Chapter 10-

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Reading a letter was much different from hearing something in person. Letter after letter had been sent, threatening that his inheritance would be taken away if he did not marry. Dom had brushed it aside as another fit of rage from his father. But now, as he sat staring into the fire before him, Dom realized his father was serious. Otherwise he would have sent another letter and not come and raged at him for an hour about his lack of responsibility. Apparently he had heard of the young girl's attempts of marrying Dom and had decided enough was enough. Dom however, did not agree with his father.

Now Dom was lacking any idea of what to do. He could go to his father and ask for an arranged marriage but knowing that it would not end pleasant he decided against that. Then there was his Uncle Baird who would also go to his father and it would again end unpleasant. He did not wish to call upon his cousins help but at the moment he could see no other option. If he went to Neal perhaps he would have a plan. Neal usually had something in mind, even if it wasn't always legal.

With that decided Dom stood and looked around the room. Soon enough, sooner then he liked, he would have to share his household with a wife and most likely not a love match. But then, when were love matches made?

X XX XX XX XX XX X

The last person Neal expected to see was his cousin Dom standing before him. It was greatly early in the morning and usually the only person who bothered him this early was Kel to get him to go riding. Lately however she had been busy doing whatever it was females did during the day. Or females like her because he knew what girls like his sister did. She was placid and demure sewing, dancing, or singing for practice. Kel however was quite different.

Dom stood wringing his hands, a habit that Neal had never seen him do before. He stared at his cousin slightly mystified on why he would come. Instead of questioning him at the doorstep he brushed Dom inside. He knew that it had to be important otherwise Dom would be asleep only to wake up just before it was time to get ready for whatever social function was that night.

"Well," Neal started, waiting. Dom nodded to him, and Neal sighed. This was unlike his cousin in almost all ways. Dom was not the quiet brooding sort of person, and this was quite the same thing a quiet brooding person would do. Finally, Dom looked straight at Neal.

"I have to marry," it was flatly said with no enthusiasm. Neal stared at him.

"You slept with that girl," Neal responded just as flat and watched as his cousin shuddered. This slightly amused Neal.

"I did no such thing," Dom said a bit harsher then he intended, "Otherwise I would have confessed to it. You know me," he glared at his cousin briefly and Neal agreed that he did indeed know Dom, even if he didn't always know what choices he made. Sometimes they were bad sometimes they were….slightly less bad. Neal couldn't remember a time when Dom had made a good choice unless it was a long time ago, before either of them had been conscious of their actions.

"Then why do you need to get married? It's not like your old, or you have any chance of getting your inheritance soon," Neal countered evenly, waiting for Dom's explanation. Dom glared at him again and Neal grinned. It was amusing seeing Dom so worried. Neal knew that if it had been serious Dom would have said something already. Instead Dom seemed to be avoiding whatever was bothering him and so Neal knew that it was nothing that needed overly concern. Finally his cousin sighed and glanced at him.

"Because I won't be able to have my inheritance if I don't," Dom admitted and Neal grinned and burst out laughing, "It's not funny. My father believes that I did in fact sleep with the girl and that I act irresponsibly and that a wife will keep in line," this made him feel uncomfortable. It was untrue and his father knew it, but was trying to control him because everyone knew that Dom would never dare do anything to betray his wife. It was that damned honor.

"Well there's a million girls out who would want to marry you. Go ask one of them," Neal knew that was probably not what Dom was looking for as to advice, but it was good advice in his opinion and it was the truth. Dom had all the girls vying after him except two Kel and Yuki. Dom however was oblivious or rather he chose to be oblivious to this. He didn't care very much for most of the girls attentions because most of them were well brought up ladies who would accuse him of various things to get his hand in marriage. It was a large tangle to think through so he waited for

"But that's the problem!" Dom exclaimed standing up, "Everyone wants to marry me and I don't want to marry them because they want to marry me," blinking, he paused and looked at Neal. Neal nodded for him to continue and showed that he understood what he was saying, "I don't want to marry someone who likes me for my looks and everything. That would probably ruin the entire marriage and our sort of relationship. I also can't marry Vivian who I've been courting because she decided it was time to turn our attentions elsewhere. Which is shocking because usually it's the male who says that but that's not the point at the moment," Dom sighed and sat down.

Neal looked at him sympathetically. It was hard living the life they did, luxurious as it was they were both heirs and had more then the usual "what to wear" thoughts in their heads. Not to mention with a doctor as a father, Neal wasn't entirely stupid. Stretching his muscles and shifting his weight Neal looked at Dom. The type of person Dom needed to marry was someone strong, smart, not someone who would sit by and let him do anything he wanted, and someone who could take control. Dom was bashful and did things whenever he felt like it and it made things problematic. He wasn't entirely unorganized but he wasn't organized either and it wasn't that he couldn't take control it was that he chose not to. Dom liked to do things that sent excitement and thrill in the air, he liked the edge. He needed someone who understood and accepted the edge and knew how to handle it…He needed someone like Kel.

"I have a solution," Neal exclaimed. Dom looked at him slightly skeptical of his cousin. Neal shot him a irritated look but stood up and smiled, "Court Kel, get the old man off your tail and then if you decide you really need to marry, marry her and if you don't want to then break things off…gently," he added sharply giving his cousin a look. Dom frowned, thinking rapidly on whether his cousin had said something ingenious or foolish.

"I suppose," Dom shrugged, "It's worth a try. But Kel? I have nothing against Keladry, but why her?"

"Because she won't take it horribly wrong if you end the courtship, she won't let you do whatever you want to and she's the best candidate at the moment since you told me you didn't want anyone who wanted to marry you," Neal grinned as his cousin scowled. Dom was particular about certain things and this was one of them. He had to have the perfect female or none at all and Neal knew it was irritating to most people and definitely rude to some of the girls he turned down at the balls. They were eager to please and he was eager to turn away from them.

Dom finally nodded to his cousin and sat down to talk to him more about Kel. He knew only few things about her, her writings, and her family…

XX XX XX XX XX XX XX

It was an oddly warm day, and Yuki had dragged Kel out to the market. There was nothing Kel really particularly wanted to see or buy but she let her friend take her anyway. Yuki was very forceful and liked to have company on these trips. Kel was more inclined to going by herself to get what she needed and rush out. It was a leisurely pace, and a leisurely chat that brought upon a more serious topic.

"Do you really plan to be married by the end of this season?" Yuki asked, raising an eyebrow, "I have a hard time believing that," she admitted.

"Yes well I see no other option," Kel's voice wasn't stiff or formal but more helpless; "I have to…well see the situation's gotten worse. Mama had to sell all of her jewels yesterday. Conal's debts were more then he let on and the bank threaten to take away the house and with Vorinna's children, and Tilaine having such illness we can't take the chance of not having a house," Kel shrugged at Yuki's look of sympathy, "Their not to proud to not accept help but Papa doesn't like the excessive amount of pity and charity we get. I find it acceptable but not entirely pleasing to have people giving us things that they don't want. It's just a way for them to gossip about us,"

"It's true," Yuki agreed her tone collected and emotionless. Kel had a hard time getting used to Yuki's switches. Years of living in Corus had let emotions come up but sometimes the training from birth came into play. Kel felt bad for the way that people treated the Yamani's distant words and empty looks. They felt she thought she was superior to them when in reality it was her culture, her lifestyle that dictated her to do that.

Silence settled over the too as they shopped quietly. Kel already had fine gowns from her sisters, but helping Yuki decide on something was fun. She was saving her money in her drawer when things got tough. Insurance as Kel had called it, a safety net. It wasn't much yet, but one day it would be. One day when Kel had enough it would help the family, maybe. And slowly the money from her writings had added in.

"Well how's your own husband hunting?" Kel asked grinning at her friend. Yuki looked at her sharply and shrugged.

"I…I'll be honest. There is not one single person worth marrying in the entire society. No one," There was a slight bitter tone to her voice and Kel felt a twinge of sympathy. She knew that Neal had caught Yuki's eye but he had probably done millions of things that anyone would cross him off for.

"Well. Who is it that you were interested in? Maybe they'll shape up?" Kel offered, with a raised eyebrow a trick she had learned from Neal. Yuki looked back at her and sighed.

"No one important," she mused slightly and then they continued on their way every intention to find a new subject. Both of them were pensive as their thoughts trailed to the problems they had. Yuki's duty in life to her parents was to marry rich; Kel's duty to marry rich was so that her family wouldn't fall to pieces before anyone could climb out of the hole her siblings had dug them into.

Kel brushed an imaginary speck off her green day dress. Her brown hair was piled neatly on top of her head, and her eyes flecked over to see who was crossing the road. Neal and Dom speaking in low tones came across and Neal spotted them making Kel internally groan. She didn't really feel like chatting with either of them since her last meeting with them. But turning away, especially now, would be rude and so she and Yuki greeted them both calmly.

"How are you, on this lovely day?" Neal said more cheerfully then usual and he nudged Dom almost invisible to them but Kel caught sight of the twitch in his elbow, "It is extraordinarily beautiful is it not?"

"Yes, it is," Yuki agreed pleasantly giving Kel a sharp look, "Care to take a walk with me, Nealan?"

"It would be my pleasure," Neal said and he and Yuki strolled away. Kel almost groaned but knew it would be rude. Dom glanced at her, and she met his eyes evenly. They stared at each other blankly before Dom gave her a crooked grin.

"They are the most unsubtle people I've ever met," Dom spoke softly, as though not to startle her and Kel smiled back at him.

"That or they believe that they are subtle and think we didn't notice," Kel said, forcing her tone to be pleasant and not irritable because it wasn't Dom's fault that they were thrown so tactlessly together. Dom offered Kel his arm and she was forced to accept. Again, she felt a bit guilty for it truly wasn't Dom's fault they were together. It was Neal and Yuki, who Kel thought needed to get to know each other more but didn't need to force Kel through this in the process. Unless this was their plan, then she understood because had she not been trying all week to get Yuki with Neal alone and had been unsuccessful?

Dom wasn't entirely sure how to go about "courting" Kel. He did know that he needed to start soon though. Neal was right, if his father thought he was interested in a respectable girl he might back off a bit and let Dom go for awhile. It wasn't that Dom didn't want to marry; it was just that he wasn't entirely sure he was suitable to. This however, was not marriage it was merely the long course of time beforehand.

Kel stood at his quiet. It was unusual because whenever Dom had gone shopping with one of his sisters the chatter that had escaped them had almost been unbearable. However, he enjoyed silence as he walked and Kel seemed to be lost in her thoughts to offer any attempt at conversation. Dom didn't mind that very much either. It gave him time to think of what to say to her, otherwise things might come out wrong and that would be an entirely new tangle to deal with.

Kel was unsure if she was supposed to speak. It wasn't that he was giving her any reason not to speak, but he wasn't giving her any reason to speak either. She contemplated briefly what she would say if she had been given a chance to speak anymore then they had but she was sure it wouldn't be so pleasant. Usually things came out of her mouth that appalled other people and made the ones who knew her well laugh.

Ahead of her she could see Yuki and Neal chatting agreeably. She smiled slightly watching them. Neal's bright hair complimented Yuki's dark hair and her slender shape made his seem larger but graceful as well. They were well suited with each other in looks but she wasn't so sure about personalities.

The walk ended with Yuki and Kel entering a scent shop. Dom nearly knocked over Neal on his haste to escape which made Kel laugh. Yuki and her sat down and the questioning from Yuki began which made Kel mentally groan.

"And what did you two talk about?" Yuki asked smiling at choosing a scent to test.

"How indiscreet you and Neal are," Kel answered sourly smelling a sickly sweet scent and replacing the bottle. She was not usually interested in perfumes but Adie's husband had set up a book account for her and she was permitted to buy anything she wanted to within reason. Kel however had assured them she probably wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.

"That's not a very interesting topic," Yuki's face switched from emotionless to a slight scowl, "What did you two look at?"

"Your backs," Kel retorted and Yuki glared at her as they attempted another scent. This was one had a bit too much edge in it for Kel's tastes. She was very picky about her perfumes and set the bottle gently on the counter. Yuki had drifted over to the window set to see something. Kel however knew it was time to needle Yuki, "What did you and Neal talk about?"

"You and Dom," Yuki grinned cheerfully over her shoulder and Kel glared at her, "We looked at the windows and people around us before you ask that question,"

"Fine," Kel snapped and she opened a bottle sniffing it. She gasped and sniffed again. It was quite perfect. A hint of vanilla, slight cinnamon and a rain on tree scent all in one. Kel looked down at the beautiful bottle, shaped like a pearl and she smiled. This was perfect. Yuki looked at her waiting but seeing that Kel was enamored in her perfume she went on her way.

Kel and Yuki returned to their respective homes and Kel smiled down at the little bottle. It had been surprisingly cheap as no one other then Kel had taken an interest in it. The original price had been six gold nobles and she'd gotten it for three. Her sisters had rushed to see her upon hearing that she went shopping and seeing only a perfume bottle were quite disappointed. Kel shrugged and went straight to her bedroom. She had another chapter to write before finishing up this story. Why ladies marry rich.

A/N: Well as chapters go that was pretty poor. I apologize profusely for how long this took for me to write. I just couldn't really get into this chapter, like some of the ones before it. Anyway, there's too much dialogue and the commas are probably all messed up too but I did edit it and so did my beta that really doesn't focus on grammar very much in the first place. So hopefully it's okay until I find a way to edit it as perfect as possible.