Magic of the Marriage Market

Derbie had been over the moon at how both the Ram's Garden party and the Wignell picnic had gone. Lady Ban had given him permission to call her Ban when it was just the two of them, and he'd spent the entire day of the treasure hunt wanting to ask her to let him Court her, but Alaric was still resisting the idea of it. Or at least Derbie had believed he was, until he went to confront Alaric about the matter and instead found all three of his adult siblings already together, apparently struggling on how to formulate a Letter of Intent for him to send.

"No, no, no, the Letter is supposed to convince the Family that you're worthy, all the Courting is so you convince the lover of the same," Calvin argued.

"I think its safe to say that she's already smitten with our little Derbie," Blair's voice called out sweetly and Derbie knew she'd filled everyone's cup with wine.

"He's been taller than you since he was fourteen," Alaric seemed to be trying to retain order.

"We've all received Letters of Intent," Calvin once again, and Derbie felt a little foolish lurking in the hallway but he was too curious to leave.

"None of which worked considering that we're all still single," Blair pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we can't write a suitable Letter of Intent," Alaric once again aimed for order.

"Wouldn't this be easier if we got Derbie involved?" Calvin suggested.

"Derbie's in love, he deserves to simply enjoy it," Alaric argued and Derbie realized he'd underestimated his eldest sibling. "We're here to do the hard work of making sure the Ruma Marquisate accepts our brother as the Suitor for their daughter."

Now he felt guilty, his elder siblings were trying to let him simply enjoy the process and here he was eavesdropping on them. Derbie turned to leave and spotted the fleeing shadow of one of his younger siblings slipping down the main staircase. None of the younger siblings should be awake at this time of night, and certainly not trying to sneak their way outside. He only knew it couldn't be Edwina as she had started the long journey to the Zappeas Dukedom for her gallery showing, and it wasn't short enough or pink enough to have been Hida. Either Farran, or Gavin was skulking about.

Since his elder siblings were taking care of him, Derbie headed to the backyard entrance, curious as to why one of the younger ones was lurking about. Maybe he was a little anxious to know if they saw him eavesdropping on the others too, just to get their stories straight if needed. Out in the yard he was surprised to see Gavin slipping out what seemed to be a hidden hole in the fencing, and Derbie was too broad to easily fit through. Though he really didn't have to guess who his little brother was sneaking off to see; his sweetheart Eniola. Derbie gave a soft laugh and couldn't really blame his brother; they'd been sweethearts for years while Derbie had only just found Ban.

And he already found it remarkably hard no to swoop in and kiss her whenever she gifted him one of those precious smiles. He loved the way her whole face transformed into happiness or glowed with passion when they discussed the books they were reading, or they had a chance to see all the different statuary each Estate had. Even when Calvin and Danilo had dumped themselves into the pond at the Wignell Estate, Ban had been more focused on the statue they'd capsized next to than the spectacle going on.

Since this was clearly not Gavin's first time sneaking out, Derbie decided to trust his little brother and headed back inside. At sixteen, Gavin was old enough to be held accountable for his actions, so at worst Derbie expected a whip-crack wedding to occur.

The distraction of Gavin's escape fades as Derbie once again climbed the stairs and saw the light still coming from Alaric's office. But he decided that like Gavin, he would trust his older siblings to do their best too. Besides, they could always discuss it in the morning.

Breakfast was an odd affair at the Briggs house, Calvin often left early to go to the information Bureau with Danilo, Alaric stayed at the house to work unless called out for meetings and necessities, Blair was often too hungover to make it, but all the children were present before they'd scatter to their courses. Edwina's empty seat warned that she'd be absent more than present once her Debut occurred as well. Derbie had long grown used to Alaric asking them about their plans for the day, so he was surprised when Alaric told him he may require a change to his suit for the impending ballet at Baron Holland's Estate.

"Why would my suit require altering?" Derbie noticed Alaric's proud seeming amusement.

"Well, chances are the Letter of Intent we've sent on your behalf to Lady Ban Ruma's Family will be accepted, so you'll need to incorporate some of her Ruma indigo in your attire," it took Derbie longer to process what Alaric was saying than it took Farran, but of course his little sister reacted with her typical aplomb.

"Congratulations on your likely Courting, when you go to Abernathy's bring back my order will you? He has the textiles needed for my latest project," Farran didn't even look up from the paper she'd taken from Alaric to look at Derbie as she spoke.

"Farran, don't be rude; look at someone when you speak to them," Alaric corrected, and Derbie bit back a laugh as Farran rolled her eyes before putting the paper down to look at him.

"My apologies," her sarcasm was so thick Derbie could have put it on his bread.

"I think it's great," Gavin spoke up, smiling at Derbie with the same foolish love sickness he felt, "you'll be the first of us to Court, be engaged, and likely get married. Unless you want a long Courtship?"

"I'll wait for Ban to accept my Letter of Intent first," Derbie answered obliquely.

"Well at least you're on a first name basis," Hida pointed out in her direct way.

"Do you think a response might come back today, or am I being impatient?" Derbie turned his question to Alaric.

"Go to work with hope, if any Letter comes here for you I'll bring it to the Purification Bureau immediately," it wasn't a direct answer but it gave Derbie what he needed.

"Thank you, and thank Blair and Calvin for me, I know they helped," he grinned at Alaric's annoyed expression.

He left for the Purification Bureau, working from a little office that specialized on taking out the lethal aspects of medical plants while still leaving them potent enough to be useful. Unlike Blair and the others whose magic involved foods, Derbie could only affect the thing he was looking at, so it made for slow progress. And he was even slower today, mind torn between anxious impatience and fanciful pondering. He wanted to have Alaric burst in with the Letter of Acceptance so bad that he could almost hear his brother's footsteps, and Derbie was already wondering how best to alter his evening suit to showcase the Ruma indigo. He also had pleasant musings on how Ban would wear a hint of Briggs scarlet.

Since the Ruma Marquisate was the higher ranking family, it wouldn't be amiss for Derbie to wear more of her colour than she would of his, but he could dream of how scarlet would also set her dark hair and eyes alight. And so deep into this dream of his that he mistook the footsteps for more wistful conjuring until Alaric startled the daylights out of him by throwing a Letter down on his desk.

"As promised little brother," Alaric actually smiled at him, bright and excited despite all his initial hesitancy.

"She responded already?" Derbie's fingers shook as he slowly picked up the Letter, seeing the Ruma seal stamped into the wax.

"It may be a Social record," Alaric teased but Derbie couldn't pull his eyes off the Letter to see his brother's expression. "Go on Derbie, open it and tell me if you're accepted."

Like the night of his Debut, suddenly Derbie felt like his mouth was parched and collar too tight. Although he was certain Ban was fond of him, Derbie remained unknown on how the Rumas felt of his Suitorship. His hands shook as he cracked the wax seal, his eyes jumping to the page but nerves leaving his brain too jumbled to make sense of it. He had to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and focus before he could read it.

"The Ruma Marquisate is accepting my Letter of Intent, Lady Ban and I are now considered Courting," his voice was hoarse, a sense of triumph warring with a strange fear of inadequacy.

"Congratulations Derbie," Alaric clapped him into a light hug, and it started to really sink in. "What kind of gift would you like to send them in response? Flowers are traditional," he advised.

"At Earl Wignell's Event, Ban remarked that champagne was a rare treat at the Ruma Marquisate due to the distance from Tashatia, do you think I could impose on Blair to help me gift some?" Derbie tried to recall everything Ban said about herself. "Or would that be considered stealing Earl Wignell's gift idea?"

"Unfortunately it might seem that way, so lets trying something a little different," Alaric cautioned. "But as you are now Courting, we have to go get your suit altered at Abernathy's, and we can continue the discussion there."

Alaric had ridden a horse over, so they hitched it behind the carriage before heading to the tailor's It allowed Alaric to sit in with him and go over gift ideas. Traditionally a bouquet was sent for the Family, and a smaller one for the Lady or Lord; if he was going to go that route though, he'd have to pester Farran into explaining all the flower language translations so he didn't make any mistakes. His idea of champagne was badly timed, so a lovely flower message bouquet might be just the perfect thing.

His indecisiveness left Derbie defaulting to Alaric's lead, letting him discuss the new Courtship and listening as the tailor shop quickly jumped into possible last minute options. Given the warmer weather of mid-May, Derbie's jacket was a lighter fabric, originally intended to be black but Abernathy's promised to provide it in indigo instead. He'd wear a white shirt and black trousers, having a ruby at his cravat for his Briggs scarlet.

"It feels strange to contemplate wearing a different family's colour," he admitted to his brother after the tailor left them alone.

"Mom and dad are going to be so proud of you, I intend to send a message along with the next ship relaying supplied to the Northern Island. Let them know about you, and Edwina, and how well you're both representing the Family," Derbie wasn't expecting his brother's touching words.

"I know they won't make it back if we do decide to marry at the end of the Season," he did wish they could be though, "but you've done a superb job filling in their roles."

Derbie thought of something as the tailor returned with the package Farran requested. "I'm going to need a bribe if I'm going to ask Farran to translate flowers for me, do you have any suggestions?"

"She's scored high in the diplomatic courses, a true Briggs through and through," Alaric had a proud smile on his face, "and she's been learning about Cador specifically lately, so I would presume anything to help with that."

"My best bet will be the bookshop then," he'd see what dare was to be found there.

Given Farran's propensity for lacework and embroidery, he was pleased to find a book going into the details of Cador's unique family identifier system; an intricate Knot worn in place of jewellery, often stitched in golden thread. He was surprised to scan it quickly and see just how few noble families Cador actually had but how their Knot system identified birth order like Taroton used the letter of the name. It'd be a perfect book for Farran, both as an embroiderer and as a way to give her wanderlust a taste of somewhere else.

Derbie was right, his choice of bribe worked wonders in getting Farran's enthusiastic help in plotting out two flower language inspired bouquets. For the Ruma Family, she helped him decide on a combination that expressed the sentiment of gratitude to the family for allowing the new relationship; a stunning combination of the yellow globe flower, purple hortensia, and the white fluffs of xerophyllum. And for Ban's bouquet, she helped him express the hope of love, and his growing passion for her; a fiery combination of red roses, orange ixora, and yellow opuntia. Farran teased him relentlessly for it, but he noticed that she put a lot of effort into insuring the selected flowers still looked lovely as well as meant what he wanted.

It was well timed too, he sent off the gift and was able to receive Ban's letter that night. Derbie's heart pounded as if she were in the room talking to him, reading how happy she was to be officially Courting him, and that the bouquet he sent her was sitting next to her bed. She even wrote to tell him that her ballet gown would have Briggs Scarlet proudly worked into it. They wouldn't be a perfectly matched pair for this Event, but a thrill went through Derbie when Ban's letter suggested that they could coordinate their 'costumes' for the Masquerade his family was Hosting at the beginning of June. The theme of the Masquerade was Historical Glamour, a way to allow the less financially advantaged families to use attire inherited from older generations. And for those families that led the fashion world, they could use this opportunity for an ostentatious display.

Derbie wrote back to Ban, sharing her excitement in their official Courtship, and letting her determine which era their Masquerade attire would be drawn from. He had both family wardrobes and a talented tailor to utilize, so he felt confident on letting her decide.

His new Courtship didn't change the world, he still had to go to work, interact with his Family, and focus on the mundane details of life, but Derbie felt like he floated through all of it, always aware that every second counted down to the next time he saw Ban. And on the night of Baron Holland's ballet Event, Derbie felt like he fell in love with her all over again when he saw her.

Ban's indigo gown had scarlet panels tracing the lines from her shoulders, following the dip at her cleavage, and tracing the curve of her ribcage. Golden embroidery connecting the distinct colours, allowing both to be beautifully displayed without competing against each other. And both colours were beautifully striking against Ban's colouration, just as Derbie had imagined; to his delight it almost looked like they had matching jewellery as the golden necklace laying like lacework around Ban's neck held three rubies.

Derbie battled a nearly overwhelming urge to kiss her despite the very public location, and the fact that he hadn't gotten her permission to do so yet. Derbie rushed over to where she disembarked her carriage, leaving Alaric behind as he hurried. "Ban, you look beautiful," he sounded almost winded, hands holding both of hers as he grinned down at her.

"So do you Derbie, indigo looks amazing on you," she flushed as she complimented him back, eyes dancing over his indigo jacket and the scarlet riding cloak he wore over it as it'd been raining and he didn't want the velvet ruined by it.

Although the ballet was enrapturing for most of the guests, Derbie couldn't focus on it at all. He was content to simply look at Ban's almost regal beauty, his heart full with the idea that he was allowed to Court her. "You should be watching," Ban chided him without seeming to move her lips.

"I am," Derbie replied promptly.

"I meant the ballet," Ban's cheeks were rosy.

Baron Holland had made clever use of his property; each room had a different 'miniature' ballet and musical accompaniment, the guests were free to walk about to see all, or sit and enjoy a while. Considering the rain that continued like a natural counter beat to the music, it was a brilliant way to adjust for the inclemency. And yet, Derbie hadn't paid attention to the dancers themselves. "I'm far too happy with my enjoyment of your company, as beautiful as the ballet may be it simply doesn't compare to you."

He smiled as Ban looked at him instead of the dancers, "you're incorrigible Derbie Briggs," she chided but was smiling.

"Yes," he agreed, lifting her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss.

Ban graced him with a brilliant smile and Derbie's heart soared again. He was Courting the love of his life, and Derbie could only hope his siblings found this kind of happiness one day.