Not only do I hate sea-travel, but I've been relegated to the secondary boat... Sommara/Auron, 10/22, 11am-ish

[Sommara Ashpool]

Not only do I hate sea-travel, but I've been relegated to the secondary boat... Sommara/Auron, 10/22, 11am-ish

As if the trip couldn't have been any worse? At least the damn sailors hadn't tossed her clothes overboard this time. Actually, Sommara had come with everything she owned, including dresses, shoes, jewelry, chests filled with every stitch of her possessions, locked in the hold of their vessel, the Rapture. Apparently, Alrik had seen it fit to not have her ride on the Forsilvran Price, like her sister, who was playing lady-in-waiting to Aurora.

She was on the open deck of the vessel, leaning on the gunwale, feeling a gentle spray of saltwater mist upon her face as the bow of the vessel hit the surface of the water, breaking it in massive splashes against the wind. There had been dolphins escorting their ship yesterday. Today, only a small school of flying fish had shown their fins. Otherwise, nothing had been seen aside from whitecaps on the open water.

Sommara leaned forward, sighing unhappily. This was going to be a terrible trip. Absolutely terrible. And the worst thing was...it was a permanent station for her. Aurelia...Horatia...they would go home eventually. But Sommara? She'd be tormented to wed and stay in Solbra, wed to a man, no—boy, who didn't love her and publically went gallanting about with some whore from another house. And a cousin...at that. A cousin! At least Sommara was main branch.

[Auron Sterlyn]

Auron had, for the most part, avoided Sommara. And with Rhiannon and Aurora both on the other ship, there hadn’t been much for him to do. Oh, the Ciels were aboard the ship, but Auron hardly knew the lower noble house. The Lady, Keri, had Sterlyn blood in her, her mother a cousin of Auron’s.. or something to the effect. He had known at one point, when genealogy was the topic of his lessons, but at the moment, the association seemed unimportant.

He stepped out onto the deck and into the sun. The day was nice enough, but he couldn’t enjoy it. Everything had gone wrong in Vadra. He still couldn’t stop hating that smug man, Andrew Darsling, who thought himself a gentleman and better than the prince. What the hell was his problem? Auron was glad Andrew was not going with them, not around to eye his future wife, to touch her, as Auron knew he wanted to do no matter what his fancy words belied.

He scanned the ship, his eyes following the railing. There was Sommara, his future wife whether they wanted to wed or not, standing at the side, looking out over the ocean as the waves passed beneath the ship. Auron approached her, stepping up to her side. “What is my lady looking at today?” Not the best conversation starter, but Auron knew that if he was going to be stuck with Sommara, he at least needed to give him some attention.

[Sommara Ashpool]

Sommara sighed, hearing Auron's voice behind her. Truth be told, she had absolutely zero desire to deal with Auron today...or yesterday, and probably tomorrow. Anger still welled within her about Rhiannon, and how the girl had managed to snake her way onto the ship, taking advantage of House Sterlyn's hospitality. She'd much rather have sent Rhiannon packing back home to Alska, and stay there forever. But she was not king, and Rhiannon was not on this ship. At least that had given her enough solace.

"Nothing really," Sommara replied, turning about, leaning on the gunwale. The weathered wood might stain the butt of her gown, or maybe a stray splinter would pull a thread? At the moment, Sommara couldn't care less. "There isn't anything to look at, besides water, water and more water," she added, "And there's certainly nobody to socialize with." That much was true. Nobody on this vessel was of any importance to her. Sommara was easy when it came to talking, but nobody here seemed to be in any talking mood, and so she'd been left to her own devices, and by golly if her body didn't breathe without command, she might have suffocated by now, considering she was just bored stupid.

And the fact that Rhiannon was coming to Solbra didn't exactly make her happy either. But there wasn't much else she could really say. The moments with Auron had become awkward, at best. What Sommara wouldn't give to have been able to spend more time with Andrew. Handsome, polite, a true gentleman. Why hadn't she been betrothed to him instead?

"Is Your Grace bored?" Sommara wondered, but truthfully, she didn't care. There wasn't much left to care about, considering Auron had destroyed everything they might have ever had, before it ever even got started.

[Auron Sterlyn]

“We will be in Orqua at the end of the month, and then on to Solbra, to home. I tire of traveling as well, my lady, and tire of looking at only water. Perhaps you could accompany me on a walk about the deck of the ship, and we can pretend we are still in the gardens in Solbra, as we were the day we met.?” Auron offered, attempting something that might please her. He didn’t want a grumpy wife, or an unhappy one, or a bored one. And Sommara always look either bored or giddy stupid.

“And yes, I am bored, thus, I request that my betrothed entertain me and I might do the same for her, so that she has something to look at other than water.” He tried to smile, but there was nothing there. She was giving him nothing, and he’d never given her anything. There marriage had been doomed from the start.. or had he doomed it?

He couldn’t help but think of Andrew again, the way that man had touched her. Had he stolen from Auron what was left of Sommara?

[Sommara Ashpool]

...and we can pretend we are still in the gardens in Solbra, as we were the day we met? Sommara's eyes near about popped out of her head, but she kept her mouth closed, trying to keep herself from saying anything...incriminating. Did he just say what she thought he said? And it didn't get any better either. I am bored...I request that my betrothed entertain me... Sommara had had about enough of Auron's mouth and as if the floodgates had opened, she glared at him. Memories of Rhiannon wrapped in his arms rushed over her, inundating her with hatred like a raging river crushing a worthless village on the valley floor.

"It might be a little easier if I didn't remember that the last time I walked within your vicinity in any garden, you were sucking the lips of some harlot," Sommara hissed, irritated that he'd even think to bring up such a stupid subject. Of course, it didn't help that Sommara had helped herself to a bottle of wine that had been stowed in one of the cupboards of her stateroom.

"And you request that I entertain you?" she added, her eyes aflame as the corner of her mouth twitched. The tops of her cheeks were stained red and loose strands of hair flicked about her head, lost in the wind, and giving Sommara the appearance of some banshee howling in the wind. "Am I some dancing bear with a collar of bells to keep you laughing? As far as I'm concerned, you've been laughing at me until the day you saw me in the arms of Lord Darsling," Sommara added, glaring at Auron, as if daring him to retort with a hateful reply, considering everything she'd just said was true.

[Auron Sterlyn]

Auron was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Sommara to do anything except giggle and laugh and act like the stupid shell of a person she’d always been before. Where had this fire and spunk come from. The scent of wine drifted on the wind, and he realized she’d been drinking, just like the night in the gypsy city so very long ago.

“My lady, we all make mistakes,” Auron counted, but his own cheeks had hinted slightly pink. She’d called him out, reminded him that he had been less than untrue... and he doubted she knew the half of it. And then that name! Lord Darsling!

His grip on her arm tightened. “I would suggest my lady, that if you don’t want to end up wearing bells and dancing with bears that you refrain from mentioning his name in my presence. I didn’t not appreciate the way his hands were attempting to sully your honor, as you have so graciously reminded me that I have already done so to mine. Unless that is what my lady wishes? To have her honor sullied?” He raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that he would recover from his tryst with Rhiannon far easier than she ever would from the same. After all, his own father had been some whore who slept with maids, and everyone knew Victor Castell was less than faithful to Celeste.

[Sommara Ashpool]

Anger and fury welled up within Sommara and how he'd grabbed her arm didn't sit well with her either. Be it the wine, or his words, but she could not control her hand as it went flying, hitting him hard across the cheek, the skin of her palm burned. His hand about her arm gripped her tighter than she'd ever been held before and it only served to enrage Sommara even more. Of course, the split second after her hand connected with Auron's face, he grabbed her wrist with his free hand, his fingers vice-like and seemingly cutting into her soft skin. But Sommara's face was set with hard lines and she wasn't going to yield, not this time.

"And Lord Darsling didn't touch me. We shared a dance, and he rescued me, which is more than anything I could say for you," Sommara spat in return, obviously coming to Lord Darsling's defense. "He was the truest of gentlemen during the night of the Scarlet Feast....something that you should learn," she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she seethed, writhing her wrist and arm to get free of his grips.

[Auron Sterlyn]

The slap across his face stuck and Auron’s hand shot instinctively to grab her wrist . He pulled her arm down, trying to keep the angle such that it would not hurt her. He had no desire to physically harm his wife to be, even as anger coursed through him. He’d rather have punched the hell out of Andrew Darsling, especially the way Sommara seemed to be worshipping the damn man.

“He had to touch you to dance with you. And I watched the way his hands brushed your skin as he escorted you from the hall. I might better learn how to be your gentleman, if you could act like a lady worth courting. You’re either naive and stupid, or you’re drunk and a bitch. Tell me which one you’d like me to fall for?”

[Sommara Ashpool]

"What are you trying to say?" Sommara shot back, still writhing her wrist and arm. "That I should be a little whore like your little Rhiannon so you can fall for me?!"

[Auron Sterlyn]

Auron stared down at her hard. "Rhiannon isn't a whore. Don't you ever say that again."

[Sommara Ashpool]

"Really?" Sommara smartly replied. "The last time I checked, whores had absolutely no regard for betrothals or marriages...Let go of me!" she added, still seething with anger, and the fact that he was coming to that little harlot's defense wasn't making her a happy camper either. "I don't want to talk to you anymore, or even look at you. All I see is somebody who doesn't feel the need to abide by the same standards he holds everybody else to."

[Auron Sterlyn]

“A whore gets paid for sex.” Auron barked back. “Nothing more. Nothing less. Mind your tongue, Sommara. Your words are unfit for the lady you claim to be.” He let go of her wrist and turned to face the ocean. “Then go. I don’t wish to look at you anymore than I have to either. We will wed, and bed and then you can keep your attitude while you parade around the palace bitter and unhappy.”

[Keri Ciel]

Keri had seen pretty much the whole interaction between the two of them....and it was sad to say the least. She felt a pull towards Auron, considering her mother was a Sterlyn and she knew he'd need a bit of motherly guidance since he no longer had a mother to turn to. She slowly started making her way towards the arguing couple.

“I never said I was going to be bitter and unhappy.” The words, uttered by Sommara Ashpool, were her last before she stalked off, obviously angry and full of fury. Keri hadn't heard the majority of the conversation as the voices had been lost on the wind, and she'd only managed to witness that Sommara had somehow managed to slap Auron.

“Your grace,” Keri greeted, stepping up to the railing beside him, her hands falling lightly on the salted and worn wood, soft beneath her fingertips. “A beautiful day, isn't it?” she softly inquired, glancing over at the prince. My my, he had such a long way to go when it came to girls and Keri fought hard not to just shake her head.

Instead, Keri stood next to him, the wind whipping loose strands of auburn hair that had managed to break free of the leather thong tying the rest of the mane back. Her dress, powdered baby blue, flapped in the wind as well, the skirts flickering behind her legs and the ends of the sleeves tickling her elbows.

[Auron Sterlyn]

Auron watched Sommara leave and cursed his brother for every thinking she’d make a good wife. Clearly, being attractive did not mean one was attractive. Sommara had no brains and a bad attitude. But then, Auron had been smart enough to realize she was from House Ashpool and look at what a disaster that place turned out to be? The Province lord dying on a hunt, and the next one’s wedding a massacre? Clearly, the Ashpools were not Sterlyn material.

Another voice caught his attention. “Lady Ciel,” Auron greeted his cousin and lady of House Ciel. “It was a beautiful day. About ten minutes ago.”

[Keri Ciel]

"Hmmm." It wasn't vocalized in any soft of mocking tone, just as she knew the struggles Auron was trudging through, and failing miserably. It'd be hard not to bring up the blonde Ashpool girl in the conversation, and Keri knew Auron wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it considering his cheek was starting to redden, so Keri tried to keep her words neutral, steering them to safer waters.

"How are your sisters, the lady princesses?" she wondered, remembering Celeste was just a few years younger than herself. By the gods, there was almost nothing she could talk about without Sommara surfacing. So you're getting married I hear? or Your brother's wedding is coming up and we'll have a new queen...after you get married... or having a double ceremony with Princess Aurora? Keri definitely didn't want to be the one to bring up the blonde, but wasn't it the whole reason she'd even approached?

[Auron Sterlyn]

She was trying for small talk, which Auron wasn’t in the mood for. He doubted she’d come over just to wish him a happy day. Anyone on deck would have seen the altercation he’d just had with Sommara, heard the words, maybe watched the slap... But then, she was trying to be polite.

He turned to look at Keri, and he could see the Sterlyn features in her face. Beautiful, really, except that her hair was Campbell brown instead of Sterlyn blonde. “I believe they are fine, Lady Ciel, but they are not on this ship, so I cannot know for sure.” He pursed his lips, thinking and then decided to open the door. “I don’t think you came over here to ask about my sisters. So go ahead. Ask about her.”