Topic: Pride Before A Fall

Luciana

Date: 2010-02-05 08:41 EST
Cesare had seen the advertisements all over town. The vision of the haughty blonde had him grinning from ear to ear. The advertisement made her sound like the ideal wife. But from what he'd witnessed, she was pleasant on the eyes, but hell on the ears. Still, she served her purpose. He was wandering around the estate, wondering where the front door was and how to go about making an appointment to see General Scapula. Hands tucked into pockets of expensive silk trousers, leather wing tips making soft sounds on the flagstones.

A little way into the trees to the east of the villa, Luciana had discovered - well, if it wasn't a hot spring, it was at least a warm pool - perfect for bathing. Of course, a virgin in search of a husband shouldn't go anywhere unescorted, and certainly shouldn't be naked in the middle of a forest frequented by hunters and trappers, but that was hardly going to stop her. She'd always had a mind of her own, and so long as her father didn't catch her this time, she wouldn't be punished for this venture, either. So she was quite happily lounging in the warm water, clothes and drying linen on the bank, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Cesare heard movement in the treeline and glanced over, curiously. The closer he came to that natural spring, he started seeing clothing laid out. He got even more curious, and being a bit of a voyeur, he moved even closer. Hiding behind a cedar bush, icy blues finally gaze into the water, so crystal clear, that he could distinguish a birthmark on her upper thigh from a good twenty feet. His eyes admired her, as well as other parts of his body, but his head reminded him of the task at hand and of her razor sharp tongue. This was perfect. Her father would never believe her a virgin if he could describe her naked form in intricate detail. He stepped out from behind the bush and cleared his throat as he stood on the bank. Right between her and her clothing.

Luciana almost choked on the mouthful of water she inhaled at the sound of a throat clearing nearby, quick to tread water and spin about. Pale blue eyes widened in horrified consternation at having been caught, and then narrowed as she recognised the one who had caught her. Why did it have to be him, of all people" Now she knew exactly what he would be thinking about whenever he looked at her from here on in. She glared at him. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"If she were here, maybe she would have." He smiled, a very broad and knowing smile. "Does your father know about that birth mark?" He pointed, wiggling his finger. "That one there, just on your thigh. Right where your hip meets your leg?" A playful wink and he turned to walk away. He'd allow her privacy. He had enough to get her to go along with his plan, willingly. If not, another maiden's named ruined. He'd ruined enough in his life time, another surely wasn't going to make a difference to him.

Again her eyes widened as embarrassment coursed through her. Blushing furiously, she curled herself into a tight ball, glaring at him as he turned away, feeling that same embarrassment turn to anger. Then a dreadful thought occurred to her. What if he was here to see her father" What would her father say if this wretched man told him about her birthmark" One reputation down the drain, and no man would even consider marrying her; her father would never forgive her for it. Splashing loudly, she scrambled up onto the bank, throwing her short stola on over her wet skin. "Wait," she called, choking down the bile at having even address the man. "What are you doing here?"

He heard her splashing and then calling out to him. Of course he stopped, picking up a linen and holding it up behind his back for her to take to dry herself off. "What am I doing here?" He chuckled, keeping his back to her. "Why I read that there is a bride for sale. Came to see what the highest bid was." He wasn't going to spill the truth, not just yet.

She snatched the linen from his hand, and the next thing he would feel would be the snap of it against the back of his head. "Doubtful, Master Romano," she snapped unhappily, her eyes flashing with anger at even having him allude to that humiliating debacle in the city. "More likely you came to discomfort me deliberately in front of my father."

"Actually.." he lurched forward when his head was snapped by that linen. "Hey, you could use a few lessons in manners yourself." He stopped and turned then. "I have a proposition for you." He grinned then and moved towards a bench. "Please, have a seat." As if it were his bench on his property that he was offering.

Luciana

Date: 2010-02-05 08:41 EST
Acutely aware that her stola was clinging a little too much to her wet skin, Luciana cuddled the linen to her chest, watching him with a healthy amount of suspicion. She snorted as he offered her a seat, at once affronted and wary. "I am not interested in hearing any 'proposition' from you," she told him coldly. "You should leave before making it, or I will have my father's guards remove you from the estate."

"Oh, yes, you could do that. And if I were a gentleman, I wouldn't even be considering this. However," he gave a slight bow, "don't think your father would take too kindly of my boasting about that little mark on your leg, now would he, mia cara?"

She paled beneath her tan. "You wouldn't dare," was hissed from between her teeth, even as she quite suddenly sat down where he had gestured only moments before. "And I am most certainly not your cara. Nor would my father believe you." If she'd been aware of the expression, she would definitely have known she was bluffing without cards.

"I would dare." He nodded with a broad grin. Had her, right where he wanted her. "And I am most certain he would when I can describe the dove shaped birthmark. How it's just a shade darker than your natural tan. "Would you say it's dove shaped" Perhaps more of a crow." He said the last word flatly with a bit of humor laced in.

Teeth grinding, Luciana looked away from Cesare for a long moment, trying to pull her temper under control. Shouting at him would do nothing; he obviously had some sort of scheme plotted out. "A raven," she corrected him, raising an eyebrow challengingly. "What do you want?"

"I am going to ask for your hand in marriage." he turned his most gracious smile onto her. "And you're going to beg and plead with Daddy Dearest to allow the match. Of course, I'll refuse your dowry. You really have nothing that I would ever need. Simple as that."

Utter incredulous rage - that was the only way to describe the sound that issued from her lips on hearing this. Forgetting that her white stola was not very good at concealing her whilst damp, Luciana shot to her feet, dropping the linen, and advanced on Cesare, hands on her hips. "I will never marry you," she snarled, almost nose to nose with him, blue eyes flashing at blue. "You're everything I despise in men."

"Your eyes are most beautiful when you are angry, did you know this?" He smiled then and resisted the urge to lick the end of her nose. Instead, he stepped away. "That is alright, cara mia. You are not exactly the most desirable of women, but you will do in a pinch." He chuckled then and canted his head. "What a beautiful couple we will make in the wedding pictures. Even your father will never know how fake we really are."

"You don't even want me! I can't stand you, and I would be very surprised if I have anything you want," she laughed harshly, breathing hard. Her ability to argue was being seriously affected by something, and she'd be damned if she'd admit it was him, even to herself. "Why saddle yourself with a wife who hates you, when I'm sure you could seduce some simpering fool into warming your bed and taking your name without a fight?"

She'd hit a nerve and he frowned darkly. "You're right, I don't want you and you don't want me. That makes it perfect, you fool. I get you out of having to be the innocent any longer, get you out of trouble with your family by not finding a suitable husband that'll keep you. Gods knows why any man would want to keep you." He shook his head. No, not ready to give up the real reason why this would work out for them both. Better to let her believe he was trying to do her a favor.

She snorted again, supremely unconvinced. "There, you said it yourself," she declared. "You don't want me ....so why would you take me on yourself" I'm sure you have idiot friends enough who can't see past the ends of their own noses whom you could point in my direction. Why you?" She crossed her arms, her head tilting in rather aggressive expectation of an answer. Contrary to what he thought, she wasn't a fool, and she'd have him at least respect that in her before ....what the hell was she thinking" She didn't want his respect, she wanted him to go away!

Luciana

Date: 2010-02-05 08:43 EST
"I am the one you like the least. Don't you see how simple it is" We pose for pictures, we arrive at the holidays, the rest of the time, you spend it doing what you want, and I do the same. We both win. We don't even have to be in the same house. I've got enough to support you and your lovers. What is wrong with this plan?"

She said the first thing that came into her head. She wished she hadn't. "My father expects a male heir from my marriage, that cannot be accomplished with what you are proposing," she objected without thinking. "And I will not take a lover when I am a wife. It is against the will of the gods."

"You already are against the will of the Gods, cara mia." He smiled and moved closer to her, his hand moving up to gently move a lock of hair behind her ear. If he caressed her cheek as well, even better. "We could produce an heir, and that be all, if you'd like, cara mia. I was just thinking of you. It has to be so hard to live with your father constantly pressuring you to marry." He was too close, by half, for decency. Anybody, even a servant, seeing them now, and there would be no debate. With her clothes clinging to her and his hand already touching the skin of her face, it would be the rage of the gossipmongers.

She flinched back from him as though his touch burned, her cheeks suddenly aflame. No man had ever dared to approach her so familiarly in her twenty years; she was not at all prepared for this. She stumbled back from him, prepared to lose her dignity rather than anything else. "You will maintain your distance, sir," she insisted, ashamed of the shake in her voice, and her hands rose, her arms wrapping about herself protectively. "What do you want from me" And do not say it is my hand in marriage, you have already stated that is what you require, not what you want."

"Why should I keep my distance?" He reached out a hand to keep her from stumbling back too far and falling onto the bench. But, he didn't touch her. "And why is it so difficult to believe that what I require and what I want are both one and the same?" He continued smiling, still as unflappable as ever.

"I do not trust you," she answered that simply enough, regaining her balance enough to move as far out of his reach as she could without turning and running for the safety of the house. "If you do not get what you require, what will you do then" Destroy my reputation with observations made in an underhanded manner?"

"Underhanded?" His brows shot up and he laughed, leaning his head back. "Oh, you are quite the funny one." He shook his head, hands going back into his trouser pockets. "No, I was not the underhanded one. I was not bathing nude out in a public place where any and all could see you. In fact ...' He grinned broadly. "You'd think you wanted people to see you nude."

"Bathing on my father's private lands does not constitute a public place," she argued hotly, feeling her cheeks flush again. "Trespassing, as you are doing, is enough to have you arrested. And you did not answer my question." She refused to let him goad her into another outraged outburst.

"That tree line, cara mia." He pointed out the trees that lined the spring she was bathing in. "Those mark the property lines. And you'll notice that your little bathtub is just on the other side. Did you want a hunter to come along and take advantage?" He chuckled then and turned away from her. "I'm sure your father will be most agreeable when I show him my lineage and present the geldings, small chest of gold. Though I really do not think that it'll even take an ounce to get him to agree."

If he was paying attention, he'd hear her teeth grinding in frustrated defeat. She couldn't win this. If she outright refused, he had the means to destroy her simply be describing what he had evidently enjoyed looking at when she was in the pool. But if she went along with him, she'd be shackled for a lifetime to man who wouldn't understand fidelity if he were manacled and beaten with the concept. But ....it would please her father, if she acquiesced to a match, and she did not have to do more than just lie there, surely, on the wedding night' Luciana swallowed hard, scowling. "What do you want me to do?" she asked quietly, submission to the situation her stupidity had put her in clear in her tone.

He waited a long while before turning around. "Just tell your father that you've met me." he spoke softly, blue eyes penetrating into hers. "And I shall tell you a story to explain my side of the situation." He gave a slight shrug then. Something inside of him felt bad about using blackmail to get what he wanted. It was an odd feeling. He'd never felt guilt before a day in his life.

She held his gaze, stubborn willpower the only thing keeping her from looking away. "That is all" Simply to inform him we have met, and nothing else?" she pressed him. "No simpering little perfomance of love-struck tom-foolery to assuage your bruised ego at having to take me on?"

"When we are alone, cara mia, I will not ask you to pretend. I know full well how you feel about me. When in front of others, we will both be actors. Playing a part. You will tell your father that you've found a suitable man, and that you wish to be with him. Tell him my name. I will come calling again in a few days." He walked to the bench and took a seat. "Is this agreeable?"

"No, but I have no choice." Luciana watched him sit down resentfully. "Very well, I will do as you say. But let me make one thing abundantly clear ....if you ever touch me in a manner I have not given my consent to, you will spend the next years of your life seeking a way to restore whatever manhood you have left." As she spoke, her fists clenched, her shoulders drew back, and he got a glimpse of the Norse woman her mother had wanted. Luciana Iona could only be pushed so far.

"Do not worry, I would just as soon touch a horse's flank." He sighed and leaned back on the bench. His arm rested along the back and he looked up at her. How fierce and beautiful. Such a contradiction to her sharp tongue. Rising from the bench, he walked over to her. "Three days, cara mia. Convince him." He glared into her eyes before he turned on his heel and began to walk away. He didn't have to divulge his own secret, and that brought a smile to his face.

"I am not your cara!" She bent down and grasped a handful of the sod at her feet, throwing it at his back. Without waiting to see if it landed, she turned on her own heel and snatched up her linens, breaking into a run towards her father's villa. This required thinking about, and privacy enough for a serious tantrum before she approached her father.

The sod hit his back and Cesare stopped in his tracks. He muttered curses in Italian and resumed his quick pace. He was flirting with the Devil, and he knew it. But what else could he do' Time was short and when opportunity knocked, he answered the door.

((Scene played and posted with permission.))