[AU][C] First Meet

"Understandable."

It always took her a while to adjust to a new ring.

Her attention turned back up to his 'harlot' bracelets.

"Your bracelets are simple and on your wrists," she said, going back to his previous words.

Her eyes took in her finances form, her hands pulling away from his to clasp together back into her lap.

"In fact, all of your jewellery, while gold, is simple. You are wearing about the same amount as me, but you have far more skin on show."

"I am not one for over-decoration." He didn't particularly enjoy wearing jewellery, so he chose to keep it minimal.

"But the showing of skin is common practise here. The climate here is warm. Too many layers would stifle us, make us prone to fainting. Further North, less skin is on show."

It was cooler up North. More clothes had to be worn. Espiridion wasn't overly suited to the cool temperature. He much preferred the heat over the cold.

"You will find it more comfortable to dress lighter. Have you had suitable clothing made, or should I arrange for a tailor?"

The clothing she was wearing was worn for Aldish summer. Light in both colour and material. For a Pasadeñian early spring, it was only just comfortable to wear.

She nodded.

"We had our tailors make me clothing that suits both of our countries tastes. I only wear this now as we felt it was appropriate that I introduced myself in my countries clothing."

She had already seen and tried on the clothing she would wear. The cloth was translucent, like Espiridon's, but it covered her from neck to wrist to ankle. The only places the material was opaque were in areas to protect her modesty.

When she saw herself in the clothing, she couldn't quite believe her reflection.

"If you would like something more, I would be happy to arrange for the tailor to come."

He wouldn't mind seeing her in full Pasadeñan dress. There was something had enjoyed in the past. Seeing his wife wearing full dress, and stripping herself from it, piece by highly decorated piece. 

He knew that he would get along with the woman beside him to some extent, but he didn't know whether they would be compatible in other aspects of their life. Or whether that was something that would be given time to grow at all. He knew of many noble partners that laid together to complete their vows, then never laid together again.

"You are allowed to relax." His gaze flickered to the guards backs. "You are home. My spine would ache if I sat as straight as you are doing."

His hand stroked down her spine, to rest at the dip just above her backside.

"Thank you for your generosity, but for now I am okay."

Blue eyes glanced around the gardens.

Home.

It didn't feel like home. It was all amazing and wonderful and it satisfied her wanderlust, but she did very much feel like a stranger in the country. A foreigner.

She let go of the breath she held when she felt fingers trail down her spine, following the laces. Her shoulders pushed back further.

"Mine would probably ache if I did relax."

Good posture had been installed into her and her siblings from an early age. They would walk around with books and all sorts on their head. They used to make a game out of it, create obstacle courses or race each other. She would try to trip her eldest siblings up. Then when their younger siblings arrived, she would teasingly knock them off their heads.

His fingers teased over the laces at the back of her dress, occasionally giving a little tug to them.

"I will do all in my power to help you relax," he promised again in that low voice. "Pasadeñan kindness."

It wouldn't do to have his wife stood stock still at all times, like the very air around her made her uncomfortable. He wanted her to relax, to feel like she was comfortable here.

She felt her clothing tighten slightly at the tugs and it all felt very scandalous. It wasn't just her attendant that tugged on her laces, but it was always done behind locked doors.

"I hope I can return the favour and help you become undone."

Not that he looked like he needed relaxing. His pose was easy, no tension in his muscles. This was home for him. This was his territory.

It felt strange from being considered the loose one back home, only to be considered tense here.

"I'll certainly enjoy the..." He trailed off as he spotted a young woman wearing just sheer red cloth over her crotch approached them. Her skin was patterned with the intricate circle designs of the Northern territories.

The woman bowed, but stayed silent.

"Speak," he ordered. His voice held the same quiet tone it usually did - Espiridion was naturally soft spoken - but no pleases or thank yous fell from his lips. He was raised to think these sorts of people were below him.

"Prince Emilion requests your assistance in the training rooms," she spoke.

Espiridion straightened slightly, a tension entering him at the mention of the training rooms. He frequented them often, but usually in the early afternoons when they were empty.

His brother requesting his assistance was new. He knew exactly why, as well.

"Helena, would you enjoy a trip to the training rooms?" he asked, rising to his feet and holding out a chivalrous hand to his fiance.

Her attention turned to where Espiridion was looking. A feeling of curiosity and embarrassment welled up inside her. She still yet to become accustomed to how naked everyone was here. The woman didn't even have clothes to cover her chest.

The way her husband-to-be spoke to her, she realised what she was: A slave.

Disgust blanketed over her first feelings. She was raised differently to Espiridion, taught that no one should be a slave.

But she held her tongue and smoothed out her features. This was how things were here. There was no point objectifying or making a fuss. That could cause tension, if not between herself and her husband, then between the two countries. She couldn't risk that.

Maybe when she is settled in could call this place home, and the treaty was stable, she would voice her opinion.

"I would love to."

She took his hand and stood. She was tall, but he was taller.

"Excelente."

He tucked her hand around his arm and led her through the courtyard. Where she went her guards followed, and sure enough, they began following the two of them.

The walk was a long one, and it was very obvious when they approached the training area. The sound of men and women fighting was loud.

The younger Prince was at the archery stations, shooting poorly.

Espiridion gave a small sigh of relief. He had thought his brother would be dragging him here for swordplay. This was much better. "Emilion."

The younger Prince looked up, grinning. He dropped his bow and approached the two, hugging his brother and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Espiridion." A moment later, he wrapped an arm around the Aldish woman, pressing his cheek against hers and kissing the air. "Helena. Como estas? Has my brother treated you well so far?"

The training room was set up differently to the one back home. A lot larger and airier. The colours were different and the uniforms were more freeing. But it had the noises, same smell, that had her relaxing. It was familiar.

There must have been a good ten years between Espiridion and his brother. Emilion looked to be the same age as her younger brother; on the cusp of adulthood and his boyish feature fading.

The hug and the kiss were strange. He wasn't her husband-to-be. He wasn't her family by blood. But she followed through with the greeting, resisting the urge to pull back.

It took her a moment to translate what he said. She was slow when it came to languages.

"I am very good, thank you. Your brother has been very kind to me."

It was difficult not to let her gaze drop and satisfy her curiosity. She made herself turn to the older brother and smiled.

"It's about time he started treating a woman right again, after the last one. He closed right up, como una almeja, after she died."

Emilion gave his brother a smirk, that was returned with a small, patient smile. "You called for me, hermanito?"

Emilion wasn't impressed by the lack of rise out of his brother but he rolled with the situation. "I'm can't aim. Teach me."

A lesser man would make a joke, crack a nasty comment to him. There were plenty to make. But Espiridion just tipped his head. "Show me. I'll instruct."

Emilion returned to the firing line and notched an arrow. When he released it, it missed the target by a breath.

"Again," the older brother commanded, watching his brother intently.

Helena was informed that his last wife died. She couldn't blame him, for clamming up. It wasn't something easy to overcome.

Then she tilted her head. 'Hermanito' wasn't a term she was familiar with. It sounded like 'hermano'. Knowing their relationship, she assumed it meant little brother.

When her fiance began to teach his little brother, she took a step back. Archery wasn't her strongest point. Besides, she was keen to see how they bonded as a family. She was going to be a part of it in a few days.

"Ojo," Espiridion stated in the tense moment of silence after the arrow skimmed past the target.

"You're using the wrong eye to focus, hermanito. Try again." 

Emilion sneered. He'd been using the eye that he was told to use. His instructor should know better than his brother.

Espiridion clapped his hands together when Emilion paused. "Vamos."

He hit the magpie, and Espiridion smiled, giving his brother a congratulatory slap on the shoulder. "Keep practising like that. It'll be easier."

There was tension in the air at Emilion's obvious frustration. Yet Espiridion seemed to know how at handle him, and give him some good advice.

She grinned when he managed to hit his target. It was always good to see a man overcome a difficulty. Then her eyes turned to her fiance.

From the little she had seen so far, she came to the conclusion he was good with people. He would make a good father.

She stepped back into the conversation to congratulate the younger brother, hands staying clasped together.

Both brothers turned their green eyes to the woman when she stepped forwards and spoke.

"Gracias." Emilion brushed off any more conversation as he turned bodily back to archery practise.

Espiridion pressed his lips together slightly, but turned to his fiancee with a smile on his face. "You said you served." He gestured to the rest of the room. "Did you excel in any arms?"

As the two pairs of green eyes turned to her she felt she said something out of turn. After Emilion's thanks, she didn't dwell on it.

"I am better with a sword than at archery, and I have no idea how to use a javelin. They are strictly for the army."

She gave her husband-to-be a smile.

"We use a broadsword if you were wondering the type."

They were the standard, for both the army and the navy. One handed grip and flexible use. Perfect for combat.

Her sword, currently stored away in her new rooms, made to custom. It had good balance, and the hilt was beautifully decorated. It was for both show and use.

Now it only ever made an appearance at ceremonies.

"I can operate a cannon, too. With your lack of a navy, I suppose you don't have many lying around."

A broadsword. He was impressed.

"I, too, prefer a blade to a bow. I was taught both, but took to the sword better than the bow." He preferred the footwork and hands-on close-range fighting that came with using a sword. 

"Perhaps some time we could engage in a friendly duel."

He'd never sparred with his woman before. He wondered if the energy from that spar would translate into something else in their relationship. It was something he would like to find out.

Espiridion shook his head. "No, but we've taken interest in them. Canons set up on posts around forts would make for a good investment for us."

At the suggestion of a friendly dual, she grinned, her interest sparked. She was incredibly curious about how this man would fight, and if there were any similarities in their style.

"I would enjoy that, I would hate my skills to rust here."

Helena nodded to his answer. Her country had already done so. Stationed at forts around the borders, concentrated to the north, and around the palace. They were expensive to make and run but were fantastic at keeping their defensives up.

"They are a wise investment."

"The training fields are for you to use at your leisure."

He took full advantage of them, and he would extend the same to her. Women often chose not to fight in this country, but they weren't denied opportunities to fight if they wanted to.

"Anderon will be meeting with your ambassadors on the subject soon, I believe."

It was another of the reasons that they agreed to this union.

Her smile widened.

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

She hoped she had enough time in her day here to use it.

"Yes, I heard."

Her hand found her fiance's arm and she looked to the sky. It was almost midday. She was to meet with her mother after lunch to go over the last few details of the wedding and make alterations to her dress.

She wasn't entirely sure of Espiridion's schedule.

"If we still have time, maybe you can show me around the gardens? Before it gets too hot."

"I would be happy to."

He called out a goodbye to his brother, but was pointedly ignored as his brother notched and shot another arrow.

That same patient smile came to his face.

"Come, the gardens are this way."

The gardens were green and full of life. Trees lined paths, and cacti sprouted beautiful brightly coloured flowers. The botany wasn't as lush as Aldish botany, but it was beautiful in its own way.

Helena admired the gardens with the same curiosity and wonder. To her delight, she saw a gecko creep in the underbrush. An everyday occurrence to Espiridion, she was sure, but they were exotic to her. She had never been so far south.

The cacti caught also her interest. They couldn't grow in Alden, no matter how many people tried, it was far too cold for them. Not that it mattered, most Aldesh nobility turned their noses up at them as ugly. But to Helena, they caught her attention the same way roses did.

"I hope, maybe one day, I can show you the gardens in Alden. My father had one designed for my mother in their first year of marriage. We used to have breakfast out in it in the summer."

A small, sad smile appeared at the mention of the late king, but she didn't dwell on the thought.

"I would like that."

His lips curled upwards into a crooked sort of grin. "I would need to wear the heavier clothes of Alden." That thought clearly amused him. He didn't often wear much more than the clothing he was wearing today. The idea of wearing something so stuffy and overbearing...

He reached upwards, to pluck a deep pink blossom from the branches of a tree hanging over them.

He tucked the stem behind Helena's ear.

She laughed, with the same easy and genuine expression. It was the few times her Aldish poise slipped. Most would laugh behind their hand. Unless they were drunk.

Blue eyes raked down his body again as he reached up to get a flower. She honestly couldn't imagine him in anything but what he was wearing now.

As he tucked the flower behind her ear, she turned the same shade of pink. The soft petals tickled her side of her face. She gently touched the petals with her fingers.

"If we were in Alden and you were dressed like that, the guards would have for for public indecency, especially with those harlot bracelets," she finally said, teasingly.