Hello, My Darling Wife

Novella had sat stiff, at first, but the longer she was seated on Kaczor's lap, the more relaxed she became. And as Kaczor described the fact she was ensuring Ella had her own bank account, her own money... well, the best word for this was gay panic. Kaczor wanted the more traditional role of groom in the marriage, they would spend her money and not Ella's... Ella hadn't considered whether she had any money to her name, until this moment. She probably didn't.

Except Kaczor said she would. And she had been paid for her time with the military... but she was pretty sure her father had taken that. Nevertheless, wine soon arrived and a new topic chosen.

[q]Oh...[q] She nodded, attentively as Kaczor described her promiscuous lifestyle in her young years, and she chuckled quietly as the other woman described men as brutes. She'd seen many brutes in the military, had avoided many encounters. Timid and shy, she'd stuck close to the higher-ups, who ensured she'd stayed quite safe.

[q]Okay.[q] She nodded again, in understanding. And Kac said she wasn't a kind woman... Ella accepted her glass of wine, sipping from it deeply. Anything to calm her nerves. It was absolutely improper, what they were doing, and... she liked her fiancee, even though she shouldn't.

Kaczor addressed the ideals of sharing a bed again; and stated that she would seek out other partners, if Ella chose not to share a bed with her. And Ella nodded again, slowly, trying to decipher how those words made her feel. She was confused, she felt relief and... she wasn't sure what else.

She doesn't have long to think about the feelings that statement left her with, because Kac's given her warning that she'll kiss her—and she doesn't say no, the only sound to leave her lips is a quiet gasp...

And then she was being leaned back, Kaczor's arms kept her from toppling out of her lap. It took Ella a second, to process what was happening. And when she responded, returning the kiss. And when she was returned upright, she realized her father was there.

And so was the Tilani patriarch.

And she flushed, hiding her face against Kaczor's shoulder, for just a moment. Before she moved to stand, flustered and almost tripping, still holding her wine glass in one hand. Her lipstick smeared, she curtsied to the men, anxious and uncertain of what to expect.

Mostly from her father.

Who was glaring, his face flushed with anger. But he wasn't glaring at her. No, his gaze was fixed on Kazcor, and Ella flinched at the intensity of the man's glare. [q]D... dinner, right.[q] She whispered, clearing her throat as she tried to calm herself down.

All she could hear was the rush of her heart in her ears.