Post by Admin on Aug 16, 2020 0:13:41 GMT
The Courtship of Richard and Arianna: Part 2 (The Great Hall)
(Part 1 can be found in Staff Offices)
(OOC: Combined threads from the previous site)
Richard Greene
Richard sat in his seat watching the Owl deliver come toward the table. He somehow knew where it was headed, to the beautiful woman to his right, Arianna Sadiki, Head Librarian of the school. For the past three weeks, several of these delivers had arrived. The were not much, small trinkets like hair clips, stones on chains, dried flowers, candies from around the world and even q new quill. The notes with the gifts never had a signature. A few words compliment, he had seen from the ones Arianna had shown him. A few of the notes she had just put away. Those were the ones Richard worried about.
It had been three weeks since the night Arianna and Tarik, had a formal note from their brother on the subject of Arianna getting married again. It still made Richard furious when the thought of that man's interference. The brother and sister had not heard from him in several years. They had heard about the un-prescribed Dark Wizard, none of what was good, but had not received a direct message. The one message they had received, told how Khalid had contracted for Arianna's re-marriage to an un-named man. She had one year to prepare.
Consider, that at the time, Richard had been within hours of asking Arianna to marry him or at least consider it enough he could talk to Tarik about a betrothal contract, Richard thought he was handling it rather nicely. He had gotten rid of some un-needed clay pots against the back wall of the castle, he had added too much potion to a couple of plants and now had a couple of weeds 10 foot tall with two-food in diameter stalks, but he was handling it. His classes had even been extra quiet and well mannered. They all seemed to come into class, do what they needed to do and leave just as quietly. Some of the children who always seemed to have questions, had not asked even one question.
The Owl dropped the small package at Arianna's spot. Richard tried hard not to pay attention when Ari started to open the package. His eyes glanced at Tarik who was sitting on the other side of Sasha, farther down the table. Looking back at Arianna, he saw her open the small package. Looking over her arm he saw the filigree pendant worked to give the impression of her profile. It was an exquisite piece of work. Arianna's eye opened wider as she examined the piece. Slowly she removed it from the box and found the small piece of parchment folded in the bottom, like all the others. As she read it, a smile slowly spread across her face.
Richard's hand which was holding the goblet, tightened. His knuckles turned white as he forced a small smile to hold to his lips. He let his eyes roam over the Great Hall as if everything was normal. A couple of the children from Hufflepuff House, where he was Head of House, waved and he waved back, adding a little more genuine feeling to the smile. Holding the smile he wondered if they had been watching the delivery. He wondered if they knew there was something wrong with the situation. Slowly he raised his goblet to his lips and took a sip.
Turning to Arianna, he asked as with as little irritation in his voice as he could, "From the same person with no signature?"
Arianna Sadiki
Ari watched as yet another owl headed toward her place at the table, with a small package in it's talons. Normally mail was not delivered every day, but when one of the staff received something it was delivered at breakfast, if it was not marked urgent. An urgent marking got it delivered immediately. The package like the others was small and beautifully wrapped. As she carefully removed the ribbon and paper, she watched Richard out of the corner of her eye. She knew he was jealous, but there was no way to stop the gifts and no way to return them.
Three weeks ago, when Ari had been informed by a written note from her brother, she was to be married again, she had felt devastated and over whelmed. Richard had walked her back to her rooms and stayed to have a cup of tea. They had sat very close on the couch. The man had tried to keep up a calm conversation about their walk they had planned for the next day, but she knew by the way he sat and the expressions on his face, he was feeling far different then the way he was acting.
Ari remembered reaching out and taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. Over the last year, she had gotten the feeling Richard wanted to be closer than colleges, but she had never considered it, with all of the happenings, with the Caretakers and the school. As they had sat there that night, she had given hard consideration to whether she wanted their relationship to go to the next level. If Tarik could not figure out a way to stop the marriage, Ari would not be able to have any relationship with Richard. She had wondered if she wanted to take the chance on being hurt, by letting her heart float toward Richard and possibly have it ripped away. She had not told Richard anything that night. He had given her a very gentle kiss, when he finally left and had told her he would be there bright and early in the morning, for their hike.
It had been a great day. They both had agreed to not talk about the possible marriage and just enjoy the day. They had a wonderful time traipsing all over the Scottish hills. Now it was three weeks and many small gifts later. Ari and Richard had spent time together, laughed and helped each other, but the subject of the future arranged marriage was a subject left out. It stood between them like a glass wall.
Ari looked at the new gift. Like the rest it was small, this time a clip for her hair, delicate and very expensive. Whoever the man was, he was well off in the financial part of life.
Glancing at Richard, she picked up the note and read it:
Like all the others there was no signature and no way of knowing who it had come from. She passed the note to Richard and shrugged her shoulders. Whispering in his direction she said, "He could at least let me know who he is. Tarik, has been making inquiries, but apparently Khalid has let no one in on his plans." Ari put the small box down on the table without removing the clip. "There is someone I could ask, but Rich you know one of the first rules in the Caretaker Group, is it never get used for personal gain, or even for personal needs, unless it was life or death." She paused and then firmly added, "I was the one who wrote that rule." Ari looked down at the table. The still had eleven months and one week to go…. but to her that felt like it was only just around the corner.
Picking up her fork she moved the food around on her plate. Patients had never been one of her finer abilities. If something needed to be done, she did it or made sure the right people were put in place to have it done. Personally, it was going to be a long year.
(Part 3 can be found in Mathew’s Castle)
(Part 1 can be found in Staff Offices)
(OOC: Combined threads from the previous site)
Richard Greene
Richard sat in his seat watching the Owl deliver come toward the table. He somehow knew where it was headed, to the beautiful woman to his right, Arianna Sadiki, Head Librarian of the school. For the past three weeks, several of these delivers had arrived. The were not much, small trinkets like hair clips, stones on chains, dried flowers, candies from around the world and even q new quill. The notes with the gifts never had a signature. A few words compliment, he had seen from the ones Arianna had shown him. A few of the notes she had just put away. Those were the ones Richard worried about.
It had been three weeks since the night Arianna and Tarik, had a formal note from their brother on the subject of Arianna getting married again. It still made Richard furious when the thought of that man's interference. The brother and sister had not heard from him in several years. They had heard about the un-prescribed Dark Wizard, none of what was good, but had not received a direct message. The one message they had received, told how Khalid had contracted for Arianna's re-marriage to an un-named man. She had one year to prepare.
Consider, that at the time, Richard had been within hours of asking Arianna to marry him or at least consider it enough he could talk to Tarik about a betrothal contract, Richard thought he was handling it rather nicely. He had gotten rid of some un-needed clay pots against the back wall of the castle, he had added too much potion to a couple of plants and now had a couple of weeds 10 foot tall with two-food in diameter stalks, but he was handling it. His classes had even been extra quiet and well mannered. They all seemed to come into class, do what they needed to do and leave just as quietly. Some of the children who always seemed to have questions, had not asked even one question.
The Owl dropped the small package at Arianna's spot. Richard tried hard not to pay attention when Ari started to open the package. His eyes glanced at Tarik who was sitting on the other side of Sasha, farther down the table. Looking back at Arianna, he saw her open the small package. Looking over her arm he saw the filigree pendant worked to give the impression of her profile. It was an exquisite piece of work. Arianna's eye opened wider as she examined the piece. Slowly she removed it from the box and found the small piece of parchment folded in the bottom, like all the others. As she read it, a smile slowly spread across her face.
Richard's hand which was holding the goblet, tightened. His knuckles turned white as he forced a small smile to hold to his lips. He let his eyes roam over the Great Hall as if everything was normal. A couple of the children from Hufflepuff House, where he was Head of House, waved and he waved back, adding a little more genuine feeling to the smile. Holding the smile he wondered if they had been watching the delivery. He wondered if they knew there was something wrong with the situation. Slowly he raised his goblet to his lips and took a sip.
Turning to Arianna, he asked as with as little irritation in his voice as he could, "From the same person with no signature?"
Arianna Sadiki
Ari watched as yet another owl headed toward her place at the table, with a small package in it's talons. Normally mail was not delivered every day, but when one of the staff received something it was delivered at breakfast, if it was not marked urgent. An urgent marking got it delivered immediately. The package like the others was small and beautifully wrapped. As she carefully removed the ribbon and paper, she watched Richard out of the corner of her eye. She knew he was jealous, but there was no way to stop the gifts and no way to return them.
Three weeks ago, when Ari had been informed by a written note from her brother, she was to be married again, she had felt devastated and over whelmed. Richard had walked her back to her rooms and stayed to have a cup of tea. They had sat very close on the couch. The man had tried to keep up a calm conversation about their walk they had planned for the next day, but she knew by the way he sat and the expressions on his face, he was feeling far different then the way he was acting.
Ari remembered reaching out and taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. Over the last year, she had gotten the feeling Richard wanted to be closer than colleges, but she had never considered it, with all of the happenings, with the Caretakers and the school. As they had sat there that night, she had given hard consideration to whether she wanted their relationship to go to the next level. If Tarik could not figure out a way to stop the marriage, Ari would not be able to have any relationship with Richard. She had wondered if she wanted to take the chance on being hurt, by letting her heart float toward Richard and possibly have it ripped away. She had not told Richard anything that night. He had given her a very gentle kiss, when he finally left and had told her he would be there bright and early in the morning, for their hike.
It had been a great day. They both had agreed to not talk about the possible marriage and just enjoy the day. They had a wonderful time traipsing all over the Scottish hills. Now it was three weeks and many small gifts later. Ari and Richard had spent time together, laughed and helped each other, but the subject of the future arranged marriage was a subject left out. It stood between them like a glass wall.
Ari looked at the new gift. Like the rest it was small, this time a clip for her hair, delicate and very expensive. Whoever the man was, he was well off in the financial part of life.
Turning to Arianna, he asked as with as little irritation in his voice as he could, "From the same person with no signature?"
Glancing at Richard, she picked up the note and read it:
To the lady who grows more important to me every day.
Like all the others there was no signature and no way of knowing who it had come from. She passed the note to Richard and shrugged her shoulders. Whispering in his direction she said, "He could at least let me know who he is. Tarik, has been making inquiries, but apparently Khalid has let no one in on his plans." Ari put the small box down on the table without removing the clip. "There is someone I could ask, but Rich you know one of the first rules in the Caretaker Group, is it never get used for personal gain, or even for personal needs, unless it was life or death." She paused and then firmly added, "I was the one who wrote that rule." Ari looked down at the table. The still had eleven months and one week to go…. but to her that felt like it was only just around the corner.
Picking up her fork she moved the food around on her plate. Patients had never been one of her finer abilities. If something needed to be done, she did it or made sure the right people were put in place to have it done. Personally, it was going to be a long year.
(Part 3 can be found in Mathew’s Castle)