"Time to wake up, my lady." The familiar voice of Johnathan roused Yang and she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Morning trickled into the room between the curtains of the inn and she looked around. She'd been traveling for a couple of months now, heading to the place that would seal her fate. She would be a wife. That would be the end of it. Nothing would save her from being a wife. She knew that much. Her mother tried to comfort her, but nothing she said could comfort her. She would be married off to a man she didn't even know but what could she do about it? Her voice didn't matter... Don't speak unless spoken to. She knew the rules. Women belonged to men and that was the end of it.
She got dressed and headed down to the dining hall in the small inn, Johnathan speaking for her to get breakfast. She ate silently, keeping her gaze down from the male innkeeper and staff. She knew better. Looking at men only brought punishment with it. A woman was not to look a man in the eyes. She was to be silent and seen, not heard.
After that, she packed into the carriage and slumped against the seats, simply waiting. She knew the wedding wouldn't be immediately, it'd be a few months out, but even so... She knew better. The 'get to know him' period would probably just be him using her for his own pleasure. That was what her mother had said the period with her father had been like. She'd come from abroad, but she had quickly learned that women in z were not treated well. She wasn't sure what this new land would be like, but she knew to temper her expectations. Johnathan continued to speak for her simply because she knew better than to speak to a man. But once she arrived at this duke's castle, her fiance would take over speaking for her. That was what she knew would be true. He would take over being her guardian. There was nothing that would stop that…
The majority of the day was relatively quiet with her simply staring out the window of the carriage, watching the countryside slowly wind and turn from trees into the manicured city that surrounded the castle. They passed through through sets of defensive walls. As the city had grown, new walls had been built to help protect the citizens. She could see new walls being constructed as they approached the city. This was about as large as the city she'd known... How was a dukedom on par with the royal capitol of Noci? It didn't make much sense. But who was she to question anything? She was the fourth princess; politics weren't a woman's place. She was expected to sit by and watch as her husband handled all of the politics. She was supposed to be a pretty face. Nothing more, nothing less. A way for him to have children and continue his family line.
The carriage eventually came to a stop and she got out. accepting Johnathan's hand to step down. She lowered her head and followed him, being led by the hand to the main foyer. She couldn't see much with how her head was inclined, but it did appear to be opulent and well maintained. She was led to a smaller side room where a man and woman sat behind a table with an obviously angry teenager off the side. Beside him stood a girl clad in...basically nothing. Yang felt her cheeks heat up but she said nothing. How could anybody wear something so inappropriate? She didn't understand. But, again, it wasn't her space to speak.
"Welcome, Yang. I wasn't expecting your arrival today, but we aren't displeased with it." The man's rumbling voice shook the room. He sounded pleasant and kind, but something in that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Men were to not be trusted... Even her future husband wasn't someone she could trust. She knew he'd treat her like she didn't mean anything... She'd probably be popping kids out left and right like her own mother had. She had so many siblings. Basically as soon as her parents had met, her father had started trying to conceive children with her. By time she got married to this Sun guy, she'd probably already be several months pregnant with their first child... She knew what to expect. Her mother had filled her in on it before she'd left.
A conversation then ensued between Johnathan and the man--likely the duke--while the teenager holding onto the basically unclad girl stood nearby. He looked angry. The worst part is that was probably her husband... Just how badly would he treat her if he looked this angry already? But she knew her fate. Whatever her husband wanted, her husband got. She heard whispering from the girl to the guy and his blonde monkey tail curled a bit, his expression turning pensive. What was going on between them? She didn't really understand. Were they together? But she was supposed to marry him... Why would he be holding onto a girl their age when he was already betrothed to her? But these were questions she couldn't ask... No, she could never ask anything of her future husband…
Eventually, things wound down and the duke nodded. "We'll have some of our servants move her things to her room. Until then... Sun, take her on a tour of the castle." Yang's heart froze in her chest at that. She wasn't supposed to be left alone with men, yet the duke was telling her to be alone with her future husband? Apparently, he was really keen for grandchildren as soon as possible... She swallowed hard but kept her gaze down. She couldn't quite stop herself from trembling a little though. Well, this was it... The end of her purity and everything else…
Sun walked over, still holding the other girl's hand and then offered his free one to her. "C'mon." His voice was surprisingly gentle and she resisted the urge to look up at him. Her training and conditioning were absolute. She wasn't supposed to do anything like that. She was to be subservient to her husband and that was it. She had no voice. She didn't matter. She was just a receptacle for her future husband to pour his seed into and make children with. That was her only reason for existing and she knew it.
She nodded a little and put her hand in his. They left the duke's office and she heard him let out a sigh after they were a decent way's away from it. "What a mess. I knew Noci was bad, but I didn't expect it to be this bad? Your name's Yang, right?" She gave a small nod. If she could answer something without speaking, then that was what she'd do. But his tone was gentle and it actually felt...non-threatening unlike the men of Noci. She'd so often had to deal with men that only wanted to hurt her... Then again, it might all be a trick for what she knew. A way to get her to drop her guard and get into her... But who was she to stop him? If he wanted to have his way with her, then he was entitled. They were engaged…
"How about we head down to the stables and talk? I don't like it here." Yang nodded again at the suggestion and followed him down to the stables. He led them to a ladder.
"What's this? It looks like stairs but it's not," the mermaid girl asked.
“It's a ladder, Weiss. It's like movable stairs in a way, but now's not the time." She heard the girl go up the ladder and he moved his hand out to Yang again. "Need a hand? Ever climbed a ladder before?"
"Um." Her voice stuck in her throat. She had no idea what to do. She really hadn't been allowed to interact with guys her age since they'd attempt to tame her... Her purity was her most important possession... To give up to someone she wouldn't have children with would have besmirched her and her family... She still had it, but this... They were isolated and he could easily take advantage of her. Would that girl--Weiss?--help him in the endeavor? She knew some women could love other women though it was punishable in Noci... She'd heard the tales of noble women falling in love with each other then forcibly married off to men within weeks. That was the least of the offenses and punishments that could happen to a woman.
"I'll hold it for you, okay, Yang?" Sun's voice sounded...really warm and kind unlike the men of Noci. She swallowed again and saw him hold the ladder in her periphery. She set one foot on the ladder and started climbing. She had to keep her gaze up so she didn't slip and found Weiss sitting on a hay bale, rocking back and forth a little bit.
"This stuff sure is itchy, isn't it?" Weiss commented as Yang sat down on one across from her. "I didn't know that things up here on land could be so itchy and poky. But we are away from other people aside from the stablehands..." That did make Yang freeze a little. She was acknowledging they were away from people... What did that mean? Had Sun really planned on using this girl to help him take her out...? She felt tears start to well in her eyes but she said nothing.
She heard him grunt a moment later and saw him pulling himself up the ladder. He sat next to Weiss and wrapped an arm around her. "Sorry about dragging you out here, Yang, but I don't want to be where prying ears could hear. This is Weiss, my best friend. As you can probably tell from how she's dressed, she's a mermaid. She just really came up on land for the first time yesterday. She's helping me try to get my parents off my back so they don't marry me off to you." She frowned. Wait. He didn't want to get married to her? From what her mother had said, all men wanted to marry as soon as possible so that way they could have sex. This...made no sense in accordance to what her mother had said.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Weiss nodded. "But... You seem...dispirited at absolute best. What's happened to you?" Did this girl have no filter? She seemed awfully forward and a little nosy. Then again, she had commented...something while the duke had been talking to them. She had heard it. She wasn't sure what it was, but she had definitely heard Weiss talk to Sun about something even if he hadn't responded.
But she frowned. She really wasn't supposed to speak to other people period. She was supposed to go through Johnathan... What was she supposed to do here? They were clearly trying to have a conversation with her, but... Were things really so different here? Sun was letting Weiss speak. She had made offhanded comments before he'd even gotten up here. Was she really allowed to speak freely? That felt...so incredibly wrong to her. What was she supposed to do in this situation? She really had no idea. So much was on the line... If she spoke wrong, then she would definitely bring negative consequences to Noci... She was just supposed to be quiet and accept whatever her husband told her to do, no ifs, ands, or buts about it...
What should she do? She knew what was expected of her and how she was supposed to act at home. But was she allowed to act differently here? She had no idea. She felt panic rise in her chest and she looked down entirely. She had no idea what to do. She was trying, but breaking her conditioning... She didn't want to upset anybody. If her parents found out about this, they would be beyond upset. But Sun was trying to have a conversation with her directly... She just... It was all too much. Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She knew that the cultures were different, but she hadn't expected this... "I-I'm only supposed to go through Johnathan... He's supposed to speak for me..." Her voice was quiet, her lips trembling.
"You don't have to stick to the rules and regulations of Noci. I know they're different from what's accepted here, but you live here now, not Noci. I don't want you to have to abide by being treated like absolute garbage. I know a bit about Noci and that it doesn't treat women well but that's about all I know." Sun's tone was gentle. What he said was an understatement... She really wasn't meant to be seen or heard. She was mostly meant to be a pretty bauble and nothing else. "If you want to talk here, you can. If not... Well. That's on you. Do you want to talk to me or...? Sorry. I've been kinda jumping ahead of things before asking the past couple days." He sighed.
If she wanted to talk, she could? That felt...so incredibly foreign. She was really only supposed to talk to Johnathan first, then he'd speak for her. She wasn't supposed to speak aloud for herself. All of this felt so very wrong to her. Sun was encouraging her to break literally every rule that had been built into her. But...she'd spoken already. She'd already broken the rules and nothing terrible had happened. Maybe she could talk to him? "I-I guess I can try." Her voice remained quiet though. She wasn't supposed to speak loudly at all. But what would happen when Johnathan found out that she had spoke on her own behalf? Then again, the duke would be responsible for her now... Would he enforce Noci's culture on her or allow her to act as a member of his own court? She really wasn't sure…
"And you can look up too. Ain't nothin' wrong with lookin' at me." She could practically hear the grin in his voice and she trembled a bit. She wasn't supposed to look at men with how superior they were to women. That broke basically every single precept she knew of social hierarchy. She squeezed her hands in her lap, unable to lift her head beyond looking at his knees and feet. She just... She couldn't. She shook her head. "All right, whenever you get comfortable with it." That...was a lot less demanding than she thought. Men were usually incredibly demanding of her, wanting more and more. Yet here he was, telling her to do something when she was comfortable. What sort of weird, upside down world was this?
"Okay." She wasn't sure what more to say. She wasn't used to holding conversations at all really.
"So...what happened to you?" She saw his tail curl a little bit from her peripheral vision.
"I...don't really understand what you're asking." What happened to her? She'd lived her life in Noci. What else was there to what had happened? Women weren't as important as the men around her. It was that simple. She didn't know what else to say. The question he was asking was like why water was wet. She had been through what she had simply because she lived in the nation she did. It...almost felt stupid to her. But she couldn't tell him that, lest she receive some sort of punishment. He was still her future husband after all. The duke was currently responsible for him, but within a couple months, Sun would be responsible. He could still technically do whatever he wanted to her right now.
"Why're you so...like this? I've never met anybody like this before." That made her blink. He hadn't met a woman like this before? That made no sense. Weren't women supposed to be quiet and keep their heads down at all times? Then again, Weiss didn't act like that at all. She could see Weiss wiggling a little bit and picking at the straw. That was completely unladylike in her view of things.
"Isn't...this how women are supposed to be?" Quiet, subservient, demure... That was all she knew for women.
"Weiss, you wanna tell her?"
"Nope, women aren't supposed to be like that at all... The dutchess is kind of stupid and mean, but I've never met a woman who acts like you're describing, well, ever. I've not met many land dwelling women yet, but all of the ladies underwater are a bit more dominant over men if anything. Not so much that they're second-class citizens, but we definitely do hold more power to some degree. My mother is the leader of our band of allied city-states. Nobody would dare treat her terribly." She paused. "Well, my sire did, but that's beside the point. If you wanna talk, you can talk. Nobody's gonna stop you if it's just the three of us." Weird... Women dominant over men? That sounded like some sort of fantasy land. She didn't understand how that was at all possible…
"Why are you so wiggly?" That was bothering her. People were meant to sit still and not wiggle like that. She'd definitely had that pounded out of her as a kid. She could remember being reprimanded as some of her youngest memories. If she wiggled too much, she would get a corrective touch from her mother and if it went overboard, she would get a switch tap or even smack. That had definitely been removed from her at a very, very young age.
“Oh this… Whatever this stuff is is poking into my skin. It’s uncomfortable and itchy.” She patted the bale of hay they were sitting on. She supposed that made sense to some degree. Yang had her hand on the hay and it was definitely a bit poky and itchy. She could see how that would make somebody with few clothes on feel. “I’m not really used to any of this yet. It’s weird. I’m used to feeling the silky smoothness of water all around me. I’ve…still not really grasped how objects work above water yet.” Weiss flushed a little bit. “How things work down there are very different from up here.”
Yang nodded again. She could imagine it would be so. She’d never been around the coast before, but she’d read about mermaids in books. They wore just enough clothes to be presentable to humans, even the males. It was strange and nobody quite understand it. Mermaids tended to be pretty reclusive, so seeing one up on land like this was definitely something else… To think that Sun’s best friend was one. She couldn’t imagine what it was like knowing a mermaid so long that one agreed to be a fake engagement to a partner that way. That really did make no sense to her… She didn’t quite understand what they were getting at in the first place.
“My clothes haven’t really been made yet… I have a nightgown but that’s it… Until I can get my clothes, I have to wear my mermaid garb.” Weiss frowned at that. Yeah, it was…very, very immodest. Yang wanted to look away, though she already had her head inclined down quite a bit. Looking up at them and making eye contact felt wrong. She’d looked up a few times, but to make prolonged eye contact… That was supposed to be the realm of men alone. To look a man in the eyes was to challenge his authority and to be disobedient. She didn’t want to be disobedient. She knew exactly what that would mean at least in Noci… It didn’t seem like it’d be the case here. Sun…really seemed nice. She’d never met a man that tried to treat her with respect and kindness before.
"I see..." That did make some sense, she supposed. Someone coming up on land for the first time wouldn't have any land-based clothes. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling of embarrassment on seeing Weiss so unclad... In Noic, women were covered neck to wrist to toe. The only skin that showed was their faces and hands and, even then, some women wore gloves to cover their hands. So in that regard, even that felt revealing to Yang... She'd met plenty of women who refused to take their gloves off.
"Anyway, is there anything you'd like to do today, Yang?" Sun asked.
She shook her head. "I'd just like to rest if that's fine..." Asking anything of a man... She swallowed hard, her hands shaking a little bit. She tensed, prepared for a strike or yell.
"Oh, okay. That's understandable then. I have heard travel is tiring." He shrugged and she saw his tail curl a little. It...It was that easy? It felt so wrong. He shouldn't have given her up that easily. But that was what it came down to. He really was just going to let her get away with that. She could hardly believe it... "How about I show you to your room? Well. We'll have to ask the staff where it is. Probably somewhere in the family wing, but I dunno aside from that." She nodded a bit and rose, Weiss following her. They all headed down the ladder and went back to the castle where Yang was shown to her room. Sun and Weiss left after that, leaving Yang alone in the massive room. It was so massive compared to her room back home. She closed her eyes and drifted off into an uneasy doze, ears pricked around her for any sign of Sun coming to go after her.
