An Arranged Marriage (Santiago)

Santiago’s friends came up in small groups throughout the meal, clapping him on the back and offering awkward congratulations to them both. Ruby barely managed to be civil, feeling too emotional and on edge to manage it. She missed her own friends more and more with every one of Santiago’s that approached them. She hoped none of them got badly hurt, or locked up by the peacekeepers and wondered how long it would be before she could sneak off to check on them. The way Santiago had been talking about the wine, made her sure he was going to try and control her behaviour just as her parents always had, so she would have to sneak around behind his back. Still, it would be easier to do with just him, especially as he didn’t know who they were or her secret ways of getting out to see them. She thought about the wedding night. Her mother had urged her repeatedly to consummate things as soon as possible, so that he might be tricked into thinking the baby was his. She felt miserable though at the thought of starting out her marriage on such a huge lie. Despite all of her sulks and bad behaviour she kind of liked this stranger she was married to. He seemed decent, and he was very nice to look at.

She made up her mind to go through with it all and be with him tonight. She rested her hand on his thigh, hidden by the tablecloth, and squeezed it gently, giving him a soft smile. “Sorry about before. I’m just really on edge with all this wedding stuff.”
He dropped his own hand down to cover hers, giving it a gentle rub, “Yeah, me too. I have a tiny bit of a hangover. I know this wasn’t what either of us pictured for our wedding. Let’s make the most of it, okay?”
She looked at him desirously, “Yeah, let’s make the most of the whole night. I’m up for it, if you are.” Her hand strayed a little higher.
He tilted his head at her and grinned, “Well yes, Mrs Malloy. I think I am.”

She took that to mean he was planning on locking himself away from her for several weeks at a time and not allowing her to even speak to him. She didn’t want to show him how much that hurt though, so she didn’t yell or scream. It was new for her in some ways, this whole ‘holding things inside’ sort of response. She rolled her shoulders dismissively, “I’ll just have friends over and stay out of your way.”
“That sounds good...unless it’s those friends that tried to come to the wedding. They looked…” he considered and then finished honestly, “Like they might steal our stuff,”
She turned to face him, her hands on her hips, “How dare you say that?! You don’t know them!”
“Why weren’t they invited?” he asked pointedly.
She crossed her arms, aware of how close the collective family had moved while they were standing still. The rest of the walk the family had kept back a bit to give the new couple a little space to get to know one another. Ruby glanced at her father, someone who knew her body language well and could sense she was about to make a huge scene. He was glared at her and making furtive gestures instructing her to cut it out. She gritted her teeth. Just a few hours and she would be alone with Santiago, and able to speak freely if she wished. She schooled herself to stay calm while all these people were still watching her, and another little voice in her head that sounded like her mother, told her to consummate the marriage before having any huge fights with him too.
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow, like we agreed.”
He rolled his shoulders, but it had been his idea to wait to talk, so he nodded and held his arm out again, “Let’s go home then.”
Ruby took his arm, and after a few steps even gave it an affectionate pat. She traced her manicured nail up and down his arm a few times and then tucked her arm in against his.

Ruby squealed very loudly when she saw the house and jumped up and down, despite her sore feet, making her wings bounce violently and accidentally hit Santiago in the leg.
He laughed at her enthusiasm and reached for her, scooping her up in his arms. He grinned over his shoulder at the assembled family, “I think we can take it from here. Please don’t take offense if we don’t invite you in tonight.” Ruby didn’t weigh much and he carried her, giggling excitedly, easily up the steps to the front door, winking at the servant who unlocked and opened it for them. The servant worked for Ruby’s father and was one of several that were going to be coming with Ruby to keep the house and cook. For one thing, Ruby was still having to go to school and couldn’t well be expected to maintain a house as well.
Santiago strode emphatically over the threshold and into the entry hall. It was nowhere near as grand as the one at Ruby’s parent’s house, but it was still nice. Not decorated yet, and the whole house was furnished very spartanly. Santiago would see to that though. He lowered Ruby to her feet, “You might want to take your wings off so you can get through the doors. I scraped them on the way in here.”


She turned around so that he could unlace them from her dress, hopping from one foot to the other with impatience, “Let’s explore!” She had intended to start seducing him as soon as they entered the house, but that was all forgotten in her excitement.
He closed the front door behind them and examined the back of her dress for a moment before undoing the wing fastenings with his long, dexterous fingers. He took a moment to hang the wings on a hat rack next to the front door, when Ruby would have probably dropped them on the floor if it weren’t for his consideration, and turned back to her, “Lets do it.”
She slid her shoes off, dumping them where they fell and took his hand, tugging him into the other rooms. As they looked around at a frantic pace, every now and then Ruby would declare ownership of various items and locations, “Bags this chair.”
Santiago grinned at her, in a good humour, allowing everything she claimed. He hadn’t really had a chance to properly explore the house before, but he had to hand it to his parents-in-law. It was a very nice house. They clearly cared a lot for their daughter, for all that they wanted her married off and out of their house.

When they reached the door of his studio he stepped in front of it smoothly, grinning down at Ruby, “I bags this room.”
She laughed, “Of course! May I see it though, please?”
He considered seriously, “Alright, but don’t come in without asking, okay? And don’t...touch my stuff.”
She rolled her eyes, “Are you for real? What room do I get that you can’t come in without asking and only has my stuff?”
“Pick one,” he answered carelessly. “This one is mine.” He opened the door with a key that he pulled out from his shirt. It was small and silver and hung on a new silver chain. With a small flourish he opened the door and gestured for her to enter.

She stepped in, genuinely being careful that she didn’t bump into anything, and kept her long dress held up so she wouldn’t catch it on anything.

The room was spacious, with long windows that would let in light in the day, but didn’t face east or west to avoid too much direct, intense light. There were empty shelves against a wall, a wooden table and stool, and boxes that were practically overflowing with painting supplies. And canvases, in a stack against another wall, in various stages of completion.

“Are you good at painting?” Ruby asked, admiring visually all the equipment, so different from the rest of the house which was still mostly bare and empty.
“I’ve been told so. I’ve sold a few paintings.” He turned to her and said earnestly, “I’d like to paint you. In that dress, with the wings and everything, if you don’t mind.”
“Now?” she sounded surprised more than anything.
He laughed, “No. Not now. You might need to put the dress on another day so you can pose for me. Or I can try to do it from memory, but I’d prefer to have you here.” He grinned down at her, “This room will look a LOT better when I unpack my stuff. Come on, shall we look around more? I didn’t really even look upstairs. The servants brought my things, I just didn’t trust them with my art stuff.


She clapped excitedly and reached for his hand again, “Yes, come on slow poke!” As she hurried towards the stairs she added, “I’d love to pose for you in my dress. Maybe later, NOT in my dress too?” She paused in her hurrying footsteps to wink at him, and then got distracted by an attractive stained glass window feature that she liked.

The house was lovely, much nicer than she expected. It felt new and clean too, which she liked after the stuffy old fashioned confines of her parent’s house. It didn’t feel like a prison which was both how she had expected her new house to be after being designed by her father, and how she felt about her parent’s house.

She glanced sideways, furtively admiring her new husband. He was much nicer than she had thought too, very like the house, he was new, exciting, and not old fashioned and boring like her parents. She hoped very much he wouldn’t try to restrict her too much. She hadn’t liked what he had said about her friends being thieves and implying they would not be welcome in their home. They were her friends, and she would just have to make that really clear to him. If he was going to spend a lot of time, weeks perhaps, locked in his studio she would go totally insane on her own in this huge empty house. The thought made her shiver and for the first time she appreciated being allowed to bring some of her parent’s servants to work here. At least there would be someone to talk to now and then, even if servants were not usually much fun. The main concern she had about the servants was that they would report to her father on what she was up to. She wondered if he would care any more what she did, or if he would leave it up to Santiago to manage all that now that they were married. Her parents had an old fashioned sort of marriage, but still her mother had a fair bit of power in their relationship. Ruby was determined to have even more, and the best way she knew of controlling men, and making them do what you want, was to flirt with them, a LOT.

They arrived in the master bedroom, one of the last rooms on their tour, and she grinned at him. Might as well get this flirting thing underway sooner rather than later.