<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/rWACBmh.jpg)</div><br/>The faint<em>creak</em>of leather - the rustle of fabric, against smooth, creamy skin...<br/><br/>The first thing the inhabitants of Banorn Keep would see of their new Duchess; the pale, perfect hand that slipped into Lord Ortensia's, with a delicate grace...Her fingers lightly caressing his. Then the long, shapely legs that emerged from the carriage, sheathed in thigh-high boots - feet arched high on stiletto heels.<br/><br/>With a dancer's easy grace, Duchess Lucille Ortensia (formerly Lady Lucille von Edefelt, of the Order of the Burning Rose) stepped out into the sunlight - Honey-blonde hair framing her lovely features, her lips curving in a winning smile! Her lissome legs crossed with a supple scrape, as she drew herself to her full height, her form limned by the afternoon sun...<br/><br/>And<em>what</em>a form it was. The Duchess, it seemed, had disdained a gown for more practical wear - Her form sheathed in a tight leather bodice, the striking black-and-gold of her Order. It molded to her full curves like a second skin, a supple black...Adorned with gold knotwork and silver inlay, a simple rapier riding high on her hip. Lucille seemed to have taken the rigors of the journey well - Her long, long lashes fluttering, as she raised her free hand in a gesture of greeting...With a smile that turned secret, just for a moment, before she lowered her gaze, turning to her husband at last!<br/><br/>"Impressive," she murmured, in that low, husky lilt of hers. "-It truly<em>is</em>like I've imagined..."<br/><br/>And inwardly, Lucille sighed.<br/><br/>She hadn't wanted to get married. She'd been -<em>very</em>against that. But her family had<em>insisted</em>, and her father had began to wonder why she'd been protesting *quite* so strenuously...And so she'd little choice but to grit her teeth, bow her head, and go along with it. The life of a Knight-Errant had<em>suited</em>her, in the way few things had: the freedom to roam the land, to do<em>anything</em>in the name of doing Good and spreading Right...<br/><br/>And she'd enjoyed herself.<em>Thoroughly</em>.<br/><br/>When she'd married Lord Adrian, she'd been less-than-impressed to discover that he was the scholarly type - almost chaste, treating her with the care, the respect, one would expect for a woman in her position. And his<em>family</em>- Gods, between them and her own House, she wasn't sure she would last the year!<br/><br/>So she'd planted the idea. A new land: a new start. A chance for Lord Adrian to rule, away from the constant intrigue of the heartlands - and, as other people had wisely murmured, the new couple (surely a match made in heaven!) needed time to be alone...<br/><br/>If only they'd known.<br/><br/>To anyone else, the Keep must've looked rustic, isolated - rough-hewn, like the untamed lands around it. But to Lucille, even as she made her way along at her husband's side, it smelled like<em>freedom</em>.<br/><br/>She smiled at the Captain of the Guardian, as Adriant presented their letters of lineage...Letting her gaze wander over the people gathered to greet them! Her hand rested lightly on her hip, a subtle shift to her stance, a soft chuckle teased from her silky throat...<br/><br/>-This could be interesting after all!