LJ Idol: Friend & Rivals. Week 1 - Trust Everyone, But Cut the Cards
The Cards Can Be Rewritten
Lena was betrothed to Theo--the son of the Gemlen clan’s chieftain--since she was a week old. Their betrothal was a promise of peace, a promise to let rivalries and bad blood lie. It was an uneasy peace, but each clan was able to live without the fear of bloodshed from the other.
Now, eighteen years later, Lena stood in front of her mother’s looking glass in her wedding dress while her mother made final adjustments to the hem. The thought of her wedding used to fill her with excitement, but standing there, two days before she took her vows--it was too real. She wrung her hands together as she watched her mother.
“Mother, what if I don’t love him? Or if he doesn’t love me? Or I don’t even like him? Or he looks like a troll?” She asked, fingering a button on the front of the dress.
Her mother looked up at her and laughed. “Marriage isn’t about love, or like, darling. Especially yours.”
“But…. shouldn’t we at least like each other?”
Her mother sighed and stood, “Sometimes, yes. But...”
Lena looked down to the floor, “I don’t get that choice, do I?”
Her mother held Lena’s face gently in her hands, “Your father knows what is best for you, and for our people. Do you believe that?”
She nodded without looking up. “Yes, mother.”
“That’s my girl. Now take the dress off and go find your father. He wanted to make sure you understood the marriage contract.”
Lena did as she was told--she always did as she was told--changed from her wedding dress into her plain dresss then went to find her father.
The door to her father’s study was slightly ajar. She went to push the door open but stopped when she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from inside the room speaking to her father. She stood to the side of the door and pressed herself against the wall so she could hear better.
“This will cost you extra.” The unfamiliar voice sounded amused.
“Nothing can go wrong, do you hear me? I’ve worked hard since the day she was born to make sure this wedding happens.” Her father snapped.
Father must be hiring guards to make sure nothing gets out of hand she thought with a fond smile. She was about to open the door when what the unfamiliar voice said made her blood run cold.
“But to have your own daughter killed, and on her wedding night….”
“I… am not having her killed,” her father snapped, “clan Gemlen is having her killed. And you’ll make sure there’s evidence enough to prove it.”
“Oh, they’ll believe it. You have my word.”
”You see that it does. This plan has been in the making since before Lena was born. I will not have it fall apart now.”
Lena couldn’t believe her ears. Knowing her father never loved her was painful enough, but that he thought so little of her that he would have her killed for ...for...whatever his reasons were. She couldn’t listen any longer. She fled from the horrible conversation to her room..
She slammed the door behind her and fell to her bed in tears. Should she tell her mother? The guards? Someone? She laughed bitterly through her tears. Who was going to believe her? She was just a silly child who was nervous about getting married. Surely her own father wouldn’t do such a thing!
The purpose of her life had been this? A pawn her father can use to what, restart a war between their clans? She was worth nothing more than that? Was she meant to die before her life even began?
She picked up the vase on the side table and hurled it at the wall. The vase shattered into hundreds of pieces.
“Lena, is everything alright in there?” Her mother’s worried voice called from the other side of the door.
She drew her hand over her face and exhaled sharply. “Yes, mother. I just knocked the vase off the table.”
“Alright dear. You should get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day!”
She laid back and stared at the ceiling. What if she ran? she wondered and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Slip out of the keep late at night. Then her father could think that the Gemlen’s kidnapped her and he could have his war without her dying. But that would be impossible. Every guard, and soldier, and hunter within two hundred miles was here protecting one nobel or another. Even under the cover of night, she wouldn’t make it to the forest.
She didn’t want to die. But what other choice did she have?
“Oh!” She sat up suddenly when she realized that maybe there was another way-- one where she got to live. One where her father didn’t come out on top.
She knew things. She knew where her father hid the things he didn’t want anyone to know. Secrets that if they ever came to light, would ruin him.
She looked out the window at the setting sun. There wasn’t much time. She had papers to gather, and a mysterious man to find.
Lena grabbed her cloak and slipped from her room.
~*~*~*~
The day of her wedding proceeded as planned. Her mother, and the servants scrubbed her from head to toe, rubbed scented oils into her skin, wove flowers into her hair, and made sure her dress was perfect. And the whole time, Lena fidgeted with nervous energy. Not because of the wedding like everyone supposed, but her mind kept thinking about the thick package of documents, that had taken her all night to obtain, hidden in the middle of her satchel under her mattress.
“Is my little girl ready?” Her father, with a beaming smile across his face, stood in the doorway.
“I am, father.” It took a great deal of willpower for her to force a smile of her own in return.
Her mother cried as Lena took her father’s arm and they walked to the garden. Thankfully it was easy for everyone to dismiss her nervous trembling as wedding jitters. But standing at the end of the aisle, the whole thing--her wedding, the plots to murder her, the plotting of her own--she couldn’t believe any of it was happening.
From the corner of her eye, Lena caught sight of the mysterious man her father spoke to the previous day, the mysterious man she, herself spoke to early this morning before the sun came up. The almost imperceptible nod her father gave him before he slipped away did not escape her notice.
The harp played the song that signaled that it was time to make the slow walk down the aisle to where her betrothed, and the cleric stood. Arm in arm she walked next to her father. And she smiled because her father's carefully laid plans were coming unraveled, and he wouldn’t even know it until the morning.
Lena was betrothed to Theo--the son of the Gemlen clan’s chieftain--since she was a week old. Their betrothal was a promise of peace, a promise to let rivalries and bad blood lie. It was an uneasy peace, but each clan was able to live without the fear of bloodshed from the other.
Now, eighteen years later, Lena stood in front of her mother’s looking glass in her wedding dress while her mother made final adjustments to the hem. The thought of her wedding used to fill her with excitement, but standing there, two days before she took her vows--it was too real. She wrung her hands together as she watched her mother.
“Mother, what if I don’t love him? Or if he doesn’t love me? Or I don’t even like him? Or he looks like a troll?” She asked, fingering a button on the front of the dress.
Her mother looked up at her and laughed. “Marriage isn’t about love, or like, darling. Especially yours.”
“But…. shouldn’t we at least like each other?”
Her mother sighed and stood, “Sometimes, yes. But...”
Lena looked down to the floor, “I don’t get that choice, do I?”
Her mother held Lena’s face gently in her hands, “Your father knows what is best for you, and for our people. Do you believe that?”
She nodded without looking up. “Yes, mother.”
“That’s my girl. Now take the dress off and go find your father. He wanted to make sure you understood the marriage contract.”
Lena did as she was told--she always did as she was told--changed from her wedding dress into her plain dresss then went to find her father.
The door to her father’s study was slightly ajar. She went to push the door open but stopped when she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from inside the room speaking to her father. She stood to the side of the door and pressed herself against the wall so she could hear better.
“This will cost you extra.” The unfamiliar voice sounded amused.
“Nothing can go wrong, do you hear me? I’ve worked hard since the day she was born to make sure this wedding happens.” Her father snapped.
Father must be hiring guards to make sure nothing gets out of hand she thought with a fond smile. She was about to open the door when what the unfamiliar voice said made her blood run cold.
“But to have your own daughter killed, and on her wedding night….”
“I… am not having her killed,” her father snapped, “clan Gemlen is having her killed. And you’ll make sure there’s evidence enough to prove it.”
“Oh, they’ll believe it. You have my word.”
”You see that it does. This plan has been in the making since before Lena was born. I will not have it fall apart now.”
Lena couldn’t believe her ears. Knowing her father never loved her was painful enough, but that he thought so little of her that he would have her killed for ...for...whatever his reasons were. She couldn’t listen any longer. She fled from the horrible conversation to her room..
She slammed the door behind her and fell to her bed in tears. Should she tell her mother? The guards? Someone? She laughed bitterly through her tears. Who was going to believe her? She was just a silly child who was nervous about getting married. Surely her own father wouldn’t do such a thing!
The purpose of her life had been this? A pawn her father can use to what, restart a war between their clans? She was worth nothing more than that? Was she meant to die before her life even began?
She picked up the vase on the side table and hurled it at the wall. The vase shattered into hundreds of pieces.
“Lena, is everything alright in there?” Her mother’s worried voice called from the other side of the door.
She drew her hand over her face and exhaled sharply. “Yes, mother. I just knocked the vase off the table.”
“Alright dear. You should get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day!”
She laid back and stared at the ceiling. What if she ran? she wondered and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Slip out of the keep late at night. Then her father could think that the Gemlen’s kidnapped her and he could have his war without her dying. But that would be impossible. Every guard, and soldier, and hunter within two hundred miles was here protecting one nobel or another. Even under the cover of night, she wouldn’t make it to the forest.
She didn’t want to die. But what other choice did she have?
“Oh!” She sat up suddenly when she realized that maybe there was another way-- one where she got to live. One where her father didn’t come out on top.
She knew things. She knew where her father hid the things he didn’t want anyone to know. Secrets that if they ever came to light, would ruin him.
She looked out the window at the setting sun. There wasn’t much time. She had papers to gather, and a mysterious man to find.
Lena grabbed her cloak and slipped from her room.
~*~*~*~
The day of her wedding proceeded as planned. Her mother, and the servants scrubbed her from head to toe, rubbed scented oils into her skin, wove flowers into her hair, and made sure her dress was perfect. And the whole time, Lena fidgeted with nervous energy. Not because of the wedding like everyone supposed, but her mind kept thinking about the thick package of documents, that had taken her all night to obtain, hidden in the middle of her satchel under her mattress.
“Is my little girl ready?” Her father, with a beaming smile across his face, stood in the doorway.
“I am, father.” It took a great deal of willpower for her to force a smile of her own in return.
Her mother cried as Lena took her father’s arm and they walked to the garden. Thankfully it was easy for everyone to dismiss her nervous trembling as wedding jitters. But standing at the end of the aisle, the whole thing--her wedding, the plots to murder her, the plotting of her own--she couldn’t believe any of it was happening.
From the corner of her eye, Lena caught sight of the mysterious man her father spoke to the previous day, the mysterious man she, herself spoke to early this morning before the sun came up. The almost imperceptible nod her father gave him before he slipped away did not escape her notice.
The harp played the song that signaled that it was time to make the slow walk down the aisle to where her betrothed, and the cleric stood. Arm in arm she walked next to her father. And she smiled because her father's carefully laid plans were coming unraveled, and he wouldn’t even know it until the morning.