that pretty shiny things counted as toys. “So, anything else you want to tell me before I go out and face the crowd, sis?” she asked. “Sisterly advice? Um… anything?”
Chai shrugged and grinned. “Don’t trip.”
“Oh, that’s useful,” Mariden muttered.
“Also, I’d like you to have this-“ Chai was undoing the clasp to the dragon-shaped pendant she always wore, the one their mother had given her as an infant- “as a token of my… appreciation? And definitely love.” Gently, she reached over and fastened it around Mariden’s neck. “Well, and you’re about to be bonded, so consider this my bonding present?”
“Can do, sis,” Mariden replied, and then she was crying and clinging to her older sister, because no matter how well she tried to hide it from herself, she was terrified. Terrified of having to get up in front of all the important ‘shifters and be bonded to a man she’d never even met before. Terrified of… well, everything that was to come, really. Because as soon as she stepped out of these doors, Father would find her and call the ceremony to order. Everyone was assembled, yes- it was now just a question of waiting for the bride.
Though, really, what sane person agreed to have a bonding ceremony this early in the morning?
The clock hanging on Chai’s wall bonged eleven sols. Oh. So it wasn’t that early after all…
“Well, princess?” Lei asked, fixing her with an amber gaze. “You ready?”
“Have I got a choice?” Mariden tried to laugh, but somehow it came out all wrong as the nerves set in at last. She let go of Chai, swiping at her wet eyes with the back of one hand. “Let’s get it over with already…”
Chai stepped away from her, reaching out for her own mate. “You’ll do fine, Mariden,” she promised, then held out a hand for Kai as well. “You’ve still got Izaki, after all. Surely he’s more terrible than any ceremony could ever be.” At that, Mariden managed a chuckle. “All right, the three of us have to go alert Father that you’re ready, and of course find our seats. You’ll do fine, little sister. Just fine.” And with that, the trio was out the door and gone.
“She’s right, you know,” Izaki said, watching the door close with an inscrutable expression on his face. “You’ll do just fine, Mariden, you were born for this. Well, to be Dragonborn anyway, I’m not sure if that’s quite the same thing.”
“When you think about it, it really kind of is,” Mariden sighed. “I just hope he’s nice.”
“If he’s not, I’ll kill him for you,” Izaki promised. He was absolutely serious, too, she knew he was.
The two waited in silence for some time- Mariden trying desperately to get her nerves back under control before the ceremony, Izaki not wanting her to feel like she had to talk when she obviously didn’t want to.
Their peaceful quiet was broken by the high, clear notes of a flute that came from beyond Chai’s door. It was a signal that everything was in place and that Mariden really ought to come out now. The sound of the flute faded away as its player scampered back to the Great Hall.
“C’mon, Mari,” Izaki said, holding out his arm for her to take- and this time, take it she did, grateful for someone to lean on. “Let’s go meet your mate, shall we?”