An Unlikely Pair [Private]

[kaissaj777]

Heading back to his room he barged in and slammed the door behind him. Soon though, as he fumed over the desk in his bedroom he realized it was not worth it. Someone had drawn up some warm water for him in the bathroom and he stripped out of his soggy wet clothes to sit down in the warm water.

Soaking in the tub relaxed him, he was cooling down and wondering what he was going to be doing. He knew even if he left tomorrow, he would be able to only get a short distance before being caught, but he felt there was no choice in the matter.

After soaking in the tub he got out and dried off, deciding to sit down and write in his journal about the events of the day, so that if he were killed his parents would understand why he objected, and not hate him for it. He put on soft silkly white pajama bottoms, a white long sleeve shirt that had three buttons on the top to open the collar, and a light green vest.

As he scribbled on the parchment in the book he heard a knock at the door. "Come in." He said loud enough for whoever behind the door to hear. He assumed it was the King, there to torture him once more with his ridiculous requests. Kais had calmed down significantly though, as he bathed in the bathroom, and was in a much more mellow mood to deal with this, and he would continue his argument with the king, even if it meant his punishment.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna cautiously opened the door. Kais seemed to be in a better mood, but she doubted that would last once he saw her. She touched her cheek lightly, hoping it was the only bruise she was going to get today. She noticed that he too had bathed and changed into nightwear and was glad that he was dressed when she entered. He hadn't looked up when she entered and so she took those few seconds to scan the room, before closing the door, realizing she might be sealing her only escape. But she did not want an audience if this turned ugly.

"Um ... I just wanted to thank you ... for coming and saving me tonight. You didn't have to, and it probably would have benefited you better if I had gotten hurt or worse. So, thank you for saving me." Arianna said quietly, looking down at the floor. She wasn't sure she was ready to deal with his anger and hatred, she was tired, and hurting, but she knew she owed him her thanks, and an apology. "I'm sorry you had to come out in the rain. I'll check on your horse tomorrow, make sure he didn't suffer any damages from the cold." At this point Arianna was rambling, not sure what to say.  

[kaissaj777]

If there was truly one thing that would be able to ruin Kais' mood, it was this exact person walking into his room right now. He did not show it visibly but he felt his stomach twist inside of him and he took a deep breath before he was about to speak. Though in all honesty he would have chosen for her to come in here rather than the King, he could at least speak his mind to her with not immediate impact.

At first he did not respond, but he felt if he did not she would stand there all night. "Don't thank me." He said, his eyes just rising enough to look at the from across the room. "I did have too, the King forced me, I would likely have been killed for having done nothing." He did not want to have a reputation for killing Lovettes. "You were just lucky i was in the right place at the right time." he said emotionlessly.

His tone was not that of anger toward the girl, it was rather neutral. He did not car enough to attack her this evening though. "That will be unnecessary as I will be leaving come first light." He said to her as he scribbled the now current events into the book. Kais enjoyed writing, it was something to get his mind off all the crap that went on, especially when events like today occurred. "This proposal from the king will cause nothing but trouble."  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna wasn't sure what to do or say. She knew he hated her, and hated this situation even more. And for some reason his hatred bothered her. She knew growing up with her father constantly warning her to stay away from the Avalon's that she should fear him more. She didn't want to marry him, knowing her father would be furious, and she was afraid of him. But at the same time, her father had never explained why the Avalon's were such bad people. She did not know the reason for the feud, and so it seemed, neither did the king. Perhaps that is why he wanted to end it, perhaps he believed that it was a baseless feud. But that still didn't excuse forcing two unlikely people who did not want to be around each other to marry.

Arianna wasn't sure what came over her. She remembered hearing the maids talk about how to make a marriage work. One of the things she remembered them mentioning was that if they weren't good in bed, then the marriage was doomed to failure, because the guy would seek other women. Though Arianna had no experience with this, she remembered a lot of maids sneaking off to kiss their boyfriends, and an idea popped into her mind. It would at least give her an idea if things could ever work between her and Kais, that is if they both could get over the hatred their fathers had ingrained in them.

Walking slowly over to him, she tapped him on the shoulder before she could change her mind. When he turned to face her, she leaned down and lightly touched her lips to his. Having no experience with kissing, this being her first kiss, Arianna went no farther, and fearing punishment for her rash theory and having no idea what Kais's reaction would be, she was about to pull back. Besides women were not supposed to be so bold.  

[kaissaj777]

He looked at his writing and had no idea why she was just standing there. Either she was too dumb to speak or she was waiting for him to say something more. Kais had no opinion on the matter though and he just decided if she wanted to waste his time he would focus on what he wanted too. He barley even noticed that she was walking toward him at one point.

The tap on his shoulder made him shutter because someone from the Lovettes touched him, it nearly angered him but he decided to look up as she leaned in. The kiss came as a complete surprise and Kais' eyes widened widely. He pulled back quickly and stood up out of the chair and walked to the window. 'What the ******** does she think she is doing?' Kais thought to himself as he now stared over the garden below.

He did not like her, she was a Lovette, he had to keep telling himself that. "You should not have done that." He said in a frustrated tone. "What do you think this is? A charity event?" Kais had never been kissed before, and while it was not with someone he desired it too be, it made his cheeks warm all the same. As the King said she was not half bad looking, but he needed to look past it and see her for what she was. "Your a Lovette, I am Avalon we should not even be speaking." The words were cold as they came out of his mouth.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna blinked, blushing a bit as she had just instigated his first kiss. He jerked and quickly stood and moved away from her and she felt the rejection, her body stiffening in response. But at least he hadn't said it was awful, as that would have really upset her. Though he was definately mad at her for kissing him, and she looked down at the ground. She was so going to get in trouble over this one.

"I'm ... I'm sorry. It was a hunch, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm sure you've been kissed plenty before, but that was a first for me." Arianna's face flushed redded and she continued to stare at the ground. "And I didn't do that for some damn charity event. I did it because if we were forced to marry, I just wanted to know if we were even compatible ... no offense, but can you blame me for wanting a guy who wouldn't cheat on me? Granted, somehow if the King manages to force this issue, I have a feeling you are going to want a marriage in name only, and so I really have no room to talk." Arianna's eyes went sad, as she thought of herself trapped in a loveless marriage.

"I'm sorry." she turned and was about to open the door when there was a knock on the door. Arianna's eyes widened, but before she could even move to hide, the door opened to allow the King to enter. Arianna paled, not ready to face the king yet, and worse in Kais' room. "I ..."  

[kaissaj777]

He did not understand this girl, her family was suppose to hate his, yet she apparently did not want to play along. She was too concerned about him cheating on her at this point, which concerned him that she actually wanted to go through with this marriage. Kais hated it, and he was once again becoming angry, he had a very short temper to a point.

He did notice she had a bruise on her face, and he wondered if the King had hit her. Part of him felt she deserved it for her families sins, though in reality he had no true qualms against her. Kais did not believe though he would ever hit a woman, so the idea was appalling to him.

"Why do you care if we are compatible, you don't want this anymore than I do!" He yelled as she tried to defend her actions. "You think my family would stoop so low as adultery? There will be no need to cheat of you because I will not go through with this. And my family does not succumb to those whims like those from yours." He pointed to the ground as he talked to try and display his anger with pointless gestures.

He could see himself now, sleeping in a bed and waking up in the morning next to a woman he disliked, having to sit across from her at dinner, be anywhere near her family. His would never speak to him again so he would not be able to see them.

As the King entered Kais glared at him. "Your not welcome here." Kais said harshly. "I think I am welcome in my own castle Kais, you would do well to remember you are nothing but a guest."The King's voice showed strength, but his expression was relatively neutral. Kais was ready to go over and kill him if he must, yet the number of guards standing behind him created quite the task. It would also bring great shame upon his family.

"The King, owns this castle, and no King in his right mind would force two children to marry, knowing their families would disown them the moment they found out!" Kais did not quite know how to get his point across to the King. "Do you realize what you doing? Because I think your being very ignorant on how this works."

This time the King had enough of Kais' outward arguments. "Enough boy, I have ruled over this Kingdom since before you were born. I know what is right for my people, NOT you." He now stood across from Kais, finger pointed right at Kais' eyes. "You will marry this girl, or you shall be imprisoned, and you families punished for both of your inability to follow orders."  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna listened to what Kais said, and was glad he claimed that he doesn't cheat. It made her feel a little better about the situation. When the King entered the room, she took a few steps back, not wanted to be hit again. She shrank back against the wall as she faced the venomous anger between the King and Kais. Kais was fighting so hard to avoid marrying her, and she wasn't doing anything to help. She was thinking about stepping in when the King threatened to punish both their families. Arianna didn't realize she had any color left in her face to lose until that point and she let out a small whimper.

The King turned to face Arianna briefly, before turning back to Kais. "I have already ordered your horses transported to another of my stables. My men have been instructed that you are to borrow no horses, or leave the castle grounds. I was going to have a dinner party tomorrow. Now, they will be guests to your wedding, as it seems I have no choice but to move it up. You two will remain here until I deem it fit for you to leave to your new home." The King turned to leave the room then glanced back.

"Oh, and Kais, look how many witnesses I have to Arianna being in your room. If you don't go through with this, you will destroy both of your reputations." With that the King and his men left, and Arianna sank on to the floor, trembling. With the King's last comment, she knew that Kais was going to hate her even more, and knew that her whispered, "I'm sorry," wasn't going to cool his temper.  

[kaissaj777]

For once since Kais had met Arianna, he held no more hostility toward her. He wondered what she was thinking in this situation, and he noticed how matruely she was actually handling the situation. He wondered how she was doing it, he had been so rash and rage-filled, yet again that was Kais' personality. He had always for some reason rushed into decisions with little judgement.

All of his hatred though, was to the King, and only the King. The man had basically decided to use Kais, and Arianna, as his puppets. He saw him at this point on par with the Lovette's in his maturity level. He was now forcing him to be married on the morrow, with nobody that he liked present at that current moment.

"There is no need for you to be sorry." Kais said crossing his arms and turning to her. His expression was not hostile, stern and serious, but not hostile. "The King wants me to submit, and then either accuse me of putting that bruise on your cheek, or otherwise deflowering you before we are wed." Kais shook his head and cursed under his breath. "The ******** is trying to force us into marriage now with blackmail." He walked past her now and sat down in his chair.

"Listen, obviously there is no way we can get out of this." He paused. "At least not yet, I have a plan though on how to delay it possibly." He scratched his chin and lifted up one leg, resting the ankle on top of one of his knees. "We both need to go to him tomorrow, apologize for our actions and request a delay so that we may plan a wedding we want." He winced still at the idea of marrying a Lovette. "I want my family there, and I shall make my demands to him tomorrow, first he takes away my freedom of choice, and now he takes away my freedom to enjoy a wedding my family and I deserve." He said clenching his fists in anger, and then slamming in against the arm of the chair.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna looked at him confused, not sure what caused his sudden mood change. She was still afraid of his mood swings, not wanting to anger another man today. And now he was being nice and going to marry her. He seemed to be being reasonable, so she decided to stand slowly and approach him cautiously. "Um.... I won't lie to people. I will tell them the truth about what happened. That I was being a foolish child and ran away, and how the king slapped me as punishment. And how you saved me and I just came here to apologize for the inconvenience and thank you."

Arianna wandered over to him where he was sitting in his chair, and lightly touched his shoulder, still afraid to make him mad again. "Also, I'm sorry about the kiss. I won't tell anyone about it. I was just curious. Everyone says a marriage will fail if you aren't sexually compatible. But since I don't know how to kiss, I guess my experiment wasn't going to do me any good." She laughed at herself, running her other hand through her hair. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been.

"I won't make you marry me. I can run away, he is more likely to be more lenient with me? Or I can send a note to my father, he will definately come." Arianna looked away. "Besides, even if we go with your idea, which isn't bad, necessarily, but I kind of want a real wedding and marriage. I mean I know arranged marriages are normal. But, I guess I'm just a romantic at heart and want to find love." She sighed. "I understand the King wants to end the feud. But I don't even know why it started in the first place. I ... I'm sorry, I'm talking too much."  

[kaissaj777]

And there she went again, one moment she seems totally willing to go along with the Kings plan, and the next it seems she caves away from anything he would suggest. He shook his head but kept his harsh thoughts to myself. "It does not matter what you say to your people." He began. "Whatever the King says is law, and people are more likely to believe him than us." He said resting the side of his face on his fisted hand. "And with my temper people will believe it." He was known for hitting men in the quarry who were disobedient.

He thought about the kiss for a moment, and how she seemed to do it just out of curiosity. "Whoever told you that is an imbecile." He said shaking his head. "My parents have a successful marriage because they are friends as well, they look past petty issues and work together to make their lives better. Everyone sucks during their first intimate moments." He shrugged though, knowing he was not exactly experienced himself. "At least that is what my brothers tell me, I never kissed anyone before." He added on, looking slightly red. "You experiment caught me more off guard. But do not try it again until the wedding." He said with a look, hoping to keep her off his back a while.

He scratched his beard again. "You don't want to marry me, nor I you. It does not matter though to him what we want." Kais said in his deep, stern voice. "Any attempt to run away will be met with a forceful capture and a swift punishment. We have nowhere to run. Mail to our parents will be monitored by the King, and unless he sends anything, nothing will be allowed to leave." He sighed. "I know you want a real wedding, I want a legitimate wife myself." He said shaking his head. "We have no choice in this, my plan will by us time to figure out how to escape."

"There is no easy way out of this." He said staring into space. "We marry, my family disowns me and I likely never see them again." He sounded upset by that prospect. "I deny the King, I get punished and bring shame to my family name." He took a sigh. "If i off myself I will bring shame to my family as well, there is no way I can find happiness in this arrangement."  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna blinked, he had never kissed someone before? She found that surprising as he was so good looking. As he talked about his family, and a successful marriage, her eyes went sad for a while. "I wouldn't know what makes a marriage work. My mom died giving birth to me, so I never saw a real marriage, and most of the couples I saw were the maids and stuff like that. Sorry. I will go along with your plan for now then. Well, I better go to bed before I make another thing worse tonight. Good night." Arianna nodded to him, then left the room, returning to her own room.

She stayed up a while, thinking awhile about the things that happened that day. Kais hated her, but still saved her. He was supposed to be her enemy but she just didn't get the feeling that she should consider him her enemy. Her father would scold her for her thoughts, and she was scared of him, but that was mostly because of his explosive temper. But unlike the King, despite him being furious with him, he never hit her. In fact, he saved her life. And the kiss, she touched her lips, she wished she could have explored that more, but he made it clear he didn't even want to try anything that could lead to anything really. She drifted off to sleep with these thoughts.

The next morning, she woke up early, showered, and dressed quickly. She snuck down to the kitchen for something quick to eat, and then asked servant to tell her when the King would be ready to see her, knowing she would probably be playing the waiting game, she snuck over the library, grabbing a book to bide the time away since she was forbidden to leave.  

[kaissaj777]

Kais watched as she left the room, not one to argue with her leaving before he lost his patience with her. Standing up he walked over to the desk in the room. A bottle of liquor sat on the desk and he poured himself a glass of the drink. Sipping it slowly he sighed as he thought about the risks that faced him tomorrow. He planned on sneaking around and finding his horse, he could maybe steal one if need be, though that would cause issues for his family so he scratched that idea.

After finishing the drink he lied down of his bed and stared up at the ceiling. The emerald velvet drapes blowing silently in the wind through the open window of his bedroom. He closed his eyes soon and fell into a dreaming daze.

That night he dreamed of Arianna, standing across from him in a wedding dress. She looked miserable, as much as he felt at that moment as well. The King stood as the minister, and when Kais gazed out at the audience, he saw his father in the doorway, a tear dropping down his eye as he turned and left the room, sheer disappointment in his face. Kais knew this was a sign of his families disappointment, and he could not help but run down the aisle after him, wanting to explain. The Kings guard grabbed him though, and he was soon being whipped at the altar, his punishment for defiance.

He awoke the next morning and got himself dressed in a casual outfit. Brown pants with white long sleeve button up and a brown vest. Much similar to the outfit he wore the day before, but slightly more laid back.
He walked to where he assumed they would serve him breakfast, and he sat down at the table, hoping that the King would soon show himself so that he could make his own offer.  

[KagomeHigurashi08]

Arianna looked up as someone entered the library. It was a servant, who told her that the King has requested her presence in the dining room. Arianna returned the book and allowed the servant to lead the way to a small, personal dining room near the kitchen. The room was a lot smaller than the area where the King normally entertained his guests. This was a private, family style dining, and she wasn't sure she liked being in an intimate setting with the King and only a few others. But she had no choice, as she couldn't risk angering the King again.

She saw Kais as she entered the room, and gave him an awkward smile. He was supposed to be her enemy, but the poor guy was stuck in the same bad situation as she, and she couldn't help but feel for him. Though she could tell he had quite the temper, and hoped that he didn't explode like he did yesterday. She sat down and they must have sat their silently for about 10 minutes before the King entered. They were seated at opposite ends of of the table, and the King raised his eyebrow, but did not comment, taking a chair in the middle of the two.

"Good morning," Arianna greeted the King, though this time a smile did not reach her face. "Good Morning, Arianna, Kais. I hope you two are in a better mood to hear me out." Arianna looked down at her hands. "Sir, I know I'm in know position to make requests at the moment, but if I am to go through with this .... this arranged marriage, I would at least like to have my father present. He may object, but he is still the only family that I have. Also, may we still have till the end of the week, to plan this. I mean, every girl dreams about her wedding, and I don't even have a wedding gown."

The King sat there contemplative. "Give me time to consider your request. I don't want you two getting any ideas about buying some extra time to come up with a plan. But at the same time it is a reasonable request. Though I do not know about inviting your father. If I do it will be for the day of the marriage and he will not be allowed to know what is going on until the actual ceremony where I have gaurds to prevent problems. Do you having anything to say Kais?" Arianna briefly glanced at Kais, not knowing what to do, as she was just following his direction from last night.  

[kaissaj777]

In all honesty Kais had never had any interaction with the members of the Lovette family before Arianna. She seemed innocent enough but his family was adamant about how her family had evil growing in their blood. Having this embedded in his mind since he was a kid, it made that much of difference in his opinion on her. She smiled awkwardly to him, but he did nothing back. For the moment he could tolerate her presence, but this was nothing more than the fact he hated the King above her, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

He listened quietly, neutral expression on his face, as the King and Arianna had their small interaction. He could tell that the King was not exactly thinking too hardly about the idea, and he felt Arianna sort of sugar coated it a bit. "Your Grace..." He began, doing everything in his power to keep his voice neutral. "...Your forcing us to marry, we have accepted that, maybe not the idea, but we know we have no choice." He coughed slightly to clear his throat. "This is making it so that Arianna can't have her dream wedding, nor I. Neither of us can marry the person we desire. This alone is punishment enough is it not?" His voice was now pleading but honest. "How can you prevent us from having our families there too. I wish my brother to stand beside me, as I did him in his wedding. I want my mother and father to be watching as well. Have you not taken away enough choice in out lives, that you would rid us of this experience for your own pathetic attempts at diplomacy." The end of his words he felt himself getting angry.


The King was watchful of Kais, knowing that he had a small temper. "Kais I know this is a lot I ask of you. But you know just as well as I how this will be received." The King though scratched his chin. "I will write to them, and tell them you each are to marry, though I shall not tell them whom you are marrying, only that it is a person of my choice. I will also let them know you two are away getting to know each other, so as to not have them contact you. On the day of the wedding, they will arrive, and be monitored as the ceremony happens." The King scratched his chin. "I am willing to agree to your requests, only on the condition that you shall behave yourselves from here on out, and attempt to get to know each other. Shall this be broken, you both shall be forced to marry when I speak about it, and it will be without your family."

Kais leaned back in his seat. This would allow them to get time to potentially discuss an escape plan. They could disguise it as getting to know each other. Either way this was likely the best the King will give them. "I accept your demands, and thank you for your kindness." Kais said. It was almost as if he jinxed himself.

"One thing though Kais." The King said. "Because you made such a request, you still need to be punished for your actions last night, Therefore you shall be whipped, fifteen lashes, in two hours, after breakfast.." Were he not gripping the side of his chair so fiercely, Kais would have lashed out physically at the King. He nodded, choosing it was best not to say anything.