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<span style="font-family: 'Lobster Two'"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)"><span style="font-size: 33px">Kiara Echethier</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 18px">"A golden cage is still just a cage."</span></span></span><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)"><span style="font-size: 18px">· · ─────── ·· ─────── · ·</span></span>​</div><br/><div style="margin: auto; overflow: visible; max-width: 70%; font-family: Didact Gothic; text-align: justify">As Zaya talked about Essos, it was clear that she was longing for her homeland and had a great fondness for it. Kiara was used to something like isolation – though the palace was in the center of the biggest city in Avalri, she had rarely been out to wander the streets around it, so that, at least, should be something that she could easily adjust to. Since Kiara wasn’t used to traveling in any way, it wouldn’t matter much if Essos was isolated. Though she longed to travel, she knew it was unlikely to happen after they reached Essos. Houses built over the water was a strange concept though. Kiara had only seen and heard of houses built around the banks of bodies of water, but to actually be over the water…did they not worry about floods? What happened during prolonged periods of rain? Or did they not have particularly rainy seasons due to the heat? Looking at the darker skin of many of the warriors, Kiara was concerned with how much she might burn given how much paler she was; she could only hope that her body would adjust to the heat relatively quickly. A brief smile flashed across Kiara’s face though when Zaya talked about the nights in Essos. “The stars are always lovely to see,” she replied. “I enjoy watching them on a clear night.” <br/>
<br/>
The mention of three other wives was like whiplash to Kiara. She jolted back the moment Zaya mentioned them, her eyes widening in surprise as she tried to imagine someone being married not once, not twice, but <i>three</i> times. And now Kiara was going to be a fourth. Such concepts did not exist in her culture. To her, marriage was a sacred bond between two people. Any more would have been blasphemous. But Zaya spoke about it so easily, as though it was nothing for Bjorn to be taking on a <i>fourth</i> wife. Somehow, that idea was the most unsettling of all to Kiara. Not only was she going to be trying to figure out a new home, a new culture, a new position, but she was also going to be trying to break into an already-established relationship dynamic? Dealing with only Bjorn had seemed overwhelming enough. But now she was going to have to grapple with the fact that the man she had been sold to as a husband was also openly and gleefully having relations with three other women. <br/>
<br/>
Kiara had always known that it was likely that whoever she ended up marrying would have a high chance of having an affair. That was fairly common in noble circles, but it was still something that was looked down on and treated with disdain by everyone else. Ladies would gossip about what nobleman was currently sleeping with what servant or lady or who was going into town to sleep with hired prostitutes. Every reveal was always followed by a series of tittering about how awful such things were and a mixture of <i>why is it so hard to find loyal men these days</i> and <i>his wife should have been doing more to keep him satisfied, why else would he be seeking the arms of another woman</i>. It was something she had been forced to come to terms with, even if Kiara had clung to some small amount of hope that whoever she married would be willing to stay loyal to her. <br/>
<br/>
But now, that thought was long gone. Instead, Kiara felt like <i>she</i> was the affair partner, the one breaking up a marriage. How long had Bjorn been married to these three other women? Did he have children with any of them? How did this dynamic with four women being actively married to one partner work? She had so many questions but was in too much shock to try and phrase any of them aloud. Kiara also worried that some of her questions might be seen as offensive to Zaya and her culture. Was this just something she was going to have to learn about as she went? That was a terrifying prospect. What were these women going to think of her? Would they like her? Would they be disdainful toward her because she was entering into their marriage? Would they be indifferent to her? Kiara figured indifference was the best that she could hope for, especially since apparently all the wives lived in different houses. <br/>
<br/>
She was broken out of her panicked thoughts by Zaya’s last statement about Kiara maybe being able to change where Bjorn spent most of his time. A heated flush came onto Kiara’s cheeks at the implication, unused to people being so open about discussing such things. Zaya said it so casually, as though it was no big deal to be talking about the potential sex lives of someone else, much less someone she didn’t know very well. She opened her mouth to say something, but didn’t know what, so she only shut it and ducked her head to the side. <br/>
<br/>
The trip was long, with most of Kiara’s time being spent watching the countryside glide past. Eventually, the longship came into view, its orange and blue flag waving in the wind. Kiara’s stomach twisted slightly as the ship came into view. Once she boarded, she would be leaving, never to return again. It made her nerves jump again, but she tried to keep herself collected as the door to the carriage opened, the dark skinned man that Zaya was clearly involved with giving a rough order – or at least Kiara assumed it was an order, given his tone. Not wanting to anger him, Kiara hurriedly disembarked from the carriage after Zaya, sticking close to the woman since she had been kind so far and Kiara felt the safest near her. <br/>
<br/>
A tentative smile flashed briefly over Kiara’s face. “It makes sense – he wants to ensure that both you and the child are safe from any harm possible,” she said. Her features quickly shifted into some confusion as Zaya spoke more. “Changed? Is there anything available to me? I assumed I would have to wear my own clothing until actually reaching Essos.” Kiara hadn’t expected there to be any women at all among the armies, so Zaya had been a surprise, and Kiara expected even less for there to be clothing that actually fit her and was available to wear. And, admittedly, she wanted to cling to whatever remnants of her home that she could. </div>