Prompt Ramblings - 3. Prompt 218 - The Arrival

My valet, Garmin, reached down and arranged my bare organ to slide safely unto my snug breeches. Red velvet and fitting like a second skin, they rode along my thighs while caressing and separating my backside. With a gentle tug of the fabric, he released me; my bulge looked unusually heavy within the tailored garment. He quickly lifted the sheer shirt hanging from the wardrobe and I stretched my arms outwards to ease my dressing.

“Isn't it exciting, Sir Nathan? Traveling to another land to be the consort of a future king?” Garmin spoke quickly and excitedly. His normal eloquence had come undone over the past few days as the time grew near.

“No, Garmin. It's not. I've never even met the man. I don't see what's so damned exciting,” I whispered.

Garmin paused while sliding the silk sleeve along my arms. “But he's a Lord! How can you not be excited?”

I sighed. Garmin simply couldn't understand. He was my most trusted servant, but his family was originally penniless before he was purchased into my family's service. For him, it had been an upgrading of a dismal life. I did not see my own betrothal in the same light.

“I was promised to him before I was even born, Garmin. It makes me feel like a common prostitute.”

“You're nothing of the sort, Sir.”

I turned my head to catch his full attention. “You're dressing me so that my body might arouse him. Everyone wants to be sure he doesn't reject me. How do you expect me to feel?”

After an awkward pause, Garmin continued to dress me in silence. When I caught a glimpse of his face, it wore a worried brow and he avoided my eyes. My arrangement meant a new locale for him as well; he was my private attendant after all. The marriage and relocation would serve to benefit him, so I could see how torn he was over my plight. If it was a plight after all.

Lord Rother Marsh Delaga III was only hours away from arriving. The Abbey was alive with servants scrambling to complete the last minute details of the lavish dinner event that was planned in his honor. Planning had begun months ago and had slowly intensified the closer we came to my future marriage.

Our joining would combine our families in very beneficial ways. The financial difficulties my father was secretly facing would be all but erased by the dowry. At least moving to a new country would remove me from the sight of his disapproving eyes. I'd never have to listen to his subtle asides about never having grandchildren again.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all. That's what I would keep telling myself as my stomach twisted itself into a nauseous mess. If I managed to survive this dinner without embarrassing myself, I stood a small chance of happiness.

Very small.

“Perhaps I'm worried about nothing at all,” I said. Garmin looked up at me as he laced up my black leather boot, a soft smile radiating from him.

“That's the spirit, Sir Nathan. You just wait and see.”

* * * *

My family stood in the foyer with all the servants standing at attention. Father kept a stoic grace as we waited for my intended to exit his vehicle and enter the Abbey. Through the stained glass of the front doors I could see the shadows of a small entourage. The butler reached and opened the double doors before they could reach the entrance. The doors swung wide as he was announced. There was no doubt who he was.

He was slight of build and dressed in an elaborately decorated silk shirt. Elegant black pants were topped with an ornate belt encrusted with jewels. A matching jacket dragged the floor behind him with thick striped fur lining the collar. Multiple golden rings lined his brow and ears sparkling in the glow of the chandelier. Elegant lips were pursed above a manicured thin beard and his hair swept back artfully, a blinding white streak ran through the dark auburn tresses. A smoldering smirk curled the edge of his mouth as his eyes surveyed my body. Posed front and center in the room, he obviously knew who he was here to claim.

The butler bowed and the rest of the servants supplicated themselves. My father introduced himself and offered his hospitality. The practiced pageantry that began was lost on me. With my sequestered upbringing, I felt an unfamiliar rush as I stood in the hall on display for my future husband.

I suppressed a soft gasp as my chest swelled in arousal, showing me the difficulty of my new situation. My heartbeat fluttered. Not for the haughty, overdressed peacock that I was about to be passed off to; he was of no interest. My attention was captured by the hulking bodyguard with tattooed patterns covering the left side of his face standing behind Lord Rother.

The bodyguard who refused to stop his heated expression as he stared into my eyes.