She Spoke

Estelle Linerock lingered rather impatiently by her fiancé's side, her arm tucked in the crook of his elbow. It was not as if Tucker Lismill wasn't handsome or kind, but she did not love him the way he or her father wished. Tucker was devilishly handsome, inherited an unfathomable amount of money, and was much too kind for his own good. Yet Estelle could not help but feel as if he lacked something. Perhaps it was romance that was deprived him of her romantic interests, or perhaps it was compassion. Either way, it was not her place to say.

Tucker weaved quickly through the plaza, directing his beloved through the commoners and merchants. Every so often he would look back at her, his near golden eyes smoldering as if they were the dying embers of a fire. He certainly was a beautiful creature to look at, what with his trimmed, slicked back blond hair, pasty skin, and golden eyes. Amongst those features, he towered over the other men but only just slightly. She caught the sight of several women staring as they passed by, their eyes telling of much deeper things than the rest of their faces. Many conveyed jealousy, wishing they could be married off to such a rich man, while others looked on with an eerie sense of curiosity. They all conveyed, however, the pain of silence and the weight of the things they wished they could say but were forbidden.

Estelle followed the man until the stopped in the small building. At first she did not recognize it, but soon she takes notice of white gowns lining the walls and hanging perfectly on the mannequins. She sighed internally as she recalled that her wedding was less than two months away. She would have much preferred to find a dress on her own, and since Tucker was not her husband yet, he had no actual say in the things she did. However, he had asked her father for permission and she had to obey her father.

One of the tailors, a woman with hair as dark as midnight, walked over to them and took Estelle's hand in her own. She squeezed it lightly. She gave Tucker a questioning look. "Oh, yes," he chuckled slightly. "Any dress that makes her glow will be beautiful enough for me. Just make sure she has some pink to it. She looks absolutely divine in pink."

Just as the woman was about to pull his bride-to-be away, he grabs her arm. His fingers gripped lightly, but she could barely feel any pressure at all. He looked into her eyes and with a smile, he added, "You always look divine."

She blushed and Tucker let the black haired tailor lead her to a room in the back of the shop where they could try on dresses in peace. Estelle longed to speak to her, to tell her that this was not necessary, or maybe even confide in her that she did not love the man that sat in the lobby. But, in consideration of the Law, she bit her tongue. Should a male be present in any building, and distance is not a factor, the female is forbidden to speak.

The tailor left her all by herself for just a moment and she looked at herself in the mirror used for the brides to view themselves in their dresses. She wasn't particularly tall but enough so to be considered lanky and thin. Her hair was a shade darker than blond, and looking at she couldn't help but think of her two sisters and how her looks mimicked that of the eldest Linerock sisters. Her eyes were a dull green, her skin was pale and her lips were a soft pink. Perhaps that's why Tucker thought pink suited her well because the color accented her lips so well.

After a few moments the woman returned with three dresses, each much to beautiful for the plainest of the Linerock women. The tailor helped the young maiden out of her current dress and into the first wedding dress. Once it was fitted correctly against her body, Estelle lifted her skirts and stepped toward the mirror. The sleeves hung across her shoulders, leaving her collar bone exposed. The corset of the dress tightened around her middle and form there the dress fanned out in what seemed to be long, soft feathers. Around her waist the tailor tied a long pink ribbon. With a few minor adjustments to my hair I really could look like a bride, Estelle thought in bewilderment. The woman stared at her in the mirror, seeming to see the same thing, though her eyes are laden with sympathy.

To be only fifteen years old and being forced to give her hand, her eyes seemed to say. Estelle hung her head to hide her sad expression. The woman helps her out of the dress and into the next two, but after examining them, the two young girls silently agree that the first will be the one she wears on her wedding day. Estelle leveled the gown carefully over her arm and held it close to her chest as the walked back to where her fiancé sat in waiting. He rose to his feet immediately and grinned. He was a firm believer of not seeing a bride's dress before the ceremony, so his eyes averted it, staring directly into her own.

"Is that the one you want?" He asked. I nodded.

He paid the tailor a few pieces of gold and a bit of silver and the couple rushed back onto the street. This time, the went with the current of the people and headed toward the country side. Many of the people of this city did not live here, but it was such a short distance that they could work or shop here. Only the exceptionally wealth, like Tucker, could afford a house within the city. As they walked, the pavement turned to dirt road and the building morphed into large, branching trees. After a few more moments, Tucker walked her to the front door of her small family cottage. She wondered briefly if her sisters or father even had wondered if she truly wanted this. She shook the thoughts away. If anyone needed this marriage it was Penelope, her younger sister. Tucker's wealth could provide a much brighter future than the one Estelle and her elder sister, Annie, had been doomed too.

Tucker ran his smooth hands up and down the length of her forearms and he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. Estelle flourished in an instant. She may not be in love with him, but the kisses were always so sweet. Usually, he'd kiss her goodbye with his lips on hers, but other days, he'd settle for her cheek or forehead. He smiled and kissed the other cheek. "Good day, my sweet," he whispered and disappeared back onto the trail and back into the city. Estelle sighed and entered her home.



Later in the evening, the Annie arrived at the cottage she used to live in. Estelle leaped to her feet and ran to her sister as quickly as she could and wrapped her arms around the older's waist. Estelle felt as if she hadn't seen Annie in months, but the truth be told, she'd just seen her sister the other day at the market. Still, the younger of the two treasured every moment she could have with her sister. After marrying the town blacksmith, a man Annie truly did love, she had moved away to a small in-home blacksmith's shop in the center of the city.

Sometimes Estelle silently wished she didn't live right next to the capitol city, Pulchra. Seeing as it was just a short distance away, the city always seemed to be looming over the small valley in which the Linerock family. Not only did it loom over the valley, but it cast shadows within Estelle's heart. Pulchra had become all too familiar to her in the past year or so. First, her sister had moved there and when they spoke, Annie spoke of nothing but the wonder it held. At first Estelle had listened with wonder and even in her first few weeks of going to visit her sister, she saw the magic. Every merchant traded items of great mystery and magic and every bakery sold bread that was as soft as cotton. However, the city began to loose its magical appeal as Tucker lead her down its paths every day. She no longer wondered what would happen next while on streets, just set her eyes level and followed her husband-to-be.

Annie smiled at her sister before the two sisters looked over at their father who sat patiently in the kitchen. They lowered their heads and pleaded with their eyes as if to say, May we speak in private, father? Their father, being the kind man that he was, nodded and the two girls stepped out into the night air. They walked along the path until they were a good distance into the woods. There was a clearing there that had four tree stumps, one for each sister and their mother. Though their mother had passed years ago they refused to move her stump.

Annie sighed, a big billowing breath of air. Women sometimes went days without talking and that in itself was exhausting. Estelle followed suit. They settled themselves upon their respective stumps and folded their hands against their laps. Estelle was first to speak, "Please tell me you're happy with the blacksmith." It seemed to be more of a plea rather than a command, but either way Annie did not seemed to be confused by the request whatsoever.

"Henry is very kind, and even though I cannot speak to him... I have fallen madly in love with him," she chuckles. "It was reluctant love at first, but it has grown into much, much more. This is not about your marriage to Mr. Lismill, is it?"

Her face turned grim in a matter of seconds. How could it be that her sister was only 17 and had already been married and gained so much life experience? Her sister placed her hand on her shoulder and gripped it. It wasn't the same sort of grip that Tucker used, where you could barely feel his skin at all. It was a grip that was made out of passion and understanding.

"Please do not fret about it. If you do not love him now, you will come to it in time."

"Tucker is sweet, and his wealth would help Penelope father, but," she coughed, "I am still a child. I am only fifteen and yet my hand is being forced."

"You are not being forced, Estelle. You have a choice."

"Oh do I?" She asked in a furious huff. "And how do you suppose I make this choice? Tell Tucker that I cannot marry him? You know they'd have my head for that."

"Estelle-"

"And further more, how dare you tell me that I am not being forced into this marriage. Nine months ago, I had never even known that man existed, and yet here I am, my wedding just two months away. This is father's marriage, not my own."

Annie sighed again and looked at her younger sister. Estelle felt trapped, even now. She did not want this marriage. She wished she could go back to two years ago when she and her sisters need not worry about thing such as marriage and money. However, reality had forced it's cruel truth upon her and she hated. Just as the magic of Pulchra was lost on her, as was the magic of love.

"The Century's End is three nights from now," Annie said, "Try and find a way and show Tucker that this is not for you. Find a way to show him that you are not ready to be wed."

Estelle smiled lightly, for she had no idea of the destruction she was to bring. She would find a way to let Tucker know that she was not prepared to be a bride, that much was true. But even she had no idea that her short temper would be the downfall of her life and the Law.