A Capulet's Command(Ophelia/Axis)

[Benjamin Burke]

There were few moments in a man's life where he truly deserved to be proud. He was proud when he managed to convince his wife to marry him, he was proud when she graced him with his son, and proud still when his daughters were born, although not many men were proud of daughters, he certainly was. His were beautiful, gracious, each with their own gifts and abilities. The day he arranged a marriage for his eldest and such a successful marriage at that, was absolutely a glorious one for him.

Axis Thorne could not have better credentials as far as bloodline and wealth, indeed he was a catch, but not only that, he seemed to have a genuine affection for his daughter, a desire to be wed and an understanding of her temperment, he seemed the perfect man. It was a perfect match and he could not wait to tell his daughter.

"Gretchen, please bring my eldest down." he said with more enthusiasm than usual.

[Ophelia Burke]

Like any proper young lady, Ophelia would always respond to a summons from her father. But there was a part of her, the rebellious side, that secretly resented it. She didn't like being "fetched" as if she were little more than a piece of property. Of course, she knew enough to keep such thoughts to herself. She knew how good she had it, and she never wanted to do anything to test her father's indulgence.

Unless, of course, she felt as if she were pushed into it.

Right now, as she saw it, she was far away from having that happen. She believed that as long as she was the good little girl, the perfect princess, that her father would be content to leave her on her own to do as she pleased. She was happy with Tyler, and after the ball, she was now deeply in love with him. Nothing could shatter that, right?

She made Gretchen wait a full five minutes, just to prove a point, while she fixed her hair. It didn't need to be fixed, but that hardly mattered. She just wanted to make it known that she wasn't keen on dropping everything and coming the instant she was sent for.

Finally, she skipped into her father's study, her blonde curls bouncing brightly.

"You needed me, Daddy?"

[Benjamin Burke]

She indeed was lucky, not many fathers were indulgent at all, but because she was beautiful and because he was "soft hearted" he let her indulge herself. Still recently she wa showing a stubbornness that was not at all pleasing in a woman and a husband was precisely what she needed to curb such ill notions.

He waited with Axis for Fee to arrive and was too excited to really notice the time in which it took her to join them. When she finally did arrive her beauty was enough to forget time.

"There she is. Ah, my daughter come in, come in." he gestured her to move further into the room and greated her with a smile.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia smiled prettily at her father, not yet noticing the other person in the room. "Of course I'm here, Daddy," she said with a small curtsy.

A small movement caught her eye, and she turned to see Axis standing nearby. She was curious, but not yet suspicious of this strange visitor. She had seen him around the Slytherin common room, of course, but did not find him worthy of her attention. She wondered what he could be doing here and why her father wanted her here.

[Benjamin Burke]

He was weighing the curiosity in his daughter's eyes over Axis, he was pleasing as one might assume. A handsome lad, and rich and well blooded, he was vastly suitable and he knew his daughter would be pleased or at least she had better be. Some of his acquaintences didn't understand the lenient hand he had with his daughters, they thought he spoiled them, or at least Ophelia. Allaire as quiet as she was wasn't remarked upon often, except of course that she had the Burke beauty. Kassia was a good a dutiful daughter, everything a daughter ought to be, but then so were all his girls. Here before him was his pride and joy, though he would say that of all his daughters, Ophelia was most likely to make the biggest match, and was already setting herself to impossible standards by recieving an offer from Axis, he could not be more proud of her.

"There is someone I'd like you to meet...well I'm sure you're acquainted with Mr. Thorne from school, but I would like for you to know that he is a personal acquaintance of mine also." He began subtly.

[Ophelia Burke]

Ophelia's gaze flickered over to Axis with only a mild amount of interest. Yes, of course she'd seen him around. She had not found him interesting enough to ever bother learning his name, and she was quite certain she had only spoken to him a handful of times. She wasn't even entirely sure that those conversations had been particularly friendly. It wasn't that she disliked him; she just didn't find him worthy of her attention.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Thorne," she replied politely, giving a small curtsy. What his first name was, she didn't know and didn't care to know. What was the purpose of this introduction, anyway?

She turned her eyes back to her father and smiled expectantly, waiting for him to get to the point.

[Benjamin Burke]

He was suddenly unable, his daughter wasn't behaving as she should, well she was behaving like Ophelia, but not like a young woman who was meeting her betrothed. Surely she knew this day would come, and that it would have been soon. She was already in her sixth year at Hogwarts and he wasn't going to let her linger in suspense forever, he was just happy so prudent and proper a match had come so quickly.

"Er...Axis M'boy...why don't you and my daughter...take a walk...the gardens are lovely this time of year."

It was winter, and yet the gardens indeed were quite beautiful, Kassia had a hand in that, as well as his wife who made sure everything ran smoothly. His house was of course the best of the best, and he owed much of that to his lovely wife since he couldn't decorate a thing, but he knew that Kassia appreciated the garden and had her own grove which she considered a sacred place.

The things he did know about his daughters were few and far between but he did seem to have a handle on some of their quirks.

[Ophelia Burke]

Well, now that was odd. If her father wanted to talk to her, why was he so keen on making her talk with this Axis guy? She was starting to hear some alarm bells in her head, but she didn't yet believe that her father would go so far as to arrange her marriage. Maybe he was just trying to fix her up, to see if she might be interested in him, or maybe he was entering a business arrangement with his parents and wanted her to make friends with him.

Even still, she was not interested. "I'd really rather not walk outside just now. It's cold out and I left my good cloak at school."

[Benjamin Burke]

Ben was ever patient with her, and he often let her get her way of course, she was his precious daughter, his jewel, and apple of his eye, she was his little princess and she was spoiled. But as a father he didn't see her as such, perhaps others did. Still he had given an order and this time he expected it to be carried out, he would accept none of her fluff.

"You may borrow one of your sister's cloaks then, or one of your mothers..." he added the last as an enticement, his wife's taste was impeccable and nearly infamous, she had a magnificent eye for fashion. Then to soften the blow some more he added, "And I'll see to buying you another good cloak, one for home and one for school." he smiled then expecting to be obeyed and thanked.

[Ophelia Burke]

Now Ophelia was getting angry. She did not want to go outside with this loser, who had yet to say a word to her. Talk about rude! She also knew her father well enough to recognize a set up. He was offering to buy her things, which was always a sure sign that he knew he was asking her to do something that she didn't want to do. Sometimes she allowed him to appease her in this way, but right now, she had no idea what she was agreeing to, and until she did, she had no intention of doing as she was told. She was not yet seeing this as an order on her father's part; merely a suggestion, or at most a request.

"I'd really rather not go outside, Father," she said again, her voice perfectly sweet and polite. "I feel a bit of a sniffle coming on, and the cold will only make it worse. Couldn't we talk in here?"

[Mary Richards]

Mary pressed her ear closer to the door. Oh how thrilling! The young miss actually seemed to have no idea that her father was introducing her to her betrothed! Mary had bustled in the vestibule when Master Burke had greeted the young man and bayed him to enter the home. He was handsome in a very regular sort of way, he must be from a very old family if Master Burke favored him so. She could almost see Young miss Ophelia stamping her foot in frustration, she did that often enough when she felt things were being unfair to her. Mary blushed at the thought of her young mistresses' ungratefulness, but she really had no idea what she must suffer going to that school for so long, she had heard it was a very difficult school, children learning all manner of spells and potions; not just everyday brews and tinctures. She dismissed the thought from her head and waited for how Master Burke would try to smooth this whole affair over! She had to admire her mistress a little; no promise of pretty new cloaks had softened her resolve not to spend a moment with her betrothed! Mary found herself rooting for her mistress, intent on sharing the whole thing with Gretchen, whom always seemed to be serving the young mistress or master.

[Benjamin Burke]

Benjamin looked decidedly uncomfortable just in that moment as he glanced between his daughter and his future son-in-law. Clearing his throat he used a tone that Ophelia had likely never heard from him, for there had never really been a time that he needed to be harsh with his daughters.

"Ophelia, I assure you that the gardens will be perfectly warm enough." That was the end of that, Ophelia would go with Axis, Ben would not be deterred, and one more word out of her would earn her a spanking she would likely never forget.

[Ophelia Burke]

It was at this point that Ophelia began to sense that there was something decidedly wrong with this situation. Whyever would her father be so insistent on forcing her to go outside with this boy when it was so obviously contrary to her own wishes? She cast a suspicious eye at Axis. Didn't the boy know how to speak? He just stood there, mute, and it was really starting to get on Ophelia's nerves. If forced to spend time alone with him, would she wind up doing all the talking?

She decided to try a different tactic. She was still quite resolved not to go to the gardens with this boy, but if her father would not listen to her, perhaps he would listen to Axel, or whatever his name was.

Smiling a sugary smile, she looked him up and down. "And is that what you wish, Mr. Thorne?" she inquired. "Are you so very eager to see the gardens?"

[Mary Richards]

Mary's mouth opened in shock, she was going to be too sweet to punish! How very clever, it was a tactic that as a servant, would never work for Mary, but old noble blood like the miss could get away with such a thing! Mary decided cross the hall in that moment and start siphoning the dust off a flower arrangement, she still had to at least get the home looking visibly clean, or the head of staff would box her ears before threatening her job. In times like these, Mary couldn't afford to lose her income and she might become easy prey for deatheaters or who knew what else!