Chapter One: New Orleans
By: Silky Black
Disclaimer: I don't own x-men.
The rays of the afternoon sun shone over New Orleans. There was a mild breeze but apart from that, it was a fine day. A large carriage pulled in front of an elegant looking mansion, in the middle of the very fashionable St. Louis Street. A manservant opened the door of the carriage out of which an elegantly dressed woman stepped out. She had fiery red hair that was placed in an intricate hairstyle. She looked to be somewhere in her late thirties.
As the woman known as Raven Darkholme walked up the steps and towards the house, a second, more youthful person came out of the carriage. It is correct to assume that the second figurebelonged to none other than Marie Darkholme. She stared around her in wonder and than at the majestic house.
'Maybe this ain't goin' ta be that bad aftah all.' she thought, a small smile playing on her cherry lips. Raven entered the house through the large double doors followed by Marie, only steps behind.
They entered a large, airy foyer who's furnishing consisted of a small table in between the two arched branches of the stairway. On the table, there was a large light colored vase in which there was an assortment of beautiful flowers. Various paintings hung on the creamy white walls and a large crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling. During the day, the room was lit by the sunlight that came from two arched windows.
"G'day m'lady," said a maid curtsying in front of Raven, "I'm Isabel. Shell I show you to your rooms. Your luggage has arrived since yesterday and the servants already unpacked everything."
"Very well then." Said Raven with a wave of her hand.
Marie entered her room warily, not knowing what to expect. It was a fairly sized room with one large window, which led to a small balcony. The color scheme of the room mostly consisted of different shades of green and white. A king sized canopy bed made out of mahogany was placed against one of the walls. On both sides of the bed there was a night table. The rest of the room consisted of a mahogany desk, a round table with an arrangement of flowers on it and a rococo style couch with a small coffee table placed in front of it. A large painting depicting a landscape was hung on one of the pale green walls. To the side, there was a door that lead to her boudoir.
The room was beautiful yet it was incomparable to her room back in Mississippi, which not only consisted of a bedroom but also a small sitting area and a boudoir. Marie slowly walked towards the winnow, tracing her fingers against the silken curtains. The window gave her a good view of the back garden, which still wasn't quite in bloom.
The southern belle continued to tour her new sleeping quarters for a bit more until a wave of lethargy washed over her. The bed looked so tempting now that she threw herself on it, sinking into the soft mattress stuffed with feathers most likely. She closed her eyes waiting for sleep to come but was most rudely interrupted by a knock at the door. She immediately jumped off the bed even though she had had an urge to throw something at the door.
"Come in!" she called a bit gruffly, waiting to see who had dared interrupt her slumber. At that exact moment, a servant girl opened the door and informed Marie that her mother was waiting for her in the drawing room, then took her leave. Marie sighed in exasperation at the thought of having a 'delightful' chat with her ever so dear mother. She adjusted her dress and hair than walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.
She walked down the stairs and into the large foyer, searching for a door that would lead to the drawing room. She was dreading seeing her mother with whom she didn't have the closest of relationships. She missed Kurt, her brother, who had just finished university and was now traveling through Europe. Even though he was only her half brother, she still cared for him deeply and after he left, life seemed so much boring with only her mother around.
Kurt was Marie's senior by three years. His father had died shortly after his birth, but had left his whole fortune to Kurt who was quite well off due to that. Kurt's father had been half German, and had inherited the title of Duke from his mother, which he later passed on to Kurt.
Raven had remarried a year and a half later, and gave birth to Marie. Unfortunately, Marie's father also deceased when she was only five, due to a fatal illness. He too left Marie his whole fortune, which consisted of a castle somewhere in the south of France and some money which she would only be able to access after she turned eighteen.
Marie finally found the door that lead to the drawing room. She knocked on it two times and entered after hearing her mother's permission to do so.
"Yah asked ta see meh, motah?" stated Marie upon entering the room. Raven was sitting on one of two sofas, sipping tea from a delicately painted china cup.
"Yes, sit down Marie," said Raven, she then rang for one of the servants to bring tea for her daughter. Rven turned back to Marie saying, "Did you find your room comfortable, child?"
"Oh yes, very." Replied Marie.
"Good! I called you here to tell you that tomorrow we shall be visiting some old acquaintances who dropped by their card earlier," said Raven taking another sip from her cup, "Word of one's arrival certainly travels fast in this town."
"Yes," said Marie, forcing a laugh, " Who - might Ah ask - are we visitin', motha?"
"The Prides. I went to school with Mrs. Pride, she's an old friend. She invited us and some other ladies over for tee and refreshments," Said Raven, "If I'm not mistaking, they have a daughter, Katherine was it? I do believe she's the same age as yourself, maybe you'll like her."
"Yes, maybe," said Marie trying her best to sound pleased even though she wasn't specifically looking forward to meting old friends of her mother, " is that all, motha?"
"Yes, yes, try resting a bit. Dinner shall be at five. A maid will come to tell you." Said Raven, dismissing her daughter then calling to her, "Oh, and Marie, do stand up straight."
She watched as Marie took leave of her, and walked out of the door with a shuffle of her taffeta dress. Raven had done her job as a good mother to both her children, making sure that they were both well educated and that they would be well off after she passes on. In her will, she left them each, half of her considerably sized fortune.
The only thing that was left for her to do was make sure that they both married well. She wasn't quite as concerned for Kurt as she was for Marie. It was the reason why she had brought her here, to New Orleans. She was sure that here, her daughter would have many beaux out of which one would be more than suitable for a husband.
Marie was a beautiful girl, and there was no doubt of that in Raven's mind. She turned the heads of many young men, even is if she wasn't aware of that. But what troubled Raven was that her daughter's judgment wasn't that good. She was afraid that Marie would marry the first man that she fell in love with even if he didn't necessarily return the sentiment and was only after her because of her big inheritance. Raven wanted to make sure that Marie would get engaged to someone of her on social status, and with some luck he might have an even larger fortune than Marie herself. Raven didn't want her daughter to have her hear broken the same way she did, and she would make sure of that if it was the last thing she did.
Hello everyone! WOW i'm soooooo super surprised that I got reviews, i thought that I'd get like zero. Well on with it all, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't really that long either, but I just wanted to kina set everything and talk about some of the characters. Next chapter I promise will be so much better. Rogue meets Kitty and she also learns a bit about the elusive Remy, from Kitty, gossip queen extraordinaire. Remy's going to meet rogue in the third chapter but maybe i'll write about him in the next chapter. It's just i have the best meeting in mind for him and Rogue. And also, Rogue's going to have a few other admirers apart from Remy. but of course this is a ROMY so do not fret. It just i want to spice things up a bit, and I'm talking stuff like duels forthe hand of the beautiful southern belle and fires and many more. I'm planning to go all out on this. I do hope you like it. Oh and also one of the ore important beaux of bell I think might surprise a few of you because i don't think there really was a connection between the two in many or maybe even any fics. You're welcome to guess who it is!!! Oh and one of my reviewers asked weather remy's the same class, well yes he is, at first i was planning for him not to be but i changed my mind. Ok I'm done now, REVIEW PLZ!!! I love reviews and I appreciate them ever so much!!!
P.S. Hi, so sorry bout the stupid name mix-up stupid little me did!! It's just i didn't realize i was typing Marie and then in the second chapter I called her Mary because i thought that was Rogue's name, and i completely forgot about the whole Marie thing in the first chapter. But ok i changed it now, so sorry everyone, thanks for reviewing and telling me about the mistake.
