Asarhia Shahrizai
Aristocrat
Lady of House Shahrizai
Wife of Raen Shahrizai
Posts: 48
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Post by Asarhia Shahrizai on Jul 28, 2010 22:54:36 GMT -5
I received Leith's letter mere days after I sent my own. That alone told me of his anger, which I had known would be incited. The intervening days since my wedding had been tortorous; that bitch Leighton flaunted her relationship with my husband at every turn and the only time he would lay with me was while she was present. I sensed that he harbored no true ill will toward me, but he strove to please her, and I saw that as long as she was there, I would always be the interloper, even after I bore him a child. In fact, my greatest fear was that she would somehow take my child from me; I could easily imagine the two of them conspiring to put Pascal and I out on the streets while they raised my child with Raen. I would not let it happen, and I trusted Leith to make sure of it.
I said nothing to my husband and I burnt the letter upon reading it, knowing that if he found out that I was speaking to his Grandfather his rage would be too great for me to overcome. I was sure Leith knew that as well, however, and I trusted him to be discreet. The old man was nothing if not wily, and while I was not as devious as some Shahrizai, nor as cold nor cruel, I did possess one trait: Patience. It was that patience that sustained me now, and that patience that I knew would pay off in the end.
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Post by Raen Shahrizai on Jul 28, 2010 23:00:55 GMT -5
A week or so after my wedding, I received a letter from my Grandfather, inviting Asarhia and I to Kusheth to spend time with the family. I knew damn well that it was less an invitation and more a command - Grandfather obviously wanted to see how the marriage was faring.
Better than I had expected, truth be told. Leighton was handling Asha like a master puppeteer and it was sometimes hard to believe that my wife was even one of our family. My Grandfather was invited, Leighton was more like one of us than most, despite her spun gold hair and tan countenance. It mattered not, however, and I knew that we would have to go in order to appease him and keep him from our doorstep. He would be furious if he knew that Leighton was living here again and "interfering" in my marriage.
I felt my blood stir at the thoughts of her "interference" which was generally sexual and always amazing. The two of us dominating my wife was amazing and beautiful, and for that alone I was grateful to her. She could have made conceiving a child with Asha difficult and wrought with pain, but instead it was amusing and more than pleasant. One more thing to love about her.
Still, she would be angry about this trip to Kusheth without her, that I knew, and I sighed, wondering how I was going to tell her.
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Leighton Shahrizai
Aristocrat
Lady of House Shahrizai *Voted Member of Best Overall Thread 2010*
Born of Fire
Posts: 183
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Post by Leighton Shahrizai on Jul 28, 2010 23:26:18 GMT -5
Life wasn't perfect - oh, no. It was far from it actually; it was cruel... but like the rest of my life, I'd learned to take the cruelness given me and shape it into something that pleases me, and in this particular case that meant Asha bending to my will. She hated it, hated me, ever last touch I gave her, every last word, caress... Truth be, I think had she not been so scared of what might happen to her and Pascal, she might have stood up to me, but she was caught and she knew it. She was ours, Raen and I's, to manipulate as we wished, a little doll to play with and toss aside when we were bored of her. I'd never do anything to harm the babe; quite the opposite in fact, and I'd found myself playing with him the few times I'd seen him and she wasn't around, giving him little kisses and tickles, but I made the visits short so I wouldn't be caught at it. No, much better that she didn't know of it, that she thought I held no regard at all for her darling child; it kept her malleable, moldable, with no foothold of her own to which to stand upon.
Raen handled it beautifully, even if he did seem apprehensive at times of my reactions. Those times were coming less and less though as he came to trust my reactions to the situation, and I still enjoyed his arms every morning. His kisses, his body.. the way he looked at me. Not sexually, but lovingly, with adoration in his eyes that I knew reflected in my own. Gods almighty, I loved him so very much that it hurt at times. More than anything I'd been terrified I'd lose him, even a little, but if anything we were closer now than we had been before.
Smiling softly to myself, I crossed through the open doorway of the sitting room to which Raen was standing, a letter forgotten in his hand and irritation painted across his face. "Words from home?" I asked as I reached him; what else could it be? Brushing a kiss across the corner of his mouth, I nimbly plucked the letter out of his hand and began reading it, skimming across the short missive quickly.
What.
"He wants you and Ashes to travel to Kusheth? An invitation?" I sneered, scorning it before crumpling it and throwing it across the room, not caring where it landed. Rage bubbled through me at the thought of them being alone together, in the carriage, in the bedroom at Grandfathers, waking together.. Just what she wanted, the little wench. My eyes narrowed as I crossed my arms beneath my breasts, hating him so much that it rivaled the love I felt for Raen. "He's going to pay for this one day," I hissed softly. "One day, he'll learn just who he is manipulating."
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Post by Raen Shahrizai on Jul 28, 2010 23:56:45 GMT -5
Three days later, we were ready to leave. Leighton was furious, as I had known she was, and I did my best to soothe her, keeping Asha at bay for these days, not letting her into our bed or even in Lei's sight, when possible. I hated Grandfather for this, and I rued the day I had agreed to the marriage, not having foreseen this level of meddling.
I was caught for it now, though, and a week or two in Kusheth would not be all that bad, would it? Asha, for her part, melted into the background better than a servant, and a few times I even forgot she existed. A nice feeling, waking up with Lei and forgetting about the wife who stood between us, no matter that we tried to pretend otherwise. I had made a mess of things, truly, and all because I could not bear the thought of Lei being wed to another. I was selfish, at heart. Her pain cleaved my heart, but not as much as seeing her wed to another man would have, that I knew, though I never spoke of it.
I kept those thoughts distant on the day that I packed Asha and Pascal into a carriage, and then held Lei in the entryway to our home. "I'm so sorry we have to go..." I murmured into her sunkissed hair, inhaling her scent to carry with me over the long days to come. "I love you... Gods, so much, I cannot wait to be back with you again." I held her tightly, for longer than perhaps I should have, but for some reason I could not bear to let her go.
Finally, I forced myself to move, kissing her lips gently before turning away and heading for the carriage, not looking back because I knew if I had to see her standing there, alone, waiting for me, I would not be able to leave.
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