The Price of Virtue

Viverescribere

Always looking to write
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. One post per day
  3. Multiple posts per week
  4. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Prestige
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Fantasy, Historical, Magical, Romance (usually within other genres), Dystopia,.
A soft squeal of delight disrupted the quiet that surrounded manicured gardens of a pristine castle. The shriek was soon followed by a bout of laughter, a fit of giggles, which was carried along on the breeze. It was a warm autumn's day, nearing supper time, with the garden's greenery in the last of it's prime before the cold settled into strip it bare. It was the perfect time to take one last opportunity to create some mischief.

Liliana Bhaltar held her dress skirts a little higher above her ankles as she ran, her servant's boots crunching on the gravel that was laid for the paths in the small-bush maze that lead to the water fountain. Loose tendrils of hair framed her face and brushed her neck, having become free from her cap to keep it all tied back. She threw a look over her shoulder to see where her pursuer was, only the shriek again at seeing how close he was to catching her. She paused, at the fountain after reaching the centre, to spin on the ball of her foot and send a hand crashing into the water to splash him in hopes of distracting him and giving her some time to get space between them so she could hide.

Eventually she came to a stop behind a tall, domed bush, panting softly. Liliana tucked some of the strands of hair back under her cap during her momentary breather, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She peered around the one side, trying to see where her best friend was.

"Ferdinand... where are you...?" She called, walking slowly around the one side of the bush. She bit her lower lip as she grinned, heart pounding with the adrenaline of their cat-and-mouse game. "You haven't tagged me yet... so I guess that means I'm the winner for today-!"
 
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Nodding, Lily worked on expanding the lantern so the little tea light could be placed inside once it was lit, making sure that it was his writing faced him and hers faced her. "Repeat the prayer you've just written out an' light it just as you come to the end. As if-- as if setting it in stone, as it were." She explained, eyes dropping to the light before returning to his gaze.

"Then we put the candle into the lantern, lift it into the sky an' just... watch. An' 'hope that God catches our lantern an' reads our prayers." She smiled, tilting her head upwards as if to try and look for that aforementioned God for a moment.
 
Ferdinand watched Lily with wonder, appreciating her beauty under the night sky before obeying her request. Holding up the lantern, he recited his prayer and lit the candle with Lily, lifting the lantern so it floated gently toward the heavens. Ferdinand have never experienced something so intimately spiritual. In all his years attending church with his family, he'd never felt so close to God. Funny how peasantry offered someone like him so many little joys.

He stared up in wonder, a smile spreading across his face. "It's beautiful," he murmured.
 
Gathering herself, Liliana moved around the table to stand beside Ferdinand and allowed herself to slip and arm around his lower back. While she still had her doubts about how feasible it would be for them to marry, in that moment, he wasn't a Duke. Her arm rested behind his waist, hand holding onto his side as she pressed her side into his. Her head tilted to rest against the side of his shoulders, eyes remaining on the lantern as it floated along in the night sky.

Her gaze then turned upwards to his face, smiling at the wonderment on his features. Fondness and adoration gleamed in her eyes as she simply watched him instead of the lantern, hand slipping away from his side to gently rub his lower back. "It truly is." She murmured back, not taking her eyes from him.
 
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Lily's embrace warmed Ferdinand to the core. He turned to look down at her, seeing her sweet gaze focused on him rather than their shared lantern. Such intimacy struck his heart. He turned into her, his arm around her shoulders, his free hand rising to caress her cheek. "Lily," he said quietly. His heart raced inside his chest. "I've been honored to spend this night with you. Truly. Yours is a light far brighter than any lantern here." He lowered his fingertips to trace her jawline, leaning in just an inch before halting, daring to break any law if it meant keeping her near. "Might I kiss you? Only with your permission."
 
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Her heart leapt as he began to lean in, lips parting with quickened breath as he paused only to ask her permission. It was one of the things she loved so dearly about him - he would never take without asking, unlike so many of the nobles throughout the rest of the kingdom. It was in that moment hat Lily knew she couldn't ever fight what she felt for her Ferdie. She would just exhaust herself trying. It all just seemed perfect, surrounded by the soft, pulsing glow of the lanterns above them, having just written their prayers of love to be answered, and even his touch was without flaw.

Lily's hand had moved as he had done, now gently gripping his shirt at his side in an attempt to keep herself grounded at his words. Instead of verbally answering his question, she lightly traced her fingertips across his cheek before pressing the palm of her hand against it. From there, she reached up, going up onto tiptoe just slightly, to press her lips to his softly.
 
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Warmth bloomed through his chest. Ferdinand had waited all these long years to hold Lily like this; even as a child, he was hopelessly in love. When she pressed her lips to his, Ferdinand returned her kiss without hesitation, moving his lips along hers and feeling the shock of the sensation. He faced her fully and kept their mouths locked, his arm around her shoulders lowering to the small of her back to encourage her closer. His fingertips, once caressing her cheek, slipped into her hair at the back of her head.

He would not kiss any deeper without permission. But if God truly existed, He was in this moment. Ferdinand was certain of it.
 
Lily's hand on his shirt gripped tighter at his response to her kiss, revelling in the moment and heart exploding with all that she felt. At his hand on her lower back, she was more than happy to slip closer to him, only vaguely aware of how perfectly she slotted against him. A hum of pleasure escaped her as she felt his hand in her hair, only encouraging her to melt deeper into the moment.

Her one hand, which laid on his upper arm, moved up to hold the back of his neck while the other continued to cling to his side. Uncaring to the spectators they may have had, Lily went with her instincts and beat back her insecurities to deepen the kiss for the both of them. She had become caught up in the moment, she too having had waited so long to be able to do this and experience this with the one she had continued to love long after losing him.

Reluctantly, Lily eventually ended the kiss but only pulled back a few inches, her panting breath mingling with his as she - almost shyly - turned her gaze up to his. After a moment, she began to smile and even chuckled nervously, her hand moving back from his neck to cup his cheek, "I never-- I never thought I'd ever be able to do that."
 
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Ferdinand accepted the depth of her kiss and pulled Lily even closer, his heart close to leaping through his chest. The taste of her was as wonderful as he'd imagined it to be, and her hum of pleasure only made him ache to hear her more.

Ferdinand, throughout the remainder of their lives, would never tire of kissing her this way.

He pressed his forehead to hers when she pulled away, breathless. "The only thing that ever would have stopped me was your rejection," he admitted. "I have loved you all these years." Ferdinand placed several more kisses to her lips before leaning down to embrace her in a tight hug. "Please, Lily, consider my proposal. I'll beg if I have to." He chuckled under his breath. "And I truly will. Do not doubt that."
 
Laughing, she buried her head into his chest with a sweet smile, her arms wrapping around his waist and hands pressing against the firm of his back. It all felt so perfect, perhaps things truly were meant to be this way. Perhaps he had come back into her life at this moment just so his declaration of love could happen in this moment, in this way. For her, she couldn't hold him tightly enough, as if scared that God would reconsider what He had provided her and would rip her Ferdie away from her once more.

"I love you too, Ferdie. Have done, for so long. I've missed you so much, I know I've said that before but-- but I really did." Lily pulled away to look up at him, hands slipping away from his back to rest on his sides. His proposal meant so much to her, and with all her heart she longed to say yes, but she knew it would be difficult. It would lead to adversary and backlash that he would have to deal with as a Duke, both from his father and other nobles.

"I know you would, you're just as stubborn as when we first met and you were determined to be my friend. Now you're determined to be my husband." She laughed again, hand reaching up to brush fingertips against his jaw, "Of course I'll consider your proposal, Ferdie but-- but your father...he would never allow it."
 
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Ferdinand's smile faded just a bit. "No. He would not allow it. But I'm not going to give him a choice." He kept his arms around her, his expression turning rather serious. "He has treated the people of this city terribly, not to mention my mother. If I bring my father's behavior to the attention of the king, I am certain he will see my father displaced. Either I am allowed to marry you, or I will go through with alerting His Majesty of those unforgivable crimes." He smiled sadly. "If that doesn't work, I shall try something else."
 
"Oh Ferdie... Please don't be gettin' into any trouble because of me. You don't need to be makin' enemies before you even get your title." Lily responded, hands moving to hold lightly onto his shirt at his chest. "Even if it means waitin' until you establish yourself in the role... I've waited this long for you, it would be worth it."

He had truly made her believe it could be possible. His stubbornness had worn her down and Lily felt like, suddenly, all of what he spoke about was a possibility. That marriage between a lowly peasant and a highly thought of Duke could happen some day.

"Do you really think the King would listen to what you had to say about your father's behaviour? Do you really think he'd have some influence?"
 
Ferdinand sighed. "I don't know. But I can at least try." He smiled in assurance to the woman he loved, elated simply to be here with her, lifting his hands to rest over hers. "I will find some way for this to work, Lily. Trust me. You are so very worth it."

He meant every word. Even if taking her as his wife would become a struggle beyond what he expected, he would do whatever necessary to secure her. Only under the promise of happiness had he realized how truly unhappy he'd been all this time, without her.

"Though," he added with a sad smile, "I would not hold it against you if you wished to seek the heart of another in my place. Many will target you as a result of our marriage. If you don't wish to suffer such things..."
 
His sadness, the one brought on clearly at the idea of her being with another, pained her in ways Lily had never felt before. Automatically she pulled gently on his shirt to bring him back down to him so she could press her lips to his. She lingered there for a moment, pulling away once she felt like she had conveyed what she wanted to in that single kiss.

"You have my heart, Ferdie. There is no one else who can have it now." Liliana assured him, hand raising from his shirt to cup his cheek, "I worry just as much for you. You're goin' to be a target as much as me... You'll face ridicule I wouldn't ever wish you to." She pointed out, thumb brushing against his cheek, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She needed him to be sure. Liliana could feel, without a doubt, that he was. However she would always be concerned over her idealistic love. Lily was all too aware of how out of place she would be in any court or party. She did not have the etiquette that so many other Ladies, Marquesses or Duchesses would have. Even her way of speaking and walking would be laughed at behind her back.

Liliana did not want to damage Ferdie's reputation or standing before he had even had a chance to make a name for himself.