Many Marriages | Eilionora & Cassimir
The morning following the ball woke on a world covered in icy white. Dawn's finger paints echoed queerly upon the sheets of cold that spread as far as the eye could see and even tucked away close to the mantel, eilia could feel the frigid grip of winter. Stealing closer to the flames, she closed her eyes to welcome the warmth.
When she opened them again, none other than Cassimir had come to join her. Startled, she jumped slightly, soon laughing at her mistake. It was not the most pleasant thing to find oneself suddenly, and unexpectedly, in his presence, but he was a far more comfortable companion, in Eilia's mind, than her captors.
"Good morning, my lord," began Eilia, careful not to call him Lord Malconaire, as it was a title which, by rights, belonged not to him, but to his sister. "I hope you slept well?"
The guests had been obliged to sleep at the castle that night, in light of the freezing storms, but Eilia, for her own part, had gotten not a wink. When Aria had at last nodded off, following her horror at Roderick's...declaration of bastardy, Eilia had sat up and watched the storm, the icy grip of winter hollowing out her arms and her legs as she stood. It seemed to her that her parents voices were howling in the winds that buffetted the castle. A conquered queen had stood little enough chance...How could a bastard girl save the world from the wrath of the gods?
"I fear all the windows and doors were rattling all night long, but I hope they did not trouble you? In truth, I cannot recall ever having known a storm as terrible as this one. Can you?"
She was sure, at any rate, that such had been the case in his rooms. She'd taken care that his stepsisters boasted one of the finest suites in the palace -- and that Cassimir and his horrible mother had been placed on the opposite side of the castle, where everything was decidedly less pleasant. Roderick and his family had had no objections to this suggestion, either, and in her way, she was pleased of that. Even the Varmonts were not friends to Valentina, despite her best efforts.
"I hear it said by some your own home nation is colder than Astaira? Is that so?"
