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Post by Nadir on Feb 1, 2007 1:14:18 GMT -5
((Sure.))
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Post by Bonnie-Marie on Feb 1, 2007 2:20:46 GMT -5
((Dude, all the good stuff happens as soon as I leave.))
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Post by Maria van Helsing on Feb 1, 2007 9:54:14 GMT -5
(( ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) OH MY GOD......))
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Post by Miss Sinclaire on Feb 1, 2007 12:20:34 GMT -5
((Nadir's still a good guy!))
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Post by Shadi on Feb 1, 2007 17:29:50 GMT -5
((Waaa, you guys were busy! Poor Shadi.))
*Shadi paced restlessly around the parlor after her husband--her husband!--left to see his visitor. Who could it be? Who could be so important as to keep them apart for so long?
She glanced at the paintings, the vases, the upholstered divan and armchair. It was a dark room, a man's room, but far nicer than anything she was accustomed to. Well, if she didn't count the TARDIS, which tended to change around a bit.
She wondered what she was doing here at all. Why would she marry the first man who offered? Was she that uncertain of being asked again? Was she that curious about the act of a man and a woman that she would marry a man just to find out? It didn't seem like her at all.
And yet, here she was.
She looked up as the door opened again. Nadir stood framed in it, the fire the servants had lit casting golden shadows on his dusky skin.*
"Nadir, I--"
*There was someone behind him. A beautiful man, golden locks and a soldier's bearing, stood behind him. Rather close to him, actually. Shadi's face fell as she heard her husband's news. She could think of no business that would call a man away from his wedding night--unless it stood behind him now.
She kicked at the armchair. Why had he married her at all? She blindly reached for the first vase her fingers encountered and hurled it against the wall.*
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Post by Shadi on Feb 1, 2007 17:48:13 GMT -5
*She didn't bother to apologize to the servant who came and cleaned the vase up, nor the one who took her to her room. Shadi asked repeatedly where her husband was, but the servants seemed to be trained not to answer questions like that about their master.
This was seeming stupider all the time.
But there was only so long she could fume, and she fell finally into the restless slumber of the sexually disappointed. Dreams of her husband prevailed, but the grey-eyed man from the hallway kept intruding upon them, shutting doors in her face, locked in Nadir's embrace, holding her at bay with his sword.
She awoke with her knife in hand, years of instinct reacting to the sound of rattling at her door. It was merely a maid with tea and toast.*
"Where is my husband?" *Shadi asked imperiously.*
*The maid looked nervously at her from beneath a fringe of hair.*
"Did he not return last night?" *Shadi could tell from the woman's face he had not. She rose, downed the too-hot tea in one gulp, and straightened her dress as she could before going downstairs.
Directly to the liquor cabinet she'd spied the night before.*
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Post by Nadir on Feb 1, 2007 18:03:24 GMT -5
((Straight to the booze. Atta girl! *wipes away a tear* Ahh so like her Daddy.))
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Post by Nadir on Feb 1, 2007 20:06:00 GMT -5
*Nadir crept through the door quietly, feeling like an intruder in his own house. He went to his study and unlocked a carved mahogany cabinet, withdrawing a yellowed bundle of papers tied with a faded blue silk ribbon. He sighed as he looked at them, and rubbed at the ache in his chest as he remembered the first love of his life, and what he'd done to her. Taking a deep breath, he sat at his desk and touched a handbell, summoning a servant.* "Have...my wife...brought here to me," *he said, his tone almost business-like as he set the papers down in the middle of the desk and sat up straight in his chair to wait.*
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Post by Shadi on Feb 2, 2007 11:41:26 GMT -5
*Shadi had not drunk enough to be truly impaired. She'd merely dulled the edges of her frustration at being left alone so soon after promising herself to another--as if a person could ever really belong to someone else! She was busy staring sullenly into the remains of last night's fire when a servant entered and informed her her husband wished to see her.*
"Couldn't he have come here himself? Nevermind." *She followed to a well-appointed office, her husband standing behind an imposing desk spread with papers.
He did not look like anyone's husband. He looked grim and severe, and Shadi's suspicions reared higher than their accustomed low-level position. But she reined in her anger with difficulty, electing instead to attempt cool detachment.*
"I missed you last night," *she said simply.*
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Post by Nadir on Feb 2, 2007 11:49:56 GMT -5
"Something came up," *he said unapologetically, not even bothering to look up from the papers in front of him.* "We're moving--we can't stay in this house," *he said after a moment, finally looking up quite coolly.* "Pack your things, whatever you have, or whatever you want to take. I plan to leave as soon as possible."
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Post by Shadi on Feb 2, 2007 11:57:54 GMT -5
*Shadi put her hands on her hips.*
"What do you mean we can't stay in this house? You seemed pretty keen on leaving me alone in it last night." *She cocked her head.* "What's going on? Why won't you even look at me?" Why did you marry me at all?
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Post by Nadir on Feb 2, 2007 12:06:53 GMT -5
"We can't stay here," *repeated Nadir calmly, looking her dead in the eye with a kind of cool defiance.* "My reasons are none of your concern," *he added, picking up a letter from a silver tray and snapping open the wax seal.* "You're excused."
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Post by Shadi on Feb 2, 2007 12:31:05 GMT -5
*Shadi bristled.*
"'Excused'? Am I a servant now?" *She strode forward to the desk, resting her palms on the smooth edge so she could lean close to him as she spoke.* "You wanted me last night, husband. What happened? Your beautiful friend who came and drew you away on business?"
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Post by Nadir on Feb 2, 2007 14:08:52 GMT -5
"A wife must submit to her husband's judgement in all things," *said Nadir sharply, glaring at her.* "So before you presume to so casually refer to me as your husband, you may do well to recall your duty and hold your tongue." *He towered over her, his expression grim.* "And I never said a word about wanting you--you came to me, madame," *he said in a deathly quiet tone.* "My business is my own affair."
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Post by Shadi on Feb 4, 2007 3:09:55 GMT -5
*Shadi's eyes narrowed and she felt like she'd been cornered by a band of ruffians--a bit alarming, but fun, too.*
"Perhaps you should impress upon me just what my duties are, so I'll be sure not to overstep them next time," *she said.* "As to last night, you suggested the arrangement, not I."
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