Marry Me

Writers: Devin, Cali
Date Posted: 7th January 2010

Characters: Zanen, Talmina
Description: Talmina asks Zanen to marry her and take her away from the Weyr.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 6, day 14 of Turn 5

Talmina knocked at Zanen's door. She wasn't expecting an answer, he was more often than not down with the beastcrafters or out hunting, but she might as well try here first, it was the least out of the way.

Zanen opened the door and smiled. "Talmina! Come in."

"Hi Zanen." Talmina replied as she walked in, her return smile weak compared to his. It was better than what she gave most people, but any motion that stretched the scar tissue hurt, so she'd stopped all but the purposeful expressions.

"How are things?" He made sure to check on her regularly to see how she was settling in.

She shrugged, "I just got done in the kitchen." Her life wasn't that interesting. "What have you been doing today?"

"Cleaned out a few stalls today." He chuckled. "It's not a pleasant job, but they appreciate me doing it."

Talmina nodded as she crossed her arms and looked around at his small quarters. The two canines barely even took notice of her, they were so used to her presence. "Are you still planning on leaving soon?"

"Yeah. I've got friends here, but ... the Weyr just isn't the place for me." He longed to be out travelling again.

"I was helpful when we were coming here, wasn't I?" she asked, bringing her attention back to Zanen.

He wondered where that comment had come from. "Of course you were. I knew it was hard for you, but you did much better than your brother."

"So, I wasn't a hassle or in your way or anything?" she continued.

"No. Besides, my job was to get you here safe."

Talmina uncrossed her arms then crossed them again, looking furtively around the room, finally settling on a spot on the wall past Zanen's shoulder. "Well, I was thinking. Thinking that maybe I could keep helping you, leave with you when you leave. I'd be a good wife to you."

Zanen blinked at her. "Wife?"

Talmina met his eyes briefly and nodded. "Yes. I know I'm not beautiful anymore, but you said that I was helpful..."

"Talmina, it's not that." He searched for the right words. "Marriage is a serious thing. You shouldn't marry the first man that's nice to you. You're worth more than that."

"But I want to go with you when you leave here, I don't want to stay at the Weyr." Talmina was close to crying, she felt it and she clamped down on her rising emotions like she'd taught herself to. It never did any good to cry, it only showed how weak you were.

"Hey." He put a hand on her shoulder. "You can come with me."

Talmina looked up, "I can? You'll marry me? Oh thank you!"

He held up a hand. "No, no, no. Come with me, yes. Marry me, no."

"I don't understand."

Zanen sighed and tapped a hand against his leg. "Well ... Talmina, you don't belong to anybody, and you don't have to. You can do what you want to. If you want to come with me, that's fine. We can go together. As friends." He winced a little at how that sounded.

She knew why he wouldn't marry her, and she didn't really blame him. She was counting on his pity to get him to marry her, but even pity couldn't help him look past her scarred face, not enough to want to look at it every day. "That's okay Zanen, I understand now. It's nice of you to offer, but I can't travel with you as friends. People wouldn't understand."

"My other friends would. I'll be travelling with a caravan for a while, and they know me. If I told them you were an honourable woman, they would believe me. And I think you would like them, if you gave them a chance." If Talmina was willing to marry him just to get away from the Weyr, then she was truly unhappy here and he didn't want to leave her.

"Eventually you'll have to leave the caravan." Talmina replied. She was already retreating back towards the door, embarrassed that she'd been turned down, embarrassed that she'd even asked. "It's okay Zane, I'll be fine here."

Silver, catching the mood, got to her feet and whined. Zanen stepped forward and took Talmina's hand. "Don't tell me I have to kidnap you and drag you out of here. That would make things look really bad."

Talmina looked down at the hand he held. No one ever touched her, not intentionally, except of course when she was beaten at the Hold. "If you marry me, I'll come with you. If you don't want to lay with me, I won't complain. I need the protection an espousal would bring though, I can't leave the Weyr without it."

"Yes, you can. I'll give you my word, to protect you, and never leave you somewhere that isn't safe," he said. "Marriage wouldn't be fair, to either of us. You deserve better than a wanderer like me."

He just couldn't understand things from her perspective. He was a man, no one would ever make a judgement about his character like they had about hers. She wanted to go to a place where people _did_ care, she couldn't stand it here at the Weyr where people hopped from one bed to another. But she could never leave unless she had her reputation restored, and it didn't look like Zanen was going to be able to help her with that. "You're right, it wouldn't be fair to you. I'm sorry. I'll be fine here Zanen, thank you for the offer but I'm going to have to refuse. Please let me know before you leave the Weyr so we can say goodbye." She turned and ran out his door.

Last updated on the January 7th 2010

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Marry Me