First Meetings && Final Marriages
@handfuloftroublemakers
Elizabeth wasn’t an idiot, but she was (most assumed) a lucky bastard. Many assumed that Elizabeth wasn’t actually her father’s daughter, given her mother’s extended period in Quentovic before her birth, but at the end of the day she refused to let those rumors matter. Instead, what mattered was that she graduated early from her A-levels and that by the time she entered university she could play two instruments and speak another language. What mattered was that she had gotten her law degree from Harvard and her doctorate from Oxford. What mattered was that, despite her father and mother having been raised in the lap of luxury they raised her to be resourceful and make her own choices. She was a quoted bleeding heart and an unknown force to be reckoned with.
But she wasn’t an idiot. She knew Queen Rosalind wouldn’t think of her as a force to be reckoned with. Elizabeth assumed the woman merely saw her as a bleeding heart, as someone who would be so affronted by slavery that she’d get overwhelmed. She assumed that Rosalind thought her as too feminine to be feminist and would simper under Gabriel’s thumb.
No, Elizabeth wasn’t an idiot. She had done her homework the second she learned that her grandfather had decided her fate.
So Elizabeth decided to play into expectations as best as she could, to keep Rosalind appeased and docile. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun, her dress was floor length, with less that covered her neck and arms and a long train behind her. Her future sister-in-law had dictated their colors, lime green and pink, but she had snuck in some purple earrings to make a point.
The walk down the aisle was slow, looking at her blush bouquet and briefly at her to-be-husband. He was handsome, she would certainly admit that, but that didn’t settle the nerves in her stomach. She refrained from touching his hand until the first kiss, holding his hand and smiling politely as they walked out. It wasn’t until they got into the car that Beth felt like she could finally take a breath, her nerves getting the better of her. “Well, that was a jolly good time, wasn’t it?”