A Marriage of Convenience
Because escaping an unwanted return to the family that cast you aside as a child would certainly be convenient. T/B, set years after WotE
-090-
Author's Note: In 2009 I set down my fanfiction writing pen, deciding it was time for me to start my own works. Life had another plan. Eight years, two children, and several unexpected twists plot later I find myself here, with a 20 some chapter story almost complete. Two years ago, due to an unexpected increase in free time spent in hospitals and doctors offices once again, I began to write once more. This was what came the easiest, for a time. A story I had held onto for years as a dream that I wouldn't commit to. To a love arc I wanted completed but never saw come to fruition. It may still happen in the canon, but given how long the wait has become between publishings by this particular author, I will no longer hold my breath. I hope you enjoy my final entry (which I really do mean this time) into fanfiction as a whole. Thank you.
-090-
Prologue
Valden Chandler rose with the sun, as he had every day as long as he could remember. Breakfast waited for him in his office, along with a stack of correspondence that had arrived since yesterday morning. He took care of matters at home first, then would head to the office to put in his time at the family business before returning for an evening with his wife and children. He was a disciplined, practical man and liked having his days and weeks ordered ahead of time so he knew exactly what was coming when.
This morning was no exception. He took a bite from the steaming plate as he opened the first letter, a missive from one of his cousins advising that a shipment might be late due to 'unexpected complications'. There seemed to be an unusual number of those lately; he would need to have a word with the man. The two following were from acquaintances, wanting to know if he knew of anyone in the city who still had a stock of a certain kind of oil. He did; it was him, and he would sell it at premium even if it was to friends of a friend.
Valden was still debating how much of a markup he could get away with when the next envelope in the pile caught his attention. It was stamped with the seal of the Stone Circle Temple in white wax. A reply, finally! He had thought it would arrive weeks ago, and now...his hands hesitated as he held the thin parchment. It was his wife's entrance that finally made him break the seal. A tall, slender woman with black curls that fell in perfect ringlets down her back, she stayed silent as he opened the missive, noting the seal and raising her brows expectantly.
The merchant's face revealed little as he scanned the short note, setting it down abruptly as he stifled an oath under his breath.
"What is it, darling?" Darra asked, crossing to him slowly with her hands folded in front of her.
"She's not there." His words were crisp, with a hint of frustration underneath.
"What do you mean 'not there'?" His wife's tone was careful, controlled.
The man folded the note, putting it back in it's envelope before putting it in his coat pocket. "They sent her to another temple, in Emelan across the Pebbled Sea."
"In Emelan? But why-" She stopped, recognizing the look in her husband's eyes. "It does not say."
He did not look at her sat he sat back down, pulling out a clean sheet of paper and opening his bottle of ink. "No. Only that they forwarded my message to the appropriate people in Emelan. She is now a ward of the Winding Circle Temple. That is where we will find her. Halfway across an ocean, a trip that will take weeks...and it is the worst time of the year to travel by ship." Valden spoke the final word as a curse, which his wife ignored.
Darra hesitated, watching as he began to write, then nodded firmly. "We do what we must. How soon can we leave?"
-090-
Author's Note: I hope you have enjoyed the only chapter in this story that is less than 15 pages long. Most average in the mid-20's. Please leave a review to let me know what you think!
~CB
