"Mother don't you think you're making the corset a little too ti-" a gasp interrupted the girl's sentence before she could finish.
A couple of shallow breaths later.
"Tight?" She wheezed, holding a hand to her ribs and visibly winced at the pressure constricting them. A laugh echoed off the pristine white walls in the bedroom, though it did not belong to her.
"Aria dear, don't pout. It's unbecoming of a lady. You know very well you are to look your best today for your meeting with Sir Laurent."
Instead of taking her mother's advice, Aria let her shoulders slump at the mention of her...betrothed. She hated this and her mother knew it. Whether she actually cared about her feelings on the matter was entirely different question. She could feel her mother's gaze on her. She was observing her reaction, seeing if she would throw a fit like before.
With a clenched jaw, she averted her eyes to the floor and straighten her shoulders. This signaled her mother to continue the tightening of the damned corset.
"Think of the wedding little dove. Pearls, all your cousins being there, and I can only imagine how dashing Sir Laurent will look." Her mother gushed behind her with a smile that could put any saint to shame. The image she painted only made Aria want to have her eyes gouged out by a skeever.
Sir Laurent wasn't ugly by any means, in fact he was probably the most handsome out of Aria's suitors. Pale blonde locks that struggled to stay contained in his hair tie at the nape of his neck, broad shoulders, blue eyes that could practically piece through your soul. He was the model man. Aria supposed she should be grateful she wasn't paired with some fat lord from Wayrest like her cousin Colette. She remembered the poor girl's face on the wedding day.
The frail thing was terrified and rightly so. With grubby fingers and an uneven goatee, he all but ravaged the girl at the altar. She shuddered at the memory.
But for all the looks and charm Sir Laurent had, Aria didn't want this. Didn't want to be married off and to never be seen again. No more running through mountains with her sister Giselle, laughing as they played hide and seek for hours. No more stealing sweet tarts from the kitchens of their summer home. No more secret archery practice with the stable boy when her mother wasn't home.
All that she loved of her life was going to vanish in front of her in the up and coming weeks and she felt helpless. Completely and utterly helpless.
"Aria de Lanouette, quit that daydreaming of yours." Her mother quipped with another tug on the strings causing Aria to grip the bed post with a grunt.
"Forgive me mother, the meeting has my mind wondering." The girl gasped. She waited for another pull of the strings, but to her relief it didn't come. She heard rustling behind her and felt her mother take a step away from her.
"Take a look little dove, you look absolutely breath-taking."
Breath-taking. Really, she had to use that phrase?
Reluctantly Aria turned towards the towering mirror that resided in the corner of her bedroom and stopped herself from the shocked expression that threatened to appear on her face.
The woman in the mirror looked nothing like her and she had to remind herself that it indeed, was her. She could see bits of herself behind the facade her mother and hand-servants put up. Her brown eyes that almost looked golden were still there underneath the heavy eye-shadow, the scar that adorned the meeting of her cheek and nose was still present. Her unruly mahogany hair was pinned up much to her displeasure. She liked the curls to be free and bouncing around with her every step. She could almost quote her mother,
"You need to quit letting your hair flow all about, no one can see your face dear."
The dress her mother managed to wrestle her in was the color of rubies, and made her pale skin look more ivory than usual. It flowed down to her ankles and had a sweetheart neckline, making Aria look all the more feminine than her normal attire.
A cough brought her out of her revere and she turned towards her mother with a sheepish smile, one that didn't reach her eyes.
"Thank you mother, the dress is beautiful."
Lies, nothing but lies.
She hated this dress. She hated these pins that were stabbing at her head to keep her hair up. She hated that she couldn't rub her eyes because of the make up. She hated it. She hated it all.
"Oh little dove, you've went and become a woman right under my nose. To believe my first born is going to get married in less than two weeks. It feels like a whirlwind."
Two weeks.
Two weeks and then her freedom was gone.
Two weeks and she would have to bend over backward to the every whim of her "husband".
Two weeks.
The meeting with Sir Laurent went as per usual for them. They ate, he drank, she laughed at all his jokes though not a one was actually funny to her, he kissed her hand and insisted on her calling him Erik, and then they walked back to her home.
By Magnus she hated routine.
Once they reached the twin glass doors that lead into her home, he bid her farewell. But not before her mother swung the doors open and called after him.
"Good night Sir Laurent, I hope she was pleasant for you!" Her tone was that of joy although Aria couldn't say she felt the same about the matter.
"Ah, good night to you as well, Mistress Lanouette. She was a wonder as usual." He replied with a laugh at the end and wink in Aria's direction. She hid her annoyance at them talking about her like she wasn't there and nodded back at him with a gentle smile.
With pleasantries over, Mistress Lanouette grabbed Aria by the forearm and dragged her back into the spacious house. The grip on her alerted her that something was off. Her mother didn't do that unless she was upset. Immediately Aria swallowed hard and tried her best to appear happy, despite her melancholy.
"What bothers you mother? Are you not feeling well?" Aria questioned. The only reply she received was silence. They continued their journey through the house like this, making the girl all the more frightened.
They reached the stairs that led to her quarters when the older woman began to speak.
"I never want to see that disinterested face of yours when you're around him again, understood? This marriage is going to make our family on the elite list of the 5 kingdoms. We'll be bathing in septims for Mara's sake." Her green eyes took on a darker shade as they directed their wrath at her. "If he says dance, you dance. He says jump, you ask how high. I will not let your selfishness dishonor this family girl." With a sharp tug she brought Aria's face close to her aged one. She could smell the lavender bath oil she used this morning with the close distance they were to each other and she swore she would hate lavender for the rest of her days.
"House Lanouette will finally mean something in High Rock." She finished, shoving Aria in the direction of the stiars. The Mistress of the house gave her one more glare before turning on her heel and stalking off.
Aria stood there for what seemed like forever. This wasn't out of the norm for the two of them. In fact, this happened weekly, maybe even daily. But it still managed to pierce into her all the same every time. She meant nothing to her mother, just a bargaining chip for more wealth and status. Soon it would bee Giselle's turn to be married off to some noble. Then baby Marie. They were pawns and nothing more. By the twelve she missed her father.
Tears pricked at her eyes but she forced herself to calm down, even when everything in her said the opposite.
She gained some control over the storm of emotions in her and trudged up the stairs back to her quarters. She took out every one of those damn hair pins, washed off the make up and struggled out of the dress before changing into her night gown. Now able to breathe properly, she looked into the mirror once more.
This was who she was. Not some Noblemen's wife. Not a socialite like her mother. No, she was something else. Not sure what exactly, but what she knew for sure was that this life wasn't for her.