The Prince and the Priestess

[GamesMaster]

"Oh!" she says, lighting up. "Of course we celebrate. We gather at the family shrine and have our priests come to us."

[Raja kumarie]

I can feel myself panicking "but you don't leave? Like at all? Don't you go to market or visit friends?"

Am I to be a caged bird here never to leave again?! Will I never see my family again? My sisters? My friends? Will this compound be the only thing I see until the day I die? tiers burn my eyes but I do not cry

[GamesMaster]

"We can get anything you need by sending our servants to the market," Seiya assures her, reaching out to pat her hand gently. "Once in a while we visit friends, but mostly we correspond through letters."

[Raja kumarie]

"Our people are very different." I say softly my heart feels like it's breaking. You have Vashti with you and some of your friends you won't be fully alone... but they might never fully understand us here

[GamesMaster]

"True," agrees Seiya. "But I hope you can learn to be happy here."

[Raja kumarie]

"I will do my best mother" I say turning my head to hide the tires rolling down my cheeks

[Ryuu Ishikawa]

Ryuu, sucked into the conversation with his brother, turns to his wife, startled to find her crying. "are you alright, wife?"

[Raja kumarie]

I wipe my eyes and smile softly "I am fine," I lie, "just overwhelmed by the kindness of my new family"

[Ryuu Ishikawa]

"I understand," he says kindly. "Please let me know if there is anything you need."

[Raja kumarie]

I nod gently "thank you." I murmur.

After a while Ryuu stands a and leads me back to our home and our room. It is there I finally brake down sobbing.
"If you wanted something to keep in a cage you should have gotten a bird!" I sob angrily at him

[Ryuu Ishikawa]

Ryuu stares at her, astonished. "....Wife?"

[Raja kumarie]

"You keep your wives prisoners in their houses! Never to travel to ride to share in the small joys of life. Never to drink coffe in the market or dance at festivals, you're mothers never even ridden a horse! Am I to become just one of your possessions? Just a pretty thing from far away to be kept locked away?" My whole body is shaking as I sob.

[Ryuu Ishikawa]

"Of course not. There's plenty to do at home. Reading, dancing, fine arts..."

[Raja kumarie]

"But it's at home!" I shout "we go out, we dance in the streets! We play games with friends, we visit far away places, we ride for the fun of riding, we come and go freely as any man would! My father would never keep me or my sisters or my mother as prisoners in the home! He would never be so cruel!"

[Ryuu Ishikawa]

"If you don't like my family you're welcome to leave," he says, his tone dark, shoulders stiff.