The van Sietter Bride Pt. 02 of 03

Since it was to be a modest wedding, Arkyll had been able to get away with saying he would hold a splendid dinner for his friends on his return instead of inviting them to come to Thiel with him. He could easily make this a lads' and lasses' night and leave Sevianne out of it so he did not have to see the pity in the wise beautiful eyes of Captainofthepeace Daria Inien or the forbearance of his chums in the peace corps because politics meant he was obliged to take the hand of a silly bird-brain.

His father had of course insisted on a privy chat with him about it all. The old man had said it straight that if Arkyll was not happy with the match he would break the betrothal and take the glove off van Thiel himself and that he thought this would be perfectly sufficient to get Sevianne well on her way at court. But to his father Arkyll could admit that he was content to take Sevianne for his Lady wife. He could explain to a man with a sophisticated appreciation of sex who had enjoyed relationships with all manner of people besides his own elegant and intelligent Lady wife, some only of rough good humour and affectionate friendliness, that although he had always imagined he would take someone to his bride who would be like the other members of his family, superior to him in intelligence and throwing schemes and ideas at his head to make him sit up and run in excited circles, when he saw a soppy biscuit like Sevianne so incompetent at getting herself out of a mess she had not got herself into and when her brown eyes lifted to him with a gratitude so warm that he knew she worshipped him more than she did the Angels, he changed his mind. His work for the peace corps was absorbingly interesting, it was ethically crucial and it was exhausting. Sometimes at the end of a long day, he did not want to go back to his clever family with their laughing arguments and fascinating accounts of painting or humanism or whether the peace corps ought to be re-organised in some less authoritarian structure -- a process which would be a great nuisance to himself and his chums if his mother actually tried it out, so he felt obliged to join in the argument even when they argued about whether his opinion was more valuable because of his experience in the peace corps or should be barred because he was involved in their work and so could not but be partial.

Instead of going home he would often go off with Lieutenant Jamies Velor and have several bowls of beer and some cheap food from a roadside stall and they exchanged childish details of sexual activities and sniggered. As van Thiel had said it, sometimes you did not want to be troubled with a lot of stuff about art and politics. And she would be an excellent mother, he could tell. He could always have some side-slip affair. His father delicately made it apparent that there would be no difficulty in paying for an apartment in Sietter Town if Arkyll found Lady el Shosta uncongenial. He knew he was easy-going and he had no objection to keeping the slack behaviours of some silly bitch under a firm hand. Nobody could ever be as much trouble to them as that wild cat his sister. Lady el Shosta was young, she was biddable and she was in an incredulous craven state of trembling happiness to have handsome Arkyll el Maien whom women sighed to read about in the gossip-sheets for her lover. He would have no trouble booting her into doing whatever he wished her to do. It was probably worth it, especially since he could keep a discreet mistress who would know how to pleasure his body once he had the succession secured. Arkyll loved sex but he only liked to have one lover, not to slut it about. He would rather have kept his favours for his wife but if necessary he knew he could keep her on a rein and a mistress on his heartstring.

(Continued in Part 3 -- the wedding night)