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“Thank you,” my father smiled and nodded to the man as he walked back down the way he came. When he was gone around the corner my father’s smile fell and he raised his lip in a snarl as he glared at the halls over his shoulder. “Of course, he gave us rooms in the East wing of the house,” he hissed, “There’d better be drapes thick enough to cut out the morning sunlight.”
My mother slid her hands down his arms as she walked past him towards the hallway that Manny indicated as mine. She nodded for me, “Go on in now, dear,” she sang, “I’ll have your luggage brought up and laid out in the closet for you.” She ran her hand down the back of my head over my hair as I passed by her. “Perhaps you should take a bath or something to relax and pass the time. I have a glam team coming in an hour to dress and prepare you for tonight.” She looked down at her watch, “Do not leave your room. I’ll be by with them when they get here to start getting you ready to start your future as the new Mrs. Capasso,” she cheered happily.
I went down the hall to the only other set of doors at the end and walked in. I looked around the room and sighed as I took in the white and feminine furniture fit for a fairy princess in a tale as old as time.
“Lucky me,” I whispered and sat down on the padded bench at the end of the bed.
If only my knight in shining armor would swoop in and rescue me from the terrifying dragon holding me hostage in the tower of his castle before it was too late.
Who was I kidding?
The dragon was my soon-to-be husband and the rumors of his ferociousness and terror were known across all the land, ensuring no one even tried to slay him.
And I was being offered to him as a sacrificial lamb at sunset tomorrow.
Chapter 2 – Arianna
“You’resolucky,”mylittle sister Anita whined from her prone position on my bed as she watched the glam team fuss over me. She was twelve and didn’t understand everything that was happening today and tomorrow, so I tried to not take my anger and frustration out on her.
My other sister Amelia, the middle daughter, rolled her eyes from her seat at the large makeup vanity along the wall, “She’s lucky to be sold off like cattle?” She was eighteen and facing her own impending doom soon, so she had a different opinion than our little sister.
“She gets to marry one of the most powerful men in our time and gets all of this,” Anita flung her hands out around the room, “And it doesn’t hurt that he’s really cute.”
“You’ve seen him?” I asked, finally mustering enough energy to speak. “When?”
Anita paused and swallowed, shrinking under the stares of Amelia and I, “Well, I haven’t seen him personally, but Mama said he was handsome.” She said guiltily as I deflated into my chair.
“She also thinks Papa is handsome,” Amelia rolled her eyes again and then shuddered, “You’re doomed.” She said to me with a shrug of her shoulders. “I heard he’s old. Like grey and old. He is probably wrinkly too.”
“That’s enough,” I sighed and looked at the reflection of a prim and proper princess in the mirror above the dresser I was seated at. I had large rollers in my dark chocolate hair making it look like I was four inches taller than I was, and thick makeup that made me look ten years older than I was.
Because it was true, my soon-to-be husband was much older than I was. I was turning twenty-one soon, and if I did my math correctly based on being promised years ago, he was in his mid to late thirties. Not as old as Amelia tried to make him sound, but much older than me.
The glam team my mother hired was the best money could buy because the Rosetti family had no shortage of that. So they stayed silent as my sisters and I spoke about such inappropriate things. I didn’t silence Anita and Amelia because I was worried about them talking badly about one of the most powerful and dangerous men in the Italian mafia. I ended the conversation because my heart couldn’t stand the pain and despair that acknowledging my predicament brought.
And my tonic was wearing off, leaving me raw and susceptible to rogue thoughts as the fog lifted from my brain and my limbs.
My parents had been drugging me for months now as the wedding date got nearer. I didn’t know if they knew that I’d figured out that my mother’s holistic tonic was full of sedatives and mood suppressors or not. Perhaps they didn’t even care if I knew I was being distorted into the silent and obeying daughter they had always hoped for.
I had no choice in the matter.
So I dutifully took my tonic and let the numbness push me into silence as they mapped out the entire thing for me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried to stop the whole sordid thing before though, when I was young and brave.
One time, a few years ago as I started to realize what an arranged marriage meant for a girl like me, I told my father that I refused to be a part of his plans and that I wouldn’t marry a man he picked for me.
In response, he backhanded me so hard that he broke my jaw and left me bedridden with my mouth wired shut for months. It was at that point that I realized; I was nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard to him. He didn’t love me; he didn’t care for my happiness. He only cared about the deals he schemed with his allies and enemies to ensure that he stayed rich and content for the rest of his merry life.
To hell with everyone else.
So numb was better than miserable in my book.
Right on cue, my mother floated into the room wearing an elaborate dressing gown, with a juice glass of the magic fog and handed it to me like it was a sweet glass of orange juice. “You look breathtaking dear; Nicolas won’t know what hit him when you meet him tonight.”
“Hmm.” I hummed like I agreed and swallowed the tart liquid down.
My mother turned to my sisters and clapped her hands, “Girls, go to your rooms and get dressed in the gowns I’ve laid out for you. Be back out in the hallway in fifteen minutes to go down to dinner together.”
“Yes, Mama.” The girls replied in unison. Anita skipped from the room in glee and Amelia gave me a look of silent support as she left, leaving me alone with the glam team and my mother.
