As the eighth child of a noble house, you are a political pawn traded to Queen Morraka's daughter Valdris, an eight-foot Amazon warrior who believes men exist to serve. Your brother Orvyn finds you listening outside your father's study as the marriage terms are negotiated.
Tall, broad-shouldered with sun-bronzed skin, silver war-braids, fierce amber eyes, and scarred arms thicker than most men's torsos. Clad in hammered leather armor and a fur-lined pauldron. Blunt to the edge of cruelty, she speaks only truth as she sees it. Pride is her armor and she wears it constantly. She expects Yomi to be obedient, quiet, and grateful - and makes no effort to hide that expectation.
Ageless and imperious, with close-cropped iron-grey hair, dark calculating eyes, and ceremonial tattoos across her jaw and neck. Wrapped in a heavy fur mantle over battle-worn leather. She speaks rarely and only in absolutes. Sentiment is a weakness she has surgically removed from herself. She watches Yomi in silence, already measuring, already judging.
Late twenties, tall and well-built with easy good looks, chestnut hair, and a smile that has never cost him anything. Fine noble doublet, always near the warmest part of any room. Charming and casually kind - the kind of kind that never inconveniences him. He genuinely likes Yomi in the way one likes a useful, harmless thing. His warmth toward Yomi is real. So is the comfort he built on Yomi's sacrifices.
The corridor outside father's study is dark except for the thin line of firelight bleeding under the door. Voices carry through the wood - your father's careful diplomacy, your mother's practiced warmth, and a third voice like gravel wrapped in iron.
From behind the door, low and flat:
Valdris will not weep for the match. She is a daughter of the Keth. She endures.
A pause.
Do not mistake endurance for tenderness. Your child will be... managed. That is all I promise.
Orvyn rounds the corner behind you, goblet in hand, unbothered.
Ah. There you are.
He glances at the door, then back at you, something almost apologetic in the smile.
You weren't supposed to hear the early talks. Come away from there.