Moira set aside her duties for the day, putting on her travel cloak, a himation which she draped over her hair, hiding her unruly half brushed hair and threw one side over her shoulder to keep it from falling off. Leaving the dome keep, the guards didn't usually question her, but today they blocked her path and rejected authorization for her to leave, it confused her because it was nearly tea time, they had no reason to block passage.
"Excuse me? I am allowed to roam the grounds, who permitted you to implement these actions?" Moira said angrily, pointing a finger at the guards chest. The man stammered, his snaggly teeth bearing at her.
"Thorry mi'lady, te Reprethentative told uth ta not let ya' leave te keep alone, I would highly advithe ya' ta lithen ta her." The guard said with an atrocious lisp that made spit soar. Moira knew him as Jerod, he was tall, grey skin with pointed ears with black hair. Jerold's face was thin and his chin was pointy with a straight nose, his lips were thin and cracked with sharp lower and top cuspids that overlaid the opposite jaw which gave him a horrible lisp.
The other guard snorted stupidly at his partner's unique speech, who couldn't be more differently built, as he was shoulder height with Jerod with sandy blond hair, in a spiked braid draped over his shoulder with a matching forked and braided goatee. He had thick brown eyebrows, a face full of pockmarks visible under his beard, with only brilliant blue eyes as his greatest feature.
Looking as if they saw King Rejan, they suddenly straightened, focusing on someone over Moira's shoulder. Turning around, she sees the humorless face of Vyvian striding to her. Moira looked back at the guards and tried to make it through them, but they snapped their focus back at Moira, shoving their shoulders together, she balls up her fists, looking furiously from one to the other.
"Are you serio- UGH! Let me through please, I will not go far at all! Just around the garden! And maybe to the market walk, I wouldn't even go far." she said in a not-so-convincing tone, looking at the two in dismay. When Vyvian approached, Moira had half a mind to order Vyvian away again, but instead took a deep breath and flipped the other side her himation over her shoulder, her face half hidden.
Vyvian smiled at the two guards and cleared her voice before speaking, giving an accusatory glance at them. "She will be with Vyvian, I'm sure The Representative said that would be acceptable?"
Jerod stammered incoherently as the other guard pulled out a small notebook from his inner pant pocket, swiped a few pages and agreed with his partner. "Yeah, right, you are clear to leave with Lady Moira. Sorry 'bout that Moira."
Moira shook her head at the carelessness of the guards, they could have told her she needed to be watched over like an untrustworthy child. And the fact, Olvina, the Representative told the guards she couldn't leave really bothered her. Walking forward with her hands tightly clutching her himation closed, she glanced over her shoulder at Vyvian, met eye contact with her, then looked away swiftly. Vyvian furrowed her brows a bit, then started walking my Moira's side.
"I get the notion, my lady, that you do not want me in your presence." Vyvian said plainly, her footsteps were so quiet on the white concrete. Moira blushed furiously, her heart rose to her throat, she swallowed deeply and coughed at being unable to speak. They walked for a while in silence, there was no grass, no plants, no trees here. Looking up through the glass dome, Moira saw the sun was hidden behind thick slate colored clouds, making the air cool and breezy, the clothes she was chosen to wear were not suitable at all, but she, and all the rest of the Dome dwellers, was accustomed to the mild temperatures of the Domes.
Making their way further down the streets, they hear the sounds of the hustle and bustle of Rotunda Walk, the giant circle with all the important establishments and home of the domes Night Market that takes place every couple weeks or so. Moira has never been allowed to go to the Night Market, King Rejan refused to allow a 'woman of higher standards' to spend money on fake jewelry and foreign clothes, so she never brought anything like that back to the keep, but instead ate food and a lot of it. Shes tried every food stand and food shop on the walk, even the weird frozen pickled jellied blood leeches, giant red leeches that surprisingly don't drink blood, the northern merchants bring in, she never thought they were bad, but Jalla always made sounds of vomiting whenever she bought them.
Looking at Vyvian as they entered the busy Street of Aromatica, she pretended to not knowing where she was going, looking at street signs, reading the shop menus aloud, but every vendor knew Moira personally, and even though it was a warm sight to see them, it was hard to pretend anymore as she walked up to the stand and Aalis, the Dark Elf immigrant, called her by name.
Aalis was the cutest elf Moira had ever met, white as concrete, with matching white hair and black huge eyes. Many call her the albino elf, the white elf or the Light elf of the Dome, but in reality, she was just a humble Dark Elf. Aalis normally sat quietly on her stool as she pointed lazily to the menu on what people wanted with a long stick, but the night Moira and her met, Aalis spoke to her instantly. "It's a dark elf's' nature to seek out high born folk." Aalis told her once and then handed her a fat bowl of strange noodles that seemed to take all the cares off of Moira's shoulders.
Moira sat at the miniature bar Aalis had for her shop and Vyvian stood next to her, watching Aalis closely, unblinkingly. Aalis surveyed Vyvian for a moment and leaned toward Moira, hiding her mouth with her hands.
"Who is 'Leggy'?" Aalis mouthed quite loudly, her eyes darting back and forth from Moira to Vyvian.
"Oh, yeah," she looked back and then to Aalis. "she is my new handmaiden."
Aalis gasped, her face twisted with anger. "You got rid of Jalla?!" she yelled, people looking over at them from other booths and stands.
Shushing her, Moira's face drains of all color as people begin to whisper and gawk. "What? No!, Aalis, I-" Moira looks down, her hands together. "Shes back at the dome. I actually, I mean, we- Jalla and I will be leaving soon."
Turning around and pouring a ladle of soup into a bowl, then shuffling over to the huge steaming pot of the noodles and grabbing some up with her bare hands, the water not burning her one bit, then added the dehydrated bits.
"Ah, I see, so I won't be seeing your face anymore, that's alright." Aalis chuckled, mixing the bowl loudly as Vyvian adjusted her stance to see. "Still sad though, you're my most loyal customer, you know, I made most of my money last season because of you."
Aalis turned back around and saw Moira's face of dread. "Or is it bad you're leaving?"
Moira grasped the bowl from Aalis and took a deep drink of the broth. It was comforting. Then place the bowl on the bar. "I- the Ceremony. It was mine."
Aalis looked at Vyvian again and then back to Moira, nodding her head as if she understood why Vyvian was there. She added in a few sliced boiled venom-kind eggs and sat back down on her stool, and put her feet up on the bar.
"Don't you fret, my friend, judging by your handmaidens clothes, and your face of uneasiness, you will be well taken care of." Aalis said languorously, her hands together, propped on her head. Just as Moira lifted her head to question Aalis's logic, she explains. "Wealthy lords love lavishing their unhappy ladies. Better to be unhappy and covered in riches than unhappy here."
Moira reached over the bar and grabbed a fork and started swirling the noodles around, slurping them quietly, occasionally looking at Vyvian to check if she was still there.
Aalis sighs and leans forward again, looking prudently at Moira. "Hey." she said, tapping her finger on the bar, getting Moira's attention. "It won't be bad. Maybe he'll be a handsome lord."
"Or maybe he'll be an old man." Moira said with her mouth full of noodles. Aalis laughed, a long, lazy laugh, grabbing a bowl and ladling some soup for herself, with no noodles.
"Moira..." Aalis took a sip of the hot soup. "You'll see that age is not a problem when you're crying with a bag of diamonds in your hands." They both laughed. This seemed to cheer Moira up quite a little, as she finished and paid Aalis her due, she started on the street, looking for the dome-shaped funnel cakes that were a dome special.
Hours passed while talking to the vendors, the street merchants yelled out Moira's name offering discounts to wine and clothes and jewels. Of course, Moira didn't buy any of that, but she did see a trinket, a broach of gold and emerald, it dazzled in her eyes, but when she offered the merchant a price they did not let her buy it. Moira put down the broach and shrugged off the merchant, she was used to this type of rudeness. She thought of how she could come back in a month and buy it from him, but she stopped herself from hoping, she was not going to be here in a month. Moira will never see these streets again, smell the morning air as the food was being prepared. She slowed her pace down Rotunda Walk, side by side with Vyvian.
"I don't not want you here, Vyvian, I just- You're so-" Moira stopped and stared into Vyvian's bright red eyes, she didn't want to tell her that she was afraid of leaving, that she was trapped here and she'd rather be trapped somewhere she knows than somewhere unfamiliar.
Vyvian's smile faded, she looked like she already knew what Moira was going to say.
"I'm resentful..." Moira finally answered
Vyvian tilted her head and questioned, "Towards me, my lady?" She placed a hand on her chest in confusion.
"No, I wish I could stay here. I wish I could break away from this marriage!" Moira exclaimed, eyes watery and face red from anger. "I wish I could beg Uncle for another year, another season, another... And it's not your fault Vyv- I know you're not the one doing this to me, but you're a constant reminder that I know nothing of 'Odovitae' and your country and I am so confused." Moira wiped away her face, looking up at Vyvian's contemplative face.
"I see..." She said, not questioning her pronunciation of Odiovitae. "So, you have reservations about your marriage? I can't answer every question you have here, but once we're in Odiovitae..." Vyvian smiled and grasped Moira's hand, patting it gently then letting it go.
"Lady Moira, I will tell you what you want to know once we're on the road." With that, Vyvian led Moira back to the keep, Jalla waiting with her arms crossed at the entrance.