Magic of the Marriage Market

Farran arrived in the Kingdom of Cador's Capital almost exactly four months after her first letter to Duke Dorland was sent in April. And in the time since, she'd written to and received post from Vellan almost obsessively, so she hadn't been surprised that at each waystation on the route to Cador a letter awaited her.

M'eudail, each letter would start, and the contents would vary depending on how many more stops until she would be in Cador's Capital. The first waystation in Taroton's letter read:

Your journey to my Kingdom has just begun, and although there is still a stretch of time before I can share my home with you, I want you to know that your arrival is eagerly awaited not only by my humble self, but by Willow and Pierce as well. I will be in the Capital for your arrival, and I hope, like me, you are counting the days.

Vellan

Most of the journey would be within and across Taroton, going from the Capital, across the Hatsune Duchy, through the Gault Earldom, and cutting across the lower edge of the Ruma Marquisate before finally crossing into Cador. Farran encourages her teamsters to travel as quickly as safety allowed; although she was prone to sea sickness Farran had never once found a carriage ride as arduous. They reached the Cadorian border at the end of the week, another letter waiting for her there despite their swift progress.

M'eudail, you're about to step into my homeland for the first time, and I cannot be there to greet you at the border but don't hold it against me. As you are joining my world, my King is sending a Cadorian Prince Royal to your Queen in kind. Given that it is my close cousin, I have been tasked with assisting his departure as well as preparing for your arrival. And as you once sent me a Sash, I have the honour of finally presenting you with my own efforts. As is the Cadorian custom, you handmade a Sash, I took the time to cast you a Knot. You'll soon be here, I can only hope the journey has lived up to your expectations – Vellan

Farran stared at the intricate metal Knot he'd included with the letter. It looked so similar to the once for the Dorland Duchy, to Vellan's Knot, but there was a slight difference; the one he sent her had a ruby cabochon set into the middle. It was beautiful, the heavy broach could pin clothes easily and Farran knew that Cadorian fashion had a lot of sashed and draping fabrics.

In one of their letters, Farran had explained the use of family colours in Taroton instead of the Knots of Cador, and now this broach felt like a perfect combination of the two; Cadorian Knot with a Briggs ruby at its heart. With the heat of the season, Farran wore neither cloak nor heavy layer, but she still pinned the broach to the left side of her neckline as she'd read was the custom. The heavy Knot pulled at the light summer fabric of Farran's dresses, but she wanted to grow accustomed to the weight of it before arriving in the Capital. Like the pistol in its holster at her hip, Farran wanted to feel like it was a natural part of her.

Amusingly enough, when the carriage stopped at the Capital city gates, Farran was delivered on last letter from Vellan.

M'eudail, I await your arrival with my King, and look forwards to sharing Cadorian customs with you in person -Vellan

Farran had carefully planned her arrival attire, a fancier dress than she'd been wearing for simple travel. Her modest top was inspired by men's vests, lacking the sinching of a corset but still implying the shape of Farran's body rather well. She may lack Blair's voluptuous shape, but she'd started to develop a generous curve of her own. She wore a light weight, loose sleeved top under the vested bodice, the neckline wide open on her collarbone, but no cleavage, and Farran pinned her gifted Knot to the left neckline of her top as was custom. The ruby glittered brightly, not at all outdone by the scarlet of her vest and skirt. And the pale ivory of her shirt made Farran's naturally porcelain fair skin glow. Normally, she had her hair braided up like Hida used to wear, but for the occasion she'd left it down and loose, the pale gold of her hair its own accessory.

Her carriage finally stopped at the castle, and Farran spotted the welcoming entourage already gathered for her arrival. She could identify King Kai Tuccillo and his wife, Queen Savanna, by their crowns, but until she got close enough to see the details of the Knot, she couldn't quickly identify all the rest gathered. Unlike in Taroton, where the families would be readily identified by their prominent colour, here the fashion was a riot of colours with only the Knots a consistent variable between. And it wasn't until she spotted the Sash she'd made by hand that she realized the man to King Kai's right was Duke Vellan Dorland, as promised. He wasn't as tall as the other men clustered around, but he had much of the same look in features as they did. The Dorland Duchy was close cousins to King Kai and his brothers; the Dowager Queen was sister to the late Duke Dorland, and is Vellan's aunt. Vellan himself had long, slightly wavy auburn hair, and smiled with broad excitement as Farran stepped out of the carriage. She was being given a great honour by the Royal Family's greeting, and she knew to curtsey low in gratitude.

It should have been a serious, diplomatic event; Farran had been briefed by Alaric and the Diplomatic Bureau about how important her conduct would be as part of the Exchange, and she was ready to walk on political eggshells if necessary. Instead, Farran's polite curtsey spurred an unexpected response.

"Oh, none of that is necessary, please; we're all but family already," King Kai Tuccillo waved aside all formality and kissed each of Farran's cheeks in Cadorian greeting.

"As your Majesty says," she could only agree, not wanting to cause problems upon arrival. "I can only deeply thank you for accepting my inclusion in this Exchange."

"Your fervor and eloquence convinced my Duke, after that curiosity compelled me to mee my cousin's m'eudail. And I feel assured as this Exchange is building permanent connections between our two Kingdoms, especially seeing the Knot on your shoulder to pair the Sash on Vellan's." Farran wasn't given a chance to reply to that as the King himself persisted in introductions, "my Queen, Savanna, and our daughters, Nia, Nora, and little Viviana." The two elder Princesses were only around 12 and 9, but the youngest was still a toddler, maybe 3 years old. "These two are my brothers, Prince Royal Quinn, his wife Princess Royal Consort Myla, and their son Matias," this little one was around 6. "My other brother present it Prince Royal Zander, but his fiancé General Ulises is on duty and couldn't attend. Likewise, my youngest brother, Prince Royal Levi, is absent due to his own impending marriage to your Queen Akiyama."

Suddenly the contents of Vellan's letter about his cousin made a lot more sense.

"Kai, put the poor man out of his misery and let him welcome his Lady already," Queen Savanna spoke with loving indulgence in her gentle tone.

"Yes my love," the King seemed shamelessly obedient to his wife, gesturing for Vellan to step forwards. "And this is my cousin, Duke Vellan Dorland, who has been impatiently awaiting you."

Before Farran could try to curtsey to the Duke who'd become her friend via letters, he walked up to her and surprised her by dipping her back, off balance, and kissing her right on the mouth instead of on the cheeks like everyone else had. She grabbed onto his jacket and the pinned Sash she'd sent him for balance, too shocked to react more than to blush a brilliant red once he stood her upright again.

"When you sent me a marriage Sash and told me to try and destroy it, I was beyond surprised at your boldness. When I couldn't even singe it with my fire magic, I realized that as crazy as it seemed, maybe accepting your proposal was exactly what I should do. And given your eagerness to come to Cador and embrace its ways as your own, my King was convinced to allow it as his own brother was part of the Exchange. With our marriage here in Cador, and Prince Royal Levi's marriage to Queen Akiyama in Taroton, our two Kingdoms are bonded closer than ever," Farran gave a lovely smile to hide the panic surging through her at his words.

It seemed the tomes she'd studied about Cadorian customs had either left out some pertinent details, or translated the concepts incorrectly. But how did her making a Sash to try and demonstrate her talents both with her hands and her magic turn into a marriage? "And you have no objections to marrying me, despite us only communicating through letters?" she found her voice finally, sounding far calmer than she actually felt.

"I promised to be your greatest ally if you impressed me, Farran, and you did. I was just worried I wouldn't finish your Knot in time for your to wear it today. I couldn't make it indestructible, but I did use my own fire to melt it for the cast," he lightly touched the Knot she'd so proudly worn, not realizing it was the Cadorian version of a wedding ring.

This was going to be fun to explain to Alaric and the Diplomatic Bureau. Came on the Exchange, ended up married by a series of incidents she hadn't meant to set up. And now she was learning that Queen Akiyama was marrying a Cadorian Prince as well. Which meant the Queen, at least, already knew that Cador expected Farran to marry Vellan. So Farran had to go along with this, she was getting married to a Cadorian Duke, or maybe she already was since she hadn't studied their marriage practices. She did know that culturally, they saw her as an adult, they didn't hold Debuts but instead held coming of age parties at each new adult's sixteenth birthday.

Oblivious to her internal deductions, Vellan continued, "I know we have become confidants and friends through our letters, and I know you've left a great family behind to come explore Cador, and I know that for every day you are my wide and I am your husband, I will love you more than I did the day before. So I ask you, Farran, do you have any complaints about marrying me?"

This would be her chance to explain how this was all just a big misunderstanding, she could point out how insane it was to marry a man she'd only just finally met in person. They hadn't even known each other existed five months ago. But recklessness had gotten Farran into this situation, and it seemed that she was going to keep going with it, "I told you I have the heart of an explorer Vellan, I'm not faltering now. Just tell me what I need to do as the Taroton way is different than the Cadorian way." She met his gaze straight on, trying to force her brain into quickly adapting to his unexpected plot twist; only this wasn't a mystery novel but her actual life.

"We've already exchanged Sash and Knot, and both our Monarchs have accepted the Exchange," Vellan looked at King Kai briefly, and Farran used the moment to swallow her nerves down, "that means we don't need to post a marriage announcement; no one's objections can overrule Royal approval. All that is left is the handfasting."

"Since you've just arrived, we should let you be taken to a room and given time to rest and refresh yourself before having to perform any archaic rituals," Queen Savanna politely interrupted.

"Of course my love," King Kai took his wife's hand, "as you will soon be my cousin-by-marriage, please feel like your room here is an extension of your home."

"We won't be stating in the Capital long enough for it to feel like home," Vellan seemed to have no difficulty treating his King like he was simply his cousin. "I wasn't lying when I said Willow and Pierce are back at the Duchy, planning a welcome home party."

Like King Kai had to Queen Savanna, Vellan held Farran's hand as they walked up the stairs to enter the castle. "Is it Cadorian custom to let 10 year olds plan a party?" she asked, realizing that if they considered 16 adult, they may entrust more complicated tasks to younger children than Taroton did.

"Somewhat, I also capitulated because the little gremlins would just go ahead and throw a party their way even if I said no," Vellan gave a crooked smile, seeming to speak exactly as he had written. "This way I can at least have my Seneschal keep an eye on them."

"Should I be concerned, or eager?" Farran knew a fair bit about Vellan's twin siblings by this point. At 10 years old, they were creative but chaotic, and from what stories he'd shared, they were as apt to cause excitement alone as they were paired together.

"Yes," he confirmed with a laugh that made Farran smile despite her Royal escort.

"Excellent, I'm glad I brought my pistol," her remark made him laugh again. She hadn't worn it to mee the King of Cador, for obvious reasons, but it was in her luggage.

The Royal Family made quick farewells now that the initial greeting was over, and Farran found herself guided to her room by Vellan himself. "This is the suite I was given as the Duke of Dorland, inside are two separate bedrooms, as the castle was build when that was the normal practice, so your private bedroom is the door on the left and mine is the one on the right," his explanation came as he opened the door to the Ducal Suite.

She knew he became the Duke when his father died last year, so before that these must have been his parents' rooms, "are you alright with me using the Duchess' room?"

His hand squeezed hers tightly and only then let go, "it is your room now Farran, as is the one in Dorland." His expression turned serious, "I know this is all going to be a lot to take in for you, and that there are great differenced in our two cultures that are going to take work to reconcile, but I want you to know that I will take your lead for how quickly our married life unfolds. If you wish to wait until your 19th year to honour your Taroton ways, I will support you." Now he smirked slightly, "though I will still kiss you, I can't seem to help that urge from building up." His warning came only moments before his lips did too.

She was less stunned this time at least, the press of his mouth to hers felt less astonishing and more apologetic. Being kissed by this man, her almost husband, was something Farran was going to have to get used to, but it helped to know that's all the physicality he'd ask for. Although she had come to Cador to explore, that was not a type of exploration she'd even considered yet. "Thank you Vellan, for understanding why I'll be taking this slow," though he didn't know that this whole married thing was a complete surprised to her, so he couldn't really understand.

"As I said, I'll love you more tomorrow, you'll do the same," he kissed her cheek this time. "Goodnight my beautiful Lady."

"Goodnight, my Duke Dorland," Farran had been able to build a friendship with him over four months and dozens of letters, she'd give herself a night to adjust her mindset to thinking of him as her husband.

She'd wanted to jump into the Cadorian way of like, this was just the most extreme version of that. Alaric was going to have a heart attack when she wrote to him to explain that her adventure had gotten a lot more complicated than even she'd known to predict.