Unaverted | Krause Manor

Krause Manor
Germany
Summertime


Kendera stared at her reflection, expression stricken. She had never looked more grown up than she did at that moment. The girl was garbed in a elegant, cream colored dress, hair gently caressing her shoulders. She wore make-up as well; just enough to accent her natural beauty.

Today was the day. The one she had been trying to hard to avoid for almost an entire year. It was the day when her betrothal to Roman Ritter would be formalized; the day on which she would become magically and contractually bound to marry the boy. The day when her grandmother finally succeeded at controlling such a huge aspect of her life.

Letting out a furious shriek, Kendera shoved the mirror to the floor, where it shattered. Gerda immediately popped into the room, honey-colored eyes wide in alarm and concern.

"Miss Ken-" the elf began.

"Don't 'Miss Kendera' me!" the girl screamed at her furiously. "You helped her, you stupid, worthless elf!" She sank down onto the end of her bed, fighting the urge to start crying.

"I'm sorry," Kendera whispered. "I'm sorry, Gerda."

Gerda wrung her hands anxiously. "Miss Kendera mustn't cry! The ceremony is starting soon! Gerda is not angry with Miss Kendera. Miss Kendera is just stressed. Don't cry! Don't cry!"

Kendera sucked in a deep, fortifying breath, sniffing indignantly. "I won't cry. I won't give her the satisfaction," she declared, tone mutinous.

Gerda sympathetically patted the girl's knee. Meanwhile, downstairs, the official betrothal between the Krauses' granddaughter and the Ritters' son was getting ready to take place.

Roman's hands fiddled absentmindedly with the delicate silver chain, and watched as the light gleaming off of the emeralds danced on his robes. He had bought the necklace for Faye a couple of days ago, on an impulse, as the pretty little bird pendant had caught his eye.

The smell of bourbon drifted toward him as his father opened a new bottle, something he often did during a large business transaction. It only succeeded in making him even more nauseous than he already was.

How the hell could this have happened? What else could he have done to stop it? He began winding the chain around his finger, concentrating on the feel of the cool metal as opposed to his churning stomach.

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't we get started? If I know my Roman, he's more than eager to see your Lidwina again. Quite the romantic that one is," His father chuckled. Roman clenched his fists, forgetting momentarily about the necklace, and winced as it snapped in his hand.

Kendera finally made her way down from her room, shoulders squared and chin raised in a defiant matter. Her grandmother met her as the foot of the stairs, having left her mother and grandfather to chat with the Ritters. The old woman grabbed the girl roughly by the arm, yanking her close.

"You will behave yourself," Della hissed, giving her granddaughter a shake. "Any funny business, any at all - if you so much as think of acting up in front of the Ritters, disinheritance will the least of your problems. Understood?"

"Yes, grandmother," Kendera gritted out.

Della gave the girl a shove towards the parlor, thus missing the way the teen's eyes flashed a dark red. "Get in there - and walk properly while you're at it!"

Straightening, the girl tossed her head, glancing back at the old woman coldly. "I hate you," she responded placidly. And then she glided into the parlor, lips curling into a smile which didn't meet her too-dark eyes.

"Roman," she greeted. "So good to see you again. Mr. Ritter, Mrs. Ritter." The girl curtsied deeply, a living model of pureblood etiquette.

Kendera's gaze settled on the boy, nothing of her frustration, anger or resignation to be seen in her expression. If there was any way out of an official and magically bond betrothal, she would find it.

She allowed her mother and grandfather to give her praise they never bothered to feign without an audience. Kendera had long ago accepted that she was little more than a show piece in their social and political maneuvering. Let them show off. One day their pawn would become the chess master, and then she would wipe them from the chess board for good.

Roman looked up at Kendera, a little taken aback by how put together she looked. He figured that on a day like this, she would look as sick and as pale as he did. Then again, he had guessed a lot about Kendera that was entirely wrong.

The moment she said his name, he felt like he was going to throw up all over again. Just because they were getting engaged didn't mean they needed to acknowledge each other's existence. This whole matter was just... disgusting.

A sharp look from his mother and he forced himself to meet the girl's gaze, "It's a pleasure, Kend- Lidwina."

Really, though, what was the point anymore? If he married her, he would be miserable, not that the promise of money made him feel any better. And if he refused to, then his parents would throw him out on the street.

There was really no one he could live with, seeing as his few friends had parents who would immediately kick him back out again. Except maybe for.... But he would never be able to stand living with her. She was just too... too... well, dangerous.

Roman took a deep breath, getting up out of his chair and giving Kendera a look that seemed to say, "Let's just get this over with". He turned to the adults and waited for them to make the next move.

(OOC: There are no Ken-is-crazy rumors... as of yet.)


Kendera didn't bother to acknowledge Roman further than the initial greeting. From the look of it, he was just as disgusted by the whole mess as she was. In fact, he looked physically ill. Not that she blamed him. Who would want to be stuck with her, anyway?

Allowing the adults to direct where she was to stand across from her intended, Kendera resisted the urge to sigh. Or rant, or rail, or just generally pitch a full-on fit. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could get back to brain storming and researching for a means to get out of this situation.

The girl held out her right arm to take Roman's, as instructed. Once that was done, a ribbon was wrapped about their joined hands. Kendera's grandfather and Roman's father read out words in Latin for them each to repeat.

"And this my pledge," came the conclusion, "that I, Kendera Lidwina James, shall be wed to Roman Ritter, thus-"

For the first time, her composure visibly wavered, the words catching in her throat and eyes growing just a bit overly bright with a sheen of tears. Kendera's grandmother shot her a glare that any would recognize as promising violence. The girl drew in a breath that shuddered ever-so-slightly.

"Thus joining our families together."

As he rose to take Kendera's hand, it hit him, really hit him, like a goddamn train, that he was getting engaged. There was a very obvious hesitation when he actually reached out to take it, and he could feel his parents' glares burning a hole in the back of his head.

He closed his eyes for a second, trying to ignore the ribbon being wound around their hands, and the voices of the two men reading in latin. He realized that he was supposed to recite it. He also realized that the chain from Faye's now-broken necklace was still clenched tightly in his hand, and he could feel it biting into his palm.

His father was looking at him expectantly, so Roman took in a deep breath, "And this my pledge, that-" His mouth felt ridiculously dry, he breathed in again and force the words to come out, "I, Roman Ritter, shall be wed to Kendera Lidwina James" He had to close his eyes again, "Thus joining our families together."

He didn't really feel anything now that it was over. There was only a profound sense of hopelessness that seemed to fill the room. All he wanted to do now was leave, and never, ever come back. That wasn't going to happen.

Kendera simply gazed at the boy for a long moment, feeling as though her entire being was sinking. And then, she was tearing at the ribbon, clawing both of their hands in the process. It wasn't proper etiquette. There were meant to wait until one of the adults unbound them, but Kendera would not.

Managing to free herself, the girl yanked her hand away, then fled just as the tears began to streak her face. She ran across the parlor and darted up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door shut and latching it.

Hands raising to cover her face, the girl leaned against the door and slid to the floor, giving way to the sobs she had so valiantly held back. She had failed. She had failed and now there was no way out. And this after she had promised Roman and Faye that she find some way to avert this.

It's alright, Kendera. We'll figure it out.

Kendera looked up with a start, certain she had heard a voice, but the room was empty. There was only her reflection in the mirror Gerda had mended in her absence.

Roman quickly drew his scratched hand back, and his eyes followed Kendera as she left the room. For the first time, he finally got out of his own head and felt really, really bad for her. He also felt like a huge idiot. After all, he wasn't the only one being pushed into this engagement. And he wasn't the only one who tried to stop it.

He realized that he could have been so much nicer to her. Maybe it would have been easier if they were working closer together on this. But that's who he was. Roman the Distant.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the feeling in his stomach returning at full force. Roman frowned, "I... I'm gonna go outside for a second." He ran to the door, managed to find his way outside, and vomited into a nearby bush.

Then, not wanting to go back inside, and not quite knowing what else to do, he started pounding his fists against the wall and screaming at the top of his lungs, until his parents finally found him.

Roman's father grabbed him by the shoulders, and his arms fell to his sides.

"ROMAN!" He shouted at him, his grip on the boy, tightening, "Calm down, and let's go home."

"No!" He wrenched himself away from his father's grip, taking a couple of steps back, "I am NOT going to calm down. You- BOTH of you-" He pointed forcefully at the two of them, who were looking at him in shock, "Have NO RIGHT to control my life like this!"

He started slowly approaching his parents, "You raised me to be obedient, and not to question you. And I was FINE with that. But you went too far and I WILL NOT STAND BY!" By this time, he was practically shouting in his father's face, who had turned bright red.

"Roman!" His mother shouted, but he was paying no attention to her, all his focus was on the large man in front of him.

"I WON'T LET YOU CONTROL ME ANYMO-!" He was cut off by a deep slicing pain in his cheek, and he doubled over in pain, his hand pressing against the bleeding gash. He looked up to see that his mother was standing over him, fuming with rage.

"You act like a savage in front of the Krauses, you run away, you blame us for your problems, when we try to discipline you, you stop speaking to us, and now this. You should be grateful that you're allowed to be a part of this family in the first place. If your father and I didn't love you the way we did, you would be wandering the streets right now."

She knelt down to his eye level, as he a was still crouching from the pain, "And we do love you, Roman. We simply want to bring out the best in you. You need to accept that, and get on with your life."

The woman stood up, brushing herself off and putting on a smile, "Now, I think it's time we get you home, sweetie. And I don't want you seeing that Faye girl anymore. It's clear she's a bad influence." She laughed a little and turned to Roman's father, who had watched the whole thing entirely expressionless, "I don't know why we didn't think of this before."

With that, Roman's father gave a small grunt of agreement, and grabbed the boy's arm, disappearing into the air, with his mother going back into the house to "smooth things over".